Thursday 31 October 2013

Spare your blushes, clean your brushes!

Something I can never be bothered doing but really should do more often, is clean my make-up brushes.  My brain seems to think that as I only use one or two during the week, that they don't need any love and my lazy body is happy to comply!

So the other night, I set to it armed with 'gone in 60 seconds' on my iPad and some antibacterial handwash.


These are two of my Real Techniques brushes and I use them the most often I would say.  I use the big one every day for powder and even bronzer too and the smaller one for blush or bronzer.  That's often why I don't get round to washing them as by the time I remember, there's not enough time to wash and dry them for the morning!


It's a pretty simple process really and I do this for all my brushes, including my prized Dior set, with no ill effect *phew*.  I rinse the brush under warm water, not really hot as I don't want to burn my hand by the time I get to brush number four!


I then put some anti-bacterial handwash into my hand (you could use baby shampoo, I have no babies and thus no shampoo for them), I've just got Asda's on brand but I'm sure any will do.  Perhaps try and stay away from the more moisturising ones as they may leave a bit of residue on the brush (i.e. Shea butter and the likes).  Give the brush a good swirl around in the soap and RINSE.  You'll be amazed at the colour that comes off! 
Gently squezze out any excess water, being careful not to pull too hard on the bristles or they may start shedding!


Once washed, place them on their sides over the edge of a table, shelf or bookcase or wherever is most convenient and let them air dry.  It is very important that you don't dry brushes with them standing upright as the water can travel into the brush, weaken the glue holding the fibres together and again, you risk shedding.


And that's it! 
10 or 20 minutes on a sunday and you are good to go for the rest of the week.  I find that once my brushes are clean, my make up certainly applies nicer and if I had a big night out planned, I would certainly have clean brushes ready and waiting.

Do you clean your brushes?

What do you use to clean them?

Hugs,

Jodi





Wednesday 30 October 2013

A cool surprise for tired eyes

Lately, I have had such hot, sleepy feeling eyes and so I was determined to get something nice and soothing that I could apply when at home when going sans makeup.

I ventured into Boots a few weeks ago and had a good nosey round and came across this, 'Kind to eyes revitalising eye roll-on' by Simple.  At £4.99 this is a wee bit cheaper than the likes of Garnier and chums.


So this wee fella contains cucumber extracts, an ingredient that is quite commonly found in 'cooling' or 'refreshing' facial products.  It also contains pro vitamin B5 and glycerin to nourish and hydrate the skin and best of all, it contains no artificial fragrances or colours.  Boost!


The applicator itself is a metal rollerball, which in itself is nice and cooling.  The product is a gel like formula which goes on smoothly and can be massaged in using the rollerball.  The tube contains 15 mls of product so it's quite dinky but you don't need a lot of product. 


It does cool the area instantly although it has no effect on dark circles and doesn't claim to. I would say it has an immediate effect but it does not last more than a few minutes.  It recommends that if there is excess product on the skin, to just gently massage it in.  What I find with this product is after applying whether just with the rollerball or with my fingers too, is that it feels like it leaves a residue.  I put this on less than 10 minutes ago and already under my eyes feel tight, almost as though I have a face mask on and the area feels almost as hot as it did before I put on.  The gel does absorb in though and doesn't leave any strange residue on the skin.

All in all, it's an okay product and if you have delicate or allergy prone skin, it may be worth a try but for me, I'm afraid I won't be putting this on my repurchase list. Sorry Simple! 

If you do fancy trying it, Boots are offering 3 for 2 on selected Simple products, here.

Do you have any tips for reviving tired eyes?

Have you tried this roll-on before?

Hugs,

Jodi 
xxx

Sunday 27 October 2013

Weekend Mani #10

I'm going to be completely honest with you, this is technically not this weekends mani. *recoils at the gasps of horror* 
I had a day off during the week and had some polish on that wasn't OPI and so I thought I would use it for the purpose of this post. 


This is Nails Inc. Old Park Lane £11, Debenhams often do 10% off fragrance and beauty and you used to be able to get free delivery when using the code SHBC. 


This is marketed as a metallic champagne shimmer polish.  It is very opaque, I only applied one coat and got full opacity.  A a result of this I did find the formula quite thick and with the metallic finish, I found it difficult to get it streak free.  


In no light did it look like champagne to me!  It was more of a coppery bronze but it had hints of mauve and red in there too. 


I ended up taking it off on the way to work and so I tried to take pics of it in natural daylight, forgetting that it is Aberdeen in October and natural daylight is pretty scarce now! 

I had tried to do a glitter accent on this but it just didn't work, because there was hints of so many colours in this polish, it was difficult to match a glitter to it.  This is L'oreal's sequin explosion which I posted about here.


I think this polish would look good if you were going on holiday or had some colour to your skin but personally, I didn't like it on me.  Having saying that, as it is so opaque, I reckon this would be good for stamping.  I do have some plates that I have yet to use so I may try a christmassy mani with this.


In the picture above, you can see where I had a problem with streaking. Metallic polishes aren't something I usually wear, so it is a formula I'm not used to working with.  

I got this in a Nails Inc. Lucky dip where they offer you six polishes for about £18 or so, so if you are just getting into polish, it's a great way to try a few for a bargain price. I can;t see this on their website but I think the lucky dips are their way of clearing out old stock.  

How do you feel about metallic polishes?

Have you ever tried the Nails Inc Lucky Dip?

Hugs,

Jodi 
xxx



Thursday 24 October 2013

Origins GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturiser

In one of my recent trips to Boots, I really wanted to get my hands on the Origins 'Out of Trouble' face mask but was told there has been a supplier problem and they don't know when it will be back in stock.  This seems to apply to the Origins website too.

So instead, I got the highly praised 'Super Spot Remover' to try and tackle my breakouts, I will review that at a later date, and also the 'GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturiser'.  The counter assistant kept calling this Vitazing and I was getting really confused! 


Nice and sturdy pot, although I do favour a pump dispenser rather than sticking my fingers in my products.  Pumps are also great for managing how much you dispense.


The pot itself is a good size, which is nice as I consider £23 on a moisturiser a bit of a splurge.  I can see this lasting a good while with daily/every other daily use.


Love a brand that makes their recyclable packaging from recycled products.  


The ingredients are pretty good, Panax Ginseng and coffee beans are used to brighten and revive your skin whilst salicylic acid helps to fight off blemishes.  It's worth mentioning that it does contain some silicones, such as methyl trimethicone and dimethicone (both have been approved by the FDA and other such organisations as being safe to use).  It also contains quite a few essential oils, which can be an irritant to skin.


The moisturiser is strongly scented of oranges, great if you like oranges (I don't!).  Aromatherapists use orange oils to help relieve anxiety and boost moods so it's a good little pick-me-up for the darker mornings.  I can't detect if it contains orange oil or extract (it's maybe on the ingredients list but in some latin form?) but if it does, orange oils can cause slight photosensitivity so that is something to watch out for.


The texture is lovely and smooth (thanks to the silicones) and has a very gel-like feel.  It is also absorbed very easily into the skin.  It is also oil-free and therefore a good option for oil skin types.

I like it but I don't know if I will repurchase it.  I really like the texture and how quickly it is absorbed but I have noticed that my skin does seem slightly redder on the days that I have used it.  Also, I would like to see salicylic acid closer to the top of the list of ingredients. Lastly, the smell, I've never liked oranges but that's just me!

Have you tried any Origins products before?

How do you feel about essential oils in skincare? 

Hugs,

Jodi
xxx

Monday 21 October 2013

A Parliament of Owls

It's no secret that I like a good Owl, from Hedwig in Harry Potter to the Great Grey Owl in Camperdown Park in Dundee!

My Boyfriend recently bought me a few owly items, which I thought I would share with you.


Ipad case, here, Ribbon, here, and Bracelet, similar here


The bracelet is cute and definitely a bit kitsch.  It has the floral enamel owl as the main attraction on a gold tone bracelet chain.  It has gold tone hearts, pearls and blue beads. It also comes in a nice wee pouch as well which makes it great to give as a gift.


Owl ribbon, no sure what I'm going to use this for but it is awfully cute.  It's not flimsy ribbon either so would be good for craft projects.


The iPad case is more pink than it appears in these pictures.  The print is very cute and the white edging and background make it a bit more funky.  I love the little owl on the back.  This cost £27.40 which I'm not particularly happy about, There were cute ones on eBay for £10 which would have done the job - I'm so ungrateful, I know.


The back of the packaging shows the different ways in which you can use the case as a stand.  Personally, I find the stand to be a bit disappointing and have left a review on Amazon saying as such.  I would expect it to be a lot sturdier for the price.


The case itself is very slim and you can see from the above picture how the stand is supposed to work, unfortunately it seems to collapse in on itself when you try to stand it up like this.

And not pictured above is this, rather sinister looking, earphone jack.


Designed to keep the dust out of the earphone jack, I find this a wee bit big and I annoyed my colleagues greatly by pulling it out and pushing it in repeatedly, similar to clicking a pen I suppose.


The back of the owl looks possibly even more sinister since it is full of holes! The holes are actually hearts!

He bought these presents alongside the GHD's I wrote about here, with his first wage from his new job, it is not a common occurrence for me to get random gifts!

Do you have a favourite animal?

What case do you have for your phone/laptop/iPad?

Hugs,

Jodi
xxx




Sunday 20 October 2013

Cheshire Cat Craziness

Next weekend, I am going on a Hen Night out, which has the theme Alice in Wonderland and
 we will be drinking cocktails out of teapots and all sorts of madness!
I haven't done dress up for a very long time, and my initial thoughts would be that I would go as
 the Queen of Hearts, however, I discovered the bride-to-be's sister (also my chum!) is going as that and so I decided against it.  Bad taste going as the same thing as the Bride or her sister! 
I then thought about what really made the (Disney) movie for me all those years ago and it just
 had to be the Cheshire Cat!

And so here is what I have got to help me achieve this look...

Cheshire Cat Craziness

This is where places like ebay and amazon are extremely useful, you can get items for really cheap which is great as I can't see me needing purple cat ears all too often!  My one bugbear is that when it is personal sellers, they can sometimes charge too much for postage, each to their own I suppose but it can be a little unfair.

Are you dressing up for Halloween?

Do you use eBay or Amazon for fancy dress purchasing?

Hugs,

Jodi
xxx

Saturday 19 October 2013

Weekend Mani #9

More O.P.I, I'm sorry, I'm not sorry.  

Next weekend I will try and do a non-O.P.I mani!


This is 'Do You Lilac It?' from the Brights collection (2006) and 'Save Me' from the Nicki Minaj collection (2012).  


 'Do You Lilac It?' is a 'looks okay in the bottle polish but stunning on the nail polish'. It is almost a one-coater, which is extremely good for a pastel hue.  I really, really, really like this colour.  The one thing I did notice with this colour was that it brought out the red/pink tones in my skin, which isn't really a big issue.  


'Save Me' is O.P.I's first foray into bar glitter.  It has silver microglitters and holographic bar glitters.  I find the silver glitter is actually quite dense and overwhelms the bar glitters slightly. The bar glitter doesn't stick up on the nail, which is great as 'sticky up' bits can chip your mani.


They are both standard O.P.I pro-wide brushes, which allows for swift application.  On the pics here, I have two coats of 'Save Me' as an accent nail. 

To do the accent nail I used scotch gift wrapping tape that I bought from Asda for £2.  I stuck it to my arm a few times so that it wasn't so sticky that it took the polish underneath off.  This is a new trick I have just picked up and so far so good!! 


This colour is really great for 'shorties' or 'nubbins' as some folk call them.


I used a little solar oil cuticle oil after doing this mani as my cuticles were looking shockingly dry after the return to cold weather.

I know I keep harping on about the weather so I'm glad I picked this uplifting colour as this weekends mani.

How do you feel about bright colours in autumn/winter?

Hugs,

Jodi
xxx







Friday 18 October 2013

Twinkle twinkle

On Sunday I decided I was gonna pimp my headboard!

I had some voile panels which I think I got from Dunelm Mill or maybe B&Q a few years ago.  We had originally tried to use them to hang on either side of the bed but the cats decided they were far too much fun to climb up!


The voile panels are a shimmery silver and so I decided to use one and wrap it around my headboard.  It's not the neatest but it looks better than the headboard did before, think cats claws and dark hair dyes.
At the back, I just used staples and the legs of the headboard, to hold the voile in place.  


The fairy lights are ones I bought from eBay, they were supposed to be warm white but they are actually just pure (quite bright) white with several different settings, think christmas tree.  I Just use them on the continuous 'on' setting. eBay is pretty good for stuff like this, I think these cost me about £6.50. 

I have sewn on every other fairy light just to keep them secure, Neville was really keen to get at the thread, look at that face! 


Fairy lights are a great alternative to a bedside lamp and make reading a book in bed a lovely, cosy experience.



Have you done anything to perk up your bedroom?

Hugs,

Jodi
xxx






Wednesday 16 October 2013

Eye eye Barry!

Last month I bought this Barry M eyeliner brush from Superdrug for £2.99, I actually bought it for filling in my eyebrows rather than using it as an eyeliner brush. 

 Honestly, it's great! 

It has an angled tip and a long tapered handle, the bristles themselves are extremely soft and the brush picks up the product easily.  


The back of the packaging really stood out to me as it actually gives you a web address and an app option to go to to get make up tips and tutorials.  


The tip of the brush is very thin which allows for precision.  It can be used wet or with gel liner for a more intense line or with eyeshadow for a more subtle, smokey look.


I find the longer handle gives me more control over what I am doing with the brush and allows me to create a more natural shape.  I like to use this brush with my HD Brows palette as I find using a powder helps me to avoid the 'Scouse Brow' look - Aberdeen isn't ready for that yet, I think!


I also like the colour, the range is all very colourful and cheery. And extremely easy on the purse.

If you are just starting out with make up or if you are expanding your collection on a budget, I urge you to check this range out, I certainly will be! 

Have you tried any of Barry M's new brushes?

Have you seen the other new products in Barry M's range?

Hugs,

Jodi
xxx



Tuesday 15 October 2013

Sainsburys - A treasure trove of trinkets?

I went in to Sainsburys recently for milk and therefore came out with loads of bits and bobs that I don't *really* need, as you do.

    

I bought a pretty grey storage box for £3 ish, it was half price and I thought it would maybe store a few nail polishes.  A n A5 notebook for my Gramma, it helps her remember what she has been upto during the day and what visitors she has, if we write it down for her.  Also, some owl earrings.


Turns out the box is a good height for nail polish! So I got to sortin'...


59 Bottles of O.P.I in a box, 59 Bottles of O.P.I...
I was a bit disappointed they don't fit in as securely as I'd like but 'the boy' had a genius idea of getting some foam type stuff from the likes of Hobbycraft and creating a wee mould - Genius!


I don't usually wear earrings or most jewellery in fact as I used to get terrible rashes as a child from the costume jewellery I would insist upon wearing but these little fellas claim to be hypoallergenic so for £2.50, I thought I could give them a good home.  I think these were also covered by the 25% off clothing deal that sainsburys seem to run every couple of months.


The only thing I can find a link to on the website is this cute little trinket box, Sainsburys really do have some cutesy accessories just now.  I thought this would be great for storing cotton wool balls or hair bobbles in but 'the boy' decided he was going to store his peanut butter m&m's in it instead!  I bought two of these and gave one to my mum as she just bought herself a wee dressing table for her room. I think these were also 1/3 off or thereabouts. 

Supermarkets are really coming up trumps when it comes to providing you with everything you need to make your home homey.

Asda do some great bedding, home furnishings, storage boxes and clothes too, whereas I think sainsburys do better stationary and home storage/accessory/furnishings.

Do you find yourself buying more than just a loaf of bread at the shops nowadays?

Do you have any favourite trinkets you found where you didn't expect too?

Hugs,

Jodi
xxx