Autumn Berries

Since it's now coming in to Autumn I decided it was time to darken my nails and lipstick. Berry/Wine colours are really in this season so I wanted to show you my current favourite berry lipstick and nail polish.

• MAC Rebel Lipstick - This is one of the lipsticks I got for my birthday and it had been on my wish list for ages. The MAC website describes the colour as a "vivid pinkish-purple" which I would say is about right. Rebel is a satin finish which means it's semi-matte, it gives intense colour but it still conditions the lips unlike the matte finish which is quite drying on the lips. It looks really great my new H&M coat! I really want to try MAC Hang Up next which is a dark red berry colour that will also look great in the Autumn and Winter. Rebel costs £14 and can be purchased here.

• Maybelline Forever Strong Nail Polish: Midnight Red - I actually picked this nail polish up when I was in Asda the other day as I've been looking for one this colour for a while. Its a really deep redish-purple colour that looks lovely with my Rebel lipstick. I've wanted to try one of the Maybelline forever strong nail polish's for a while as I've heard good things about them. The polish is enriched with iron and calcium which helps keep your nails strong and wont damage them. It states that it lasts up to 7 days, so i'll let you know how long mine lasts (probably not that long). The colour was really strong and I only needed to apply two coats, so overall I'm really happy with this polish and would definitely buy it in other colours. It said it cost £4 in Asda but when I got to the till it was only £3 - bargain!!

What's your favourite lipstick/nail polish for Autumn?

Melissa

xxx

How Much is My Face Worth?//TAG

I've seen this tag on a few blogs recently and thought it interesting so I decided to do it myself. I've never really thought about how much my daily face costs and was quite shocked when I added it all up! So here it is...

Clarins Daily Energiser Cream-Gel - £20

MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC30 - £20.50

Benefit Erase Paste - £19.50

UNE BB-Cream Concealer - £9.99

MAC Blot Powder - £20

NARS Laguna Bronzer - £25

NARS Orgasm Blush - £21

Nars Albatross Highlighter - £21

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette - £4.99

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner - £7.99

Benefit They're Real Mascara - £18.50

MAC Angel Lipstick - £14

Total = £202.47

Have you tried this tag? How much does your face cost?

Melissa

xxx

Essie 'Muchi Muchi'

 


Just a short post to say that last week I was lucky enough to win Louise's twitter competition. The lovely prize was an Essie nail polish in the shade Muchi Muchi. I'm loving pale Essie nail polish's at the moment, they're all I wear and my favourites are Fiji and Ballet Slippers. You can see my post on Ballet Slippers here.

Muchi Muchi is a gorgeous pale pink colour. It's slightly more pink than Ballet Slippers and more sheer than Fiji, in the photo above I'm wearing three coats to make it look more opaque. It still looks lovely with two coats but I prefer it with three. It doesn't take long to dry so I don't mind having to do that many coats! I've had this on for three days now and its not chipped at all. This is definitely a colour I'll be wearing a lot from now on.

It was posted out so quickly and came with a cute cupcake tag attached to it with a lovely message - so thank you Louise! What does everyone think of Muchi Muchi? What's your favourite Essie nail polish?

Melissa
xxx

DIY: Studded Collar Shirt

Studs are everywhere at the moment and so are studded collars. I've seen lots of lovely studded collar shirts on websites such as Missguided, but since I've had not had much money I've not been buying them. I've already made a pair of DIY studded shorts before so thought I could do it with a shirt as well.

What you need:

• an old shirt/shirt you don't wear anymore
• rivet studs
• tweezers

 The other day I was clearing out my wardrobe and came across a cream ASOS shirt that I haven't wore in about 6 months and decided I could bring it up to date if I added some studs to the collar. I went on ebay and ordered some gold studs for £1.99 (bargain). The studs came in a couple of days and I was ready to start studding!

It's so easy to use the rivet studs, you just push them through the material and use the end of your tweezers to press in each of the four little rivets to secure it. You can do any design you want, I chose to do four rows which only took me about 5-10 minutes. The picture above is of my finished shirt.

What do you think? I'll definitely be customising some more of my clothes this Autumn. You could try it with jeans, leather jackets, bags and boots. Have you studded any items this season?

Melissa
xxx

Primark Bargains

The other day I was shopping and went into Primark to see if I could get any bargains. I've been wanting one of the army jackets with the PU sleeves for a few weeks now but I was holding off until pay day because I didn't have much money left. I'd seen the one in Zara a while ago which was £79.99, one in Topshop which was £65 and one in River Island which was £55. I decided I was going to buy the RI one but when I went into Primark I saw one very similar and it was a bargain at £25!!

Although it's not as good quality as the other jackets, it was less than half the price so I thought I might as well get it. I'll probably only wear this jacket for a couple months as it'll get colder and also it'll probably only be in fashion for one season so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something I won't wear after this Autumn.

Since I'd found this little bargain, I thought I'd treat myself to something else. My eyes went straight to this tan shopper bag which was only £12! I needed a new handbag as I'd been using the same one since Christmas. I'd always lusted after the Zara shopper bag and although it's a slightly different shape, I think it's a great dupe. This bag also comes in black so I think I might have to get it next month since it's so cheap. I've been using it everyday so far and it goes with almost everything.

Have you found any bargains or dupes lately?

Melissa
xxx

My H&M AW12 Picks

1. Burgundy Coat £39.99

2. Cashmere Scarf £29.99

3. Black Trousers £29.99

4. Fluffy Top £19.99

5. Burgundy Shoes £29.99

6. Pink Jumper £19.99

7. Black Boots £24.99

I was having a look at the new arrivals on the H&M website and decided to put together my top picks for AW12. I'm loving burgundy this season and the coat and shoes are gorgeous statement burgundy pieces. I'm also loving the fluffy top and jumper which will be nice and cosy for the colder weather coming in. The cashmere scarf is a gorgeous piece and as it's such a neutral colour it can be worn with so many different outfits, I'd definitely wear it a lot this season. There's also the black trousers and black boots which will go with everything!

I've put together 3 outfits to show you how I'd wear these pieces:

Outfit 1 

• Pink Jumper
• Black Trousers
• Cashmere Scarf
• Black Boots

Outfit 2

• Fluffy Top
• Black Trousers
• Burgundy Shoes

Outfit 3

• Burgundy Coat
• Black Trousers
• Black Boots

All I need now is some money to buy them! What's your top H&M picks for this season?

Melissa

xxx

Lots of Birthday Makeup!

(L-R) Rebel//Lady Danger//Impassioned//Angel//Snob

YSL Rose Paris//MAC Blotting Powder

(L-R) Laguna//Albatross//Orgasm

They're Real Mascara//Erase Paste

(L-R) Immaculate Collection Palette/Lipstick Shade 2//Heaven and Earth Palette

For my birthday I was lucky enough to get A LOT of makeup (my family and friends know me too well)! So here are all the lovely things I got...

My friend Emma got me MAC Impassioned and Rebel lipsticks. I've wanted Impassioned for so long so I was so excited when I got this, it's a lovely bright pink/coral colour and definitely one of my favourites. Rebel is a lovely deep wine/purple colour that will be great for a night out.

From my friend Kaitlyn I got Lady Danger which I think has to be my favourite MAC lipstick so far. I've wanted it for ages but when I went to get it at my local MAC counter it was sold out, then I tried at duty free and the girl said she had never heard of it?! It's a lovely bright red/orange that I can wear day or night.

My boyfriend got me the YSL Rouge Volutpe lipstick in shade 27 Rose Paris which has been on my wishlist for so long. I love the YSL packaging! He also got me NARS Laguna Bronzer which has also been on my wishlist. I've always used MAC matte bronze and heard this was similar. I love using it so far, its such a nice colour and not orange at all.

From my sister I got NARS Orgasm blush. I actually asked for the Sleek Rose Gold dupe but she was nice enough to get me the real deal and I love it, I've been wearing it every day. She also gave me her Albatross highlighter to go with it because she doesn't use it.They both have gold shimmer in them so they look gorgeous together.
I also got from her two MUA eyeshadow palettes and a lipstick. I've never tried any of the MUA products so I was excited to give them a go. The eyeshadows have such great pigment and are gorgeous colours and the lipstick is a lovely purple colour which looks great with some of the purple and pink shadows in the immaculate collection palette.

Tthe rest of my family gave me money and I spend it ALL in duty free! I got MAC Snob and Angel lipstick (Angel is my favourite nude MAC lipstick and I'm on to my third one), MAC blotting powder, They're Real mascara and Erase Paste. The blotting powder's great for during the day when I'm feeling a bit shiny and it's always useful to take out on a night out. I've had They're Real mascara before and loved it so thought I'd give it another go as it was cheaper in duty free. Finally, I'd heard so many good reviews on Erase Paste so when I saw it I thought I might as well give it a go. It definitely lives up to its reputation and it covers the dark circles under my eyes so well, so I recommend it too!

I love every single I got and I'll probably do separate reviews on most of these products throughout the next few weeks, so watch out for them!

Melissa
xxx

Beauty Haul

• Real Techniques Blush Brush - When I was in Ibiza I lost my powder/bronzer brush on a night out so this was the first thing I needed when I got back. I love the Real Technique's brushes and decided to get the blush brush as I thought the powder brush was slightly too big. It's so soft and perfect for applying my powder and bronzer. I think it's a bit big for blusher, does anyone else find that? It costs £9.99 from Boots.

• Louise Gray for Topshop Lipstick in 'Legend' - As soon as I saw the Louise Gray Topshop collection I was drawn straight to the bright pink lipstick. When I was in yesterday and saw how gorgeous and bright it was in real life, I couldn't resist and had to buy it. Its £10 which is £2 more than the regular Topshop lipsticks but I think it's worth it for the beautiful packaging. I wore this to work today and loved it.

• Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub & Pink Grapefruit Facial Wash - When I came back from my holiday I noticed that the heat and all the sun cream had clogged up my pores and I had quite a few blackheads. In boots it was 2 for £5 on all Neutrogena Visibly Clear products so I decided to try them out. I picked up the blackhead scrub which exfoliates the skin and is meant to unclog pores to reduce and prevent blackheads and I got the grapefruit facial wash purely because it smelled amazing. I've never used these products before, does anyone know if they're good?

• Essie 'Mojito Madness' - Essie nail polishes are my favourite at the moment and when I was in Boots yesterday this colour caught my eye and I had to get it! I don't have a nice green in my nail polish collection and this is such a gorgeous colour when it's on my nails. It cost £7.99.

These are a few of the products I picked up when I was in town yesterday. I don't have my camera at the moment and the pictures are taken using an iPhone. What beauty products have you picked up recently? 

Melissa

xxx

What I Wore in Ibiza

Hey everyone, 

I'm finally back from my holiday and writing a post, sorry it took so long! I thought I'd do a quick post on some of the outfits I wore while I was away and I've picked 7 to show you:

1. Bandeau - Primark, Trousers - New Look, Sandals - Primark

2. Fringe Top - Miss Guided, Shorts - DIY, Sandals - New Look

3. Bandeau - Topshop, Top - Topshop, Shorts - New Look

4. Dress - Topshop, Necklace - Topshop

5. Dress- Topshop, Sandals - Old Navy, Necklace -Topshop

6. Playsuit - Primark, Sandals - Old Navy, Necklace - New Look

7. Bandeau - Topshop, Skirt - Therapy at House of Fraser, Sandals - New Look, Necklace - Topshop

I'll be posting what I got in duty free and what I got for my birthday this week - SO much makeup! Ibiza was amazing but I'm glad to be back.

Melissa

xxx