HUGE Make Up Swap from the US

Hi there! Long time no speak, I know, I am rubbish with this blog but to be honest I don't think I've established what I should use it for. I mean I'm no beauty guru I just love make up but don't generally have a good enough face to take pictures of it daily and put them out there! However I do get the urge to write inspired posts about make up especially when I get a hefty ass box of it from the USA!!!

So I am going to warn you now this blog post will be VERY picture heavy! As I don't film videos like Jerlyn does This is just going to be a still life version! 

 So I was so excited to get this I didn't even wait till I got dressed to open this, so here's a sexy PJ shot.... hummm Doughnuts (not gonna lie bough these because of EssieButton)

 This was the first thing on the top and its a Sonia Kashuk brush set which is amazing I have wanted to try these brushes for ages and this set was perfect!

 As you can see this is one heck of a box! I love the mint green peanuts and the multi coloured tissue paper she had wrapped everything in!!!

 This was a very cute little bag of samples and perfumes that she had sent me! A fab idea. I only threw a few in to my box for her I wish I had thought about it a bit more because I have so many of those sample packs hiding around!

 A close up of the craziness.

 Heel rescue balm, two Milani lip products, MAC Creemesheen Glass and NYX Lippie

 I loves all the little notes, it's like a clue to what's inside also I think she said her cousin helped her do the wrapping hence all the stickers. They were also scratch and sniff.... No joke the Banana ones were A-MAZ-ING!!!!

 Sally Hansen Salon effects THREE OF THEM!!!

 ELF Mascara and NYX lashes

 ohhhh those stickers lol LOVE! 

 A very nice little ELF palette and cream eyeliner!

 It's never ending!!

 Ooooh how exciting... Yes I did what I was told!!! 

 These were such a surprise I adore the colours. I could not wait to try these!

 A BareMinerals blusher and a Victoria Secret Blusher

 MORE SAMPLES!

 FAB FAB FAB

 OOOH The famous NYX Jumbo eyeshadow pencils - she had sent me the one in Milk in my first swap box and I loved it!

 Milani Liquid Eye liner 

 Face masks

 ELF BLusher and mineral lipgloss

 O-M-G!!!!!

I wanted one of these palettes so bad!!! 

I was so excited to get this I had asked for this and I squealed a little bit when I got it! 

I have heard so many amazing things about these palettes I couldn't wait to try them!

 Senna - a neutral eye shadow trio which is really pretty and an Ulta single eye shadow 

 Two Maybelline 24 hour colour tattoos

 Two of the Revlon Lip butters

 Now this is so funny, I got my parcel Friday morning and I kid you not but on Wednesday I was in Boots looking at Peach Parfait thinking I really want to get this it is such a lovely colour! I refrained as I knew I was getting a box of goodies in the post soon so I walked away.... AND IT FOUND ITS WAY TO ME ANYWAY!!! Jerlyn is amazing I swear I didn't even ask for these! 

 Some lovely NYX loose pigments

 A BareMinerals lipgloss and ELF luscious liquid Lipstick and I think this one is her very favourite and I know she talks about it in many videos!

 Two Lippies from Wet N Wild

 This was a complete surprise...

 The studio Gear lippie was fab  although a little to brown for me at the moment however my mum snapped it up from me as she wears these colours all the time. I loved the packaging though so would love to see what other colours they do!

The Kat Von D Lip glosses were such a surprise the packaging is beautiful and the two colours she picked were lovely one was a red and the other a muted rose pink brown. So looking forward to wearing these! 

I knew exactly what these where....

China Glaze Anchors Away Collection

I had asked for these especially and I think she bought them well over a year ago as this box swap has been a good two years in the making I think! I loved this collection when it came out but the problem is over here the sets are around £45+ each and I think she got them for around $30 which is insane. SO I was beyond happy when I saw these! 

A NYX Make up bag and some NYX palettes plus she threw in some brushes which was very nice!

NYX Runway Collection palette in Champagne & Caviar

NYX I dream of Jamaica Palette

Some brushes

See I did what I was told!!! 

HOLY COW! 
I know she has had this on her blog sales a few times and to be honest I would have bought it off her but I could not believe this was in my box, It was so sweet! Ahhh I love it. I never managed to get this when it came out in the UK I think I was either away at sea or it just sold out before I got near it!!! Cannot get over this one!!! So amazing!!! 

This was the aftermath..... hummmm

WOW that was a post and a half! I have to thank Jerlyn so much for such an amazing box I think we really did well this time. This box was, like I said two years in the making, since we had done our last one so there has been alot of thought to it. It isn't cheap to do one of these just to warn you, we try to set a budget but don't really stick to it. Especially when it is bought over so many months it doesn't feel so bad. The shipping is a killer though our boxes were around 6-7lbs each and we both had to use a courier to ship them out. I think if I remember rightly hers cost me £44 and the one she shipped to me was $66 so it's does, do you in on that front. Hence the two year gap. 

I just want to add I hope no one thinks I am bragging with this post it was just my way of showing what she sent me as I know she mentioned it in the video and there have been comments of people wanting to see. I do also know this is alot of make up. My sister said when she saw it that it was more make up in that one box than she has owned, ever! This has sparked a clear out for me and alot of my new back ups that I don't need have gone on eBay and I've given away stuff too. So I am going to try and down size! 

Now I have to say I am very lucky to have met Jerlyn through her You tube and we are friends online which is how we decided to do this. I do see so many horror stories of people doing swaps and getting screwed over that I am very thankful I have found such a honest and lovely young woman to befriend and share this all with! 

We both wrote each other a long letter which was so nice as it meant we got to learn about each other on a more personal note. I intend to reply to her letter and keep that going as no one writes any more and I love getting letter in the post! 

I know we have already mentioned our next one which WILL be smaller but we are going to aim for a higher end package. This I imagine will take another few years... That's if we don't visit each other and end up going shopping together one day. God think of the carnage that would be!!

Anyway that is all for this epic post. Once again a massive THANK YOU to Jerlyn!!!

All her links will be below and you can check out her video on her You Tube channel to see what I sent her!
If you made it to the end I am impressed!!!

xoxo

Jerlyn's Links

You Tube Twitter Blog Instagram 

Sinful colors Nail Polish in Boots UK now!

So I popped into Boots the other day to help mum pick out some face cream as we had two No7 vouchers that we HAD to use up before they expired today. As we walked into out little tiny boots that we have in Winchester I was stopped by this beautiful display of nail polishes that I hadn't seen before. This was the newly launched in the UK, Sinful Colors (spelt the wrong way *twitch*), a popular american brand that has made it's way over here. Even my mum liked the look at these. So I had to pick up a couple at least just to try them and mainly because they were £1.99 although in the US they are $1.99 so we still aren't getting a bargain like they do! Never mind hey it's now one of the cheapest nail polish brands in Boots. So we can't complain all too much. I also discovered whilst walking around with two of the polishes in my hand that it was 3 for 2... so I walked back to the display for my free one :) 

 These are the Three that I chose, I Love neons for my toes and I'm OK with most colours on my fingers so I just picked up the ones that grabbed me first. The display was pretty empty already there were no reds or many pinks left. But never mind!

 Nail Junkie, Dancing Nails and Timbleberry

 One days wear on the polish, ALL polish give up the go on my nails very quickly so this is holding out pretty good to be honest. Just some slight tip wear and a chip on the corner.

 Love this colour, had to put it on as soon as I got home! This is without a top coat or base coat because for me personally It makes no different to wear on the polish so I'd rather save myself the hassle and not bother with two extra steps!

 Nail Junkie (flash)

A Teal jelly like base with silver, teal and opal glitter of different sizes. Tried this on one nail and was opaque in two decent coats. Personally would do this over a teal chrome like colour and use this as a thick top coat. 

 Timbleberry (flash)

A Coral neon pink which dried slightly darker with more of a red hue in my eyes. I think this would need three thinner coats for a fully opaque. I was hoping it to be more true to a neon but it wasn't. Still a nice colour though. 

Dancing nails (flash)

A Copper based rose gold which is just lovely. It has a duo chrome like finish and it very smooth. 

This colour actually reminded me of my absolute favourite nail polish which is Bad Fairy from the MAC Venomous Villains Collection which was limited edition and I think I'm down to half a bottle which saddens me greatly! But it is pretty similar although Bad Fairy is an actual glitter polish. 

 It doesn't have the Yellow tones to the extent that Bad fairy does but it's close enough to make me happy. Plus I find the MAC polishes chip like hell on me so this polish maybe my go to instead of Bad Fairy :D 

So some final thoughts on these little beauties:

*Drying time was brilliant. I use my hands all the time and I don't have the patients to sit and wait for polish to dry but these dried in a reasonable amount of time and were touch dry very quick. 

* The price cannot be faulted at £1.99 a bottle and when they are three for two they work out at £1.33 a bottle!!! 

*The colour selection was impressive I think they have 72 colours which is fab! Obviously I haven't tried all the finish types but I generally find matte/nude/natural polish won't have the greatest of pigmentation and I do not have the patients for more that 3 coats and three is pushing it to be honest. 

Overall I am happy with these polishes and really cannot wait to get some more!

xoxo

Paper Flower Crafting - Wicker Hearts

I have recently discovered a new craft that for one is so simple and quick to do but also creates inexpensive pieces that really make you smile. I took a little trip to Hobbycraft the other week and spotted a quick tip guide, which are the little A5 leaflets with craft projects on them, on how to make a rose covered heart. I liked the idea of this one but the idea they had was very full on. So I found this wicker heart in the wedding inspired aisle and the paper flowers nearby and thought I could give it my own interpretation and this is what I came up with! Honestly this took me maybe ten minutes to do and looks so fab considering the lack of time. The whole project cost less than five pounds and I still had flowers left over as well as a whole load of ribbon. So you can make several projects from the little bunches of flowers easily. 

I luckily had a 25% off voucher for Hobbycraft so I went again today and picked up two more hearts and a larger one to make a Mother's Day present and then some more of these sized ones as I love them so much!! If anyone would be interested In a step by step post let me know :D 

TAG How much is your face worth?

I saw this tag on Sprinkle of Glitters blog and really liked it so I decided to do it just for a laugh, not that I have been "tagged" or anything but hey! Who Cares!!! 
Now I just did my make up this morning and as I don't start work until late today I tend to take a lot longer to put on my face than when I have to get up at 6am to do it! Today in particular I had a mare doing it for some reason eye liner was not playing ball!!! So I also happen to use ALOT of products on my eyes to try and make it too better.... It didn't really work and I just gave up in the end! 
Face:

• Bobbi Brown Extra SPF25 Moisturising balm £62
• Bioderma Sebium Mat - Anti shine fluid £10 (approx i got it for ALOT less in France)
• YVES SAINT LAURENT Le Teint Touche Éclat foundation in BD20 (sample at the moment as I am just trying it out) £28/for full size
• Collection 2000 Lasting perfection concealer in Medium 3 £3.99
• Illamasqua Cream pigment in Emerge for under eye correction £17
• Illamasqua Loose powder in Translucent £23
• MAC Bronzer Gold-Go-Lightly Studio Careblend/Pressed £19

Cheeks:

• MAC Mineralized Skin finish in Light Year £21

Eyes:

• Illamasqua Cream pigment in Hollow as my lid base £17
• MAC French Violet pigment £16.50
• Ingot eyeshadow in 320 Matte £4
• Inglot eyeshadow in 357 Matte £4
• Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Bone £16.50
• MAC Penultimate eye liner in Rapid Black £16
• Illamasqua Precision Ink in Abyss £17
• Make up Forever Aqua liner in 10 £12
• Clinique High Impact mascara in black £17
• Clinique Bottom last mascara in black £11

Brows:

• Inglot eyeshadow in342 Matte £4
• MUA clear mascara £1

Lips:

• Kehl's LIP BALM #1 in Mango £9.50

FACE TOTAL: £312.49
Erm............................................. Whoops! Hahahah I'm not really sure what to say I mean I don't tend to use this many products on a day to day basis but I do use most of the items that I have put in red daily, which is still shocking. But I do believe you get what you pay for with certain products hence why they are high end brands, especially with skin care are foundations. I might try this is on 6am work day too just to see the difference. 
I would LOVE to see how much your face costs please send me links of leave a comment as I really like this tag.....
I would very much like to see Becca do this one! 
Caio for now! xoxox 

How to turn £20 shoes into £100 shoes!!!

Hey guys, 
So several months ago I was walking around John Lewis and saw a beautiful pair of cork neutral wedges which have Swarovski crystals on the wedge and I thought wow they are stunning and so simple. But then I looked at the £100+ Price tag and thought hold on a minute I can recreate those I am sure! 

So after a few weeks of looking for a pair of inexpensive shoes that are the same style I was finally able to make my own pair. I stumbled across a lovely pair of beige/cream cork wedges in New look for only £19.99 which are available online here and I have just seen they are in Orange too!!! Hmmm more inspiration is running through me right now!!! 

I have always had a stock of Swarovski crystals in my craft lot as I use then for decorating things and my face all the time!!! Don't worry I don't always walk around with them stuck on me! I think I love those crystals in the same way that my sister loves goggly eyes! Oh I nearly forgot to mention the wonder eBay seller I buy ALL of my crystals from.... This shop is a treasure trove! 

So I dug out a selection of crystals that I wanted to use and roughly placed them on the wedge to see if I liked the look before I got glue happy. I chose to use this selection just for reference...

• SS10 3mm Black diamond non hot fix
• SS16 4mm Black diamond non hot fix
• SS12 3.2mm Clear non hot fix
• SS6 2mm Clear non hot fix

It was very simple all I did is use the GEM-TAC Permanent adhesive which I also bought the the eBay shop and it lasts FOREVER as you only need a small amount! Pour some of the glue out on the work surface and use a cocktail stock/orange stick/kebab stick basically whatever you have thats pointy and put very small blobs on glue where you want the crystals to be but honestly you need so little glue as you don't want it the squidge outside of the crystal otherwise you'll see the sheen of it when it dries. Then I use a damp cotton bud to pick up the crystals on by one and place then on the glue and then press them with your finger. Do as many or as few as you would like and you can do patterns or randomness like I have its up to you to get creative! 

So here they are....

I still think I need to get a few more size of crystals to add more to them but I do like the way the look at the moment I think it's subtle enough to be noticed without being OTT. I plan to wear these with my Laura Ashley Beach Hut dress for a Christening that I have at the end of next month as I am going to be Godmother (very exciting) and I think they will look perfect as well as being a bit more secure than a stiletto incase I have to hold baby!!! 

Tell me what you think of my shoes, would you do this? Have you done something similar? I would love to see if you have!!! 

xoxo

P.S. I added several more crystals to the shoes as I felt they needed more to look more complete so heres the Instagram piccy I took of them before wearing them the next day!!!