Saturday 16 February 2013

What I've been up to...

Lately I've been so busy, its ridiculous for someone that isn't currently working to have barely anytime to sleep or do anything at all.
Today we got the keys to the new house, which means we can finally start sorting it out in time for us to move in (which should hopefully be in 1-2 weeks). Sadly that means I'm rushed off my feet trying to buy all the stupid little things that we forgot, such as bottle openers and light bulbs which means I won't be blogging as much, but I will attempt to write a post a night. Although if I fail please be patient, I will be back!

Benji getting cuddles from Johno, think she may know we're leaving soon and getting all mushy. Yummy food at Frankie and Bennys, struggled so much. TGI Fridays don't mess around when they mean Ultimate sizing for their drinks, my strawberry daiquiri was yummy. Marvel's version of a kinder egg, the toy was very disappointing however. Latest favourite movie, however it was way better in 3D at the cinema.

See you soon!

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Naughty Naughty Naughty!

I'm far too easily swayed to buy things, more so make up. So when I saw Essie Button mentioning the Naked Basics palette and singing its praises, it pushed me over the edge and pushed it into my online basket.

But I could leave the UB basics palette all alone in my basket, so I popped in Benefit's Brow zing, as I've been using MUA's brow palette, which is alright, but I've heard so much better and wanting something nicer. I chose the colour Medium, as Dark would be almost black and Light would be, well, far too light.

Thanks to Johno telling me that I had a horrendous 'tide line' across my chin today whilst we were in Asda, it made me think that the only foundation that's ever been pale enough for my skin was Estee Lauder's double wear light, in their palest shade 1.0. If anyone has any suggestions for other companies that do paler then pale foundation shades let me know, even MAC's NW15 is slightly too dark, hmph!

Hopefully my haul will give me the beauty yearning I have, although it'll be only a matter of time before I'm tempted by more products!

Mac's Archie's Girls collection!

Most Mac collections don't faze me, it might be because there's so many at one time I lose interest due to the volume or something. But Archie's Girls collection caught my eye, I spied the vintage 50-esque rockabilly-ness about the collection and it ticked all of my boxes.

Ronnie Red

I myself are partial to a nice red, so I instantly snapped up the shade 'Ronnie Red', the packaging also tickled my fancy, as Ronnie makes me think she should be a character in Grease or Cry Baby.
Ronnie Red is a general beautiful red, something that is a staple in all make up collections. The forumula is a Matte, which I have came across only with Mac's Ruby Woo, which is another perfect orange toned red, but one that doesn't turn your teeth yellow thankfully. Comparing Ronnie Red and Ruby Woo, the shades are identical when in the bullet. However once swatched, Ronnie Red seems more pink in comparison to Ruby Woo's post box red. The formula's are also different, Ruby Woo is a true Matte, while Ronnie is creamier and easier to swatch/apply.
The wear time of Ronnie is around 4 hours, then begins to fade into a lighter pink, this is similar to Ruby woo, which turned into a fluorescent red/dark pink. (Please excuse the hideous application, I feel like a zombie bleurgh)

Top to bottom; Ruby Woo, Ronnie Red, Betty Bright

Betty Bright

I also picked up the shade Betty Bright. This choice now seems like a mistake, as this shade does not suit me in any way, first time I wore Betty, I quickly applied to feel the formula and the wear, whilst I was playing Call Of Duty (I'm such a boy I know), my Mum passed me 10 minutes later and told me the colour did no favours for me, and made me look ill supposedly. I'm not too sure whether its because I'm either a nude or vamp coloured lipstick and nothing between and this shade is a peachy pink. But sadly my Mum is right, it washes me out terribly so it may go into a blog sale or I may just keep because of the pretty packaging.
The formula is satin, which I find quite comfortable on the lips, the wear time is around 2 hours, but I've only tested this when shouting at my tv when I've been killed for the 121545th time.

Mac's Archie's girls lipsticks retail for £15.50, at Mac stockists and online.

Friday 8 February 2013

Smashbox Limitless Liquid Liner pen in Jet Black

What a title for an eyeliner, it actually irritates me when companies have ridiculously long names for their products, as at the end of the day, its just an eyeliner pen. Anyhoo onto the product itself!

This is the first Smashbox product I've ever used, I've no idea why I bought it, I was wondering around Boots looking for something to buy (please don't tell me I'm the only weirdo that does that?) and happened across the Smashbox counter, and asked the MUA if they had any eyeliner pens. The MUA wasn't the best I've come across by far, I asked her 'how long does it last', which could mean 'how long does it last on the eyes' and 'how long does the pen last before it dries up', she just replied with 'I've still got mine and its ok'. This stumped me a bit, what on earth was that meant to mean? But after a few swatches of the pen and comparisons to other eyeliner pens I could find, I decided to give the Smashbox a go.

Please ignore the eyebrow, they're being tamed once I find my tweezers (probably packed them with the house things).
The liner lasts all day on me, without any kind of transfer and stays carbon black, which I think is amazing for liner. I've only had the pen for around 3 weeks, so I have no idea how long it lasts before it begins drying up, but so far its fine. The pens pointed nib means I can create a simple cat flick with ease and without it being fiddly and messy.
Overall this product has took me by surprise, as I have read no reviews about it and think its an underdog in the beauty world. However on the Smashbox website this product claims to be waterproof, I'm afraid I can't agree with this, after watching Disney's Brave and becoming a little teary eyed, I became panda eyed in minutes, however if this wasn't claimed to be waterproof I would agree more.
I would happily by another pen if this were to dry out in a decent amount of time, smitten kitten!

Smashbox limitless liquid liner pen in black retails for £16.00 on the Smashbox website and larger Boots stores

Monday 4 February 2013

Illamasqua liquid metal in Electrum!

Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Electrum
I have never tried Illmasqua products before I purchased one of their Debenhams exclusive lucky dip style gift boxes. I purchased mine in the January sales, as I received around £13 off the original price, I was only wanting this eye colour but didn't mind paying around an extra £6 for some extra surprise products. Electrum is a true gold almost green in comparison to Half Baked, which compared had a more of an amber tone. Electrum is more of a cream format, rather then a powder, this means the colour is easier to work with, as moves easier, however it can move when you don't want it to when it isn't what you've wanted and transfer it more likely then with a powder formula. Electrum lasted around 3 hours on my lids with slight transfer.

Illamasqua liquid metal in Electrum retails for £17.50 at all Illasmasqua stockists and online

Sunday 3 February 2013

Inspiration #1

All photos found on We heart it & Tumblr.

15 Facts about me!

I'm not the most interesting person in the world, but it seems to be a trending tag, so why not!

1. My full name consists of 7 names, my parents supposedly couldn't decide on what middle names they liked, so they shoved them all in.
2. I'm a typical Scorpio, I can be extremely private or totally open, theres no middle ground.
3. I'm the youngest of 3 siblings, and one of my older brother used to play GTA with me when I was 7, and we practised Jackass on the sofa when my Mum wasn't watching.
4. I was born from a gay relationship, so homophobia is one of my biggest loathes.
5. I have a love for leopard print and studs, I'm usually wearing one of these at all times.
6. One of my favourite movies is Mirror Mask, which I think is majorly underrated.
7. I have a phobia of onion, just thinking/talking/looking at one of them makes my skin crawl and brings tears to my eyes.
8. I'm a cat lover, I find their love and affection more true and honest then dogs.
9. My favourite animal are Pandas, when I saw one in person I cried, I know, what a weirdo.
10. I love tattoos, but I'm terrified of the pain and terrified of needles.
11. My favourite band is Evanescence, I've been obsessed with them since I was 11, and still fangirl over Amy Lee almost obsessively. Almost.
12. Me and my mum have a little saying, as when I was around 3, I got my T&S mixed up on cards, so I used to write 'Lost of love' instead of 'lots of love' and it's stuck ever since.
13. I've only ever had one hangover, but it lasted 5 days and I felt like death warmed up the entire time.
14. I'm a bit of a homebody, although I'm sure I have a shopping addiction, I'm either at home or shopping, there aren't many other places I will be.
15. I love history, my favourite period of time is Edwardian and Victorian, I have a Edwardian frame tattooed onto my arm, framing my son's handprints.

Lush Blousey Shampoo!

Due to having half blonde and half black hair, I needed a good shampoo to keep the colour vibrant, so when Johno popped into Game, I popped into Lush next door. I was advised by one of the sale assistants that Blousey shampoo is perfect for what I need, and without using my right mind I purchased it, without a sample. I regret this so much now. When I got home with Blousey, I opened the pot and wretched( TMI!), the fragranced is described as "inspired by British hedgerows, your hair will all day smell of rose, blackcurrant, rosemary and juniperberry". In my opinion the smell is horrendous, I can only smell the rose and possibly the rosemary and juniperberry (what is a juniperberry?!). Its the mustiest rotten smell, and the product itself isn't much better. The only other Lush shampoo I've used it BIG, which I loved but found very clarifying and would strip my hair of its colour. The lathering is pathetic, and the smell lingers for longer than I'd like, meaning I have to spray with my hair with perfume to mask it.

The consistency is like mush, liquidy (not a word I know) mush that is quite hard to work with. I've found colour shampoos far better and nicer to work with for a lot cheaper then this retails for, as £18 is a lot for a shampoo I'm wasting whenever I use it, just to be done with it.

Blousey retails at £18, at most Lush Cosmetic Stores

Edinburgh!

The best photo of me from our most recent night out. Pandaaaa!. The view from our hotel room. Too much temptation from room service. Johno couldn't wait for dinner. The worst and most expensive strawberry daiquiri I've ever had. We're engaged!. Puffy eyes from too many happy tears. Cute cake shop.

After last year, me and Johno needed a break, so we decided to pop up to Edinburgh for the week. We sadly were unable to go on any ghost tours, or any historic tours, as they were all on the weekend and we were leaving on the Friday beforehand. However we did a lot of eating, shopping and smiling. On the second day of our Edinburgh getaway Johno surprised me by proposing, which was such a shock and of course I said yes!

Saturday 2 February 2013

2012

This year could was a make or break year for me.

I ended a relationship that was draining me and found love with Johno, who has been an amazing force and a constant source of love and support. I became pregnant, which was unexpected and I wasn't too sure how to feel about, I didn't know whether I should be happy or sad, whether I could become a mother, I was terrified, anxious and I was being constantly judged, by myself and others, for being a teenage mother. Something in that I've found to be all too common in the UK. But I knew it was the right thing to do, was to go through with the pregnancy and I soon fell in love with my little bean. Johno was constantly by my side, when I became tired, he instantly thought I was low on iron, so he ordered me a takeaway after researching that rice had iron in, except he forgot to order the rice. Meat became one of my main cravings, as I could eat packets of ham like they were packets of crisps. Everything was peachy, I was getting bigger, bean was kicking the crap out of my ribs and hips and all was swell.

That was until Johno fell ill, constant migraines, meant he was sleeping all day, he was being violently sick and could barely walk some days. The amount of stress meant I began suffering from headaches and found it hard at work. We went back and forward to doctor surgeries, walk in centres, and even A&E, and were always told the same thing, he had severe migraines. We were given migraine tablets that didn't very little. I began to lose my temper and thought it may be his eyes, so I ordered him to go to an opticians. I left work one day, after a nice 8 hour shift, around 4 months pregnant I was exhausted and received a phone call from Johno, he's going straight to hospital and couldn't tell me why as his phone cut out. Panic set in and I more or less ran off the bus and straight to the hospital.
Johno was in hospital for just under 2 weeks, they discovered he didn't have migraines, they weren't the cause of the problem, although if he had left it any long the pressure in his head causing the headache were going to kill him. A lot of possibilities were thrown around, brain tumours, haemorrhages, stress from becoming a father, etc, etc. The only thing that helped his headache was lumber punctures, which I've been told are excruciatingly painful. Johno had 7 by the time he left hospital. I was at Johno's bedside every day he was in hospital, work gave me the time off, I couldn't function without knowing he was alright, as he hates me worrying, the only way I'd find out what was going on was by asking the nurses myself, Johno liked to sugar coat things for me, which only irritated me, but I know his heart was in the right place.
Johno finally left hospital in the end of July, we spent 3 months happy. Although things were only starting to go bad, my feet began to swell in September, but I thought nothing of it, as I was working on my feet for 5 days a week. They began to get worse and I started to get worried, I went to my local GP surgery but saw a GP I haven't met ever, and was advised to keep my feet raised when I'm not busy, this did nothing. Bean had been renamed after we found out the sex, his new name was Zachary, and his movements began to slow. I tried not to worry, as I had a midwife appointment soon.

That was when my life came tumbling down. She couldn't find a heartbeat. I was sent to hospital to confirm and the sonographer did just that. I couldn't stop apologising to Johno, I had lost his son, I've never felt more numb and pointless in my life. I failed Zachary. I was told that I may have to go home and begin my labour there, as my body would want Zach out. But things got worse, the cause that killed Zachary, was pre-eclampsia. He'd survived for 4 weeks, with a failing placenta. A normal placenta is around about the size of a dinner plate, nice and big, Zach's was the size of a coaster. I never hated my body more for not saving Zachary, for not doing what its made to do, I felt useless as a woman and a mother. Can I even call myself a mother? I don't have a baby, even though I had a pregnancy? I thought of Johno's family, Zachary was the first boy in 20 years, I felt so guilty. All the what if's ran through my mind like lightning, what if I had my normal GP and she saw the signs? What if I went to the hospital earlier when his movements slowed? Was there anything I could of done? Did I miss something out? Did I eat something that I shouldn't of?
I was told the pre-eclampsia almost killed myself also, my organs began to fail, I had extremely high blood pressure and if I had left it another week or so, my liver and pancreas would of failed and I would be dead, this I didn't much care about, losing Zachary eclipsed whatever anyone had to say about me. Lying in my hospital bed, I became agitated whenever I received medication, as all I wanted to do was get Zachary back, or join him.

Zachary Kevin Golightly was born 02/10/2012, at 28 weeks and 6 days. He weighed 1lb 12oz. I saw him three times, the first time I smiled constantly, I was excited to see who he looked like more, he had his father's eyes, big feet and long legs, and he had my lips and chin, and my dark hair. I felt so proud, but the happiness was tainted, I'd never see him grow up, all the clothes and things are packed waiting for him, yet it'll only be me and Johno coming home. The second time I saw him, me and Johno said goodbye, we knew he began to change from the first time we had saw him, it wasn't fair for him to be disturbed constantly. We just wanted him to be put to rest, so we both kissed his head and said we loved him. Afterwards a nurse came in and asked if we wanted him to be baptised or blessed or anything. My and Johno are athiests, but my mother was Christian, and I wanted her to look after him in heaven so we agreed on a blessing, as long as it was only his parents and the pastor in the room during the service, as the thought of him being blessed while being held by someone other than myself or Johno made my blood boil. The pastor that performed Zachary's blessing was the same pastor that performed Zachary's funeral service. A hoard of friends and family came to support myself, Johno and Zachary, we sang Toy Story's 'You've got a friend in me' and other Disney classics instead of hymns, as Zachary used to dance happily along.

Its been 5 months now, to the day of Zachary's birth, and I think about him everyday. He was my little guy, my baby, my world, and I miss him more than anyone would imagine. The person that I'm too thank for keeping me smiling is my Fiancée Johno, all through my hospital stay he stuck by my side, he held my hand all through the service and has been constantly picking me up whenever I have fallen and wish to be with Zachary. We've only just made our 1 year anniversary and so much has happened within that year, the death of Johno's father to cancer, Zachary's death, Johno's almost death and mine also. I have said time and time again to the people around me that there should be more information about Pre Eclampsia, and the signs. If I had known more, I believe I would of been able to save Zachary.

But my angel is now being looked after by his Grandmother and Grandfather in the sky somewhere, looking down on his parents. He will never be forgotten and we will always love him more than anyone could ever know.

January favourites!

Now 2012 was a horrendous year for me and my boyfriend, two deaths and almost two more. Thankfully that year has gone, and January was a happy month for myself, filled with laughter and happy memories that puts the last year to the back of my mind for a small amount of time. During January, my boyfriend asked me to marry him in the most perfect setting in Edinburgh, under a picturesque water fountain, while Edinburgh overlooked us. I also finally got my hands on my dream bag, the Mulberry Alexa in oversized, ate too much greasy food and bought too much make up. We have also received the news that we will be living in a perfect little 2 bedroom house, with a nice garden, a wendy house and an apple tree, so please be expecting to see some posts on house décor and the such. Now onto my most favourite cosmetic products, it was extremely hard to whittle these down to a few, as I now have 2 huge make up bags with freshly bought make up.

Yves Saint Laurent Palette D'Artiste
Now this palette isn't something I would usually buy, I'm too stuck in my nudes and black eye colour rut to look twice at something with actual colour, however this was on a Boots clearance shelf for £5, I snatched it up right then and there. I decided even if I didn't like the colours and couldn't work with them I would just pop it onto my dressing table as a sort of ornament. Thankfully the green and purple shades are very flattering and don't transfer as bright as they are in the pan, thankfully!

Nars Penny Lane cream blush
This is the first Nars product I have ever used, as Newcastle are quite poop for retailers of Nars, I'm not very confident purchasing items online such as make up, but for some reason I made an exception for this blush. I purchased it on ASOS, and I haven't heard very many reviews whatsoever, although after a quick Google image search and saw it didn't look horrendous on the skin, I took the plunge and I haven't looked back. This is the perfect nude blush, barely detectable on the skin but for a colour phobic like myself its enough for me to not look zombified (not even a word but you get the jist). On the skin it gives the slight hint of colour and a very natural sheen, something that is very easy to quickly slap on during the day and go.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush
I HAD to include this balm, this was a very whim kind of purchase, I was buying cold remedies, and in a display just before the self checkouts was a promotion, Revlon balm stains and nails polishes for £5, so of course I purchased the balm stain in Crush and Revlon's nail polish in vixen ( with help of a very persuading review from Anna). Crush is a pinky almost purple berry shade, however on others it looks like a light wash of colour, however I like to build the colour into a opaque colour, which is easily achieved in 3 coats. The only downfall to this balm is it only lasts on me for around an hour, then fades into a strange patchy colour, although the balm is comfortable to wear, with a glossiness and its also lightweight, I could barely feel it on my lips, however if you're clumsy like myself that can mean it may get smeared across your face a few times and you'll be none the wiser you now resemble the joker.