YSL Lipstick

Here it is!

One of the beauty-world's most fashionable and stylish lipsticks by Yves Saint Laurent, and I was lucky enough to be treated to one by my darling husband.

At £24.00 this is an extravagant purchase for me, I usually stick to drugstore brands rather than the designer labels, but I've admired this lipstick for such a long time and was desperate to try it out. 

Set in a metal tube with a gold finish, with YSL's name emblazoned on the side, it screams style and sophistication. It reminds me of the lipsticks my mother wore, although they probably only cost a few £'s back then, I knew they were special because my mother hardly ever wore lipstick, it signified a special occasion, which is probably why seeing lipsticks make me giddy!

(I'm rambling)

I chose colour No13, which is brighter than it looks, a gorgeous coral tone!

It glides on beautifully and feels so moisturing, almost oily, on the lips. I was told, by YSL's MUA, that the lipstick is packed with essential oils that promote healing in the lips.

Upon application, I could see why.

The colour was bright and went on smoothly, I was absolutely delighted with it, 

until...

Excellent.

I've paid £24 for a tinted lipbalm.

The colour faded after 20 minutes, slowly disappearing into my lip line, after 30 minutes, it ended up looking like a cheap lip-liner.

I did some poking around and found that a lot of beauty-gurus have complained about YSL's lipsticks doing this, I kicked myself for not researching before purchasing, but for £24 you expect some sort of quality!

I am totally disappointed and I don't think I'll be buying another. They look so beautiful and the lipstick itself sits on my dressers, taking pride of place, purely for aesthetic reasons.

I shouldn't have to pay that sort of money for a lipstick that needs to be re-applied 10+ times a day when I could have bought 4 drugstore lipsticks that have the durability of a stubborn ox, that take a pack of wipes to get off!

So there you have it, in this case, more means less!

Love,

Laura xxx

How To:

 Am I seriously writing this post?

How to cut a fringe?

This is the most straight forward of all of the home-haircare-related projects! Right?

Wrong! At least for me anyway...

No matter how hard I tried I always used to balls up my fringe when I tried to cut it at home, I either cut it too short and with a weird bowl-effect or I cut it lopsided.

After trawling YouTube for ages I found a brilliant method used over and over again, which involves a clever little trick that guarantees a straight, Zooey Deschanel type fringe (I wish) every time.

This is all you need! (and a comb, of course.)

No fancy sheers or razors required, just a super sharp pair of scissors.

1) Brush your fringe forward, plus any other stragglers that you wish to include to bulk out your fringe, if you have thin hair like myself.

2) Once you have your desired amount of 'fringe hair' clamp it together at the point where you want your fringe to end. Always cut your hair dry, if you cut it wet, it'll probably dry about half an inch shorter... and you'll end up looking like the lady from National Accident Helpline.

3) Taking the hair in the opposite hand in which you use to write, twist over and hold it flat against your head.

4) Cut in a straight line, slowly and carefully, just below your fingers. It's always better to leave your fringe slightly longer, so you can correct any mistakes... which are unlikely with this technique!

Look how much I lopped off!

Wash your hair as you usually would and leave to semi-dry in a towel...

To achieve a really thick, glossy fringe, these are the products I will usually reach for!

Umberto Giannini is a firm favourite of mine, I've been using his products for soooo many years and will always ALWAYS put his 'Instant Beauty Leave-In Conditioner' on my hair. It is a lifesaver when it comes to split ends.

Nick Chavez and KMS are two wonderful little volume and thickness boosting products I received in my Birchboxes, I will definitely be buying the full-sized versions of these soon... would you believe that I received KMS's 'Add Volume' in January and there's still loads left? A little goes a long way with luxury products!

After blow drying my hair, here is the finished look!

A dense, glossy fringe that frames the face and hides unruly eyebrows.

This is so easy to do at home, and is a great little trick to add to your at-home beauty regime which saves you lots of pennies!

Let me know if you use this technique, and tell me how you get on!

Love,
Laura xxx

March Haul

Yesterday we had a lovely trip into 'big town' to spend a 'small' amount of our hard-earned pennies. We all need a lovely bit of retail therapy every now and then, especially if it's clothes that make you feel Summer-y!

I loved this pillow as soon as I saw it.

I'm not jumping on the dwindling mustache-popularity wagon, I'll have you know I was a fan of the mustache in secondary school and everyone thought I was rather WEIRD, those people are now running round drawing them on their fingers, whilst I'm sat here quietly seething.

It's lovely a plushy and takes pride of place on my sofa, where it will soon be covered in baby sick.

A trip to Lush was a must, their Easter selection is unreal! So many lovely smells!

I picked up my husband's usual 'Dirty' soap, which has sort of become his signature smell and three new kinds of Lush products that I haven't tried before.

My bathroom smells so 'lush'.

Another mustache.

I love the text on this vest, I wish I could download it to use on the blog.

This is going to make my bingo-wings look so good in the Summer!

I love anything with gold and mineral stones on it at the moment, so these rings were a must-have!

I bought a little 'N' necklace so I had something to wear for my little Nahla-Bug. It's very pretty and delicate, so she'll probably destroy it soon.

Q: Why does Topshop put its nail polishes at the till?

A: Because they want you to panic buy...

'Is that everything for you today?'

'No! Wait... I'm looking, please don't rush me, I need to think... just let me THINK... ok I need this.'

And now I'm the owner of another nail varnish that I don't really need.

My lovely husband was brilliant enough to let a YSL make-up lady let me try on their beautiful new luxurious lipsticks, and was even more lovely by letting me buy one!

It was rather expensive, by far the most costly purchase of the day, but I was so excited to get it...

...blog post coming soon, I have BAD things to say about this lipstick

:( :( :(

However, I have good things to say about Primark's dress range at the moment. There were a lot of lovely Spring/Summer dresses to choose from, I picked out this pretty blue and cream printed dress and can't wait until it's warm enough to wear outside.

My husband spotted these and I thought they were just gorgeous.

So comfy too!

I wasn't the only one who was treated!

Simon got a new pair of jeans, sweatpants and a new hoodie. Little Nahla got three new babygrows, new vests, headbands and a little bunny toy.

It was a lovely day and money well spent!

Love, 

Laura xxx

App of the Month!

I was Vegan for a year before I fell pregnant with my daughter, for personal reasons (I vomited up everything I ate) I reverted to Vegetarianism, but now I feel myself edging toward Veganism again. 

I miss the way it made me feel, yes a big bar of milky chocolate makes me feel good... whilst I'm eating it, but it's nothing compared to the feelings I got ALL the time from eating fresh and healthy foods...

Especially food that is cruelty-free, but that's a discussion for another day and another blog post.

I spied this app whilst flicking through recipe recommendations on the app store, the hot pink avatar did well to attract my attention, as did the cheery chirpy face of Sarah Kramer holding a bowl of my favourite fruit of all time!

Whats more, it was free, and I do enjoy free things!

The first thing I loved about this app is how neat and well designed it is. 

The bar across the bottom helps you to navigate from the meal you fancied, to specific recipes, videos and any files you wanted to save as your favourites.

There's even a handy little button you can click to add all of the ingredients from a particular recipe into a little shopping list for you that you can take to your supermarket, rather than having to write down and lug around a huge separate list.

The recipes themselves are laid out in such a way that makes reading the a delight. 

Bright, captivating pictures of the dish immediately make me want to lick the screen. This soup looks amazing!

Sarah adds little recorded notes into each recipe, to give extra tips, the lists are clear and even link to separate recipes on how to make your own flavorings, butters etc.

Even if you're not a Vegan, or even a Vegetarian, I encourage you to download this lovely app. It's full of such delicious healthy recipes, that would suit the budget and waist-line of any health conscious soul, or penny-pinching dieter.

I wish I had more time to cook all of these recipes, but I will be slowly making my way through this app, throughout my transition back to Veganism!

Love,

Laura xxx

Retro-Baby!

The retro/pin-up style depicts romance and kookiness! 

Big animated eyes defined by dark liner and bold bright lips make a proud statement, whereas soft delicate blush and gentle eye makeup creates a whimsical and romantic illusion.

After researching tonnes of photos of people in 'Pin-Up Era' make-up we decided that the rusty reds and muted nude lipsticks we had set aside were not going to be up to scratch for this blogpost.

So, after a quick mooch around Boots, a few new purchases were made...

Bourjois: Rouge Edition- No10

Rimmel: Apocalips
MUA: Lip Liner- Red Drama

Such vibrant, retina-burning reds!

My lovely friend, Lara, achieved this gorgeous look by wrapping a headband around her head and then tucking her loose curls into it, she pulled out a few tendrils at the front to get this beautiful glamorous style. 

As it will soon be festival season, this hairstyle would look amazing with some flowers woven into it to bring out your inner hippie!

Bright lipsticks are a must when going for a retro look.

I am wearing a brilliant new foundation by MUA, 'Undress Your Skin', a random purchase of mine this morning, it covers and blends so well, I will definitely be buying more!

Lara is wearing Rimmel's Apocalips, the colour was amazing and really clung to her lips, the only (hilarious) downside is the amount of product that ended up on poor Lara's teeth. No matter what we tried there was always a few splodges of the sticky lipgloss-style product on her teeth. Not a great look for clubbing, or for a date! 

False lashes, high arched eyebrows, bright lips and big bouncy hair are the key ingredients for recreating this fun look. The lighter the foundation and powder, the better. Anything to achieve  flawless skin, so the attention is bought to the eyes and the lips, is a must.

This is such an easy look to create and would be great for the Summer!

Love,

Laura xxx

OOTD

The past week has been a beautiful, sunny, sparkly week (weather-wise) so I thought 'Why not be a proper blogger and pick out a location to shoot some OOTD pictures?' Excellent idea!

I decided that shooting an OOTD post at our local castle would be such a cool idea! Fashion and make-up within the grounds of a half-ruined Scottish castle seemed to be the best plan I'd had since adding cream to my Bread & Butter Pudding recipe!

Then Saturday came along and it went from sunny and cool, to snowy and SUB-ZERO.

So; it was, with a heavy heart, that my friendling (Lara) and I decided that trudging up the steep embankment of a castle in the freezing sleet whilst wearing short dresses probably wasn't the most medically-safe idea. We decided, instead, to do a quick 60's style eye make-up look on Lara, and a really REALLY quick OOTD post with the fun dress I had thrown on.

I adore the quirky-ness of this dress! It was a rather nifty Primark find and is covered in cute little French Bulldogs, a breed of dog I would love to have! Their ears are so adorable!

The little collar reminds me of school-dresses but teamed with a statement ring and some very high, thin-heeled platforms makes it look a little more grown up.

I intend to wear this dress throughout the Summer, I need to tone my arms to pull the look off a bit better, but all in due course.

It takes 9 months to put on the baby-weight so it'll take 9 months to get rid of it... or so the saying goes.

 I have never laughed so much whilst doing Lara's makeup!

She has the prettiest, most gorgeous features and I am insanely jealous of her cheekbones and her jawline... but her skin seemed to change all of my highlight and contour concealers into different colours! My pearly white highlighter went bright pink when it came into contact with her skin, much hilarity ensued!

I used the Urban Decay Naked Palette 2 to achieve this light smokey look. 

Lara chose the shades:

Verve, Suspect and Busted.

The winged eyeliner was provided by M.A.C and a lovely soft 60's look was born!

(Idiots.)

Despite our plans crumbling around us, the day was fun. We got some pretty photos (see above, especially) and who doesn't enjoy a day of trying out new make-up looks?

OOTD posts might have to be left until the Summer, I'm still warming up after this one!

Love,

Laura xxx

(Special thanks to Lara, who was 'scared of your blog people seeing my face'. I think we all agree that it is LOVELY.)

Birchbox

Last month was the first month I reviewed Birchbox, it was packed full of amazing high-end beauty product samples (that have lasted well into this month). I raved about it so much and really hoped that the next box would be just as good, so I didn't have to eat my words.

It did not dissapoint!

The products in this month's box are based around London Fashion Week, from catwalk makeup to VIP hair products, this box gives you a little taster of the glamour that is LFW.

As usual, the cardboard box arrives in a larger shockingly pink box that always gives my Postie a much needed wake-up boost! I'm enjoying collecting the little pink drawstring bags that the products come in, they are currently being used as homes for all of my cotton wool pads and buds!

The first product is this fluorescent orange packet containing an invigorating nutrient-packed drink to give you a little wake-up shake when you're flagging from all of the walking around you've been doing at LFW... or, if like me, all of the walking you've been doing round Tesco looking for Orzo rice!

The drink is scrummy, it would be hard for me to only drink a small amount of this! 

I was excited to pull this beauty out of the box, I consider a 50ml sample size rather generous! This shower gel smells divine. Upon unscrewing the bottle my eager nose picked up Guava, Almond undertones and Aloe. I can't wait to use this as a pick-me-up in the morning. 

I was so excited (and surprised) to see an eye-lash curler nestled amongst all the products. I have been putting off buying a curler for years, I didn't see the point in using one, they looked scary and I always thought there was an imminent danger of them snapping your eyelashes off.

How wrong I was.

Suddenly, it looks like I'm wearing false lashes and I can see the full benefits of my mascara!

Anything that helps me achieve a professionally blow-dried look is welcome inside my Birchbox! Last month I was given KMS California's volumising spray and I can't rave about it enough. I've been using it every other day and the sample bottle isn't even half empty!

As a new Mum who definitely does not have the time to blow dry my hair with rollers, I will jump at the chance of using a product that helps me achieve that look.

A nice little extra came in the form of Gerda Spillmann's Bio-Fond Cream Make-Up, and it really does feel like cream!

I imagine that this would give you beautiful coverage, the shade is slightly too dark for my fair skin, so I've taken to using it as a contour.

It glides onto the skin with minimal effort and leaves it with a powder-like finish.

Lastly, Vichy's Thermal Spa Water is a refreshing facial spray. It moisturises and sets your makeup and is one of those must-have items for your bag whilst you're on-the-go.

(There's no picture because I accidentally deleted it and by the time I noticed the natural lighting had gone away, so any subsequent photo would have looked sub-par, so here's a link!)

I am thoroughly enjoying my subscription to Birchbox, the £10 a month subscription fee is more than reasonable, I seem to be getting such amazing products and am genuinely giddy with excitement every time I open a new box!

I cannot wait to see what's inside next month's box!

Love,

Laura xxx

Love

Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is one of those holidays you can't seem to escape from! I'm not an overly romantic person but for some odd reason I seem to adore this holiday!

I 'cooked' my husband and I a lovely dinner (thank you Tesco's Finest Meal Deal) of Goat's cheese tart, caramelised red onions and mushrooms (I did this, not Tesco) and Parsnip and Potato Dauphinoise. I also toasted a baguette and smeared some yummy roasted mushroom pate on it.

For pudding we had chocolate cake, strawberries covered in chocolate and a delicious raspberry tart!

All washed down with some pink champagne!

Very romantic!

 I got the nicest gifts from my husband (both of which I accidentally opened early!)

This M.A.C Fluidline Eyeliner Gel is seriously the best I've used and I love my Lauren Conrad book so much I reviewed it here.   

The flowers my husband sent to me were such a surprise! Usually he gets me bright pink Gerberas or Roses, so it was nice to get a lovely (huge) bunch of red Roses, Lillies and Eucalyptus.

With help from The Busy Budgeting Mama I made some fun bunting-type banners to hang over the fireplace to surprise my husband when he got home from work. 

It's still up today, I can't seem to bring myself to take it down!

Lastly, we put the baby in her cot for a nap where she allowed us to have a lovely bubble bath with rose petals! It was really nice to connect again as a couple rather than Mama and Daddy!

I hope you all had a nice day whatever you got up to! We should probably take the lessons of Valentine's Day and apply them to every day life... but that might end up rather expensive with all of the flowers ;]

Love, 

Laura xxx

Birchbox Jan 2013

Joliebox is now Birchbox!

This is the first month that I've subscribed to Birchbox (having been disappointed quite a few times but Glossybox) and I could not be more pleased with it!

Birchbox runs a £10 a month subscription service that send samples of high-end beauty for you to try, if a particular product tickles your fancy then the full size version is available to buy in their store...sometimes at discounted prices!

One thing that really impressed me is the fact that the packaging is so pretty! I know boxes aren't that exciting but I'm going to keep both, they're pretty and will make for excellent storage!

The first product I pulled out of the box is this absolutely sumptuous lip balm.

It smells like roses and blackcurrant and leaves your lips really moisturised and soft, without feeling sticky. 

Once this runs out I think I'll be re-stocking!

The next product confused me a bit... is that a lipgloss?

Nope, it's actually a cuticle repair gel.

Once I got past the thought that I was applying sticky lipgloss to my nails it actually felt nice, and smelled rather pleasant. 

Lastly, I recieved the most amazing smelling volume hair treatment by KMS California and a firming and hydrating cream by WEI.

Both products look and smell luxurious and has left me feeling that the £10 a month subscruption fee is defintely worth the money.

If that hasn't convinced you then maybe the knowledge that the more you buy, the more Birchbox points you receive, which, in turn, earns you money off!

Love,

Laura xxx