Boring Beauty Routines Versus Beautiful Obsessions

 

When it comes to maintaining high standards of grooming aka our French cousins, I can be a bit slack as we head into autumn and start to show less skin. My slightly ambitious summer head to toe body care regime (don’t snigger) goes down the plug hole to use a favourite northern expression.

 I prefer to indulge in a long fuss free wallow in the bath instead or hit the snooze button rather than jump out of bed and reach for a hard bristle brush equivalent to a broom in texture to whisk away my dead skin cells.

Perfect Your Posh Pout With Beauty UK

 

 

 

Jumbo lip crayons are tres fashionable right now so if you don't yet have some in your pencil case/makeup bag go and sit on the naughty step. Apart from being fashionable. What is it about these chubby buddies that makes them so loveable and popular? Well, I put it down to a few things; they are rather cute, a breeze to hold and control, not as heavy as a lipstick but offer more colour pay off than a gloss, and the good ones are moisture rich with plenty of pigments that last, what's not to like?

2013 Vintage By The Sea Event - Celebrates 80 Years Of The Midland Hotel

 

 

 

What did you get up to yesterday? I spent three hours, deciding which vintage-inspired look I should wear, (based on our very unpredictable British weather) for my invitation to Wayne Hemingway's event, Vintage By The Sea. I finally decided on a Ben de Lisi 50s inspired, linen wiggle dress, a bright blue linen coat with chunky black buttons and ruffles on the front and a small black patent, boxy, grab bag.

 

 

 

 Outfit sorted, camera and brolly packed, I wiggled my way down to the train station. Ten minutes later I was enjoying lovely views of Morecambe bay, whilst I tottered along the prom to the Midland. I love visiting the Midland hotel and taking in all its creamy art-deco curves and lines. It was nice to see it overflowing with people and all thing's vintage, from Punch and Judy shows; classic cars and ice-cream vans to glam gals wearing red lipstick and seamed stockings.

 

 

 I managed to pick up a vintage bargain inside at one of the vintage clothing stores a malteeser coloured mock croc clutch. I was very tempted to have a full retro hair and make over at Guys, and Dolls pop up salon seeing some of the starlets emerging from a mist of Elnett hair spray, but I decided to save my money for a visit to the Routunda bar and a date with Elvis (well his music really) a chip butty made with smoke butter and a butterscotch Daiquiri which was every bit as dreamy as it sounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sadly, I didn't get to chat to Wayne about his American Indian wrestling father Billy Two Rivers, or the many crazy outfits he got to model as a child on Morecambe prom created by his mum and his nan, or to ask how he felt about moving out of fashion and into design on a much bigger scale, but if I had of done, I would have wanted to thank him for throwing such a great 80th birthday party for the Midland Hotel and Morecambe his hometown.       

 

 

 

Wayne Hemingway Hosts Vintage By The Sea In Morecambe

 

If you have heard of British designer Wayne Hemingway MBE you will probably know he is viewed a little like the Godfather of vintage in the UK and set up his fashion label Red or Dead in London in 1982 with his wife Geraldine.

 A custard tart or butter pie might be more his cup of tea than a bowl of Italian spaghetti and meatballs as he was born in the small seaside town of Morecambe, famous for its sunsets and art deco hotel, which luckily for me is just up the road.

 Whether you have heard of Mr Hemingway’s label Red or Dead or not, you might be interested to know he will be hosting one of his famous yearly vintage bashes not in London, but in Morecambe to celebrate the Midland Hotels eightieth birthday this year.

 I’m going to be hopping on a fast train to Morecambe tomorrow (Saturday14th September) to sample a pick and mix of the best vintage has to offer at the Vintage by the Sea one day festival.        

 

 

*images courtesy of vintagefestival.com*

 

#Organic Beauty Weekend | Fushi Organic Coconut Oil

 

 



I love my Hunter wellies and splashing in the occasional puddle at weekends, but lately I've decided to trade them in for a luxurious lock in, in my bathroom while I surround myself with beauty products that I would like to experiment with. I never seem to get the time mid week, I've decided my favourite type are those products that are nothing much to look at but have so many satisfying uses and give me what I imagine being A-list results.

 It's a bit like make up wipes or baby wipes which I prefer as I like my wipes big! I don't know many of my friends who just use them for removing makeup, from emergency wipes for spills on clothing, to cleaning shoes and dusting leather furniture when what should be used instead has run out, wet wipes in my friendship circles save the day, ok I'm not sure about the A-list beauty results of makeup wipes, but you feel me, right?

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate Free Options

Image courtesy of apartment therapy

 

So I'm on a bit of a mission at the moment to eradicate Sodium Lauryl Sulphates from by  bathroom, after trying all kinds of tooth paste and range of natural solutions that involves everything from sea salt and cooking oils like sunflower and olive oil, which nearly had a friend of mine throwing up on my shoe. I am finally happy to reveal the winning cheap as chips friendly flexible formulae is ta da! Baking Soda!

 

 Minty Toothpaste Not So Slick

 So how do I use it and have I found any other magical uses for these cleaning crystals? I shall reveal all the secrets of this humble product right about now - well in terms of use I like to mix about a half a teaspoon with a table spoon of warm water till it's dissolved and then dip my electric toothbrush into the liquid, swish it around and brush my teeth, I admit after covering your toothbrush in a thick slick of minty toothpaste it does feel a little lacking and there is no foam or dramatic frothing of the mouth, but remember that's because your not chomping on any nasty SLS and my breath is not minty fresh but just clean, which suits me. I'm sure you already know the gory details, but most oral germs live on the tongue so as long as you clean your tongue, floss and clean your teeth daily, your mouth should smell pretty fresh.

 

 

I Like The Ritual Of Using Dry Toothpaste - It's Like Cleaning With A Sherbet Dab

 Another big plus is you can give yourself a simple teeth whitening treatment to remove any stains about twice a week by dipping a damp clean tooth brush into a pile of this snowy whiteness, I keep it to about that other wise you can literally scour your tooth enamel to nothing which kind of contradicts things.  

 

 

 

 Victoria Secret DIY Hair Care

So what about any other uses I discovered, well as I have been looking at exchanging my shampoo, conditioners and hair dyes with SLS to SLS free options. I came across some possibilities, some really expensive and others tested on animals and finally I read this article that explains a Victoria Secret diy hair treatment that uses a combo of Baking Soda and Apple Cider vinegar as SLS free way to wash and condition your hair and leave it full of body and condition, it works well, if you can get over having no rich lather and spending under £4.00 for a healthy shampoo and conditioning treatment. Want to educate yourself about SLS products? Check this article. 

 

 

 

I'm #Benefits New Poster Girl!

 

Using Peak Cap Tactics To Trick Dark Circles Into Submission

Lately I have been noticing dark circles under my eyes and its been bugging me, I was staggered by how much dark circles can sabotage what ever outfit choice you throw at them, I tried many options to try to disguise them a peaked cap, perhaps the natural shadows cast would disguise my own, who was I kidding, then the complete opposite a dazzling white scarf, although the light reflection helped, the suckers were still there,my next strategy,no eye make-up, just a slick of bright lipstick to draw the eye down my face, at this point I realised I was fighting a losing battle and remembered the more obvious choice in the art of concealment,the concealer!

Filling A Chocolate Shaped Hole | Fluffy Egg Review

 

 

 

As some of you may know from my last post I have recently learnt I’m allergic to chocolate, so after trying a variety of methods to wean myself of the sweet brown stuff, amongst them watching re runs of Choccy WoccyDoo Da, which not surprisingly had the reverse effect required and on the brink of what would normally be one of my chocolate highlights of the year, the nice people at Lush took pity on me and sent me a chocolate free substitute in time for Easter, aptly named Fluffy Egg.

Lush Emotional Brilliance Review

 

 

Hi Gals, here’s part two of Lush lip products, featuring Passionate from the Emotional Brilliance range of liquid makeup. So what struck me first is the packaging, which is very me, I like the scientific looking  pipette lid which also gives the bottle a vintage feel,  it could have been bought from an old apothecary shop. The little card label is a delight for any die hard Alice in Wonderland blogging fans. I had heard already from other users of this range that the lip colours are exceptionally moisturising and highly pigmented and the feedback was right!

Lush The Kiss Lip Gloss - Review

 

So it’s confessional time I’m oh so slightly addicted to lip balm, lip stick and lip gloss, to the point where if I don’t happen to have at least one of the above on my person I feel naked but not in a good way, for some people it’s mascara for me it’s lip products.

 Makeup Draw Detox

 Anyway enough of my nakedness.  I was keen to review two lip products from Lush because of the above reasons, one of which is the newly launched limited edition The Kiss lip gloss and the Passionate liquid lip colour, to be honest I’m pretty good about using preservative free or natural ingredients on my face, but for some reason that is where my healthy streak ends, my lips get whatever shiny, glossy plumping concoctions catch my eye whether that’s on the front of a magazine or at a makeup counter.  Currently I am juicing and eating a cleaner diet, which got me thinking perhaps I need to detox my make up draw too, starting with lip products.

My Top 7 Beauty Products & Tools

 

 

 

 

I thought I would share the tools and beauty products I can't get by without using on a daily basis. First up I have a stubborn wrinkle under one eye, I have tried tons of eye creams and gels but nothing worked till I tried Elemis Pro Intense eye and lip cream, it works for me and moisturises and lifts the eye area, it's not super cheap but it seems to also help with darkness under my eyes which Asian skin tones like mine are prone to, which means I can do away with concealer and can be used to hydrate the surrounding lip area.

Lush Spa Box Review

Lush Spa box features - Peace massage bar, Full Of Grace serum, Big Blue bath ballistic and Stepping Stone foot scrub

When Lush recently asked me if I wanted to review some of their products from the new Lush Spar gift box which feature in their four signature spa treatments.I was so keen to make my huge bathroom into the perfect playground to test out these products I actually spent two hours cleaning it, incase your wondering if I'm mad, my bathroom usually gets a quick once over as and when I feel like it.

Big Blue bath ballistic 

I tested three of the four products from the gift box and was really excited to try out the Full Of Grace face serum.First up was the Big Blue bath ballistic packed with soothing lavender and lemon to tone I tossed it carelessly into my bright yellow bath and was immediately smitten by it's deep blue colour.

Relaxing Big Blue ballistic  In my bath

I have a confession to make, I'm not great at long relaxing baths but this balistic from Lush (and I have tried a few) converted me, I swished around in what felt like a blue volcanic rock pool peppered with strands of seaweed, inhaling the scent from the steam for a full half hour of bliss.I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give myself a nourishing facial whilst my skin was nice and warm using the Full Of Grace bar.I love the fact it looks so innocent and unassuming and is the perfect size and shape to melt in your hands, made with portobello mushrooms and rose water I nearly fell asleep during my diy facial.

 I suffer from dry skin and am already a fan of Lush massage bars which I find very hydrating, so once out of my bath I decided to slip into something more comfortable and slathered myself in Peace, made of coco butter and olive oil. My only tip is it melts down pretty rapidly after a hot bath, so if you want the bar to last longer just stroke the bar onto your skin rather than melting it in your hands first.I wasn't overly concerned with making the bar last though, preferring to saturate myself in its luxe emollients and use it like an over night body treatment, it left my skin nourished and satin smooth for three days.

My verdict? The serum is a handy relaxing facial treat for bedtime bathing, that left my skin plumped up and resilient but was also incredibly relaxing to use when combined with a bath in the Big Blue. I'm never going to struggle to find the perfect birthday gift for any of my friends ever again!I love this Lush Spa box and it's cute brown heritage gift wrap and stamps depicting all the treatments you can have at the new Lush spas! Can you tell?!   

    

* I was sent three products from the Lush spa box for the purpose of this review, all photographs featured with the exception of the Lush spa box are my own.

Perfume Heaven - Style Over Substance?

So today I want to talk about perfume basically because I was lucky enough to receive perfume from three of my favourite brands, Orla Kiely, Marc Jacobs and Lush this Christmas.The funny thing is these three perfume brands perfectly sum up the three strands that make up my personal style - classic, fun and hippy chic.

In the spirit of sharing my passion about these perfume brands and my fetish for glass I dreamt up my own mini campaign inspired by my bottle of Orla Kiely perfume. I'm really into toffee and caramel tones at the moment and although I find it a difficult colour to wear I love wearing accessories in that tone, as you can see from the image above.The Orla Kiely design is so chic and sweet with it's toffee coloured flower shaped stopper and long glass bottle.

 I immediately fell for it's vintage charm, it has a real Art Deco feel, I can imagine Daisy from The Great Gatsby using it on her dressing table. Featured in my campaign is a vintage silk scarf, a favourite necklace I was given and a sweet vintage family of china horses I inherited  recently, I loved the idea that the mare and her two foals stumble across the bottle whilst on a walk and are curious about what it is. I arranged the bottle on the background of my silk scarf to look like  a fallen log.

Gal Friday | Desert Island Favourites

  Hi Gals, for quiet a while now I have been itching to share my favourite desert island products here, I'm a sucker for products that are like a Swiss army knife in a beauty crisis; I love the feeling of having a magical pot of something in my rucksack that I whip out and have fun with because it's so versatile and will sort out several grooming and beauty issues at once. So to encourage you all to go and find your favourite sunny island and get stranded on it, I want to talk about two Lush firm favourites, Lady Godiva shampoo bar and Ultra Balm.

    

   Lady Godiva Shampoo Bar

Saffron yellow in colour and of a creamy consistency which conditions and washes the hair at the same time, saving you time but also perfect for hand washing your smalls too (this might come in very handy if you get stranded on a desert island of course, Lady Godiva contains a lovely bunch of moisturising scalp loving goodies such as -

Cocoa Butter
Shea Butter
Jojoba Oil
Camellia Oil
Macadamia Oil
Cupuacu Butter
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

For any lush fans this shampoo bar smells of Flying Fox shower gel and does not leave you with a greasy residue on your scalp, just shiny and clean hair and it's great for long hair and dry ends.

Ultra Balm

This stuff feels so decadent for an all purpose balm that's effective for dry elbows and knees, chapped hands, parched lips, dry cuticles and the ends of your hair it's like the Wonder Woman of moisturising products and I love things in tins, it contains three simple but effective ingredients 

Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis) , Candelilla Wax (Euphorbia cerifera) and Rose Wax (Rosa damascena) 

The Cheats Guide To Last Minuite Party Styling!

Hi Gals, its that time of year again, no, not when you fall over in bright tights and fab shoes, although you might do a little of that, it's time to celebrate New Years eve in style! If your anything like me you have probably scoffed the contents of a tin of quality street and consumed your own weight in turkey and stuffing over the last few days, add to that being kept buisy seeing friends and relatives and you probably have not had time to think about THE party dress and how your going to style it. So I have decided to play fairy god mother and come up with the cheats guide to looking party ready!

 A very happy New Year to all my lovely Fashionable Frolickers! 

 Lets start with the dress, cascading ruffles are great for hiding turkey belly!

Buisy patterns like this blue leopard print distract the eye from any Christmas wobble and the ruching over around the tummy prevents fabric from clinging in the wrong place. 

High waisted scater style dresses with clever side pleating skim curvy bottom, hips and thighs if that's where your trifle has chosen to lurk!

No time to trim hair or style hair at the salon? Slick short hair back with strong hair gel or scape back in a pony tail and add a pretty hairband. These are my favourite looks below.

Next up you necks looking a little bare, nothing says I have arrived, than a statement chunky necklace like this one below, if you don't have one, don't worry, find some necklaces in a variety of lengths and various of textures, pearls and gold chains work well or pretty glass beads.

 Next fasten each necklace and using each end as a loop, thread some pretty ribbon through each loop and each end then fasten round your neck, so you get a chunky double necklace effect, repeat with various lengths until you have depth of cascading chunky decadence you require. If you have long hair you won't see the rows of bows across your neck, if your hairs shorter it can look quite pretty, you could use bright colours to work with the colours in your dress, I like to use nude ribbon, which blends into my neckline.

No time for a last minuite manicure? Try some vampish short satin gloves, to create a well groomed look with a retro twist, you don't have to be a vintage girl to use this trick, try it with anything from a jumpsuit to your favourite jeans and bustier for a fun look.

 Last by not least if your legs are looking a bit pasty and your keen to shed your 60 denier black tights, these toeless Pretty Polly tights from Tights Please in natural, will allow you to wear peeptoe heels and leave your legs looking flawless with a subtle tan. Add an Art Deco, feel to your favourite comfy dance shoes, with these shoe brooches from Blingbacks.

You Shall Go To The Ball!

 The Beautiful Emma Watson, ready to party!

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