FOTD - Office Neutrals

Hi all, I decided its about time I did another FOTD as I haven't done one for ages! My Urban Decay Naked palette recently arrived and I haven't stopped admiring it since! This has become my new go to palette for work - sorry MUA Heaven & Earth, I do still love you, we're just on a break!

I used Rimmel lasting finish foundation in ivory, Rimmel blusher (part of set), ELF HD Powder, MUA black pencil eyeliner (along botton lash only), Eyeko Magic Eyes Mascara, HD Brow Kit and of course the Urban Decay Naked palette.

  I used Virgin all over the eye and Buck in the crease.

What is your go to make-up for a working day? I'm quite boring and tend to reach for the same things everyday. 

Week in Post #20

I haven't done one of these posts for ages, I've been trying to behave myself and not buy anything! It all went a bit wrong this week though...

My November Boudoir Prive box, you can read the full review here.

My November GlossyBox, you can read the full review here.

Cheap Smells sent me some products to review. I will be doing a post about cheap smells as well as reviewing all of these products individually.

Some washing up liquid to review for Tesco Home Panels.

Escentual are trying to get a Welsh blogging community going, they contacted me asking if I'd be interested to which I replied yes :) They kindly sent me this voucher for a complimentary Clarins Tri Active Body Treatment at their central pharmacy in Cardiff.

Eeeeekkkkk!! I've got the UD Naked palette! I used buyapowa for the first time and got this for £25. I'm in love!

My ELF order finally arrived. I ordered it on the 19th November and received it yesterday (26th) very unlike their normal speedy service. I was quite annoyed as I did place this order a while back and thought it had gone through, but it didn't.

I applied to be part of Best British Bloggers a while back. They contacted me this week to let me know that my application had been successful and that I could pick a product to review from Joe Browns. I picked this amazing cardigan (which is now on sale FYI). I emailed Kate with my choice on Wednesday evening and received it Friday, impressive!

What goodies have you been receiving lately? Did you give into the buyapowa UD temptation?

OOTD & NOTD : Children in Need - Something Spotty

Yesterday we had a dress down day in work and had to wear something spotty. We had to donate £2 to Children in Need and were then allowed to wear our own clothes. I did my nails spotty as I didn't think I had any spotty clothes, then I remembered my bargain £5 polka dot dress from Asda.

Dress - ASDA

Belt, Cardigan & Boots - Primark

Tights & Socks - H&M

Necklace - Temporary Secretary

Brooch (barely seen) - Dainty Roses

ELF White

Piggy Paint Dragon Tears

Barry M Yellow

Barry M Blueberry

No 7 Devils Delight

I was very pleased with how my nails turned out, I had so many comments on them.

Did you do anything in work to raise money for Children in Need?

Looking Back & Looking Forward - September/November

Geez I cannot believe that is November! November makes me so miserable its unbelievable, I think I have SAD! This horrible, dark, cold and damp weather makes me want to do nothing except curl up my in PJs. December makes me a lot happier as then its officially the run down to Christmas! Who would believe that I'm getting married in November next year ha!

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This month I've been loving...

Beauty...

Sleek palette in Graphite. I bought this from Leanne Marie's blog sale a while back but have only recently started using it properly. I'm now in love with it! For me this is the ultimate night out palette. I will be putting a post up with swatches and some looks created using it shortly

Fashion...

Dark Green Velvet Turban. I bought this turban from Dainty Roses a couple of weeks ago, I also bought it in red. I love them both. They are perfect for the miserable weather that I described above! If I go to the firework display Saturday night this will be a must! If you haven't seen my giveaway yet you can win one of these, there is also a special link on my giveaway that entitles my readers to buy two for £10.

Food...

Iceland Double Pizza. So naughty but so good. These double pizzas from Iceland are just amazing.

Blog posts...

I need to try and make a rainbow cake after seeing how amazing Gemma's looked!

My friend Ashley has just started a blog. Its really interesting to see another side to him.

The products that I've used in full this month...

Sample of The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter. This smells absolutely divine. Unfortunately the sample was really too small to get a real feel for the product.

Babor HSR Lifting Extra Firming Cream from Boudoir Prive. I really loved this. I could feel a difference in my skin when using this. I've never bothered to use a proper night cream before but have now bought some after using this. Unfortunately not this one, at £82 for the full size its a little out of my price range!

ELF HD Powder. I love this product. I actually ordered more last week but haven't received anything yet, must chase them up. My skin is so shiny without using this, its horrific.

Neutrogena Oil-free Moisturiser. This does what it says on the tin. Moisturises the skin without leaving it greasy. I won't be repurchasing though for one simple reason. I hate the packaging. Its too thin so it knocks over easily, and its difficult to get all the product out.

Looking back...

I hit 300 followers! Wow! Thank you all so much!

I've fallen off the diet wagon lately, you may have noticed a lack of posts. I've lost my motivation but must find it somewhere!

I attended the Cardiff Blogger meet which was amazing! I loved seeing some familiar faces and meeting some new people.

Looking forward to...

5.11.11 attending the local fireworks display with Spencer, my sister, her partner and my niece (weather permitting)

18.11.11 a night out in Cardiff to celebrate a close friend's birthday.

19.11.11 another night in Cardiff (not sure I can handle two in a row!) to celebrate a colleagues 30th birthday.

26.11.11 a local night out around Caerleon for a friends hen night. Neon fancy dress. Oh heck!

What are your most memorable moments of October? What are you mostly looking forward to in November?

Review : ELF Studio Blush in Peachy Keen

I've been using ELF's Peachy Keen blush for a while now so thought it was about time I shared it with you guys! This has become my new favourite blush, although I do tend to wear pink blush in the winter so this may change soon.

The packaging is what you would expect from ELF. Sleek and compact with a little mirror. I like that they have the clear screen so that you can see the product at a glance.

As you can see the powder is a little chalky but this leaves no problem with application.

The blush gives me a nice, natural looking warmth. I've been wearing it everyday for the last few weeks and it has good staying power.

The blushes from ELF's Studio Line retail at £3.50 each for 4.75g of product and are available to buy on-line here.

Overall opinion : I love this blush, I actually bought it when ELF were running one of their many 50% discount codes so I only paid £1.75 for it, even for the full price this is really good value for money. I highly recommend it.

FOTN - Family Party

I was hoping that I'd be reviewing my Glossy Box today, but it wasn't meant to be as it isn't here yet. I'm hoping that a neighbour will be over with it shortly *crosses fingers* as I'm so impatient and tend to end up giving in and reading posts about it! I want a surprise!

I went to a family party last week, took the photos for my FOTN and totally forgot about sharing them! I'm 26 and have no kids but my memory is shocking, I dread to think what I'll be like when I'm old / have kids!

I decided to make the feature my red lips so scraped my hair back and kept make-up quite minimal.

MAC Studio Fix Foundation NW15

ELF HD Powder

ELF Blusher in Peachy Keen

Eyeko 3 in 1 cream on brow bone

The Body Shop Eyebrow Kit

Lipstick All for Eve by Daniel Sandler in Eve Red

MUA Starry Night Palette

ELF Cream Eyeliner in Midnight

Eyeko Magic Eyes Mascara

Rugby World Cup NOTD - Cymru Am Byth

As I'm sure that most of you have already discovered I'm the stereotypical valleys girls who is very Welsh and very proud! Friday saw the start of the Rugby World Cup, today sees Wales play South Africa. I'm not very positive about the outcome of this match but that doesn't stop me shouting at the TV in hope!

I have a special NOTD just for the rugby :)

 Two coats of No7 Devilish red (kindly sent to me by Zoe), three coats of ELF white

I love this look and will be sporting it pretty much all throughout the Six Nations in 2012 - my favourite Rugby tournament - even the boys appreciated this mani!

I'm now going to sit in my new onsie and screaming at the TV in hope - Cymru Am Byth :)

ELF Studio Matte Lip Colour Swatches

I'm going to start this post with an apology! I am so sorry about the poor quality of these photos! Its quite difficult to get used to the light now that it is so much darker. I wasn't planning on doing this post but an email just landed in my inbox with a very good discount on these lip colours so I thought I would share it!

You may recall a while ago that I reviewed the ELF Matte Lip colour in Tea Rose, and I loved it! ELF recently had another 50% discount so I ordered all the other available shades in their matte lip colours. I'm not going to go into a full review with this post as I reviewed the Tea Rose previously and these are the same, just different shades!

The other colours I ordered were Natural, Coral and Praline.

 Swatches left to right Natural, Coral, Praline

 Natural

 Coral

Praline

I actually love all of these colours, they are all nice light day time colours. Fingers crossed that they'll bring out some more dramatic evening colours shortly.

The reason for the rush post and dodgy photos... ELF have an offer on which expires at 3pm tomorrow. These are all available for £1 / €1, they usually retail at £3.50 but with this offer you could get all four for £4 - bargain right! 

To take advantage of this offer add the lip colours to your basket and enter 'MATTELIP' at checkout where the discount will be taken into place.

Will you be taking advantage of this offer?