I'm Loving...

by with-accusing-eyes on Deviant Art

• The sunshine! Spring has finally sprung. Glasgow isn't the prettiest of cities but the sunlight really does bring out its beauty....and everyone just looks so much happier in the sun!
• New pursuits. Last week I attended my first official 'We're all wing men' night, which didn't quite go as planned but was a lot of fun, and also my induction to Krav Maga, which was amazing, and my muscles are still sore!
• New friends. I'm quite shy the majority of the time, but recently something seems to have switched, and its much easier to speak to people I hardly know, and not worry so much. My friend recommended this book to me a couple of months ago, and along with the gorgeous weather I think its given me a new way of viewing things.
• Old friends! There's nothing better than catching up over cake and coffee with my nearest and dearest.
• Game of Thrones Season 2 is on Sky Atlantic in April. Need I say more?!!!!
• Icy water with fresh lemon slices...so refreshing.
• MUA lipstick in shade 11...I think I've found my perfect everyday shade, and its only £1! 

•  Grimes new album is beautiful! The above track is her latest single.

xxx

Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' Foundation Review

Firstly, I have to admit I’ve never liked Rimmel products. I don’t mind their nail polishes or lipsticks but among my everyday essentials not one Rimmel product makes an appearance. But, being the (rather skint student) sheep that I am, I couldn’t ignore all the hype over the new(ish) Wake Me Up foundation so decided to see what all the fuss is about. This is all despite the fact that just about a month ago I remember laughing with my friend about the very same foundation and making Edward Cullen jokes due to its sparkly properties. Well, I’m running out of Studio Fix, so times have changed.

 I picked this up for £8.99 from Boots. At the moment its on a 3 for 2 deal, but I honestly couldn’t see any other two products I’d want to buy. I think I’m finally realising I shouldn’t just spend money for the sake of it! (Maybe). The packaging is quite nice, in a nice glass bottle with a disposable pump (yay for hygienic, practical cosmetic storage solutions! I’m looking at you, Mac Comsetics).

There are only six shades available, which is ridiculous, a bit presumptuous, and eliminates a huge amount of potential customers.  I know the average high street brand can’t have enough variation to supply a perfect match to everyone, but  if L’oreal True Match is available in 20 shades then surely Rimmel branching out to, say, 10 shades shouldn’t be too much difficulty? I picked up the lightest shade available- Ivory- and hoped for the best (I'm NC15 in Studio Fix).

 The stereotypical blogger swatch test:

As you can see it has pretty good coverage, not quite as heavy as Studio Fix but significantly better than most high street foundations I’ve tried before. The ‘sparkle’ in the foundation, which looks ridiculously scary and glittery in the bottle, isn’t as apparent on the flesh (thank goodness!). It covers up my blue veins without much difficulty. 

Excusing the rather dour look I’ve got on my face, this is the foundation in action in direct daylight. I’m not wearing any primer underneath, or any powder or blush on top, and the pictures haven’t been edited to give an accurate portrayal of how it looks.

Close-up, with and without flash:

As you can see, the flash does bring out a slight shimmer to the foundation, but it’s in no way the disco-ball effect I had been slightly apprehensive about. I think a touch of powder will probably eliminate it substantially for a more matte effect.

Overall I think its a foundation deserving of all the fuss. For me, it doesn't beat my favorite- Studio Fox- for a couple of reasons. The first is obviously the lack of shades. Whilst 'Ivory' isn't  a noticeably bad match for my skintone, its not excellent either. It also gives me a slight 'mask' effect, and although some blusher should sort that out, I wouldn't exactly reach for this if I was going for a 'natural' type of look. However, it gives good coverage, smells lovely, and the shimmer genuinely does make me look more awake. 

For a daytime foundation, I would definitely recommend it.

xxx

Some new shoes...

 O'Malley, loving the wedge.

 Okay, I'll be the first to admit that the last thing I need is another pair of high heels. Truly. Especially summery high espadrille wedges with an ankle strap and a peep toe (for real, peep toes confuse me. I hate toes. I don't want to see my own peeking out of a shoe for no good reason, far less anybody else's horrible toes. And don't even get me started on the expression 'toe cleavage'. Boke.) And I'm attempting to save money, trying to be sensible.

So, when I initially peeked these high, peep toe, be-wedged summery shoes on TK Maxx, I didn't buy them. Who care's if they happen to be All Saints (a company that, despite myself, I can't help but love)? Who care's if they happen to be ridiculously good value? I don't  need them. So I didn't buy them.

Long story short, its payday today and of course I went back and bought a pair. Only four pairs remained, and only one in a size 5 in the colour of my choice. Its fate, really. I'm sure.

Because at the end of the day, really, what's more sensible than taking the oppertunity to buy shoes for £19.99 when they retailed £145 initially? :)

PS- A quick search revealed they are the Biela Espadrille model, now discontinued. The TK Maxx I bought them in- the flagship store in Glasgow city center, also had cut price Ted Baker, Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton (not as horrible as you would think!) shoes in stock if anyone is interested!
xxx

Cheap and Cheerful

Hello! I’m well aware its been weeks since I last posted, but honestly, nothing exciting seems to have happened anyway! Post-Berlin I managed to get rather ill (clearly 48458385 layers of thermal clothing was not enough!) and lethargic, and my finances have taken a bit of a blow, too. Any new purchases recently have been essentials, the rest of my money I’ve spent on coffees and lunches with my nearest and dearest- the best way to spend money!

That said, there really is something to be said for retail therapy, and today in Superdrug I couldn’t resist buying some new lipsticks- particularly when they cost the princely sum of £1 each, by MUA. I’ve never tried MUA make-up before but a few blogs I read have regularly mentioned the products, and, well, for £1 they definitely have proved a bargain buy.

I purchased lipsticks in shade 1 and shade 5, as well as lipgloss shade 4, which proved ridiculously difficult to photograph but in reality is a lovely pinky-gold, very wearable. As an aside, I wish MUA would name their cosmetics! Its such a small thing to do but (for me at least) makes such a difference! I will absolutely never understand why Kate Moss has named her lipstick range for Rimmel in numerical order, it just seems like lack of effort! Anyway, that’s just a shallow, surface criticism, because actually, I’m pretty damn impressed by my purchases.  

 Shade 1 is the deep red, Shade 5 the pink with silvery shimmer. All pictures were taken without flash, although the pictures on the bottom are more accurate to the lipsticks real shade!

I quickly tried on the two and both impressed. Shade 5, once applied, looks more like a lipgloss than a lipstick, and is a great deal more sheer than it appears in the tube. Shade 1 is not quite as deeply crimson, but is still resolutely a good staple blue-red.Both lipsticks don't have any kind of scent, which I personally don't mind but I'm sure some of you will miss the creamy sweet scents of more expensive products. Most importantly, both applied well straight from the tube and although I've yet to test their longevity both felt smooth on my lips- I have dry lips and I don't think MUA lipsticks will make them worse unlike some other brands I've tried (Revlon lipsticks- I'm looking at you!!!).

 Although MAC lipsticks remain my favourite I'm not particularly loyal to any other brand, and for such a great price MUA lipsticks are worth buying! I'll probably wear both during the day and save my favourites for nighttime :)

xxx

Berlin!

I survived my trip to Berlin! It was a bit of a close call, mind you, considering at its worst the weather dipped to around -20! (Have now made a personal resolution to never moan about Glasgow's lackluster weather ever again). It was an amazing trip- I've been to Berlin before, and its such an interesting and eccentric city. It might not be for everyone, but its got a lot of character!

Anyway, here's a few tips if you ever stop by:

• If going in Winter, pack warmly. Might seem obvious, but a typical daily outfit for me encompassed a thermal  vest, a breton top, cardigan, thermal tights, two pairs of thermal socks, denim shorts, army boots, jacket, scarf, hat and gloves. It still wasn't warm enough and I'm now battling a cold. If I go in Februry again I'll follow the German's example: snug hiking/snow boots (our tour guide told us a tip: put plastic bags between layers of socks to further insulate your feet and stop you getting frostbite!), North Face jackets, and thick, good quality gloves. 

• Go clubbing! The clubs in Berlin are exceptional, there's a reason its got such an amazing reputation as a party city! The clubs open all night and into the morning (literally to round 10 or 11am on Fridays and Saturdays) so the early hours are more chilled out, when everyone arrives. German's we were speaking to told us that clubbers didn't usually get rowdy/drunk until about 8am. We went to two different clubs- Matrix, which is huge, busy and popular, playing mostly chart music to  mixed crowd, and Watergate, which was achingly trendy, catered to the beautiful people (I'm actually surprised we got in! The door policy seemed rather strict, but a Scottish accent does wonders) and eye-wateringly expensive. I'd recommend both.

• Go on a free walking tour! Our tour guide was an Irish lad called Barry, who was hilarious. The tour lasted nearly four hours and covered all the main tourist spots, with a few interesting little detours that we would never have seen ourselves. Of course the guides do this voluntarily, and deserve to be tipped a decent amount!

• Berlin is not a 'smiley' city. Don't expect to see friendly faces at every corner. However, the locals we asked for help/directions/ advice were all ridiculously friendly and incredibly helpful when we bothered them! I think in general people seemed to keep themselves to themselves more than us girls from Glasgow do, but were really warm when we struck up conversations.  In other words, don't be shy if you need a bit of help! (This does not include taxi drivers, who seemed to be deliberately unhelpful, but I find taxi drivers in general to be a bit of hard work!)

•  Get to grips with the U-Bahn. Berlin is huge, but it the train system is exceptional, and wherever you want to go usually there is a station incredibly close. Plus, its incredibly cheap- 3 euros for a day ticket you can use repeatedly.

• I would highly recommend Berlin hostels. We stayed in the Helter Skelter hostel in Mitte and it was brilliant- clean, comfortable, good value, good location and the showers were a good temperature and pressure! (Very important!) Any hostel that plays Bob Dylan and the Clash in the living area always gets  thumbs up, too.

• Luckily (for me, at least) most Berliners speak awesome English. That said, it doesn't hurt to known some basics, just the usual pleases and thank you's. At one point I got quite ill and needed medicine and although eventually I received the right directions it was a struggle- I had to literally mime being sick! So, fyi, 'pharmacy' is 'apotheke'! At the apotheke I also received antibiotics, which was surprising, as over here you need  Doctors note! (I am incredibly grateful for this, obviously, and still indebted to the lovely German pharmacist who was so helpful!) This website is helpful if you ever feel ill: http://www.journey-to-germany.com/german-pharmacy.html

• Expense wise, Berlin isn't ridiculously expensive, although obviously the pound to euro exchange rate rather rubbishes any kind of 'good value'. In pubs, even awesomely cool ones (such as the Black Lodge and our favourite, a Soviet themed bar called Veb-Oz) expect to pay about 2.50 euros for a beer. Spirits are substantially more- about 6 euros for a single measure. Coffee is incredibly good value if you avoid Starbucks- we received regular coffees for 1 euro (!) from a station coffee shop called Jungle Monkey, and Dunkin Donuts (which are everywhere) serve a decent Americano for bout 2 euro. Which is good, because its so damn cold we drank a lot of it! Supermarkets are really, really good value- the were selling Elnett hairspray fullsize for 3 euro! If your visiting, save yourself the bother of squeezing all your liquids into that stupid plastic bag at the airport and just buy them in Berlin- better value, less hassle.

I'll be back, Berlin, just you wait!
xxx

Cheap Nail Polish!

Please excuse my (extremely) poor attempt at a manicure. I have a rather slap-dash approach to nail polish, and these pictures have really made me think maybe I should spend longer than 5 minutes doing it! #theshame.

Anyway. The real reason I'm even posting this is to demonstrate the colour and quality (or lack thereof) of some cheap nail polishes I've treated myself to recently. Firstly, Primark's attempt at a crackle polish. I know that the crackle coat trend has come and gone, but I never really appreciated the look enough to spend even a few pound on Barry M's bottle. It just never appealed. Yet, drawn in by a bargain, I purchased Primark's very reasonable version.

 

Primark nails! Pictures taken in direct daylight.

Verdict? Rather impressed! The crackle coat itself was better than I expected- it dried quickly, and achieved a pretty good quality 'crackle' pattern (that said, my pinky was left looking very splotchy- I guess it all depends on how heavy handed you are with the brush!). I actually quite liked the look- although it's possible thats just because I never do anything particularly interesting with my nails, and the crackle is a bit of a novelty! Regardless, the set was £3 for three bottles, and rather good value for the quality of the product. The top coat in particular makes this set a pretty good purchase. (obviously I didn't use the gold in these pictures! Its over a very pretty nude pink by 17 cosmetics).

.

 ELF Cranberry: The picture on the left was taken at night without flash, and on the right, with flash.

Secondly, with my first ever ELF order last week, I bought for the princely sum of £1 a polish called 'Cranberry'- basically, a staple shiny, cherry red colour. Now, my ELF order was rather hit and miss (word of warning- the brushes are made with animal hair, so they really are too good to be true at such a low price. And the face mist smells absolutely disgusting- like sick!) I have to say, I was very impressed with this...

One coat!!! That's only one coat of Cranberry! Its almost perfectly opaque, and its such a pretty colour! For £1 this was definitely the best of the ELF products I ordered, and as red is pretty much my go-too nail shade, I can see myself using a lot of this.

xxx

A lot of drinks...

Still feeling a little 'off' lately, hopefully this mood passes! It has to- I've got a trip to Berlin in two weeks to think about! Drinking hot chocolates and cocktails with my nearest and dearest has been perking me up slightly, though...

xx