The Mission to find a Face Primer...

A few weeks ago I was asked to review a face primer - specifically one of the new Urban Decay face primers that came out recently. I didn't rate it at all. Not one to leave it at that I wanted to seek out an alternative that could come in handy for all you makeup lovers. I chose to buy and trial Too Faced's Primed and Poreless Face Primer.

Could I find it at any of the Too Faced counters? Nope. I tried Boots, Debenhams and even online stores that sell Too Faced (which isn't many at the moment). None of them had it in stock. I then checked the shelf labels at the counters to see if it was supposed to be in, hoping that they were perhaps awaiting delivery but none of the shelf labels listed the primer at all. It would appear that no UK Too Faced counter/online store sells the face primer... Bizarre.

Now I'm feeling sheepish for saying I'd buy it and review it before I even got my hands on it. Having said that, considering practically all of the Too Faced range is available in stores you'd think that the primer would be too...

I'm very sorry for not being able to deliver the review, but I promise the quest hasn't stopped there! I will continue to search long and hard for an alternative primer to Urban Decay's but in the meantime I can't recommend enough the GOSH primer that I myself use everyday to keep my foundation in place!

But I didn't want this post to be all bad news. Instead of reviewing their primer, I decided to get my hands on one of the Too Faced eyeshadow kits. They look so cute in all of their packaging and this one in particular just drew me in. I must say I'm pretty impressed...

Too Faced's Natural Eye Kit

Natural eyes, whilst many of us want to achieve them on a day to day basis, can be quite difficult to achieve. Well this is where this kit comes in handy. All the eyeshadows come in a box and when you lift the lid you'll discover 9 different eyeshadow colours, along with 3 different helpful cards telling you how to complete various looks depending on what you're after and the occassion.

The eyeshadows are nicely laid out together so you know which shadows to use for each look. Of the looks available you can choose from:

• Day
• Classic
• Fashion

'Day' is the nudest look, and the eyeshadows needed for this look are the top row within the box. You'll find a lovely cream colour 'Heaven' for the highlight, a nice nude brown shade 'Velvet Revolver' for the lids, and a lovely coffee colour, 'Sexpresso' for the accent shade.

The second row belongs to the 'Classic' look. Here you'll find 'Silk Teddy', a shimmery soft pink shade to go as a highlight, 'Pushup' and 'Erotica' as your shade for your crease.

The final row as you may have guessed is designed for the 'Fashion' look. These three shades consist of 'Nude Beach', 'Honey Pot' and 'Cocoa Puff'.

The first thing you'll notice about these shades even by just dipping your finger in them and not using a primer or base is that they are really pigmented and are of very high quality. I was really impressed with the strength of the colour achieved, so with an eyeshadow base you really don't need that much to achieve the look you're after. They also blend beautifully and their lasting power? Perfect. They don't budge at all.

I'm perhaps not so fond of the shimmery highlight colours as the other shades in the kit but that's just down to personal preference really.

The kit retails at £22.00 which isn't very cheap but you do get 9 eyeshadows for that price, all neatly and well presented within a box which is very light and compact and you could easily take

it away with you on holiday or for that weekend away! Plus with the added bonus of the cards you can really learn from them again and again and perfect those natural peepers.

I really love this eyeshadow set and to prove it I keep using it time and time again both on myself and on others so it really has become a staple in my kit.

Body Confidence

Okay I admit this is a bit of a copy-cat post because Georgie from So Full of Twilight Dreams That Glitter posted about this yesterday. However I strongly support this cause and want to do my bit in spreading the word further!

Recently the lovely and charismatic Gok Wan from Channel 4's How to Look Good Naked and Shona Collins, winner of Miss Naked Beauty 2008, have set up a petition to Number 10 to get Body Confidence on the National Curriculum to help teenage girls gain and maintain confident and positive thinking when it comes to their bodies and self esteem.

I'm sure that some, if not all of you girls out there remember that your teenage years are pretty tough as you're at your most vulnerable, impressionable and therefore likely to develop bad habits when it comes to your attitude towards your own bodies. Or you may be a teenage girl and would really like help in addressing this.

I think that it's a great petition because if it can help teenagers develop a positive sense of self earlier on, those good mental habits will stay with them for life!

I'd really appreciate it if you could help and sign the petition online today. It's currently the 4th biggest petition on the Number 10 website, but if we can get it to be number 1 then all the better! It only takes a few seconds and your signature will make all the difference!

Please pass this onto friends, family and colleagues - let's get the word out there : )

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/bodyconfidence/

Thank you so much! x

Awesome Vintage Shopping & Cupcakes To Boot!

Sunday afternoon was truly delightful! The sun was shining, and the Autumnal weather was just about mild enough to be pleasant and off we went to the Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair - so much fun in one afternoon.

All the vintage stalls were wonderful, a lot of them had such lovely owners running them. Some of the sellers were really chatty, helpful and informative - one of them even told me that one of my buys was a genuine 60s number - this is the one that I'll be wearing for Halloween as Twiggy ; )

And on top of all the fun with clothes, when you needed a break or a sugar/caffeine boost you could even grab a cupcake and a pot of Fairtrade tea, with a lovely performance of classic songs like Marilyn Monroe's and the by one of the lovely girls at Pop-Up-Shoppe tea shop! What more could you ask for?!

I had such a lovely time and without a doubt I'll be returning to shop there again when the Fair returns next Spring (I think they return in April, but I'll keep you posted).

Here's some snapshots of some of the items I bought - check out a sneak-peek at the 60s dress for my Twiggy outfit and the cute spotty 80s number, so fun. Oh and I couldn't resist -I threw in one of my new ruby red ballet pumps that the courier delivered today, yay!

The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair

I'm very excited - tomorrow afternoon London plays host to the largest vintage fair in the UK: The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair. You'll find 50 stalls of vintage joy offering vintage clothing, accessories and even homeware from the 1920s right through to the 1980s.

The Fair has been going strong for four years now and is so popular because it's an opportunity for anyone to come along and search out for some great quality vintage bits and bobs at really affordable prices - perfect when your wallet's feeling the pinch from the current recession!

Don't worry if you don't live in London though. The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair tours the UK and sets up its stalls in different towns and cities at different times of the month. The Fair will be visiting the following places in the next remaining months for 2009 - look out for a town near you:

October '09

25th - London

31st - Lincoln

November '09

1st - Cheshire

21st - Cambridge

22nd - York

28th - Durham

29th - Newcastle

December '09

5th - Liverpool

6th - Leeds

12th - Norwich

As for tomorrow's fair it starts at 12pm and goes on till 5pm and takes place at the Sustainable Studios, 65-71 Scrutton Street, London, EC2A 4PJ. Let the scouring for all vintage goodness commence!

For more information visit http://www.vintagefair.co.uk/

How to Master False Eyelashes

Well Halloween is only a week away and with that I've been planning my costume for Halloween partydom! I decided as I love her look so much and seeming as she turned sixty this year, I've picked Twiggy as my star of choice for playing dressup : )

Twiggy was famous for her massive false eyelashes so I'll be using these as part of my completed look next Saturday... But falsies can be very tricky to master - worry not! The very lovely Victor C from MAC has given us his top tips in a brand new video on how to apply, disguise and get the best out of your false eyelashes!

What you'll need:

• Eyelash curler (MAC's is great)
• Black mascara of your choice
• False eyelashes of your choice (false eyelashes are sold at many different places as well as MAC stores, you can find them at Superdrug or Boots, Sallys or other makeup counters. They also vary in price, it really depends on what you prefer. Ardell make great false eyelashes at purse-friendly prices!)
• False eyelash adhesive (should come with your pair of false eyelashes!)
• Black eyeliner gel (I can thoroughly recommend MAC's Blacktrack Fluidline for this)
• Small angle brush

And here's the link to Victor's video - he gives some great sneaky secrets on how to make your false eyelashes look seamless:

False Lashes with Victor

In the meantime I'll be working on my Twiggy look for next Saturday, I'll take some photos and I'll be making a tutorial for you guys to recreate your very own Twiggyness! Also I promise I haven't forgotten the Aviator look and the Eyebrows tutorial either - my silly camera is still being a massive nuisance which means they're going to take a little while to put together.

Funnily enough the boy found a fantastic camera yesterday - we're thinking it's time to ask Santa nicely for one hehehe...

NOTD - Ruby Red Slippers

I love Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and her amazing Ruby Red Slippers! Once I spotted a girl wearing an awesome pair of sparkly, ruby red ballet pumps. I really wished I'd asked her where she'd bought them from! Since that day I've been endlessly searching for those shoes.

I have a pair of red patent leather ballet pumps and I'm often asked if I click my heels together will they take me home, haha! But I often think back to those sparkly ones that I saw once upon a time and daydream - I find plenty of ruby red slippers with heels, but I preferred the ballet pumps and believe me, if you'd seen this pair you'd have preferred the non-heel variety too!

My search continued... UNTIL TODAY! My saviours of the Ruby Red Slipper Mission? ASOS (see piccie above for the prettiest pumps I think I've ever owned, hehehe). I think I'm going to have to write to them to say how much I love them for coming to my ruby red rescue!

As an ode to those pretty shoes, today's Nails of the Day are sparkly and red just like them. The nail polish I used here is an old brandless bottle that I wouldn't be able to tell you where to find it. But you'll be pleased to hear that Barry M offer an exact replica called Red Glitter for £2.95 a bottle - hoorah!

Lush - A Few Reviews

Seeming as their sister brand (B Never) is saying a fond farewell to us all at the end of the year, I thought I'd celebrate my favourites at Lush to take our minds off the very sad news! I love Lush and their products because they make such fun cosmetics for all ages - it's like being a kid again when you get to try all of the different types of textures, smells and sensations. And because their products are so different from your average cosmetics and toiletries on the market, it makes preening and cleaning yourself that bit more special and fun!

I've got a list as long as my arm here people, so if you're thinking of making a Christmas list for yourselves, then you better get scribbling...

Cupcake Fresh Face Mask

It smells like chocolate icecream, looks like chocolate icecream so it's got to taste like it, no? I don't know, I can't say I've tried but what I can say is that whilst I can't recommend you taste it I can recommend that you use this all over your face every week if you suffer from oily or acne-prone skin.

This face mask has been specifically designed with teenagers in mind. It's perfect to soothe breakouts and prevent new ones. The main ingredient that you may mistake for chocolate icecream is Rhassoul mud which is responsible for soothing angry red blemish-prone skin...

Whilst my skin isn't so teenage anymore, I do have skin that leans towards the oilier side and I also suffer from clogged pores. So I use this mask on my T Zone once or twice a week. It has peppermint oil in it so it's slightly cooling and when you take it off your skin's left feeling really smooth, soothed and soft. You'll also end up with a slight whiff of chocolate on your skin so don't be surprised if people start to drool after you!

Snow Fairy Shower Gel

It's pink, has sparkles in it and smells divine - what's not to love?! In fact I wish my blog came with Smell-o-Vision, I don't think describing the scent can do it justice. The first time I smelt this I got very excited, haha! My sister had received a bottle one Christmas and I decided I just had to have some too. Except by the time I trotted along to Lush I'd missed out and found out that this beautiful shower gel is only limited to the Christmas period.

Well I'm not going again another a year without it so I'm all stocked up now. I love that it leaves you feeling young again - it smells like all the naughty sweets you used to love as a kid and the smell lingers on your skin and in the bathroom long after you've showered. You can also use it in your hair if you like and you can buy it in three different sizes 100g, 250g and 500g. If you haven't smelt this yet then I'm sure when you do you'll be stocking up on the largest bottles to last you until the next Christmas... Snow Fairy is available to buy now!

Ocean Salt Facial Cleanser

It's like rubbing the contents of a cocktail bar... ON YOUR FACE! There's salt, lime and even vodka in this heavenly facial cleanser. It works as an exfoliator and is ideally best for those of you with oily skin. This is the best exfoliator I have ever used on my face and I mean EVER! Not only is it really fun - when you open the tub you'll see big, blue, beautiful chunks of sea salt and then if you delve in you'll notice the mousse-like cleanser all mixed in underneath! It's also really good at controlling oil, unclogging my pores and making my skin super soft! My skin hasn't been in this good condition for a long time, I love it and will definitely be stocking up on this in future...

Curly Wurly Shampoo

There's no chocolate or caramel in sight but if you open up the tub you'll find a very fun coconut mixture inside. I dare you to turn the tub upside down - with the lid off! No it doesn't move - at all. This is a solid shampoo and as you'll see if you scoop some out, it contains tonnes of dessicated coconut. All you need to do is wet your hair, grab a small amount of Curly Wurly and rub it in your hair and voila - as if by magic, it bubbles up and creates a wonderful lather leaving your hair feeling silky soft!

Designed for those of us with curly hair (hence the name!), it's great at curing the dried, dull texture that curly hair can suffer from time to time. If you have processed hair then this shampoo will work wonders for you too! If you want to follow up with a conditioner too then you can buy Coolaulin - a similar mix but with creamed coconut and lemon juice for added shine - this conditioner is however a liquid and comes in a bottle.