Island Margarita by Slatkin & Co

Back in March I purchased this candle from Bath & Body Works and it's still going strong! Margarita's are one of my favourite cocktails and this candle has such a nice tropical smell. Don't worry there's no tequila smell with it, it's just a very fresh and fruity summer scent. The thing I love most about this candle other than it lasts a long time, is that the smell stays in the air for days. If you don't burn this candle for 2 or even 3 days the room still smells amazing. Bath & Body Works has a variety of these kinds of scents in store and online right now, another of my favourites is the mango and peach. These aren't available in the UK but if you're visiting the states be sure to check them out. You can also check to see if yankee candle has any similar tropical summer scents.

Off to Sin City!

I'm off to The city of sin today, I only just got back from a blog break and it seems I'm leaving again! But it's only a few days this time and I will be back on Sunday so blogging will hopefully resume then. I'm not going to be taking my computer as there's a hacker conference (yep, those exist!) I'm gonna write up some posts and see if I can schedule them to post over the weekend, I've never used that feature before so I really hope it works! See you all on Monday! 

Cake Decorating

My parents own their own cake shop and when I have the time I'll go and help out. A few weeks back I decided to have a go at decorating a cake of my own, I found a design I liked and went from there. I also practiced some of my cupcake piping, so let me know what you guys think!

I saw a vintage Barbie cake online and loved the colours and the vintage silhouette so I decided to make one of my own. The silhouette I hand painted on with black food colouring from a photo I found online. I didn't have a round cake board to use at the time so just used a square one and iced that with the cake. I love pink and black and think the colours go so well together, I finally added some pink bows to the hair and board. I'm still practicing my fondant bows and trying to make tiny ones is really fiddly.

I also practiced my piped flowers, I tried two different designs, one of them was the rose design. I definitely think I'm improving and I'm happy with how they came out. 


What do you guys think?

Lipstick Collection Part 1

I  love watching youtube videos of makeup collections and reading blog posts about what products each person has, so I thought I would share what I own. I was never really a big lipstick fan until recently, I still don't wear it very much but I've started to see what is out there and the type/colours I like. My lips get dry quite often so I'm always using a lip balm before I apply any lipstick, I'll usually go for something sheer and moisturising. Matte shades don't seem to look so good on my lips and I don't feel like I can pull off the bold coloured lips. I do own a few bolder colours but I sheer them out and will sometimes add lip gloss over the top.


I decided to do this in two parts because I don't want this post to go on and on. Plus this is a picture heavy post :)

I only own four MAC lipsticks
Viva Glam Nicki - I did a post on this a few months back here

Watch Me Simmer - This was from the Shop Mac Cook Mac Collection so is no longer available, it is an amplified finish. I don't know much about MAC lipstick finishes but this is a very bright bold and pigmented colour. This has more of a matte feeling and tends to dry my lips a little so I sheer it out and put gloss over the top. This is more longer lasting than the creamier formulas. 


Viva Glam Gaga - This is one of my favourite lipsticks because I think the colour suits my skin tone more than others, it is a lustre finish. This doesn't dry my lips out and blends really smoothly onto my lips.


Innocence Beware - from the Venomous Villains collection, this I picked up from a CCO. It's a nude colour with a very slight hint of pink. This is a creme sheen finish and has a creamy consistency and goes easily onto the lips. I mentioned earlier that I prefer wetter formulas rather than dry/matte ones and this is one of the finishes that I prefer as it feels nicer on the lips. You will need to reapply this through-out the day but that doesn't bother me as I expect to with lipstick.

Dior
I have two Dior lipsticks, these are part of the Rouge Dior range. I picked these up in Duty Free. I have the colours Rare Amber which is a burnt reddish shade with some orange, and Pink Songe, which is a medium pink colour. I love these lipsticks as the colours fit my lips and skin tone really well plus they are really easy to apply. These aren't matte shades but they are highly pigmented and have pretty good staying power.

Chanel
I only own one Chanel lipstick which I got at duty free with the Dior ones. I decided to try out one of the Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks as I prefer this type of formula. I really don't like the dry feeling on my lips that most lipsticks give so I purchased this to try. I really liked the colour selection but went for something safe with Rivage, a nude pink colour. The staying power isn't too good but then with something like this I wouldn't expect it to be. This is one of my favourite lipsticks to wear.

Check back for part 2 soon! 

Collective haul

This is a haul of things I've purchased from about 3 months ago approx. I've been trying not to spend so much money on clothes or makeup lately, I haven't bought any clothes! Which is a good thing because I really have too much. I've also been saving for this trip so have been good with spending. 


The first two things I got when Debenhams were having a 10% off promotion (I think it was 10% anyways) 


I'd been looking at purchasing the Estee Lauder Double Wear for a while and after trying a sample finally decided to buy it. I chose the colour bone and will be doing a review on this soon. 

Another thing I've wanted for a while was the Rouge Volupte lipstick by YSL, this is an expensive lipstick so took me a while to finally purchase it but I'm glad I did. Will also be doing a review of this soon-ish.

I purchased two more things from Debenhams while they had their promotion going, That Gal by Benefit in the special edition packaging for the Olympics and the Coralista blush. Both I've had my eye on for a while.

I bought this Bikini at a shop in Santa Barbara over the weekend, I wanted a new one for when I go to Vegas this weekend but I wasn't expecting to spend... $80!! on one. But I fell in love with it and Roxy is never cheap, so I paid $40 a piece for it. I love the bright orange shade and betting over the top.

I also visited CVS with a 25% off voucher, I tried not to go crazy in there though lol. Usually I'll spend about $80 on makeup. While I was there I got some moisturiser. 

Brulee eyeshadow by Wet 'n' Wild that I hear so much about.

Wet 'n' Wild magnetic nail varnish, this was $4.99 and a cheap alternative to the Sally Hansen or Nails Inc polishes. I wanted to try this out for myself without paying a lot.

I also got this Milani Highlighter, I just think it's packaged so nicely.

And in a small corner of the store I managed to find this OPI polish which I've been after for a while. It's Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry Collection but has been discontinued as it was released a while ago. 

Also sorry for the quality of these pics, I'm taking them on a regular camera as I don't have my DSLR with me.


Hopefully I can get some time to do some reviews and more posts soon, either before or after my Vegas trip.  Hope you are all enjoying your summer xxx

Finally Back!

I know it's been a looooonng time since I last blogged, after my surgery a few things happened which I got sorted and then more things happened etc... I just got so busy and didn't have any time to blog :( I have soooo much I want to blog about so hopefully in the coming days I can get back into the regular posting :) I'm in California at the moment, I arrived yesterday after a long 16 hour journey! My original plans didn't work out, I said I wanted to leave around the 20th June but when I saw my doctor he said I wasn't permitted to fly until another 4 weeks, so 6 days ago I booked a flight a came out. It was very last minute and I've been rushing around trying to get everything sorted.


Thursday I spent the entire day in London for the The Dark Knight Rises premiere, probably wasn't a good idea to go a day before I flew out here but I am so glad I went. I got to Leicester Square around 9:30am with a friend, and in the middle of the garden was a gigantic bat head! I managed to get autographs from Johnathon Nolan, Pixie Lott, Richard E Grant, Tom Conti, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Tom Hardy and they were all SO nice! As soon as the premiere had finished I cut my poster board off the barriers (as you do) and we got the train to the IMAX in waterloo where the cast were gonna be shortly after we got there for the other premiere. It was on a much smaller scale, I went there hoping to get Christians Autograph but didn't manage to. The highlight of my day was having Tom Hardy wave to me from his car while everyone else there was more interested in Mr.Bale who arrived before. So all in all a pretty good day. 


And to end the post, a pic of Joseph Gordon Levitt and Tom Hardy standing in front of me ;) 

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

I'd been wanting to try out NYX jumbo eye pencils for a while, so when I had the chance I picked up two from ULTA. I only got two but I wish I'd gotten a few more, they have a really great colour range. The two colours I got were Milk and Cottage Cheese. Both of these are quite talked about and popular. I think they are quite versatile colours.

Milk is a pigmented matte pure white shade and Cottage Cheese is almost the same colour but a shimmer finish, although the pigmentation isn't as high on this one it's still pretty good.

I think these are really great products to have because they work in so many different ways. They can work as a great base for your eyeshadows or even as a brow highlight or inner corner highlight. I think Milk would be great to use on your waterline to help your eyes look more open. I'd like to know if there's an off white colour too, because sometimes white can be too harsh but I think with just enough it can look a lot nicer. These could even be used to highlight your cupid's bow if sheered out enough!

I wouldn't want to use these particular colours on their own as white is a harsh colour to be worn by itself but there are tons of other colours and shades available that I think would look great applied on their own.

 These are also quite inexpensive at £4.50 and can be purchased at www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk and ULTA.