6 Favourite Reds!

Hello lovelies!
Now I've been rummaging through my nail polish collection looking for the perfect red, but then I discovered, I've got quite a few that could be deemed 'perfect'. Red seems to be the only colour that can be transferred to any season.

Essie's Snap Happy
During spring I love a red with an orange hue, and the only orange polish that I've found that has actually suited my skin tone is Essie's Snap Happy, from their Christmas 2012 collection. It's an amazing spring take on the classic red, a very safe alternative if I can't find anything else to pop on my nails. Snap Happy lasts around 3 days on my nails with Rimmel's 3 in 1 basecoat and top coat before chipping.

Snap Happy retails for around £8

Nails Inc St James
The next brightest red in my collection is Nails Inc St James, which I think I received in March 2013's Glossybox. St James is a pink hued red, which looks great on pale skin and tanned skin. St James lasts 4 full days without chipping but can stain nails.

St James retails for £11

Barry M Raspberry Nail Paint
Raspberry has been my favourite nail polish for around 2 years, its an amazing perfect colour that isn't really suited for the sunny seasons but better for the colder months. This colour also looks awesome on toes with a pair of black sandals so I can still squeeze it into summer.

Raspberry retails for £2.99

Essie's Leading Lady
This one a bit of a cheat, as its a kind of burgundy polish with pinky/red glitter,this polish that is the perfect Christmassy shade. Although it'll be a firm favourite when the weather gets colder again, hopefully that won't be for a long while yet! The only downside to this nail polish is that is peels rather than chips, but I've found most glitter polishes have a tendency to do this. Leading Lady was a limited edition in Essie's Christmas 2012 collection.

Leading Lady retails for around £8

Nails Inc Saville Row
We've now hit the other end of the red's spectrum, dark burgundy. This is actually my favourite shade of nail polish as I think it suits me best, as I'm a neon-phobe and forever will be. These dark colours also look amazing on toes when the sun beacons. I'm sure I've received this polish around a year ago in one of Glamour's amazing magazine giveaways. Saville Row is a dark purple that is a staple in anyone's collection.

Saville Row retails for £11

Revlon Vixen
After reading a recommendation from Vivianna Does Makeup (her word is law) I ran don to my nearest Boots and snatched it up and I haven't regretted it at all! Its the perfect shade for classy, glossy nails. This looks beautiful teamed with a nude blouse and sleek hair. Vixen is also an amazing dupe for Chanel's Accessorie from their A/W 2012 collection.

Vixen retails for £6.49

These are the only reds I have but they're all my favourite depending on what mood I'm in.
What's your favourite red?

♥

Avon's Always On Point Eyeliner!

Hello beauts! Hope you're well :)
Recently a little gem has fallen into my lap with such a good little feature but something so obvious you would think all of the cosmetic companies would of done before.
I'm talking about Avon's Always on Point eyeliner, the special feature is that inside of the lid is a sharpener, so whenever you screw the lid back onto the liner, it sharpens it ready for the next use! Gone are the days of attempting a cat flick with a dull point.

Now I thought because of the eyeliner has a nifty feature, the actual product would be absolutely pants. How pleasantly wrong I was! This eyeliner has amazing staying power, I'm talking about scrubbing my face in the shower and sleeping in it (slightly tipsy me gets very sleeping quickly) and yet it still didn't come off. I started to think maybe I accidently used a sharpie or a permanent marker but alas it was this little gem. My only complaint with this eyeliner is the colour, is more of a charcoal black and can go grey after a a little while, however the application is butter soft and very easy to control.

Please ignore my unruly brows, I'm attempting to grow them out.

For a long time I disregarded Avon's cosmetics, but thanks to the Pixiwoo's sisters Avon has been spring boarded back into the beauty world. There are some hits and misses, but this eyeliner is a gem and a half!

Avon Always on Point eyeliner is available online and availbile to order from your local Avon representative.
The eyeliner retails for £7.00

Have you ever tried this eyeliner? What is your favourite eyeliner?

♡

Something a little more personal and serious...

As many of you may know, I was pregnant with my perfect little boy and everything was fantastic and perfect, then all of a sudden its like my life hit a brick wall and all my plans for the future were no longer valid. At 28 weeks pregnant, I found out I had pre-eclampsia and my little baby had passed away inside of me. I had 3 lots of magnesium injected into my arms and it was the most unpleasant medication I've ever experienced, I could feel like it was burning as it travelled around my body and all the hair stood up on my arms and my head. It was horrible. I also found out my kidneys were starting to fail, another side effect of the disease, my blood pressure was extremely high and I was very close to having a seizure. Being told this while strapped to a hospital bed was the most annoying and frustrating thing, as I felt totally fine, very annoyed, angry and upset due to being told the news but overall fine. That's another thing about pre-eclampsia, you rarely know you have it as you have no feeling ill most of the time. some women will get pain under their ribs and severe headaches, but I had neither, I was still working 8 hours shifts on my feet and felt fine.
The only side effect I did have and was a tad nervous about was that my feet were very swollen, but I thought this was because of still working full time and being constantly on my feet. Zachary Golightly was born at 5:10am, 02.10.12.

I believe this could of been avoided, if there was more information about pre-eclampsia, a disease that killed my baby and almost killed me.

It is serious, and the only information I've publically seen about the disease is One Born Every Minute did a special on 'Larger women' which I am disgusted by. This programme has given many pregnant women the information that only larger women can get pre-eclampsia. The truth is anyone can get pre-eclampsia. You could be a size 6 or 26 and you are still able to have the disease.

Studies have shown that pre-eclampsia may happen during the first month or so of pregnancy, it is caused by the placenta not attaching properly. and this causing the placenta not to develop in the later months. The best example for this is my midwife telling me my placenta was the size of a small coaster, the only you use to put your mug's on so the cup doesn't stain whatever surface its sitting on. The normal and healthy size placenta is supposed to be the size of a dinner plate, and when a baby has a tiny placenta, it is harder for the baby to get the oxygen and nutrients, and when left for too long, it causes the worst to happen.
Pre-eclampsia can also cause cause the mother trouble, as if left for too long can kill her also, as the placenta becomes sort of toxic and the body either tries to abort it, and aborts the baby in turn or the placenta will start to cause the organs to fail and can also cause seizures that can be deadly.

The amount of information about this disease is disgustingly small, and I believe this has caused me to ignore the symptoms that I was suffering from. The lack of information also took my son from me too soon, and I would hate for that to happen to someone else.
Thank you for reading this post and I hope this information helps you or someone you know.

Pre-eclampsia charity

♡

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Whats in my bag & mini review!

Hello lovelies! Hope everyone is well, this is my first proper post in a while when I haven't been complaining about something.
I myself like a good snoop into other peoples bags so its only fair I show everyone what's in mine in return. Although after taking all the photos and seeing all the crap I carry around with my daily I am rethinking about what I am taking as it seems a tad excessive.

My bag is a Mulberry Alexa, in the oversized size in tan. I thought it would be perfect for day to day as I carry around tonnes with me and it also doubles up as a weekend bag. This bag was a gift and I've used it daily since I received it.

Firstly in my bag I carry around my purse, its just a leopard print one from Primark, nothing too exciting, although I'm thinking of saving up for a Ted Baker wallet. I also carry around a notebook, this one is from Wilkinsons, but I'm not too keen on it as it isn't lined which means my writing gets a tad wobbly. The leopard print pouch holds all of my little bits for emergencies, I call it my you never know pouch.

Inside of my 'you never know' pouch I keep all of the following; blister patches, tissues, plasters, Nurofen, Nytol, a mini brush, hair grips, bobbles, a lolly(?!), a sample of Origins mega bright skin tones correcting serum, a mini Clarins lip gloss, a sample of Elisabeth Arden 8 hour cream, a mini Benefit They're real mascara, paracetamol, and depotted Mac Crème Cup lipstick, Mac Hue, Mac Shy Girl and Mac Studio finish concealer. And women's products but I didn't photograph them. This little pouch means I'm more of less ready for anything that may happen if I'm out, probably a tad too ready. But if you ever get a headache, need a sleep or need a slick of lipstick, you know who to come to!

I also keep in my bag a few more essentials (as if I haven't got enough, no wonder my back always hurts, ouch!) headphones, chewing gum, a sample of Yves Rocher So Elixir perfume which I received in a Glossybox, I also received the Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream which smells amazing and also is a great moisturiser. And a travel can of L'Oreal Elnett hairspray which is nice but I prefer their diamond hold compare to their supreme hold.

I usually don't carry any make up with me but I haven't emptied it out of my bag since I spent the night at a friend's house recently. Firstly there is Estee Lauder Double Wear Light foundation that I rediscovered at the back of my collection, although I think this has oxidised as it makes my face look a tad orange even though I have the lightest shade. There is also the highly raved Rimmel Stay Matte powder, I have the Translucent one, however due to my horrible angry skin at the moment it doesn't really do much on my skin. I also have Mac's Hue lipstick, its my favourite lipstick ever! A recent discover is Illamasqua's eye pencil in Hex which is the perfect nude to pop in your waterline for a wide eyed look. I've also recently rediscovered Urban Decay's primer potion, although I have no eyeshadows travelling with me, oops. I always carry around my favourite mascara, Soap & Glory's Thick and Fast mascara, which gives me long thick lashes in just 2 coats. I always also carry around a cream blush as its tonnes easier then having to carry around a brush, Nars Penny Lane is a lovely natural blush with almost a highlighter sheen when applied to cheek bones, and I've also popped a primer into my bag, 17's photo flawless primer, I like how it feels on the skin, however I don't think it does much for making my foundation last or making my pores looking less visible, if anything it does the opposite. And of course I have a tube of Collection's lasting perfection concealer, obviously.

I also carry around with me 2 pairs of sunglasses (no idea why I need 2?!) the Rayban-alike ones are from Topshop and the others are Primark. And finally (thank god!) I carry around a Hello Kitty pencil case I got free in a magazine, which was only bought for the free pencil case, woops.

That is everything I take with me daily, I think I will make a few changes to the amount I carry as it is a tad excessive, 2 mascara's and 2 pairs of sunglasses is a tad much.

What do you carry around with you in your handbag?

My horrible skin!

My skin is horrendous and I'm not beating about the bush at all. Thanks to being a lazy when I was a younger teenager and having a horrendous diet, my skin has suffered. I was also a terrible spot picker.
Thanks to being horrible to my skin and only using cheap baby wipes to clean my skin my face isn't in the best condition at all, its littered with scars, horrid pigmentation and almost invisible spots that don't seem to like any make up. Even with cleansing, moisterising, using a glycolic acid serum on my skin daily and also using a primer and high end foundation my skin is horrible. Its greasy all the time and then dry around the nose and my foundation looks alright for around an hour, then settles in my pores no matter what I do. Sigh.

I've attempted to change my skincare routine to see whether that will change anything at all, but my skin is still being a child and taking a tantrum and refusing to change at all.

When I wake up I always wash my face straight away to remove the oil slick I wake up with, I previously used the No7 Foaming Cleanser, which helped keep spots at bay but didn't help with my pigmentation issues at all. I then used Avon's solutions serum with glycolic acid and then used Origins drink up intensive mask, but only a pea sized amount as its a heavy duty mask and its the only thing that helped with any dryness for a longer time.

Sadly the only thing that seems to be working in my skincare routine is my eye cream, which is the amazing Origins gin zing, its helped my puffy eyes not look so hooded and they look and feel more healthy.

My new revised skincare routine has changed twice, I swapped the No7 foaming cleanser after I watched a video with Caroline Hirrons explain that foaming cleansers were very bad for troublesome skin as it dries it out and causes more problems, so that's gone to the back of the cupboard. It was replaced with Philosophy's purity cleanser. But sadly that didn't seem to do much, however it was better then the No7 cleanser.
Sadly due to the price of the Philosophy cleanser I haven't been able to repurchase the purity cleanser, wahhh!
Although Tesco has BOGOF deal for the new L'Oreal micellar water as its supposed to be a dupe for the ever hyped Bioderma. I've only had the micellar water for less then a week, so its early days yet, but its great for removing make up but not much else.

I've also cut out a lot of sugars from my diet and no long drink fizzy drinks, but it hasn't made any impact yet.
Another one of my problem is my horrible scarring, but I doubt there is some amazing moisturiser or mask that will be able to reduce the pot holes in my face, although I'm tempted to try bio-oil.

What's your skincare routine?

Inspiration!

All images have been found on weheartit, pinterest and google.
I do not own any of the images above.