Poundland Make Up Gallery Feeling Blush Blusher - Candyfloss 2

When I was younger it was a cardinal sin to shop in shops like Poundstretcher and Poundland. It just wasn't done, there used to be a real stigma amongst my peer group at least, about shopping in so called bargain and cheap shops, and god forbid if you mam was spotted with an offending carrier bag!

Looking back now though I completely cringe at the old me, bargain shops are where it's at and I'm so pleased that the majority of people nowadays are bargain hunters like me.

My shop of the moment is Poundland - I'm incapable of going into that shop without spending at least a fiver, There is always something to buy from food and snacks, to stationery, and of course toiletries and cosmetics.

I know there's been a bit of controversy in the past about Poundland and branded make up but towards the end of last year they introduced their own brand, Make Up Gallery. As you would expect every item is just £1 and the range contains everything that any decent make up line should from mascaras, to lip glosses, foundations, cheek products and of course nail polishes.

Being the nail polish junkie that I am I started off simply with just one nail polish Mushroom Magic. You can read my review here but for the price I was impressed, so much so that on my next visit to Poundland I picked up another polish and a couple of make up items.

At the minute I'm in the middle of a real blusher love in, I love the stuff so one of the things that I got was one of the Make Up Gallery Feeling Blush Blushers. As far as I can tell there are just four shades to choose from but they are all in really wearable tones of peach, coral and pink. It was a hard choice but the one I got was 2 Candyfloss.

I'm not sure how accurate the name is, Candyfloss to me means a bright, baby pink, but this shade is a lot warmer, and definitely contains some peachy tones as well as the pink you would expect.

The packaging is quite basic, all clear and black plastic but it does the job and it has quite a sturdy feel. The square powder, blusher inside contains Vitamin E and has a smooth, silky feel, and it's surprisingly pigmented.

It blends really well, and as you can hopefully see it gives my skin a really pretty, natural flush. (ignore the brows there getting sheared tomorrow ;)

I'm going to hold my hands up and say that I was sceptical, For the price I just didn't think that this would be any good but I'll admit it, it really did surprise me. The pigmentation and texture are excellent for the price but it's the colour that I've fallen in love with. This is a real everyday blush shade for me and something that I could wear no matter what the outfit, the make up look or the occasion. It doesn't wear as well as some blushers I've tried but for just £1, reapplying it if I need to isn't any great hardship.

I'm going to Poundland later this week and based on this blusher I'm definitely going to be heading straight to the Make Up Gallery stand, so if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them x Thanks for reading x

Urban Decay Decay Naked Basics 2 Winner Revealed

Hi everyone - I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted but family issues and my annoying laptop are to blame. My laptop has been replaced though and I'm feeling a lot more together so I'm back and raring to go. I have lots of posts planned this week including a couple of little hauls, some videos, a make up review and a long awaited hair tool review but I thought I'd bounce back with the post that you've probably all been waiting for.

You've had a little while to wait but it's now time to announce the winner of my 8th Blogging Birthday giveaway, to win an Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Eyeshadow Palette.

I want to thank every single one of you for entering, I had over 3,500 entries but as you know there can only be one winner and that winner picked randomly via Rafflecopter is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

luluazul24

Louise B

Congratulations Louise, I will be sending you an email later tonight x 

If you weren't lucky enough to win this time don't worry I have plenty more giveaways to come including the chance to win some Illamasqua, Nails Inc and Make Up Revolution goodies. I'm also taking some of your comments on board and although I don't have access to some of the US goodies that you'd like to win, you've gave me some fab ideas not only for giveaway prizes but also for things I would quite like to try myself, so you never know ;)

Thanks again for following and for your input, and I hope that you'll stick around and keep leaving me feedback on what I write and what you want to read x 

Punky Pins Jewellery Haul And Wishlist

As I've said many times before, one of my huge passions is jewellery. Like every girl, I love gold, and diamonds, but fashion jewellery is my real love. I love wood, acrylic and natural gemstone pieces, and I love quirky necklaces, bangles and bracelets.

To be honest I'm not sure what I ever did before the invention of online shopping, I probably had a bit more money, but I was probably much more of a sheep. Having to buy jewellery pieces in the same shops, as your school and college, friends and enemies, meant that it was so much harder to have your own individual look and style. Bar a few ladies that made their own jewellery we all looked the same and wore exactly the same necklaces, earrings and rings.

Thanks to the kazillions of options online though, it's now much easier to find quirky and one of a kind jewellery pieces. I'm a huge fan of ebay, and charity shops for unusual and vintage pieces  but I also love online boutiques, and one of my longtime favourites is Punky Pins.

Way back when, when Sex In The City premiered, the jewellery piece to own was the Carrie name necklace. I loved the concept but whilst I love small ditsy, pendants and chains I wanted something a bit bolder. The answer came via magazines, and various chat forums that I frequented - a North East (Middlesbrough) based site called Punky Pins, which was founded in 2005.

My first purchase was one of their acrylic, mirrored name necklaces, and an NYC themed acrylic pendant, that featured a mirrored gold Empire State Building, a star and the I NY logo. I don't think I've ever owned a jewellery piece that's attracted as many comments as my name necklace did. I wore it at my first ever blog event which was FABB Newcastle, and it proved a great conversations starter and well and helping people remember my name -  you can't see it too well but just to refresh your memory this is my FABB outfit post x 

All was well then something awful happened - I stood on it :( Being mirrored, acrylic it broke in two -  I was sad and a bit annoyed at my carelessness but these things happen and I never thought much more about it but a couple of weeks ago a Punky Pins offer landed in my inbox and I decided to replace it.

There are several different types of name necklaces to choose from, from wooden, to different styles and colours of acrylic, but I went for what I had before, the Sexy City Personalised Acrylic MIRROR Name Necklace.

You can get any name up to 9 letter and it comes in either silver or gold and whilst I'm normally a silver girl, gold was what I had before. It comes on a 41 cm gold plated chain with a 7 cm extender chain which features an acrylic Punky Pins logo.This necklace is £15 but since every one is made to order I don't think that it's a bad price. 

The reason why I chose to place my order when I did was not only down to a free P&P offer but it was also because of a free gift offer. I love a free gift and I love my cats so the offer of a free cat themed necklace with a £15 purchase sucked me in.

The necklace I got was the Wooden Cat Necklace, which features a super cute, wooden engraved cats head on a 48 cm silver plated chain, with a 5 cm extender and a metal Punky Pins logo. You can buy him on the website for just £5.

I know name necklaces and cats aren't for everyone but if you're after something quirky and a bit unusual then I would definitely recommend having a look at Punky Pins. As well as necklaces, they also do a range of other jewellery pieces and accessories. Here are some of my other picks and wants from the site.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 

Have you ever bought anything from Punky Pins? Let me know in the comments below x 

Hillarys Crafternoon With Joe Bloggs Blogger Network

I'm going to start this post with a bit of a confession - as much as I love crafting, card making and scrap booking, my sewing skills leave a lot to be desired.

Photo Courtesy Of  Joe Bloggs

No matter what skills I'm lacking though  I'm always up for a challenge so last Saturday I joined, lots of another north east bloggers (I'm hiding at the back somewhere near the lovely Laura) at a Joe Blogs Blogger Network event at the popular Jazz Cafe in Newcastle city centre. The title of the event was the Hillarys Crafternoon so we teamed up with Hillarys Blinds and the lovely ladies from The Crafty Hen for afternoon of tea, biscuits and crafting.

Although I was told that there was no sewing experience required as soon as the ladies from the The Craft Hen started demoing our first activity I knew that I might need to pick up a needle and thread for the first time in 10 years!

Another Photo Courtesy Of Joe Blogs

The first activity was to use some of Hillarys, new 2015 fabrics to make a reusable book cover. It sounds easy enough and I have to say this one wasn't too hard. The fabrics were all cut to size, so all we had to do was fold over our covers, and stitch ( or glue and stitch in my case) them together and add some embellishments. There were lots of different fabrics to chose from but since I am a huge purple and lilac fan, I went for the Bohemia Damson curtain fabric, which features purple and lilac toned flowers on a cream background.

The task wasn't too hard but the small round tables in the venue didn't really give us a lot of room so I improvised and used a stool as my workbench. The hardest parts were making sure everything was straight and trying not to burn myself with the glue gun, but my cover came together pretty well. Then it was time to choose some buttons and ribbons to decorate my cover, there were some lovely flower and bee shaped buttons but I wanted to stick to the purple and lilac theme, so I picked three buttons and some ribbon, and grabbed my glue gun.

I'm actually pretty pleased how this turned out, my fabric was quite thick and I ended up giving it an iron at home but I loved the fabric and colour tones.

After a short break and some lovely chilled water with fresh limes, it was time for our second demo from The Crafty Hens.

Photo Again Courtesy Of The Joe Blogs Team  - See If You Can Spot Me

I have to say as informative the demo was, this one scared me a bit! Our second task was to make a fabric bird. There was no way round this one - I was going to have to thread my needle and so some sewing.

Again I picked the Bohemia Damson fabric and returned to my stool / workbench to get started. The first task was to cut out the bird templates - total fail on my part - I have zilch scissor skills even with paper, so trying to keep it even and cut it out was tough to say the least

Then we had to sew our two pieces of fabric together, leaving a gap to turn our bird the right way round and stuff him. The concentration was intense - there was barely a whisper as the bloggers concentrated on the task

Another Picture From The Joe Bloggs Term - Instead Of Where's Wally, Where's Lou

Hmm well I managed to thread my needle but that was about it, my little birdy like so many others was an abject fail, despite  advice from The Crafty Hen ladies, my poor bird ended up looking, like a raggy seal, bird, fish hybrid lol.

Hey I can't be good at everything can I? the term is practically perfect after all! To be honest its all a bit embarrassing how bad my sewing skills are but after this attempt, I'm determined to get better and practise a little bit, after all practise makes perfect. In fact I've even bought a craft magazine with a free felt flower making kit, complete with a needle and thread - go me!

 I have to say despite my inept sewing skills I had a fabulous afternoon, and I've never laughed so much in ages. It was a great event that give us an opportunity to do something different,  learn some new skills, and spend some time with some lovely people,

            Picture Courtesy Of Team Joe Bloggs

As a thank you for attending we received a lovely goodie bag from both Joes Bloggers and Hillarys. There were several different bags to choose from all of which were made with some of Hillarys most popular new fabrics. As soon as I saw it though I fell in love with this retro floral print.

If like me your a fan of Orla Kiely, and you're looking for new curtains, or blinds then you need to have a look at Hillarys latest collections for very similar retro style prints. My bag is made from the Daisy Pistachio fabric, which has a gorgeous iridescence and 60's feel.

Inside the bag we recieved some of Hillarys new catalogues, a Hillarys branded pen, a mini bar of Green and Blacks chocolate ( not pictured - whoops!) and a Yankee Candle Salted Caramel Wax Tart.

I want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone concerned, to Hillarys for their beautiful fabric, to Jazz Cafe for the lovely venue, to The Crafty Hens for their advice and patience and of course to the lovely Joe Bloggs team. If there holding an event in your area I would definitely recommend going for a chance to socialise with some other bloggers, to learn something new and to have some fun. I know that they are planning some more event up north and I for one can't wait.

Time For Watches With Van Peterson 925 At Debenhams*

Many, many moons ago, when I was younger, richer and healthier, I considered myself to be a bit of a designer diva. Everything that I bought had to have the right label and I was obsessed with having the right handbag, the right pair of shoes and the right watch. I was probably a bit shallow back in those days but as circumstances have changed so have I. Nowadays I consider myself to be a bit more of a bargainista - I'm always looking out for the best buys and the best prices and 9 time out of 10, I don't like spending more money than I have to . 

Despite my new bargainista lifestyle it is still possible to buy items with a designer label for less by buying from a brands diffusion line. One off high street and designer collaborations are now common place but Debenhams is one high street store that's take this idea of a collaboration one step further.

Walk into any Debenhams store, nationwide and you can find exclusive items from the Designers At Debenhams range from the likes of Henry Holland, Julien MacDonald, Betty Jackson and Jasper Conran, As well as clothing you can find home accessories, handbags and jewellery.

A few weeks ago now I was contacted by the lovely people at Debenhams offering me a little pressie from the Designers At Debenhams range to celebrate Random Acts Of Kindness Week. There were a couple of options to choose from including some fabulous Betty Jackson Black jewellery pieces but I decided to go for a watch.

The watch that I chose was from a Designers At Debenhams brand Van Peterson 925. Founded by Eric Van Peterson and his wife Lin over 30 years ago, Van Peterson is a high end, designer jewellery brand favoured by the the likes of Charlize Theron, Poppy Delevigne and Annie Lennox. Understandably though their pieces aren't cheap. Their  prices reflect the precious stones and metals that they use as well as their individual and one off designs. Thankfully though for those of us with a more moderate budget Eric Van Peterson has teamed up with Debenhams to produce a more affordable range of jewellery pieces and watches.

Like you would expect with any designer lead item, the packaging was perfection. My watch came beautifully packaged in a black and silver box, complete with a black ribbon bow, and the Van Peterson logo in silver and black. It really does look like a present and anyone receiving it would know that was something special inside.

Nestled around a black velour cushion was my watch. This is the Van Peterson Mini Branded Bezel Watch.

In silver tone, it has the traditional gate link strap, with the Van Peterson logo on the clasp.

The watch face is made from a gorgeous iridescent mother of pearl, and it features the Van Peterson logo in silver, silver tone hands, and each of the numbers are represented by a square crystal surrounded by silver.

The watch features a silver tone bezel, which features the words Van Peterson all the way around.

Fit wise this watch is a little bit loose on me but I actually like it like that. I love layering up my watch with bracelets and bangles so I actually don't mind the slackness or the fact that I can wear it further up my arm. Unfortunately you can't alter the strap on this watch yourself but there is some information within the box where you can get the strap altered for just £5.50 + postage.

I have to say I don't think any of my photographs actually do this beautiful watch justice. The silver tone is very, very shiny, and the mother of pearl face flashes with the most amazing rainbow shades.

I think that this is an ideal watch to take you from day to night. It has quite a traditional, masculine, utilitarian shape but the addition of the crystals and the mother of pearl on the dial give it a bit more of a glamorous look. 

I'm absolutely in love with this watch and whilst I would be the first to say that I'm not a regular watch wearer, I've worn this non stop since I received it, and I've had so many lovely comments on it already.

This Van Peterson Mini Branded Bezel Watch retails at £70 but unfortunately it's out of stock online

at the moment. If you're looking for a watch either for yourself or as a Mothers Day gift though, Debenhams have a large range of watches to choose from no matter what your budget. You can find watches from some of their Designers At Debenhams brands including  Jasper Conran, John Rocha, Van Peterson and Floozie by Frost French, as well as timepieces from well known brands such as DKNY, Skagen, Fossil and Guess.

Are you a fan of high street and designer collaborations? I'd love to hear your thoughts x 

(*Sample)

Make Up Revolution 32 Flawless Eyeshadow Palette Winner Revealed

I know that you've been waiting a little while for the post so I'm to stop the waffling for a change and get on with it :)

It's now time to announce the winner of my Make Up Revolution 32 Flawless Eyeshadow Palette. This was my most entered giveaway to date with over 3,000 entries but unfortunately there can be only one winner and the lucky person chosen at random via Rafflecopter is....


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Doreen Lamoureux 

Congratulations Doreen! I'll be emailing you later tonight and your parcel will be winging it's way across the Atlantic later in the week x 

Doreen's winning entry came courtesy of twitter so it's always worth using as many of the entry options as possible to stand a better chance of winning. If you weren't lucky enough to win this time don't worry, my Urban Decay giveaway has another 6 days to go, and I've got some more giveaways coming soon including some more Make Up Revolutions items, some ebay items, and some nail polish so stick around x 

Trimming My Stash February 2015 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

I'm late again but it's February empties time x It wasn't a vintage performance by any means but I still managed to finish two more products than I did in January

Old Wives Tail Jojoba And Clove Organic Oil Hair Treatment - 100ml
Steam Cream - Jane - 75g
Skin Blossom Therapeutic Bath Soak - 300ml
Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes - 25 Wipes
Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural Lift And Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm - 100ml
I Love...Cranberry Celebration Nourishing Body Butter - 50ml
Total - 6 Items

Again it was a nice variety of items, with some skin care, some body care and some hair care. I didn't manage to finish any make up in February but I'm just about done with two items so hopefully I'll finish them this month.

1. Old Wives Tail Jojoba And Clove Organic Oil Hair Treatment - 100ml*

This was something that I was sent for review and it was something that I loved but something Mummy Lou nearly worshipped. The smell was amazing and it left my hair feeling like silk. You can read a full review of this fabulous stuff here.

2. Steam Cream - Jane - 75g

This is the second pot of Steam Cream that I've had a whilst I like it I'm still a bit on the fence and I just don't get the hype. The beautiful tins for me are the major selling point and probably the reason why this product has such a cult following. The cream has a nice texture and nice lavender aroma but it just doesn't wow me - I didn't particularly like it on my face so I've been using this as a body cream. I will be reusing the tin for storage but I can't see myself repurchasing another tin unless that is I find the elusive LouLou tin x

3. Skin Blossom Therapeutic Bath Soak - 300ml*

If you watched my January favourites video the you'll probably already know how much I loved this product. The lavender scent was soothing yet intoxicating and it was the perfect product to use before bedtime. You can read a full review of this product here x If I wasn't losing my bath next month then I would definitely repurchase this one.

4. Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes - 25 Wipes

I've lose count of how many packets of these I've used. Containing tea tree I predominantly use these wipes for swatch clean up and for freshening and emergency cleansing

5. Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural Lift And Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm - 100ml

This is one of my favourite cleansers of all time x Packed full of moringa oil, and plant waxes and essential oils, Emma Hardie Moringa Balm smells fabulous and removes literally any type or brand of make up that you can think of. With a melting, balm texture I initially thought that this would be too oily for my skin, but the ingredients are both balancing and moisturising making it suitable for all skin types. It left my skin clean, smooth and radiant. If you have this and you have a stray spot or pimple, pop a little bit of the balm on and it will gradually take away the redness and inflammation. Love, love, love this stuff and although it's pricey I will definitely be repurchasing this once I've used up my cleanser stash.

6. I Love...Cranberry Celebration Nourishing Body Butter - 50ml

Another festive, limited edition product from the I Love line from the year before last. This had a thick creamy texture but it absorbed into the skin quite quickly leaving the skin soft and deliciously scented. The smell of this cream was the real selling point for me - it didn't smell like any of the other cranberry products that I've tried, instead it had a really mouthwatering fruity scent that reminded me a bit of rhubarb. I loved the smell and I'm disappointed that it was a limited edition. I'm now on the lookout for toiletries that smell of rhubarb, so if you know of any please let me know x

So they were my February items but what about March ? Well as I say I'm nearly done with a couple of make up items but for me March will about bath products. The bathroom renovation is getting closer and I still have a bagful of products still to use up. I guess most things can still be used in the shower so I'll be concentrating on things that are specifically for the bath like aromatherapy based products, bath salts, and of course bubble bars and ballistics - sod the water rates - I'll be enjoying my bath while I still have it ha ha. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions on any of the items that I finished please leave me a comment x

(*Samples)

Ecotools 6 x Mini Bamboo Brushes - A Review For My Pure*

Over the last few months I've really been loving my Ecotools make up brushes. Thanks to my participation in the My Pure bloggers scheme I've managed to accumulate a nice little collection of their face and eye brushes and I can't recommend them highly enough. If there is one thing that I don't need any more of though it's make up brushes - one day I will get round to showing you my brush collection but for the moment you'll just have to believe. Despite the fact that my brush vases are at bursting point though I couldn't resist getting some more Ecotools brushes as part of my February reviews for My Pure.

To be fair though these brushes are quite different to any of the other Ecotools brushes in my collection. Yes they have the same bamboo handle, recycled aluminium ferrules, and synthetic bristles but you just have to look at them to see the difference, they are tiny!

Measuring just over two inches in length, the brushes in this set of 6 Mini Bamboo Brushes mirror there much bigger cousins not in size but in ethics, construction and quality.

The set comprises of 6 identical brushes. Each brush has soft to the touch, flat bristles with a rounded tip. When used flat, the brush heads are quite firm making the brushes ideal for eyeshadow or concealer application but turn them onto their sides and the thin, precise edge for the brush makes it ideal for eyeliner or even as a lip brush.

I've tried these for both eyes and lips and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Admittedly the short handles do take a bit of getting used to but for travel, your handbag or where space is at a premium, these versatile brushes do a pretty good job. Unlike a lot of mini and short handle brushes the quality is excellent, they wash well and they compare favourably to the full size brushes in the Ecotools range.

I'm not saying that I would choose to use these everyday to do my full make up with but I can definitely see them having a place in my everyday, on the go make up bag and whilst I'm not planning on going on holiday this year, if I was these would be one of the first things that I would pack in my travel make up bag

The Ecotools 6 x Mini Bamboo Brushes usually retail at £4.99 from My Pure but they are currently on special at just £4.49.

(*Sample)