Sad Buys.

Also to be referred to as products I regret buying. I've seen most of these work for a lot of people so it's probably something I'm doing wrong, or just my skin, but don't let my misery deter you if you want them...
On with the show.


Up first, skincare:

Boots Traditional Glycerin and Rosewater Toner

What boots say:

"A cooling, refreshing beautifier that softens and moisturises the skin. This toner and moisturiser is lanolin-free and works well as a toner before using a skin cream."

What I say:

I was using this as a standard toner. I tried using it in the morning and it was far too rich (an odd way to describe a toner, no?) to wear under my day cream so I started using it at night, underneath my night cream. I applied with a cotton pad and waited for it to sink in... And waited. And waited. And waited. and eventually ended up rubbing it in myself. It just sat there on top of the skin, being damp. I found that I woke up with my skin feeling really oily in the morning too but that could be because of my night cream (I'm using steam cream at the moment).

I may persevere and try using it without a cream over the top as a light summer moisturiser... But I am concerned that it's making me break out so we'll have to see!

Soap And Glory - Wish Upon A Jar

What Soap and Glory say:

"Our unique formula contains a potent mix of shea butter, tetrapeptides, antioxidants and oxygen boosters to help boost moisture levels, smooth fine lines and wrinkles, brighten tired skin and hide flaws."

What I say:

I'm just going to leave a link here of my Wish Upon A Breakout Review which pretty much says it all.

What I will add is that I emailed Soap And Glory to let them know about what was happening with my skin and they emailed me back saying it takes 6 weeks for your skin to get used to a product.... Which seems pretty irrelevant to a product marketed as a "21 day collagen overhaul cream". It even makes a point of saying not to use it for any longer than that time. What's a girl to do?

Next we have make up:

MAC Matte Lipstick in Ruby Woo

What MAC Say:

 There isn't a specific description for this lipstick but the description of their lipsticks on the whole is: "Colour plus texture for the lips. Stands out on the runway. Simmers on the street! What made M·A·C famous."

What I say:

First: application. As you can see from the second texture, the bullet has already been defaced, after only one application! I applied it directly, without using a brush and it dragged across my lips, and when I tried to fill in caps it stuck to itself. My lips were in top condition, no dry patches anywhere, and well moisturised. But... it was like using a crayon! I'll try it will a brush and hope for better results. It looked pretty good when it was on though (rubbish phone picture alert).

Secondly: Staying power. It was fine and stayed on all day... Until I ate something. My lunch got stuck to the lipstick, and when I wiped it off, the lipstick came with it, how confusing. 

Thirdly: Removal. When I took it off, three sections of my lips came with it and left my lips exceedingly dry which I'm now trying to rectify. I actually started bleeding!

Benefit They're Real Mascara

What Benefit Say:

"They're real! is the UK's No.1 best-selling mascara!*They're real! lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts & separates. Our jet black, long-wearing formula won’t smudge or dry out. A specially designed brush reveals lashes you never knew you had."

What I say:

It's mascara. That's really all I found it to be. It just coats my eyelashes but doesn't really do anything else to them. I'm big into volume and separation but unfortunately this just doesn't match up to my darling Maxfactor False Lash Effect mascara. It could be lengthening but for me that's not enough to justify paying nearly 20,000 pennies for. Now obligitory pictures:

If anyone has any recommendations that would make me love these products, please let me know! I still have them all in my collection, just in case!

A super boring post on my new make up storage!

I hate storage posts. But saying that my storage was rubbish. It was very much a case of ram mascaras in one make up bag, nails in another, false eyelashes in another.... Etc etc etc.

 

So last week I decided to branch out in Ikea as I had a space to fill on my desk. This is what happened:

 

This is what I picked up. I promptly decided it was dull and boring a deserved a bit of jazzing up. We ended up getting a tesco smart price mini roller set, and some bottles of kids paint and wrapping paper. The paint actually worked a lot better than initially expected!

This is what happened next:

 

And the finished project:

Apologies for the super close up but the lighting is making the rug look super duper manky.

 

There are a couple of drawers that need redoing because the paper doesn't sit right on them but other than that, I don't hate it!

 

Result.

 

Polka dots & disco pants

Just a quick post containing two of my favourite looks from the past week!

The first was Miffy Does Disco Pants and is what I wore to have dinner at Pizza Hut with my girl Anna Booz. Disco pants were obviously the best option because, y'know, stretchy!

And the second is what I wore to visit a museum in Swansea

:It's been a fun week off work. Back to being boring and miserable tomorrow though!

 

My ultra boring every day eye make up (& sneaky OOTD)

Yesterday my chap and I decided to go to Techniquest! If you're not familiar with Techniquest, it's basically an interactive science museum aimed at children. But who isn't a child at heart?
While getting ready, I decided to hop on the "daily make-up" bandwagon, and document my basic eyeshadow routine.

I used my Too Faced Fun In The Dark palette, which I got from Ebay for about £8 quite a while ago!

This is basically a step by step guide for make up idiots, because I have no idea what I'm doing with it. On with the show!

So these are the brushes I use. None of them are anything special, they do the job and thats all I want. The one on the left is an Avon Blending Brush that was a freebie about 8 years ago, next to that is a Topshop Eyeshadow Brush, and then on the right is a Bourjoir Smokey eye, or eye crease, or creasey eye or something sexy sounding.

I use them in that order too, so I shall call them brush 1, brush 2, and brush 3. 

I use brush one in the lightest shade in the palette, called Pin Up. I give it a good swirl, tap it on the back of my hand and then sweep it all over the eye, from brow to lashes.

Easy peasy. 

Step 2 is where we use Brush 2. For the purpose of this post, I am using the pinky eyeshadow from the palette, which is called Peep Show. Again, swirl and tap. This one I usually apply from the crease to about halfway up to my eyebrow. Think the width of the brush. 

The third step in my eyeshadow routine is done with brush 3. Are we sensing a pattern? For this, it's the dark shade called Full Frontal. Same rule applies: swirl in the shadow, tap on the hand. I run this along the crease, trying to take it a little higher toward the outer corner. 

 Then, to confuse matters, we return to brush 1. I buff out the brown shade by working the edges in tiny circles from the inside to the outside, then if I need too I'll use the same brush to highlight the lid and browbone in the same pale shadow that I started with in step one.

And that's the eyeshadow look done! You can always go heavier, use a darker shade, or take it further down onto the lid if you prefer a smokier eye, but for me, this is enough for daytime or any time I would need to look professional, without being overdone. 

To finish everything off, i just get on with lining and mascara-ing. I haven't included these steps because I'm not confident that I'm good at them, (and if it goes wrong make up products tend to go flying across the room). This is what I'm using to do that at the moment anyway:

 Eyeliner: Chanel Liquid eyeliner, Revlon Colourstay Kohl Eyeliner (I think)

Mascara: Benefit They're Real! Side note: I hate this mascara and I absolutely cannot wait until it is used up.

The result.

And a cheeky OOTD because why not?

What I did with my Mayday Bank Holiday Weekend (OOTD's)

This is really a self indulgent post more than anything else...

So nearly ten days ago we had a loverly three day weekend, which I took full advantage of. The sun was shining so we took the opportunity to explore some of the places for walking in our area.

On Saturday, we climbed the hill behind my house, affectionately known as "the mountain" or it's real name, Mynydd Dinas.

 This was the view from about a third of the way up, It's mostly the Steel Works, far too sunny to actually make out the beach alongside it.

 We discovered one of many hidden waterfalls!

 And battled with a boggy patch of mountain. I'm not entirely sure I won.

RIP Fred Perry's.

Looking at something like my little town as a whole, from above kind of puts things into perspective. It's not all bad.

After a quick rest we made our way home so our shoes could dry out!

On Monday, we went to a park called The Gnoll in the next town.

First things first: a terrible terrible attempt at OOTD, and a squinty FOTD. It was super sunny!

Some examples of the lovely outside world.

Ryan was particularly taken by the trees with exposed roots. 

Some of the trees that had fallen down or had been cut back had been turned into benches and footstools! Fab idea. I'd been walking for about 2 hours by this point so that was welcomed and I very nearly had to be physically removed from the bench when it was time to move on.

There were also lots of sets of these lovely staircases, set into the side of slopes. So, natch I had to do a little jump.

To round off the weekend, our lovely friends The Tudors invited us around for a a BBQ to enjoy the evening sun and a boatload of meat... They didn't even want us to help with the washing up. Hostests with the mostests.

What did you get up to? Are there any Bank Holiday activities you make a tradition of?