Friday 28 January 2011

High street 'hopping' vs Online shopping


What i think most girls enjoy about online shopping as opposed to buying on the highstreet is the comfort aspect,the fact that you dont have to go from store to store taking off your boots,then heaving your skinnies on and off, stressing and burning up as you drag your top up over your head for the 47,000th (NO exaggeration ;)) time,ruining your hair and make-up as you do it!Not too mention lugging around however many bags that are bursting at the seams and ready too rip and spill the contents of your new wardrobe/knicker drawer/bathroom cabinet all over the highstreet (*cough*Primark*cough*).

I know that most girls end up flopped in Costa surrounded by bags completely exhausted,bedraggled and lacking the energy to venture back out onto the highstreet, this is never a good thing  if you are shopping on a Saturday ready for a big night out,in fact 9/10 it makes you want to go home to bed and just not bother,even if there was 50% off at Selfridges it would take considerable effort to haul ass up from that leather setee pick up your ripped bags and go in for some yellow bag therapy (ok,it would HAVE to be done but you get my point.)


When we compare the horror story above to the fairy-tale-esque shopping experience that is online shopping (occasional late delivery disaster aside for now!) where there are no nightmare bag ripping,knicker dropping embarrasments,it doesnt matter if your make-up is on your face,sliding down your face or completley non existent, and there is no up and down,on and off pulling, squeezing or tugging of clothes because lets face it you are in your pj's ;)!
(Ok there is no costa coffee in your living room but hey!)



 HIGH STREET VS ONLINE

      HIGHSTREET                                                                
                                                                                                              
    *  Being able to test products,feel fabrics                                          
     ,try before you buy, and swatch cosmetics.                        
                                                                                                    
    * It's fantastic exercise! as Carrie Bradshaw                        
     said in sex and the city "shopping's my cardio"
                                                                                                  
    * Costa Coffee/Nero's... just any place that sells coffee

     and muffins!!                                                                         
                                                                                                   
     Getting your items there and then! No hanging out of        
     the window waiting for the postie!                                      

    * And while we're on that subject....NO MORE                  

    'SORRY WE MISSED YOU,YOUR PARCEL                    
     HAS BEEN SENT TO THE DEPOT' notes                      
     (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!)    





ONLINE


 *Being able to browse your favourite stores,from the comfort
of your sofa while watching TV,eating,having a cuppa,wearing a 
facemask and pj's....the list is endless....


*There are no queues in 'online land'


*Most online shops do next day delivery 
and same day delivery is becoming alot more
common (ASOS and Selfridges already provide this service)

*There are no opening and closing times so no more 

wedging yourself between Topshop's doors at 5:31pm
as the sales girl brings the shutters down on you!!

(I didn't do this!! ;/)
              
                                                                                                   



So if it wasn't obvious throughout this post, I am so on Team online!

I wont stop going to the highstreet because I really enjoy visiting little boutiques that you wont find online and my beloved trips to Nero!!  
But now when i take a trip to town i can happily breeze through the shops scanning for my next purchase,relaxed, without 'changing room hair'  bruises around my wrists from carrying hefty shopping bags and blissfully happy in the knowledge that my Saturday night dress and accessories are hung up on my bedroom door awaiting my return ready to party!!                   




  

                              






Saturday 22 January 2011

Cheryl cole 'The flood' video tutorial

Hey pixiepeeps,
Since adding the Katy Perry video tutorial (which i am going to replace as i cant get the full version to upload)
I have really taken to video blogging so i thought as an unexpected suprise that i would squeeze in a new Cheryl Cole look!!
This look is taken from her new music video 'The flood',which i saw for the first time the other day and fell in love with the make-up...I hope u enjoy it :)


 xxxx

Thursday 13 January 2011

5 under £5...Top 5 January Bargains....xxx

Ok so i know its only the 12th Jan,but ive been a very busy bee when it comes to hunting out the best of the highstreet beauty brands, and these 5 are absolute crackers...excuse the post xmas pun,i miss xmas so much!! ;(


1. Primark tweezers pack of two- £1

I have always been a tweezer snob ever since i first started to pluck my unruly (only just a) pair of brows,I have sat for hours with the most awful (sometimes expensive) tweezers plucking and averaging around 2 hairs per hour, but with age i have found myself alot more open minded and willing to try new things, and after this little find in Primark im so thankful for my new found (ahem) wisdom....

There are two pairs in the packet one angled and one pointed,so far i have only used the angled pair but i can hand on heart say they are the BEST tweezers i have ever had!!! better than the 2 pairs of £15 tweezerman's i had,better than the £15 ruby and Millie pair i had (although to be fair these were fantastic)

I managed to pluck my brows in less than 15 mins...a new record!! pick these baby's up while you can!!


2.Holland&Barrett Vitamin e oil £2.99 74ml



This was a bit of an accidental find...i have a client who is in her 60's who has the most phenomenal skin i have noticed for a while that she always has a pot of yellow liquid on her dresser it actually looks like a wee sample so i thought it best i didnt ask!!! :/

It was my mum who suggested it was probably vitamin e oil...hmmm...yes mum!!! Of course this lovely lady hasnt had a pot of wee on her dresser for the best part of a year...silly me!
so off to Holland and Barrett we went (no pun intended).

We (ok i cant stop!) found this 74ml pot with £3 off so its costing £2.99 at the moment,thanks for buying it for me mum :)

What a beautiful product! it smells lemony,leaves skin feeling insanely moisturised and as it states on the bottle is "pure enough to drink" how could you feel bad about putting this on your face.

As of yet i havent used it in a morning before foundation but when i do i will be sure to post the results because i have a feeling my new fave Healthy mix foundation will be looking even healthier when i do.



3.Extra strength oil of peppermint 200mg Holland and Barrett £3.09


Ok in the past week i have bought my first ever products from Holland and Barrett...perhaps im drawn to it because im feeling the post xmas body/health slump.

I have been feeling really bloated for a few weeks since xmas and yes i have gained a few pounds but my stomach was bloated in such a strange way that i knew it wasnt typical turkey podge!
A quick google and i came across these brilliant tablets apparently IBS sufferers find great relief from using them...well if they are that good why not?

I took 2 tablets a day after meals(the max recommended dose) and really noticed a difference after 2 days my stomach which is by no means flat,had seemed to have gone back to its original (slightly podgy) state..the uncomfortable football in tummy feeling had gone and now i can look forward to flattening it down fully.

 

4.Barry M ASOS Exclusive Lip Wand And Kohl Pencil £3.85


 Its ALWAYS a good idea to shop at ASOS in my eyes...but the beauty shop clearance section after xmas is worth a look even to the most reluctant shopper.


This set would be worth buying and saving as a present even if you are not a fan of Barry.M how could you not be though right? The lipgloss usually retails at £4.49 and the pencil £3.99.

The lipgloss is 'bubblegum pink' it may look shocking but like with all lip colours i find you will always have another colour (or 40!!) to make it work for you.I dont believe in wrong colour lipsticks.But as i say it would make a fab gift and it tastes delishhhh :)
The eyeliner pencil is 'intense black' and i must say it is not one of my fave's.As it is a retractable liner i find that the side of the tube makes it uncomfortable to apply..i would have loved this offer to have come with the Barry.M 'super soft eye crayon'...but saying that for this price im certainly not complaining!

5.Rimmel lash accelerator mascara £5.99 Boots


 I know im cheating by adding this one in,but at £5.99 for my most recent fave mascara i couldnt resist..


I actually find it difficult to review mascara as what i find is that most claim to lengthen,thicken,seperate,make u look like a supermodel etc.. the fact is the majority of the major companies have taken to using lash inserts and telling us in (smallprint) their ads totally contradicting the point of their own advertisments.
But we all need mascara right? and although Rimmel are indeed guilty of falsies crime (naughty Rimmel) this mascara rocks my socks...the wand is a nice length so you dont feel like you are rubbing your foundation off with the side of your palm whilst applying.And it does give a nice non clumpy seperated finish....whats not too love Bargain!!! ;D

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Hellllo Healthy skin....Bourjois Healthy mix foundation review

Ok...one of the biggest make-up issues we face as women is finding the right foundation..not just for our skintone,which admitedly is a massive part in our foundation battle but one which suits our skin type,some of us like it heavy,some of us like it sheer,then we go into coverage,staying power etc etc...i could go on and on.

What i have noticed though is that most women like their foundation to give them a healthy appearance,a radiance that looks completley natural.I think this foundation may have hit the jackpot!!!
As a make-up artist and general lifelong self made guinea pig i have tried about a million (no exaggeration *cough) foundations...from the cheap and cheerful to the insanely expensive and at the moment this one for me is running alongside nicely with MAC's face and body but at around 75% cheaper i may have to retire my old faithful.

My skintone is slightly olive and i used shade 53(beige) which out of the three available shades is the medium and found it was perfect although if i had st.tropez'd  id probably go up a shade.

Ok so the foundation itself comes in a 30ml pump bottle which dispenses just a nice amount of product and is nice and easy to contol the flow unlike so many.It is infused with apricot,melon,apple,and ginger and has the most wonderful fruity scent which makes you feel as though you are giving your skin a real treat.
Bourjois say that healthy mix gives up to 70% more radiance for up to 16hours....i totally agree infact i would say i felt 99% more radiant but not for 16hours,who wears foundation for that long anyway???? It lasted on me for around 8hours...but that is fair enough for a medium coverage foundation.
What i also noticed is that,very much like the MAC face and body you can build up the layers without it looking cakey (be sure to blend though!).

At £9.99 the price is pretty much the norm for a hs brand foundation but i have noticed that its on offer at boots for £6.99 atm.

 For me this is the ultimate high street brand foundation...of course i will keep on trying others...i have 5(oooops!!) unopened in my kit as we speak,but while a foundation is making me feel this pretty i'm gonna be sure to try them out on days when im staying in the house.

Soap and Glory Sit tight.....bye bye cellulite!!







         I think the title of this Blog should be the official full name for this product!
Ok so this product claims to do the impossible....tone the thighs while sitting down (the sitting is essential!!!)
Brilliant,I thought upon coming across this in a magazine....

After a quick browse through ASOS i made my purchase (along with a few other's,naughty!),a snip at £14 if it does what it claims to do.
When it arrived the next afternoon, despite the pretty silver and pink packaging telling me to apply the cream in the morning i couldn't wait and promptly slathered a layer on,waited 60 seconds as instructed to get dressed then sat myself down with a cup of tea and waited...The sensation was rather nice actually a mild warm,tingly feeling... it felt like i had put vicks vapour rub on my legs,weird, but in a good way it felt like the product was working its magic on my orange peel thighs!Me being me...pretty impatient,couldn't resist another little test at bedtime, routine repeated i got into bed and immediatley felt my legs heating up...in fact this time the heat was alot more intense,though bearable i must add.
I wondered if maybe repeating the process would make the product work faster but at £14 for a 200ml tube i decided to stick to applying as advised by the good peeps at S&G.
The results
Well im two weeks into using sit tight (in the proper way) and can actually see a visible difference in the texture and tone of my thighs,they aren't 100% perfect, but i would say that this is a must have for anyone looking to improve the appearance of cellulite quickly say before a special occassion or to get beach ready without any fussy diet programme.It would probably work really well along side excersise and a healthy diet (i will try to incorporate both into my lifestyle,i will,i will,i will!!!)...but as the label says sit tight!!...its a lazy girls dream xxx