The Clothes Show Live Returns to London!

Hiya!

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend (again!) It's going to a bit of a mental one - I've lots planned and have been recently suffering a cold, so I hope that I don't end up burning myself out all over again and making myself ill once more! :-P

On top of all the party plans, this Sunday my friend and I are going to the Clothes Show Live at the ExCeL in the London Docklands! I remember watching the Clothes Show, the TV series, when I was very little. Every Sunday evening I religiously watched wide-eyed at all the very pretty, crazy and wild outfits. I was too young to follow fashion myself of course, but I still loved to pore over the prettiness and dream! :-D

A decade and a bit later and I'm actually going to be at the Clothes Show event that's held annually. It's been missing in action in the recent years but this year it makes a very happy return with some big celebs and experts there, such as Erin O'Connor (the model!), Andrew Collinge (hair expert!) and many more!

Jessica Nails will be in attendance with their luxurious Nail & Champagne Bar, something tells me my friend and I will most definitely be stumbling into this - pretty nails and champers - could a girl ask for more?! And of course there will be a catwalk for everyone to see and say "Ooooh" and "Ahhh"... :-P

It's an event not to be missed, especially as the word on the street is that on Sunday there's gonna be lots of discounts here, there and everywhere :-D So if you haven't got your tickets yet HURRY!

Are you gonna be there? If so, what are you most looking forward to and why?

I'll be back next week with a big scoop on what went down at the event and what goodies I picked up. Oh and maybe a piccie of my beautiful nails (why not?!)

Bon weekend! x

More info at http://www.clothesshowlondon.com/

Makeup Bag and Brush Holder Goodness!

Hello everyone!

I had an amazing birthday weekend and I was very lucky because the Bank Holiday weekend happened to coincide so 3-day weekend galore for me, hehe :-) I had an awesome time and enjoyed myself SO much thanks to all my lovely friends and family and by no means least the Man for organising such a wonderful weekend! x

A couple of my pressies were very special indeed and I wanted to share them on here. My lovely friend Gemma - who I've mentioned runs Anderra, also runs her very own design agency called Toggle. Not only does she make bath bombs, soaps and lovely smelly things for your skin etc. she's also quite the craftswoman when it comes to sewing and making useful things like mobile phone pouches, bags for sunglasses and other beautiful bits and bobs!

She has a super knack at finding the most cutest prints and fabrics, fantastic buttons and details no matter what the use. For my birthday she made me the most gorgeous makeup bag from silk and its very own matching brush holder!! The design is beautiful and the silk is almost irridescent, it's a purply-turquoise depending what light you hold it under. The little ribbon details are so cute and it's great to have my very own unique kit now :-D

Update: Gemma's taken some piccies of the bag and brush holder. I've linked them here for you to have an ogle because they're just so pretty I can't do them justice by describing them alone!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3fold/3709955538/

Gemma also sells her very talented wares every so often. If you want to have your very own unique iPod sock or maybe even your own matching makeup bag and brush holder set (by special request!) then get in touch with her by visiting her websites at Toggle or Anderra!

For more info on Toggle click here

Anderra can be found here

Birthday Beauties!

Hey everyone!

OK I'm gonna have a moment of selfish celebration and announce that I am officially on the Birthday train today - next stop: Party Central, baby! Oh yes, the weekend has a lot in store according to the Man, so I wait in excitement to see what the surprises will be (LOVE surprises!).

I've already had a fantastic day so far: it's been gloriously sunny for my special day, my gorgeous man got me my favourite childhood film of all time - Alice in Wonderland. All wrapped up in penguin wrapping paper (it's one of those sickly sweet couply meanings, but it's my birthday so let me have my moment)! I've been meaning to get it for ages since I haven't seen it in years due to only ever owning the copy on VHS and not DVD. What is with that story? I love its craziness, imagination and originality!

I've had some awesome cards with lovely, lovely messages and I even finally got some vanilla syrup for my homemade coffees (Random, I know but I seriously have been so lame getting hold of some for my coffee fixes that someone just gave in and got me some lol!).

On the beauty front I have some Aveda Botanical Kinetics Hydrating Lotion as a birthday pressie too - or apparently facial moisturiser lol! I've never tried Aveda's skincare apart from their handcream which smells a lot like lemon meringue pie, mmmm... So I'll be giving this a shot over the next few days and letting you guys know my thoughts! :-)

Otherwise I'm staving off a cold, determined not to let it pull me down during my birthday weekend, no, no the germs can hit the road, they aren't welcome here!

And I promise I'll resume to my normal regular-ish posts as soon as I can - I think it's high time to get on and create some FOTDs. I've got some exciting work coming up too and I'm very keen to get going on it all and hopefully show you guys the fruits of my labour :-P

Have a great weekend everyone and I'll catch up with you all next week! x

All Things Tigi!!...

Hey guys and girls,

I keep taking breaks in this old blogging business but I don't want to just write about any old thing, so keeping the blog fresh sometimes means taking a break back at the drawing board to think up, buy, haul and experiment! Also work has been crazy-busy and I haven't found 5 minutes to actually sit down and give a post some thought.

Again, as I have done of late, today's post is a little divert from makeup but is still beauty at heart. I want to talk hair! It's only been in the past 2 years that I really got the money to invest in some proper hair care products and actually having some lovely do's done at the hairdressers :-) Before then I used to make terrible mistakes with home bleaching kits (nearly killing my poor hair!) which then took 2 years to put right afterwards. Since then and having spoken to many a hairdresser I've come to realise the importance of taking care of those tresses :-P And also that there are some great products on the market that can really perform miracles on hair no matter what your hair type!

Tigi Hair products are one of my favourite brands to use - they currently have 3 lines - Bedhead, Catwalk and S Factor, all of which can be found in most hair salons. Bedhead's a very fun line, I've heard many people compare their packaging to that of toys in the bedroom department (that's all I'm saying, there are children about!). The colours and names are wild and wacky with names like "Dumb Blonde", "Queen for the Day" and "Control Freak".

I currently own Tigi's Bedhead Superstar Queen for the Day Spray, Foxy Curls Curling serum and Control Freak Conditioner. A mini review for each can be found below:

Tigi Bedhead Control Freak Conditioner
This is amazing! It comes in a small bottle with a dispenser pump, the bottle is a clear plastic and the conditioner is a green "sliquid" texture that smells like pineapple!! A small squeeze of this is all you need to run through your hair in the shower after you're done with your shampoo. I tend to leave mine in whilst I wash myself down and then rinse before I finish up to give it some time to really sink in and do its job.

This stuff claims to cut drying time for your hair... I'm not sure about that, I think it might but probably because my hair tends to dry quite quickly anyway I can't tell. I can certainly vouch for it taming flyaways and the frizzy tendancies my hair can suffer from when out in the humidity! Especially as at the moment, I've run out of my favourite anti-frizz serum, so I'm having to use a less-than-ideal one I bought ages ago that doesn't do a very good job at taming my hair. Needless to say this conditioner helps kick some serious butt on the frizz front! :-D


Tigi Bedhead Foxy Curls Contour Cream
This comes in a very cute purple curvy bottle also with a pump dispenser. The texture of this product is creamy and it's a pinky-white colour. It also smells unlike anything I've ever used, it almost smells like pink lemonade, but even then I'm not sure. It somehow manages to smell fizzy anyway :-D It smells so nice that you can smell it in your hair all day long but as I use this nearly every day, I've got used to it and can't smell it anymore :-(

This stuff is great for contouring your curls and giving them some added definition. I think this formula is brill for beachy waves and loose, carefree curls - but if you're after a bit more hold and added ooomph to your curls you're better off using Tigi's Catwalk Curls Rock range as that makes curls more defined and is perfect for adding far more spring to them.


Tigi Superstar Queen for the Day
This a fine mist that comes in a massive bottle. The bottle I had of this recently ran out and it has lasted me 14 months!!! You need very little, simply either spray a little into the roots as and where you want lift or spray into the hands and then run through your roots. If you feel like overall volume spray all over... Then dry your hair with your hairdryer as normal and watch your mane become mahoosive! You can use your hairdryer with the attachment to tease your hair at the roots for gentle volume. If you already have quite curly hair, be sure to dry slowly on a cool setting or your hair will look like something out of a Tarzan and Jane experience! :-P

I'll be buying more of Tigi's stuff very soon, including their Control Freak serum, S Factor Heat Defence spray and so watch this space for more reviewage! :-D

x

Image Source
Images courtesy of www.getlippy.com and www.wikidhair.co.uk

A Rose Romance - out now!

For those of you who don't know, the eagerly awaited A Rose Romance launched yesterday (I was onsite with work nextdoor to Soho's very own MAC PRO store where they were prepping the store before opening) :-D

I'm really loving the two Beauty Powders that MAC_Whore from Specktra reviewed a few weeks ago after the US launch. I don't have a bird's-eye view image of the powders myself, but if you go to her blog you'll see her piccie - oh the crumpled rose petal effect is so original and very, very pretty! In fact, as she says, you almost don't want to use them in fear of them fading lol! I think I'm gonna have to get me one :-P

Second of all, and I normally I don't get that excited about nail polish, but I saw her post on the Love and Friendship Nail Lacquer as part of the Rose Romance collection and my oh my, it's gorgeous. Very feminine, very pretty, very me. It's going on the Wants List! The shade is a lavender-pinky colour and quite dusky and it comes in three finishes: Cream, Sheer and Frosted.

Never have nails looked so darn pretty! :-P

Stolen Videos!!

Hey guys and gals!

Today's post is just a little more on the serious side surrounding the issue of websites ripping off people's YouTube videos on makeup advice, whether they be reviews, tutorials or just simply portfolios showing a few of their finely crafted looks.

I've only came across news on the issue of video copyright theft on YouTube recently via a website called Specktra - an online community forum and blog for fans of MAC and other consumer/professional cosmetics. It's a great resource and if you're anything like me and you haven't checked it out yet I recommend you do. However today in particular, I'm passing on the message from MissChievous (a moderator of Specktra) but also a valued member of the YouTube community who made a video informing fellow YouTubers of the website that calls itself Girlyvue.com.

I myself don't make or post videos on YouTube but of course I still feel that it's such a shame that the people who run this site feel entitled to just taking the videos for themselves and using them as they wish - without any credit at all given to the people who are making the videos. The YouTube community is full of talented, enthusiastic men and women who put many, many hours of practice, patience and sheer skill into what they do. They take the time and care to share it with millions of people worldwide, so it's a bit of a slap in the face for them to have someone steal their hard work and use it for their own without credit at the very least!

It would be a little different if the website asked the YouTubers for their permission beforehand but they're not even notifying them. So for any of you out there who has ever created, are creating or are thinking about making YouTube video tutorials and the like, please be aware that this website may very well have taken, or will take your videos and use them for their own content!

It's quite upsetting to see that instead of making at least a footnote accrediting the person in the video, they just simply say that the video was made by "Admin". The last I checked, a tiny sample of the people I recognise from their tutorials have never claimed to have anything to do with this website. So far I've seen the UK's very own Lauren Luke aka Panacea81 and also Fafinette3 on just the first page of video ''contributors''!

Despite MissChievous' attempts to ask Girlyvue to remove her own videos from their site, they've not even responded to her requests let alone taken action. So please make sure you do your utmost to copyright your videos as best as you can. I've been thinking about eventually posting my own videos as I improve my skills and I certainly would want to make sure that my videos were clearly mine. MissChievous (aka Julia) goes on to recommend you do this by adding a watermark to your videos to distinguish them as yours and yours alone - this is something that will be embedded in your video using code and nobody will be able to remove this if they pinch your vid!

Her video can be found on her blog. If you're using Windows Movie Maker you can get the code here: http://www.trugga.co.uk/wmm/

Instructions on how to make a watermark can be found here: http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/Forums/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=28

Thanks for letting us know Julia and if you're reading this please pass it on!