Heaven Scent...

My favourite fragrances right now are by Jo Malone in Pomegranate Noir and Orange Blossom. My lovely mother in-law bought me these items for Christmas and I have been saving them for as long as possible as they don't last long once I start spritzing away!

Presentation Box

30ml size

What I love about them is that they are rather unique in their scent and I don't smell them on everyone that walks my way. I understand you have your classic fragrances and the latest launches to hit duty free, but I must admit I prefer to be different and you can combine these fragrances to create your own scent.

I actually wore the Orange Blossom on my wedding day so it will always be rather special to me, its so fresh and beautiful. Where as the Pomegranate Noir is my evening scent, its still fruity but the spicy woods, patchouli and frankincense give it a muskiness that is very grown up!

How gorgeous does this look?

I was also given a candle in Pomegranate Noir with my gift which is so chic and adorns my dresser, it smells fabulous but will not be burned anytime soon as I don't want to spoil it. Isn't my mother in-law amazing? I love her so much!

What is your all time favourite scent?

Mini Trip.... The Lakes

Our Deluxe Lodge

The beautiful surroundings

This weekend my husband and I spent the weekend at Lake Windermere in the Lake District with our pet pooch Bruno. We were later joined by my brother, sister in-law and our two nieces and nephew for a lovely family break.

We stayed at White Cross Bay in a deluxe lodge which overlooked the lake and was so beautiful. The park facilities are excellent and the kiddies especially loved the swimming pool and the playground.



Isabella aka Megaphone



Finley aka headbanger

Yasmin aka Minnie

Bruno aka little man

While we were there we visited the Beatrix Potter Attraction which was really quaint and great for Peter rabbit & Jemima Puddle Duck fans like me, the kids enjoyed it too!

 

 

We had Sunday lunch at the Kirkstone Pass pub which is really high up in the hills, stands alone in the mist and is said to be haunted! The food was excellent, very reasonably priced and dog friendly. Its a cosy and traditional pub with a log burning fire, the only downside was the fact that the people in there didn't seem to like the company of the children. They were on their best behaviour, but we still received the disgusted glances so we hot footed it into the 'family room' where we were left in peace to have a nice 'family' lunch.

Me & Minnie enjoying yummy hot chocolates!

The misty view from the Kirkstone Pass pub



My bro taking the orders!

I highly recommend a trip to The Lakes, its such a beautiful place and is really great for spending quality time with your family.

xoxo

Pencil Me In...... Artdeco Couture

Im loving these pencils from Artdeco at the moment! They are so soft and creamy to apply and are waterproof and litterally do not budge all day long. The Eye pencil i've been using everyday on my lower lash line is the Soft eye liner waterproof in 15 which is a deep brown colour and is very easy to blend.

The company is based in Germany and is quite difficult to source, but I think as it becomes more popular and well known it should become more widely available. It would be nice to see it on the high street as the products are great quality (I'm not too fussed on the eye shadows though!) and at a very reasonable price too.

You can find a local stockist at www.artdeco.org.uk

Samsung N150 plus

In order to start my blog I insisted that I get myself a nice little netbook as my husband tends to hog the main laptop that we have at home, therefore I felt it necessary to share with you what I picked up and let you know my thoughts on it.

While we were in the states I debated on whether or not to buy the new Apple MacBook Air as I have an IPhone and love it so much I considered on expanding its little family. However, with prices starting from ‘just’ £867 I became a realist for the first time and concluded that I simply couldn’t afford it.

It was during a cheeky little makeup shopping trip to Selfridges at the Trafford Centre that I spotted my new BFF! The Samsung N150 Plus was perfect for what I was looking for, at 10.1 inches and weighing 2.8 pounds, it’s compact and easy to carry about.

I’m not going to lie and be all technical about this product, although it has a webcam, Bluetooth, comes with Windows7 starter and has a 250GB memory it was the ultra-glossy pink colour that attracted me! It also comes in Black, Red, Blue and Yellow, and is cheaper if you shop around on the internet. Typically me being me, I am an impulsive shopper and I could not find the pink anywhere else so I forked out the £299 there an then and said “I’ll take the pink one!”

It’s perfect, I use it for social networking, blogging, emails, internet shopping and banking, and as it comes with word/excel so I can do my boring work stuff on it too. It doesn’t have a Disc drive, but it has 3 USB ports so an external drive is easily plugged in, as well as any other gadgets. I use the SD card slot the most for uploading images to my blog and it’s so easy… even for little old me who is a technophobe!

The only downside to my little pal is the fact that it is impossible to download iTunes so I still have to mither the hubby to put the latest tunes on for me. I also cannot put a photo as my screensaver which is no biggy and the final complaint is the keyboard, which is quite cramped. I can happily be typing away only to find that the curser has jumped from one place to another and my posts make no sense whatsoever (yes I am prone to waffling also!)

All in all I am really pleased with my buy, but I do hope to eventually purchase a nice shiny Mac one day!

I would give this product a 8/10

As an extra note, I ordered a lovely neoprene cover for my netbook from Amazon.co.uk, its black which is pink on the inside with a matching pink zip and cost just £6.99

Jen xoxo

Brows in a jiffy...

One product I had to share with you is my new lazy brow routine in the form of; Laura Geller, Brow Marker in Dark Brown.

I bought it from QVC online at www.qvcuk.com and it cost £16.25 plus £2.45 postage and packaging.

It’s kinda like a felt tip pen with a pull off lid. The colour is the perfect shade for my brows but it also comes in 3 other shades. I literally just quickly wack it on in the morning to whichever thickness I like and it lasts the whole day (I even wear it to the gym) and it stays in place framing the windows of my face.

I cannot say anything bad about this as it really is idiot proof! It isn’t as natural looking as powder but it is not too obvious either, as it dries fast and sets discreetly. One tip is to leave it in your holderwith the pen tip, facing down, that way the product will always be ready to apply.

I will still use my other favourite brow products, but this will be perfect for those days when I roll out of bed and rush to work.

**Gift Time** with Estee Lauder

Darn, those marketing people at Estee Lauder really know how to reel me in! I get the feeling it is not just me that feels the need to purchase two (or more!) items that I completely didn’t need just to get the free gift with bonus time. Lancôme, Clinique, Dior… whenever I see that lovely gift bag stuffed with tissue paper and miniature sized products I start to mooch around the counter to find the cheapest two products but I always end up spending a small fortune!

Alas, this time round it was the Estee Lauder counter and low and behold I am now the proud owner of the following products... and the bag of free goodies that are currently hiding at the back of the wardrobe *shame buys*

Advanced Night Repair Eye

This product was recommended to me by the sales assistant, a nice lady who had obviously been trained very well (she had me sold!) Although I’m (only) 27 years young, it’s said to reduce signs of aging around the fragile eye area as well as fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness, dark circles, dryness and uneven skin tone.

I’m lucky to have been given my mother’s genes as my skin is generally very good and healthy, but just recently I have been darker under the eyes. Perhaps it’s my stressful job or more likely the extra partying I have been doing. Either way I decided I must have this product (and drink more water).

It comes in a little brown reinforced plastic pot with a spatula and reminds me more of a pharmaceutical product than a lux eye cream; perhaps this is to give it a credible science feel? It has a gel like consistency and is really cooling when applied to the eye bone, which I liked. It did instantly brighten this area and felt hydrated. The smell of the product is indescribable, it’s not unpleasant yet it isn’t nice either, again I think that this adds to the scientific value. So far I am enjoying this product, but at £35 for 15mls it doesn’t come cheap, I will need to check out the results in a few weeks to see if it lives up to its objectives and is worth the money.

Keeping in theme with the eye area a purchased the Double Wear Stay-in-place concealer in 02 light medium. It comes in a 7ml tube with sponge tip applicator and contains an SPF 10.  I usually just use Dior Skin Flash in 03 under my eyes to illuminate, but these dark circles under my eyes needed some serious war paint. The choice of colour was a great match and the coverage was second to none, but I did find that the product sat on the skin and creased which was not a good look. It lasted my full working day, so perhaps I will experiment with the application to see if I can eliminate the creasing in future. Note to self *get some sleep* then I won’t need to spend £18.50 on a heavy concealer!

Okey Dokey, now onto the bonus part!!

Here’s the free gift I received, we’ll forget that I spent £53.50 to ‘receive’ it eek!

I got a lovely purple croc effect makeup bag, containing;

15ml Day Wear Plus   (I love this cream soooo much, it smells divine)

7ml Idealist, Pore Minimizing Skin Refiner – I will be buying this it is amazing used over my nose and cheeks

Double ended 2.8ml Lash Primer Plus/2.8ml Double Wear Mascara 01 Black – I’ve not used this yet as I physically cannot open more than 3 mascaras at a time, hygiene freak and I don’t like wastage.. Yep I’m strange.

50ml Perfectly Clean splash away foaming cleanser – Saving this for my hols, it’s the perfect size

50ml Perfectly Clean fresh balancing toner

And finally my favourite freebie award goes to dun dun duuun

Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in 18 Bois De Rose – It’s a warm pinky red with shine that compliments my skin tone really well. It smell so good I want to lick it all off and is extremely moisturising.

Viva Las Vegas! My purchases

I recently went to Las Vegas for my birthday which was in January, I like to get away as its generally a bit of a come down for everyone after Christmas. So, off my husband and I went to spend a week at the MGM Grande. It was A-MA-ZING!! Although it was super pricey for most things I quickly found the Fashion Show Mall which housed the most amazing stores with less costly price tags. My personal favourite place is Macys, I got so many items and also benefited from the 10% discount card along with all the sales that they had. Other stores that kindly accepted my plastic and cold hard cash were Sephora, Christian Audigier, Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria Secret and Michael Korrs (to name a few, eek!) but hey it WAS my birthday =)

So without further ado, here's some of the items i acquired

I heart my Michael Korrs watch <3



 

One of my many items from Abercrombie & Fitch
I love this green gillet



This pic does not do this blouse much justice, It's Michael Korrs and I got 60% off at Macy's!

I love this mirror from Sephora, it illuminates when opened and is perfect for my make-up bag.

I went insane in Victoria Secret as we don't have a store in the UK (I don't think we do?) So I bought everything in sight, I got this cute dog for free as I got items from their 'Pink' range.


I highly recommend visiting as its not all about poker and slot machines. Whilst there we went to watch Circ du Soleil which was awesome, spent Saturday night in the excellent studio 54 and met all the (wax) celebs in Madame Tussard's!! It was a fantastic trip and I cant wait to go back!


Have you been to Las Vegas, which store did you splash the cash in?



Update: Completed Make-up station

Yay!!! I’m so excited that my make-up station is finally complete. I have wanted a fabulous place to store all of my beloved products and somewhere to also get ready for a night out with the girls. I really wanted a Broadway vanity unit from www.vanitygirlhollywood.com as they are simply stunning, but they don’t currently ship to the UK.

I resorted to putting my own little number together and I am delighted with the results as it looks amazing. I feel like a Hollywood starlet when sitting at the station with all the lights on. As the space on the counter is a little more limited I also purchased these funky vintage looking cases from TK Maxx to store all of my make-up in that is not used on a daily basis. They are covered in pink/white candy striped material and have a picture of Marilyn Monroe on the front. The large one cost £12.99 and the smaller size cost £9.99.

What do you think of my new station and how do you organise your favourite beauty products?

Holiday Countdown!

OK, so I've been on two holidays recently and I never succumbed to dieting. In 8 weeks time I'm off on my jollies again with the husband, but this time I'm on a mission to get myself "bikini ready". The difference this time is were holidaying with my brother and gal pal/fellow makeup-addict/drop dead gorgeous sister-in-law!
I'm sooo excited to travel with them as they are the best party people to be around and I love them dearly... did I mention Jen, my sister-in-law is also a make-up addict?! *cue duty free*

The 2 Jens!

I'm not too sure what it is about being on holiday with others that makes me panic about being in a bikini, I'm thinking perhaps its the sneaky unexpected photo taking, then the transfer of said photos to Facebook. Whatever it is, I'm determined to get in shape!
My target is to drop around 20lbs at a ratio of 2-3lb a week which is a sensible goal, as I'm a 'curvy' gal its not an unhealthy decision and I'm hoping by my standards it's easily achievable.

I joined the gym yesterday and have embarked on a healthy eating regime, So wish me luck, I'll keep you posted on my progress and any tasty healthy recipes I find (I'm a veggie, so all veggie ones!)

I've decided that if I reach my goal I can treat myself guilt free to lots of new clothes and beauty products!! ;)

Jen xoxo

MAC with Marvel Wonder Woman collection

Well, i splashed out on a few of the items from the MAC Wonder Woman collection a couple of weeks ago when it was launched in Selfridges and finally gave them a little whirl on Saturday night. The colours are really bright so it was a perfect opportunity to showcase my little haul.

I was so excited to receive the delivery as it came really fast and I must say Selfridges did a spiffing job with their packaging...

I bought the Mineralize skin finish in Golden Lariat, which is a super jumbo size! It gives a lovely shimmery bronze to the skin (unfortunately doesn't show up in my pics) and the packaging is really funky... if you like gimmicks, which i do... such a consumerist! My only complaint is the fact there is no mirror in the compact, there is more that enough room and in my opinion would make this the perfect product.



MSF Golden Lariat

The other two products I bought both, as I couldn't decide between either and they compliment each other really well.

I got a lipstick in Spitfire which I believe is ltd edition (so this made me need it more) I thought that it would be a bright magenta colour, but it is actually much darker.



The final item was a lipglass in Athena's Kiss, which I am sooo glad i purchased as its by far my favourite buy! It's so chunky and big, the packaging is cool too. I just adore the colour which I find brighter than the Spitfire and obviously leaves a glossy finish. The only downside I found was pulling out the wand is tricky as it literally pops out with the risk of getting gloss all over the place!

To summarise I'm really pleased with this collection, its fun and cool and great for colour blocking this season. I have just received an email letting me know that it is now in MAC stores, so no doubt I'll be popping along to get a few more cheeky bits and pieces. Think I'll give the Russian Red lipstick a miss as I'll get my discount on the normal packaging, unlike on this collection.

Have you gone Wonder Woman crazy?

xoxo