Kate Middleton looked stunning as she wed her Prince today. Unlike most brides, Kate opted to do her own make up for her big day, but only after she took some make up lessons from MUA Arabella Preston. Kate kept her look natural and fresh. Her skin looked radiant and the overall style oozed elegance. Concentrating on her eyes, Kate created a smokey eye lined with her staple black liner. The rest of her look was very understated with pale pink lips and lightly rosey cheeks.
There is no getting away from the royal wedding tomorrow. Its a big day for Kate and Will’s, with the nation, if not the world also getting involved. I have decided to make the most of the extra days holiday by embracing my inner princess…or even queen and indulging in a bit of muchly needed me time and pampering.
A Royal Knees Up…starting at the gym. Oh yes it might be a public holiday, but the gym is open, and the treadmill is waiting for me. I have a rather obsessive compulsive relationship with the treadmill, in fact i have to get on it every day. Even worse, it has to be a particular treadmill in the long line of machines, that i step on to each day. Does anyone else do that? I get worryingly annoyed if there is anyone else using MY so called treadmill.
Pampered Princess: There is no doubt that Princesses the world over are treated to shed loads of gorgeous beauty treatments. I love a bit of beauty indulgence, so will spending a few hours doing just that.
It appears that the beauty world has got quite excited about the royal festivities to be too. Unless you have been walking around with your eyes closed, you won’t fail to have noticed the sudden royal theme on the beauty shelves. Here is my little round up of products fit for a princess.
Niffty Nails:
I don’t think i am going to get these done, but thought they were quite appropriate. Royal nails from Minx – awe cute or sick bucket? I guess if they are printed on just a single nail like the image below, its actually not so sickly. Still don’t think i’ll have the couple stamped on my talons.
However, these lovely little limited edition collections will go down well with OPI fans for sure. Dedicated to the royal lovers, three new nail collections have been launched ‘Cool Britannia’, ‘Red, White and Blue’ and ‘Royal Flush’. £28 each.
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| The Cool Britannia Collection |
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| The Red White & Blue Collection |
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| The Royal Flush Collection |
Queens Quiff:
Tigi Catwalk’s Your Highness Royal Collection, is a range of volumising products helping to create a whole line of do’s from punky quiffs to bouncy tresses.
Majestic Moisturising:
Steam Cream Freedom & Discipline is a handy tin of multi purpose moisturiser with an oatmeal infusion, it comes in this sweet little union jack packaging. £10.50
Or maybe this Strawberry Body Butter from The Body Shop is more your thing, £12.50.
Pucker Up Prince:
Have to LOVE this delish looking tube of royally inspired lipgloss from the fabulous people at Butter London. ‘No More Wiaty, Katie’ (£15) is one of the products Butter have introduced to commemorate the wedding (there is also a nail polish), its actually their first ever lipgloss. HOWEVER it appears this gloss isn’t available in the UK – that totally doesn’t make any sense to me. Hellooo Butter? What’s that all about. I want one!!
Next month, Topshop makeup celebrate their baby 1st birthday. To mark this special occasion, TS have launched a Birthday Collection of 3 delish nail shades to add to their existing 50+ polishes. All three of the new hues: Moonshine (rose gold), Heart Of Gold (gold) & Starlight (silver) have a metallic finish and are inspired by the “antique, aged look of Autumn/ Winter’s leather swatches”. They will glam up any outfit, day or night. Take a look on your next shopping spree to TS! I’ve got my eye on Moonshine.
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| Heart Of Gold, Moonshine, Starlight |
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| Top – Meteoric Bottom – Solar Cell Photographed without flash |
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| …with a flash |
Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s Winning Wednesday for a chance to win the gorgeous highlighter – High Beam from Benefit. We have a winner…..
Lauren its you! Congratulations, I’ll be in touch soon to get your details!
If you want to be a Wednesday winner too, keep an eye out on my blog for the Winning Wednesday competitions. This week a Nars Lipgloss is up for grabs and can be found HERE! Good Luck!
FREE Origins Cleanser anyone? As part of their Reuse and Recycle programme and to celebrate Earth Day, Origins will trade you one of their top selling cleansers (worth £16) ‘Cheeks and Balance Frothy Face Wash’ or ‘A Perfect World Cleanser’ which contains White Tea and is rich in antioxidents, in return for your old empty skincare products.
Just pop over to an Origins counter or store on the 21st or 22nd April, hand over your goods (of any size, or brand), and voila – you will have a lush new cleanser!
Its a good week for freebies, enter Winning Wednesday for the chance to bag yourself a Nars Lipgloss!
The sun is shining and everyone seems to be smiling. Why not make that smile a lusciously glossy one!
Bag yourself a gorgeous lipgloss from NARS, and you pick the shade!
You can take a look at all the shades here. Glossy lips are a must this summer and an item your handbag must not with without.
NARS have a fabulous array of lip loving shades, so get entering, and cross those fingers – it could be yours. For a chance to win a NARS Lipgloss in a shade of your choice all you have to do is:
♥Make sure you ‘follow’ my blog (easy peasy)
and
♥comment “Winning Wednesday” in the comments section below, also leave your contact email.
It couldn’t be a easier. go go go!
It’s bad enough having spots, but what happens when you have to deal with spots AND wrinkles. That’s got to be a confidence killer. Which one do you deal with first? And will dealing with one, worsen the other. It can be a bit of a vicious circle, and quite a disheartening one at that.
I recently learnt about a range which had me asking ‘why hasn’t anyone done this before?’ Dr Murad’s Anti Ageing Blemish Control is a skincare collection which tackles spots and wrinkles together. This line concentrates on delivering hydration to the skins cells, something Murad calls ‘The Science of Cellular Water’ while also clearing blemishes.
The range features 3 key ingredients:
●Sailicylic Acid which treats blemishes for hours after using the product
●Silver Citrate, a natural antibacterial which targets the bacteria that have invaded the skins environment
●Kombucha Collagen Defense, stimulates collagen production and prevents further breakdown of it.
Dr Murad’s Anti Ageing Blemish Control Products:
●Time Release Blemish Cleanser: Delivers a drip feed type blemish treatment to the skin whilst topping up hydration to help keep skin supple.
●Blemish & Wrinkle Reducer: A serum type formula which helps combat blemishes and fight fine lines.
●Anti Ageing Moisturiser SPF20: Helps promote youthful skin by aiding hydration and collagen at deeper levels, offering spot control. Contains SPF 20
You can learn more about the range HERE
As the the Colour Blocking trend takes off in the fashion world, the beautiful universe that is make-up is sure to follow.
L’Oreal’s new Glam Shine Fresh collection embraces the trend with its cocktail of tropical tones for lips and eyes.
I’ve tried out some of the lip range. Lip glosses come in two varieties:
Glam Shine Fresh:Enriched with vitamin C and E, each of the tangy shades provide a clear gloss finish. Great to wear alone or over lipstick. Although some of these gloss shades look quite bright, they apply clear.
Nails:
Its that time of the week, bag yourself something fabolicious!
This weeks give-away is the award winning must have highlighter HIGH BEAM from Benefit.
A make up artist’s secret weapon, use High Beam to create a luminous, glowing complexion. If you want this potion of highlighting happiness, all you have to do is comment “Winning Wednesday” in the comments section below, and leave your contact email. Simples!
Small Print (t’s and c’s)
One winner per competition unless otherwise stated
BeautyGeeek’s decision is final
Winners will be picked at random and informed via email
The winner of last weeks Winning Wednesday Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion competition is….Amina (from InnerBelle)
Whoop, will inbox you shortly to get your details!
There’s another ‘Winning Wednesday’ on the way tomorrow! Bag yourself something fabulous!
To celebrate OPI’s 30th anniversary this year, the nail colour genius’ have compiled one AMAZING collection. Touring America is the Autumn/ Winter OPI launch, and will be available to drool over from the end of August.
The 12 shades range from summery corals and pinks to subtle wintery grays, taupes and dark purples. The colour categories themselves may not be revolutionary, but it is each individual shade, which is crafted with exactly the right elements to create a perfectly toned colour, great consistency and stunning finish which really makes the difference. We have seen the hundreds of coral varnishes out there, but i can guarantee you will fall in love with the coral from this range; ‘I Mainly Eat Lobster’ is beautiful, with a touch of shimmer and a super glossy finish. It IS to die for. I love it. Images are below, so see for yourself.
Here are a few pics i snapped at the fabulously ‘American’ themed launch of the range, as well as swatches of a couple of shades!
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| Are We There Yet |
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| Uh-Oh Roll Down The Window |
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| I Mainly Eat Lobster – A slightly shimmery coral |
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| Road House Blues |
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| I Brake For Manicures |
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| Color To Diner For |
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| A Taupe For The Space Needle |
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| The New Shatter Shades |
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| Swatched: I Mainly Eat Lobster |
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| Swatched: Honk If You Love OPI |
So the sun has come out. Thick tights across London town are quickly being whipped off, and hemlines are happily creeping up the thigh.
I think its quite apparent we make more effort to look good in the summer. Whether it be ensuring the wax appointment is kept, moisturising rough skin on elbows, or topping up the fake tan – we all have our die hard routine.
Each summer, there is one thing that i inspect without fail. With worrying anticipation, i roll up my jeans and scrutinise my knees. If there is one thing that concerns me more than facial ageing, its ‘Knee Ageing or Saggy Knees’ – well thats what i call it. I am terrified of waking up one morning, only to find i have reached the point of no return, wrinkly skin around the knees – akin to a little Shar Pei pup.
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| Elle McPhearson: Wrinkled, but i have seen far worse |
Its a sure fire sign of ageing, and is bound to hit one or more of us at some point as we get older. Many a time my eyes have averted their gaze to seek out ladies with Saggy Knees. Walking up and down Oxford Street, sitting in the park, laying on the beach, wherever i may be, i spot them. I feel its such a unnecessary hindrance to be plagued with this problem. Who even invented the need for knees to age. Purleease!
I have been known to apply anti wrinkle face cream to my knees – extreme? Maybe, but not as extreme as surgery. There is actually a surgical procedure to help fix this ‘problem’. The creatively named ‘Knee Lift’ strives to tighten the muscles above the knee cap, and cut away the excess loose skin. Although Demi Moore has reportedly opted for this, i think it is a touch too much to go under the knife, especially because there is risk of quite thick, obvious scarring.
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| Demi Moore Before and After Knee Lift |
The alternative, is to try out a non-invasive treatment such as Thermage, which helps to tone, tighten and contour skin. Tempting. But, before turning to these expensive measures, here are some precautions to take in order to keep those undesirables at bay. I will be trying these out for now:
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| Posh should get on with some lunging |
Top tips to avoid Saggy Knees:
Avoid sun worshipping if possible
Wear SPF 25 + when out in the sun
Exercise to tone the area. Walking and the step machine are good options.
Squats, lunges and leg extensions performed regularly will help build and tighten muscles in the knee area (don’t overdo these though as they can put a lot of pressure on your joints)
Finally…a longer skirt (noooo, i wont throw out the minis) will cover up the sag.
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| Ok…so at this point, i guess you should just cover up |
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| Yep, it’s Melanie Grffiths |
It’s here! My new freebies feature ‘Winning Wednesday‘. Each week, bag yourself a fabulous something, for doing, well not very much. Anything to brighten up your week can only be a good thing!
Today i’m giving away Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion.
A cult beauty item, and a must for perfect eyeshadow application. It helps colour last all day, prevents creasing and keeps colour looking vibrant.
If you fancy winning, then just enter ‘Winning Wednesday’ in the comments section below. That’s it. Yes, its that simples.
Oh, and leave your email/ twitter id so i can contact you if you win.
Winning Wednesday will be a weekly feature, so check back for next week’s hot beauty goody ♥♥♥
I’m introducing a new feature to my blog. In an attempt to brighten up your week, ‘Winning Wedesday’ is all about bagging FREEBIES!
This is your chance to treat yourself to some lovely goodies, for doing literally nothing. Each week…(until it gets boring), there will be something fabulous to win. So watch out.
I adore that golden, sun kissed look. I’m not a fan of frying myself under the ageing UV sun, and i don’t really go in for spray tans – i don’t need to as i naturally have olive skin. However, i do like to sport that ‘just back from hols’ golden look. Over the years i have managed to build a fabulous collection of some gorgeous (some not so) bronzers. My latest addition is Faux Tan, all over face colour by BareMinerals.
As with the other BM make up, Faux Tan is a loose power, 100% pure mineral formulation with SPF 15. Its packaged in a gorgeous metallic bronze compact, with a flip top lid and mirror – initially i though this was more practical than a screw top, but then i noticed that the powder leaks from the back of the container when in my make up bag – can be a tad messy!
The luscious, deep brown powder gives a natural holiday colour. You only need a tiny amount, which will go a long way.
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| Swatched: Faux Tan. This is quite a deep shade as i used quite a lot of product to show the extent of colour than can be achieved |
I apply Faux Tan to all the areas where the sun would naturally catch my face; cheeks, forehead and bridge of my nose. The colour has a touch of shimmer to it which looks lush in the sunlight.
Bare Minerals recently launched their debut skincare range. Based on RareMinerals activeSoil Complex, this 100% natural collection includes cleansers, moisturisers and treatments. You can read more about it HERE. I received the range before it launched nationwide, so have been using it for about a month now – is it worth investing in?
Simply put, its an OK range, probably not for me, but here are my thoughts on the products i have been trying out.
Purifying Facial Cleanser: This daily cleanser has a soft smooth texture, foams well and is great at removing make up, including mascara. Its probably the favourite of the 3 BareMinerals products i tried. After cleansing, my skin looked brighter, but did feel a bit tight. I’d probably use this if i was at the gym or traveling, its quick and easy and does the job.
Purely Nourishing Moisturiser: I was actually most excited about using this product, but for me it was the most disappointing. I found that although it had a velvety creamy texture to touch, it didn’t appear to feed or nourish my skin enough. I continued to feel tight and dehydrated after applying, to the point that i would question if i had actually even put the cream on. Possibly better for skins that do not require much moisture attention.
Firming Eye Treatment: This was a comforting and nourishing eye cream. It was basically a nice eye cream, but i didn’t find anything particularly stand out about it. I personally like an eye cream that helps me look perkier on tired days, while also combatting fine lines caused by dryness or early signs of ageing. So far, i haven’t seen anything like this from the BM eye cream. I think this would be a good item for those who simply require light moisture around the eye area. If fine lines are an issue there are better targeted products out there.
Overall, the BareMinerals skincare products are ‘nice‘ rather than fabulous. Something i could take or leave. If you already have pretty good skin that doesn’t need much attention, it will be a good range for you. I liked the cleanser, but not enough to buy it again. I have used other skincare ranges that have provided more of a positive change. I think I’ll stick to BareMinerals for their make up rather than their skincare.
The core concept behind Bronze Goddess remains the same as previous years, the shades and tones are variations of shimmering golds, sandy neutrals, glistening browns and bold pops of holiday brights – all gorgeously packaged and oozing that sun-kissed holiday feel.
Stand out items for me are the new summer scent Bronze Goddess Soleil and the Sea Star Bronzing Blush – both Limited Editions, and both stunning. The Shadowstick Duo Crayons are also worth a try, simple to use and perfect colours for both day and night.
Eyes:•Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Island Oasis EyeShadow Palette £31.00
•Limited Edition ShadowStick Duo in Gold Bronze £17.00
•Limited Edition ShadowStick Duo in Pink Teal £17.00
Lips:
•Pure Color Gloss in NEW, Limited Edition Sun Burst Sparkle £15.50
•Pure Color Gloss in Blazing Coral Sparkle £15.50
•Pure Color Gloss in Plum Divine Shimmer £15.50
•Pure Color Crystal Lipstick in Tiramisu £15.50Tips:•Pure Color Nail Lacquer in NEW, Limited Edition Shimmering Bronze £14.00Face:
•NEW, Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Sea Star Bronzing Blush £29.00
•Bronze Goddess Soft Matte Bronzer £26.00
•Bronze Goddess Soft Shimmer Bronzer £26.00
•Bronze Goddess Soft Duo Bronzer in Amber Bronze Medium and Amber Bronze Rich £26.00
•Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Luminous Liquid Bronzer £21.50
Fragrance:
New, Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Soleil Eau fraiche £38.00
Limited Edition Bronze Goddess Eau fraiche £38.00
The new collection is available nationwide from May 2nd 2011
It’s not often i stumble across new make up and scream, yes literally scream ‘OMG, i love this’. However, a couple of items from the Origins make up range have really shaken up my daily routine. It’s actually the first time i have tried up their make up, usually i turn to Origins for skincare, but am massively impressed with these items of make up – they really deserve a beauty snog!
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| Available in 12 shades, i use 06 Light/ Medium – Neutral |
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| Available in 6 shades, i use 03 Medium |
At £12 this is well worth the investment, it will perk up tired eyes and hide those pesky blemishes.
Loladoes 