Partying with the Gang in Vegas!

Partying with the Gang in Vegas!

Kim Kardashian Awesome

Kim Kardashian Awesome

Teeny Mac Haul, Hair & Makeup Crush

I have been conveting these two products from Mac for what feels like ages and they seemed to be non-movers on my makeup lust list.  I finally decided to give in to the temptation and I'm so glad I did.  They have both completely lived up to my expectations. 

 

Everyone knows what Mac Melon pigment looks like so I won't go on too much about it.  I mean the swatches speak for themselves, it's a soft, bright golden peach with a supernatural metallic sheen.  It looks amazing on the eyes and I think this will become my most loved eyeshadow for the summer!  It's going to look gorgeous with a warm brown like mulch as a contour...I can't wait to play with it!!!

I had seen the Mac Costa Chic lipstick on a few blogs and also on the Pixiwoo and pixi2woo vids.  I always gravitate towards peaches and corals and have specifically been on the search for a pale coral lipstick for summer days.  I always think those shades look lovely against golden skin and it will make a great combo with the Melon pigment too!  It's described on the mac website as a frosty light coral but now that I have it in front of me, I would describe it more as a pale, bright creamy coral.  The frost is not that apparent when it's applied as you will see in the hair pics below.  It is quite a bit brighter in real life and that doesn't seem to be captured in photos for some reason.  I love this shade because it's really brightening on my complexion and a really easy to wear.  It's a great brighter daytime shade that you can wear without feeling conspicuous.  I don't know about you guys but I could never wear a red lipstick during the day...it just feels too much on me personally. 

Hallelujah...I got my hair done today by my lovely hairdresser, Leigh.  I have been dying to get my roots covered up and also get my hair properly trimmed and tidied up.  I got my usual highlights consisting of three shades of blonde (dark blonde similar to my natural shade, a honey blonde and a light blonde).  When it came to the cut, I decided to get just over an inch of the ends because to be honest, they were beginning to look thin and unhealthy.  By trimming off the dead wood, my hair looks a million times more healthy and also thicker.  It also looks super shiny now which I love!

I also decided to get a side fringe cut in and an inch off my layers all over to make it easier for me to build volume.  The longer my hair is, the harder it becomes to create volume and movement.  The side fringe will give me a bit more to work with when creating bigger hair.  I always ask Leigh to cut into the fringe at an angle so it blends into my hair, rather than looking separate and blunt.  My hair looks a bit flatter than normal in the pics because I got the straighteners quickly popped over the length of my hair.

I walked straight out of the hairdressers and into the sandwich shop next door to pick up something for lunch.  I hadn't been in there in over a year and the woman who always serves me immediately said "wow, you've lost loads of weight, you look fantastic".  I can't tell you how much that made my day.  I was listening to Lady GaGa 'Born This Way' as I toddled back home and found myself humming away to it and smiling like a loon!  Not sure what passers-by made of my antics but frankly, I didn't care! I was too busy having a good day!  

I was doing my usual sweep of my favourite magazine websites and ran across this shoot with Gywneth Paltrow for Harper's Bazaar (March issue).  It has a real 70's vibe to the clothes, hair and makeup...

I'm loving the navy smokey eye and sharp, contoured cheeks!  Gywneth looks fab!

Her hair looks so voluminous in this next shot and I love the whole laid back, glam feel to it.  Remember being at school and swinging back on your chair like that, thinking you were well cool? It will end in tears Gywneth! Tears I tell you!  Don't come running to me when you bump your beautifully coiffed head on the shagpile carpeted floor!

She seems to have really vamped up her image recently and has been wearing much sexier outfits in shoots and on the red carpet.  I'm digging her new style.

Ever since the first episode, I have been obsessed with watching The Model Agency.  It's a new fly-on-the-wall seven part documentary series on Channel 4 (Wednesday nights at 10pm) which takes a look inside the London office of Premier Model Management.  Think of it as Big Brother and Next Top Model mixed together.  There's a lot of bitchiness, a lot of banter and a sharp shock of reality for any budding models.  I mean this documentary shows just how ruthless the business can be and the fact that only 1 in 10,000 girls can actually make it as a successful full-time working model.

If you haven't seen it yet, there's a taster clip on YouTube here or you can check out the episodes so far here.

A recent review suggested "The Model Agency (Channel 4) should be shown in schools. Not for its merits as a programme but for its potential as a deterrent. Three years ago a survey found that 32 per cent of teenage girls would like to work as a model. They seem to be under the impression that modelling is glamorous, exciting and easy. As we saw in last night’s fly-on-the-wall documentary, filmed at the Premier agency in London, it’s none of these things and less".

What's interesting is how candid everyone is about what is expected of the models and also how unreasonable some of the clients demands can be with regards to how skinny the models should be.  One of the booking agents last night was talking about how alot of the designers want girls with boy's bodies and a beautiful face.  She explained that some of the models just have bigger bone structure and she doesn't know what they expect, short of shaving some bone off the girl's hips!  It's interesting to hear the comments and opinions of people who are immersed in the business and deal with these things on a daily business.  I wonder how it affects their own personal self image?

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Style Crush: Marion Cotillard

I have always been in complete awe of how cosmoplitan French women can bring together an outfit with such style and flirty insouciance.  They always look so damn cool with an air of "what this? I just threw it on!".  But it's convincing and it always leaves me wondering what their secret is to making everything they drape their bodies in so sophisticated.

One such French woman is the actress, Marion Cotillard.  I'll always remember looking at the coverage of the 2008 BAFTAS when Marion Cotillard picked up the Bafta for Best Actress from under the noses of Keira Knightley and Julie Christie.  To add insult to injury, she also blew everyone else out of the water on the red carpet.  She wore a short, sequined Chanel number with flowing details (shown below), making everyone else seem stuffy, including Dior-clad Keira Knightley, who is 10 years her junior!  It shouldn't have worked in theory but on Marion, she carried it off beautifully with a defiant confidence.

Marion has a wonderful knack of being able to wear very sexy clothes without ever being vulgar or looking trashy.  She seems to wear expensive clothes in a casual way that makes them look cool.  Her hair is never overly structured and always has a soft wave or laid back feel.

Take probably the most famous of all French designers and fashion institutions, Chanel. French women don't dress head to toe in the stuffy woven-wool skirt suits. They give the designs a fresh, quirky and modern twist that highlights the timelessness of the classical fashion house.  A quote I always remembered and kept in mind was spoken by the French actress, Clémence Poésy, who starred in the film 'In Bruges':  "It's important to be yourself. What you wear reflects what you are, so you need to be strong enough on the inside to ignore what the fashion gurus say you should wear on the outside."

So what is that je ne sais quoi that the French seem to have?  Well, I reckon it could just be the confidence to be who they want to be.  The reason they come across as so cool is because they don't care what anyone else thinks about their fashion choices.  I think that more and more, us girls in the UK are catching up in the cool stakes though with alot of French women citing Kate Moss, Alexa Chung, Sienna Miller, Emma Watson and Keira Knightely as fashion icons/inspirations!

Since we are on the subject of Marion Cotillard though, I thought I would share these images I found of her from Russian Tatler magazine looking A-mazing!

What do you think of French style?

Loads of bloggers have been raving about the new nail polish shades from the Spring collection available at Estee Lauder and I just wanted to show you one of the ones I now have in my collection in case you were thinking of treating yourself.  It's always handy to see what the polishes look like when they have actually been applied to nails (mine are real by the way).  This is the Wild Storm shade which is a pearl gunmetal grey...

I love Estee Lauder nail polishes because they dry really quickly so there's less chance of smudging the polish within the first 5 minutes.  I can't tell you how much that annoys me when that happens!  If it's a bad smudge, I actually have to remove it all off the nail and start again...I told you I had OCD problems!ha ha.  I love the EL polish bottles because to me, they look like little ice cubes!  These polishes also have great slimline brushes that make it really easy to apply the product with precision.

Have you picked up any of the Spring collection EL nail polishes? Which ones are your favourites?

3 Products I Have Been Loving Lately...

After reading Holly's post here about the brand new Batiste range of dry shampoos with a hint of colour, I knew I had to try it out because visible roots are the bain of my life!  My roots are ok until about 5-6 weeks after I have had my hair highlighted but because I tend to get a full head done every 7 weeks, I always have that period when my eyes are drawn to my dark roots every time I look in the mirror. 

So really, it's about time they created a product that's easy to use, effective and affordable.  The product comes in three shades:

Light: Blondes

Medium: Rich Brunettes & fiery Auburn

Dark: deep/darker shades of brown/black

I love this product because not only does it disguise my roots in the couple of weeks leading up to my hair appointment but it also injects much needed volume into my roots.  It's easy peasy to use, you just section off your hair, shake the can well, hold it 30cm away from your roots, rub in and you're good to go!  The instructions do say to brush it through but I didn't feel the need to do that.

They are priced at a very reasonable £2.99 at Boots.  I did have trouble finding the Light shade and had to look around a few stores to find it but always ask if they have some in their store room as I know Boots have alot of products in the back so sometimes they just need a reminder that it's not on the shelf!

Two warnings to pay attention to regarding this product are:

•  Don't spray it near any dark or black clothing...it will coat it in a powdery residue!
• Try to shield/cover your forehead and sides of your face whilst spraying or you might end up with powdery residue on your makeup.

Another wonder product that I heard of from various Pixiwoo videos, was the Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream.  Now I have mentioned before that I often have to switch my skincare regime around to make sure my skin doesn't get too used to any one product.  I sometimes suffer from dry skin on and around my nose due to my Psoriasis and I also get dry patches in my hair line, hands and elbows.

This cream is fabulous as a night time treat for me.  Although it claims to be a great base for makeup, I did find it SLIGHTLY too heavy to apply under my makeup.  I basically slather my face in this at night and it completely obliterated the dry patches on my face overnight! Brilliant! I was extremely impressed by this.  I have been applying it to my elbows and hands and the dry skin there has improved dramatically although it may take slightly longer to clear up.

I got my one from Boots and it was priced at £7.65.

A perfume that I have been obsessed with recently is Armani Code for women...man, do I love the smell of this stuff!  It has a blend of Madagascar vanilla, a touch of honey and Sambac jasmine from India.  It's quite a warm, sensual perfume and I love to wear it at night time. 

I also love the bottle from the shape of it to the pretty floral design.  My usual perfumes are YSL Elle or Gucci II to give you an idea of what I usually go for.  You can get the 30ml spray from The Perfume Shop for £36.50.

What's your favourite perfume of the moment?  Have you tried the Batiste Dry Shampoo with a hint of colour?  What creams do you recommend for dry skin?

I am absolutely LOVING this Beyonce ('Why Don't You Love Me') makeup look Tanya did over at pixi2woo on YouTube:

It really makes me wish I could wear eyeliner on my lower lashline! But because of my deep-set eyes with dark under eye circles, this dictates what I can and can't wear.  In fact...I love all of Beyonce's makeup looks in the video and I like the retro 50's feel to it all:

Have there been any makeup looks in music videos that have caught your eye recently?