A wonderful surprise & a very small giveaway

This afternoon, I got home from work in a foul mood. It was raining, some crazy woman kissed her teeth because I'd had the nerve to say "don't worry it's not like I need my spine" when her umbrella poked me in the back and she'd failed to even make a half-assed apology....and I'd stepped in a dog turd wearing new shoes...BUT...I walked through the door and ripped open a neat little package from my first ever swap buddy! Stoked. Seriously. This woman knows me and what I like.



She bought me some beautiful things, and things I'd never choose for myself. I don't think I'd ever pick out neon nail colours for myself because I'm so pale...you know what? They work. I'm IN LOVE with the matte bright purple. It looks gorgeous matte and glossy with a top coat.



Tried the bright red lip (again, something I'd never choose for myself) and I love it! Wet n Wild lippies have a great texture. I'm not sure how well they wear but they apply well and easily straight from the bullet. Got a couple of back ups of some Wet n Wild single shadows which I'm so pleased about because one in particular (Nutty) - is nearing pan territory. M - thank you SO much for everything, it was the sweetest thing and a wonderful surprise to come home to. I can't wait to send you a few things and to set up another swap! It's time huh?



I'm also back with a small giveaway. Recently e.l.f. had an offer on their Studio Eyeliner & Shadow sticks so I snapped up two of each and I'm giving the other set away. They're great on-the-go products and have excellent staying power. If you're in it to win it, just comment (say anything other then I WANNA WIN) and the winner will be chosen at random on Saturday 25th June 11.59PM GMT+1.

I hope everyone is enjoying the start to their Summers/Winters. We've had nothing but rain and the possibility of rain. When the sun comes out, it rains 3 minutes later and sh*ts all over all chance of tanning/hanging your laundry out/GOING ANYWHERE! But it's London...and I love it. Mostly.



Plus, the messed up weather meant we got a buttload of fruit early this year! Yummy, home grown raspberrys. Incredible.



Remember the cute, tiny little kitten we got? Well...she's still tiny...but she's a cheeky little bugger. She's taken to jumping in my bag before I leave for work.



In a load of bee hive frames. Don't worry, we didn't leave her in there. Plus she jumped in on her own when we were stacking them.



All cuddles........



....no....I'm totes not trying to eat the cat...

October Favourites: e.l.f, No7, Wet n Wild, Models Own, M.A.C

There are a few things I've been using religiously this month. A few are past loves, a few are products I didn't think too much of when I first bought them and have found new uses for and some are products I've bought recently that have had a lot of use.

First up is a product I bought nearly a year ago and didn't really like. It was decent but wasn't something I reached for very often. e.l.f HD powder from their studio line. I use this to set my under eye concealer and find it does an absolutely fantastic job of that! I like using my Revlon contour crease brush for this. It's a little messy to use because of the square lid and round screw top but at a fiver, you can't complain much and if I'm using this to set under my eyes, it'll last forever.



Next is a product I received in a swap a while back. I've been using this a lot lately as the shades are very autumnal and we all know I love a good purple. It's the Wet n Wild ColorIcon palette in Lust. Gorgeous shades, incredible pigmentation. If you can get your hands on this I really recommend you do! I hear fantastic things about the ColorIcon shadows and am hoping to get a few more. If anyone on the other side of the pond is interested in doing a swap please get in touch! I'm guessing (and hoping) I'll be done with P5P by the end of November and the UK has a lot of awesome products available. Sleek and Barry M being the main brands and MeMeMe is one coming up in popularity.



M.A.C's Studio Finish concealer has been a staple of mine for a couple years now. It offers great coverage without looking cakey and the colour match is perfect. I have this concealer in NC20 and NW20 - NC I use for blemishes and NW I use under my eyes. I use this by applying with my fingers and patting in to blend.



M.A.C eyeshadow in Humid is another one I've been going to quite a lot lately. One of my Project 5 Pan items is a neutral Biotherm duo which is lovely on it's own but sometimes it's nice just to add a pop of colour and I love green on my eyes. I have small green patches dotted around my iris and this really brings them out.



I bought a Models Own blending brush in a set back when they had their 50% off sale. The size of this brush is perfect for my eyes. I have hooded eyelids and not much lid space so find that it's difficult to create definition in my crease while blending out well and not too far up for a daytime look. This brush is an ideal size for that. It's soft and washes well too. I've not noticed any shedding.





Last up is No7 Stay Perfect nail polish in Totally Teal. It's the most perfect creamy petrol blue colour. I usually change my nail polish up every couple of days because I get bored, but I find myself reapplying this one day after day! It also looks fantastic with gold glitter over the top. I have one of these polishes included in my giveaway! If you haven't entered, you can do so here.



What are your October favourites? Have you used any of these products? Share!

Makeup Storage

This is just how I do it. We're living with friends at the moment so our situation is temporary and rather cramped. Hopefully we'll be able to move somewhere permanent soon! But for now, this is how I have to store my collection and think it's a great way to do it if you don't have a lot of room - if you're heading off to university for example. I know how it is! They expect you to cram all your things into a room the size of your bathroom and sleep on a bed the size of your little sister's.

Firstly, all these drawers and boxes are on bookshelves - fantastic space saver. Build up if you can't build out. The rest of it is on a shelf on the wall - another way to maximise the space you have and if done right, can look really pretty! I have a few small paintings I did dotted around the wall in amongst the shelves and I love how it looks!

I have several of these Ikea desk drawers in storage - some are painted/decoupaged, some are not (I'm working on it) - but I could only fit one on my two shelves (it's a bookshelf). I also have a few Ikea storage boxes, these are cardboard and of course self assembled. They're actually pretty sturdy, I've had these for about 4 years!



L-R, top to bottom:
1. Lip products & spare applicators. I keep the sponge tip applicators/brushes that come with eyeshadows/blushes etc because they're good for swatching and great for travel if you're only away for a day or two.
2. Blushes and bronzers.



3. Eyeliners and mascaras.



4. Single eyeshadows, pigments, glitters, cream shadows, small palettes and a few MAC pan shadows I have yet to put in palettes. Mostly eye products that don't have a real home live in here for now. I re-used a couple of boxes I got from gift sets of mini shower gels/soaps to create dividers in the drawers.



5. Foundations, concealers and face powders
6. MAC palettes, a few random face products - moisturisers, primers, toners etc. Things I don't use on a daily basis.
7. Brushes I don't use on a daily basis are sealed in baggies and put in here. I also keep spare daily brush cleaners and my baby shampoo in here (Simple Baby Shampoo).
8. Basket with hair scrunchies, hair bands and hair clips.
9. Small pot of brushes I use every day.
10. Metal box of jewelry. I also have a couple of necklace stands on top of the shelf not shown.
11. Pot of earrings on top of an glass tray that has rings on it.
12. Larger palettes that I don't use much. There are a few spare body moisturisers in there for when I get through the ones I'm currently using.

The plastic drawers are from Poundland and are very good for storing makeup if you're not concerned about it looking pretty as they're stackable. I've yet to find a way to customise these but I'm sure I'll get round to it. I believe I got the glass jar at TK Maxx for a couple quid in the clearance section.



L-R, top to bottom:

1. - 4. Eyeshadow palettes.
5. Samples - skincare, perfume, moisturiser etc. I keep these to use when I travel. You know those perfume samples you get in magazines? I cut them out and keep them for when I'm away from home for a day or two so I don't have to carry a huge bottle. Same goes for moisturisers.



6. Tools. Tweezers (I swear by Tweezerman), eyebrow scissors, sharpeners, and a kabuki brush which I use every day but keep in here because it seems to attract dust like crazy. I also keep spare blotting sheets in here. You'll notice I don't mention lashes or lash curlers - I'm absolutely petrified of anything that goes on my lashes other than mascara.

7. Shelf with products I use every day: Cetaphil moisturisers, Lush Tea Tree Water, e.l.f. daily brush cleaner, Dove deodorant (the Grapefruit and lemongrass one is my favourite and the only one I can use without my pits getting all spotty!), Lee Stafford heat protectant and a Nicky Clark leave in conditioner. I keep my cleansers in the bathroom.

I also keep random other bits and pieces; perfumes, hand sanitizers, cotton buds, "feminine products", nail polish, body lotions etc in a large drawer in our dresser. I like to keep my perfumes out of sunlight because it preserves them. No matter how pretty the bottle is, I'd rather keep the fragrance! You can also do this by storing them in their boxes.





Another Ikea storage box with my nail products and nail polishes. (That isn't a fake MAC polish haha, it's Relic and I believe it's from the 90's - still goes on a dream!)

As you can see, it's all a bit mixed up. I'm hoping I'll be able to have my dream set up when we move to our own place but for now this works for me. I can find things easily and not have to take up half the room with all my "crap" as John puts it. I already take up 3/4 of the wardrobe with my "crap" (because John has like....a Tshirt and 3 socks) so I thought it was only fair not to take up the rest of what little space we have with the rest of my "crap".

I think these Ikea drawers are fantastic for storing makeup and love that you're able to customise them! I don't think they sell them anymore, but they do have some that have a nicer finish and more styles which I plan on buying when we move.

It's also worth thinking about re-using cute packaging you get from gifts.

Don't you love the colour of our wall?! Even though we're living here temporarily, we HAD to paint the room. It was bright pink and purple with a horrible kiddy border! This one wall with the shelves is this gorgeous dark turquoise, the rest is white)

Models Own Haul

Adding to the 6 polishes I purchased before the 50% off sale, I decided to order another 10 polishes. That is how much I adore them!

I only recently started getting into nail polish. I started building my collection about a year ago and think these polishes are great additions. Like I said when I reviewed my first Models Own polish, Golden Peach; these polishes stay chip free for days, they're easy to apply and they come in a range of gorgeous colours.



My Models Own collection (minus the free black kohl liner)

Swatches:



NP054 Top Turquoise



NP068 Misty Grey



NP092 Peach Sherbet



NP075 Nude Beige



NP073 Champagne



NP065 Matt Black (wet)



NP065 Matt Black (dry)

The next few are glitters (one coat):



NP006 Purple Haze



NP008 Gold Finger



Bluebell



NP010 Disco Mix

I believe the sale ends today so hurry over to www.modelsownit.com

Previous Models Own haul and swatches can be found here.

And the reason for my blog sale...August Haul!

I spent a lot this month! But it gave me a good excuse to clear out my wardrobe (and under the bed...and...the stuff stored on top of the wardrobe) so I'm happy.

I bought a ton of stuff for a swap I'm doing with one of my Twitter/BlogTV friends so I got mega excited about that! My first swap! I really hope she loves what I've bought her. I'll do a post when I receive her package and write more about what purchases I made for her and why.

I also bought a handful of things for my friend Joanna who is visiting from Hong Kong. Another separate post! I'm hoping to take her to the CCO in Bisceter Village.



More stuff for Jackie (who just got married!) which I'll send when her box is full up.



Picked up a bunch from Superdrug and made a few repurchases. First, a GOSH liner in Bananas - the best waterline colour. It's not as harsh as white and a nice shimmery alternative to my matt nude liner. They didn't have any Simple baby wipes in stock so I picked up some Pampers ones instead. Don't like them as much and they sting my eyes but they'll do for now! They had an offer on Barry M polishes so as well as picking up a few for some friends, I got Mushroom (finally!) and Lemon - a lovely pale yellow. Another item I've been wanting for a long time is Revlon's crease brush so I picked that up. It's so, so soft.

Same day, different shop. I popped into Boots and got a 17 Lasting Fix nail polish in Parma Violet and I'm very excited to try it. It looks so beautiful in the bottle. For some reason, I picked up a Miss Sporty Studio Lash mascara. Never used anything from this brand before, so it'll be interesting to try. Nice and cheap at £2.99. On my way to the checkout, I stopped to smell some of the body sprays and picked up a mango and papaya one - great for throwing in your bag when it's hot out. The smell fades quite quickly but it's a big bottle and wasn't expensive so I don't mind much.

Last two stops were The Body Shop where I picked up a few facial buffers and Lush where I bought another stash of Fresh Farmacy and CoalFace for John. These facial buffers...amazing. I now no longer need to buy a separate exfoliator!



I also picked up some ASDA own brand Skin, Hair & Nails vitamins. I've never been one to believe that a vitamin that costs 3x as much as another is any better. It all has the same stuff in it so why not save a few quid?

Pantene's new Aqua Light range pulled me in. I picked up the smaller bottles since they were 2 for £3 at Boots. I ran out of blades for my razor so instead of shelling out a ton for new ones, I decided to go back to disposables. I find they irritate my skin less - weird right?

A Filipino food store in Croydon opened up - I popped in and picked up a few of my faves including Young Coconut juice (YUM) - this is on the same excitement level as getting my hands on Mushroom!



The thing I'm most excited about (I think Reggie is too) is a No7 polish in Totally Teal 115. It was the last one on the shelf so I grabbed it quick! Of course, I bought it with one of my 500 No7/Ruby & Millie vouchers from Boots. I hate that whenever you spend one, you get one! I think I'll just have to resort to ONLY buying something with the voucher instead of...oh I'll just pick up some shampoo and conditioner as well. That's how they get us. Well...me.



My Model's Own order arrived a couple days ago and I've resisted opening anything until now. I purchased 5 polishes (buy 5, get £7 off!) in Betty Blue, Peacock Green, Jade Stone, Magenta Pearl and Purple Grey (meant to be a dupe for Chanel Paradoxal). I also got the three piece brush set and I got a free black kohl liner as it was my first purchase. Of course, the weekend after I placed my order...they hit 10,000 "likes" on Facebook and have a 50% off sale site wide. Just my luck. Go check it out - once again I highly, highly recommend their polishes.

Nail polish swatches (excuse my skanky nails):



No7 115 Totally Teal



Model's Own NP028 Peacock Green



Model's Own NP083 Jade Stone



Barry M Nail Paint 024 Lemon



Model's Own NP085 Magenta Pearl



Model's Own NP056 Betty Blue



Boots 17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish Parma Violet



Barry M Nail Paint 310 Mushroom



Model's Own NP052 Purple Grey





I picked up Marc Jacobs Basil. It's a clean unisex fragrance with top notes of tomato leaf, lemon and basil, middle notes of orange blossom, freesia and jasmine and base notes of sandalwood, musk and cashmere wood. Now I don't know what any of that means, I just know that I like it. Though I do think it might be weird that John and I will smell the same on certain days. I think he'll be using this a lot more than I will as it's a slightly more masculine fragrance - and I'm more than happy for him to. It is after all, a huuuge bottle.

So that's it for now. I'm thinking of just posting monthly collective hauls. Sometimes I'll just pick up one or two items that don't really warrant a whole blog post unless there are reviews attached to them. What do you think?