She's got her lipstick on...da da dum

First of all I apologise for the use of Jedward's lyrics for this post's title, yes I am slightly ashamed of myself!

So as the title suggests this post is about lipstick. Other than nail polish lipstick is my vice. I probably don't have anywhere near as many as some of you but I think 10 is quite enough for me! And as you'll see many of the shades are practically the same!

L-R:

No 7 Limited Edition: Grace - £10.00

No 7 Sheer Temptation: Attract - £10.00

17 Mirror Shine: Belle - £4.59

17 Mirror Shine: Sugar Daddy - £4.59

17 Mirror Shine: Flirtini - £4.59

Swatches in the same order as above

L-R:

Mac: Midimauve - £13.50

L'Oreal Color Riche Naturals: Nude 235 - £8.19

Benefit: La La Land - Discontinued, can't find a price

Avon Sheer Minerals: Smooth Berry - can't find a price, around £8

Avon Sheer Minerals: Smooth Nude - can't find a price, around £8

Swatches in the same order as above

A quick low down for them:

My favourites: No 7 Grace and 17 Belle

Natural look: L'Oreal Color Riche Naturals

Glossy finish: No 7 Sheer Temptation and 17 Sugar Daddy

Block colour: Benefit La La Land and 17 Flirtini

Sheer finish: Avon smooth minerals

Have you got any of these? What's your favourite lipstick?

Wednesday Wishlist - 1

ASOS

Curve Rich Indigo Skinny Jeans - £24 (was £30)

Curve Mist Indigo Skinny Jeans - £30

Curve Feather Print Tunic - £28 (was £35) 

Cath Kidston Wash Vanity Case - £28

 Debenhams

Star by Julian MacDonald Black Quilted Shopper Bag - £50

Star by Julian MacDonald Purple large Fifi purse - £22

PTD - Challenge 53

This weeks challenge at PTD is fathers day! I created this for my dad:

As an avid fisherman I'm sure he'll love it!

As a present I've got him an iTunes giftcard, 2 handmade bookmarks and I'm going to make him some of my famous fudge as I'm a little short on cash at the moment.

Entries are to be submitted by 4pm on Sunday, good luck!

Haul - Primark & a competition win!

Just a super quick haul post to show what I bought when I went shopping last week. I only had £20 as until I start my new job & get some decent wages I'm currently poor, poor, poor!

Primark

Floral skirt - £5

I was drawn to this like a moth to a flame! Just love the pattern. I've worn this with a navy vest top and it looked fab. It has an elasticated waist so is good if you've over indulged at lunch time!

Close up, perfect summer print!

Black skirt - £5 (rubbish photo, sorry!)

I saw this hung up on a rail, it looked like a rail of stuff to go back out but it turns out it was a reduced rail. This was meant to be £12 but was reduced to a fiver! Bargain! 

Stripy top - £4

My mum bought me this and it's a sort of hanky hem top. Nice and airy for summer.

Plaited hairband - £1.50

I've been after one of these for ages and found them in Primark in Meadowhall, Sheffield, but the queue was so long and I wasn't waiting in it just to buy a hairband so I put it back. Then I had trouble finding another one but I managed to track one down! But when trying it on at home it's a tad too light for my hair :-( 

Competition win!

Ages ago Fabulous magazine from the News of the the World offered you the chance to win one of 3,000 Maybelline One by One mascaras to the first 3,000 people who voted in their beauty awards. I completely forgot about this so entered quite late on the first day it was up not expecting to win anything. Then low and behold a couple of weeks ago I came home to find this baby on my door mat!

I haven't tried it yet as I have about 5 mascaras open so I'm using those up. Needless to say I'm excited to give it a try as I've heard good stuff about it.

So there we have it, Im sure I had some other stuff to put on but I can't think what. Anyway hope you enjoying reading and looking!

A new breed of reality TV

It's becoming apparent that reality TV as we once knew it is officially over. The days of Big Brother, Survivor (remember that, was a I'm a Celeb type thing) and Shipwrecked are gone. Instead we have a mass of programmes dedicated to the talented people of the UK such as X Factor, Britain's got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance and then there are the fly on the wall reality programmes.

These started to infiltrate their way into our lives quite a long time ago with TV imports from the USA including Laguna Beach which started in 2004, The Hills which started in 2006 and then Jersey Shore which began in 2009.

So off the back of their success the UK followed suite in 2010 with The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE). I remember when the first episode was due to air on ITV2 and thought I'd watch it as I had half an hour to kill before my other programme started. I have to admit I was glued as were many others!

(L-R: Mark, Jess, Sam, Amy, Kirk and Lauren)

The programme made Nanny Pat's sausage plaits and Vajazzling an overnight sensation let alone popularising the phrases "Reem", "Jel", "No carbs before Marbs", and "Shuuuutuuup". Oh and there is the little matter of a certain Mr Darcey!

TOWIE has just finished it's second series and a third is planned for later this year. I literally can't wait!

In May 2011 E4 began showing their reality series called 'Made In Chelsea'. This was quite the antithesis to TOWIE as, well, not meaning to sound snobby, but these people seem to have two brain cells to rub together. On watching it, I don't think they're worlds apart from the Essex lot. They just pronounce their "P's" and "Q's" better.

(L-R: Amber, Francis, Millie, Caggie, Hugo, Spencer, Fredrik, Rosie, Binky, Ollie, Gabriella and Cheska) 

We have a group of 12 guys and gals who live around Belgravia, Knightsbridge and The Kings Road in London who spend their time running their diamond enterprise, buying jewellery, writing their blog and bidding for eligible bachelors in charity auctions which then causes a love triangle between you, your best friend and the 'eligible bachelor'. Oh to be born with a silver spoon, aye.

To be honest though they all seem to need get a grip, Ollie (third from the right on the above photo) doesn't crack a smile and did ever so well in hiding his sexuality (I thought he was a rival for Harry off TOWIE from the first episode), Hugo (fifth from the left) imagines he's god's gift to women, and well Binky, what is with that name?! It reminds me of something off a kids TV programme.

And finally onto MTV's Geordie Shore. This is unlike the other two programmes as this is based on Jersey Shore from the USA, as all the 'cast' members live in the same house. As you've probably guessed this is based in Newcastle in the North East and I couldn't wait to watch it!

(Clockwise from top right: Sophie, Jay, Vicky, James, Holly, Gaz, Charlotte and Greg) 

In the promo adverts the main thing that grabbed me was the pure shamelessness of them. "I'm not one of those people who has more faces than a game of guess who, if I don't like you I'll tell you" (Vicky), "I've never kissed anyone without a six-pack" (Charlotte), "I should have a degree in pulling women" (Gary), "I find the highest place in the club and get on it like a car bonnet"(Sophie), and Charlotte, what on earth is this about: "I'll open a tin of hot dogs and pour brine all over me body." Err ok then.

At the end of May 2011 the first episode premiered and it received a backlash from the people of the North East who felt badly portrayed as man eating, drunken, sex addicts. After watching the first couple of episodes I can understand why, after the first three episodes Holly 'spooned' with Gaz even though she has a boyfriend, Charlotte and Sophie got so drunk on the first night they had passed out by about 10pm, they all were involved in a huge fight in a club, Greg has taught the other guys how to wine and dine women, Charlotte and Gaz have been in the 'guest room' and Jay and Vicky are on and then off and then on and then off. Phew, it's hard to keep up with this lot.

So after watching all three programmes I have to admit Made in Chelsea just doesn't cut it for me but I will continue to watch, maybe not religiously but if I can catch it I will. As for Geordie Shore, I luuurve it! At the end of every episode I can't wait for more and Vicky, I love her! But lets face it you can't beat an original and TOWIE will always be the one to beat.

So what do you think of these programmes? Let me know in the comments below!


(Images borrow from Google Images)

Braces: Geek Chic or Ugly Betty?

When I started secondary school, which was 12 years ago now, yikes that makes me feel super old, braces were seen as uncool, geeky and basically were a big no, no, but when I was about 12-13 I had to have them myself. They didn't suit me and I was very self conscious about them. Most people had funky coloured rubber bands to hold the wire onto the brace but I opted for the more inconspicuous clear ones, to the shock of my orthodontist who only had them as they had been ordered in for a private patient and were left over. My friend who had them at the same time looked fine with them on but me, no, they just didn't work. I only had mine for a year, usually you have them for 18-24 months, as my teeth moved into position easily but I didn't wear my retainer afterwards so they have moved back slightly, but only one tooth on the bottom is quite noticeable.

When I got braces they were becoming slightly more acceptable.  I remember quite a few kids at school who had one, including several people who got them whilst in sixth form which is quite late in the world of dentistry considering the idea age to start treatment is age 12 to 13, like me.

Yet recently teeth have become big business. Whether it's whitening, straightening, veneering or implants, it's all about the smile.

I predominately remember one celebrity which publicised braces and that was Gwen Stefani.

Gwen was 30 when she got braces in 1999. 1999 was the year I started secondary school, and like many other young people, I was a massive No Doubt fan and Gwen helped with making braces more acceptable. With pink hair no one would dare to call her uncool!

Another celebrity who had braces is Tom Cruise. He got his braces when he was 39.

I remember this really clearly as there was a big media scrum about this story. I believe Tom did his bit for the boys because after all who would say Tom Cruise is a geek?!?

And so I come to arguably the most well known brace wearer, Ugly Betty!

Ugly Betty personifies everything I thought of brace wearers when I was 11 years of age. If anything I believe this programme perhaps brought back some of the preconceptions of wearing braces, with a title like 'Ugly Betty' it doesn't give out a good image does it?

But in 2009, 10 years on from Gwen Stefani and her braces, over a million people began orthodontic treatment and braces were in high demand! Nowadays some orthodontic treatment is classed as cosmetic surgery so on the NHS only children are offered the treatment free of charge. Despite this there is also an increase in adults wanting treatment even though, on average, it costs between £2,000 to £6,000 to be treated. Starting treatment can be because you want a straighter smile or for more serious medical reasons such as sleep apnea where you actually stop breathing in your sleep.

The most recent celebrity to undergo orthodontic treatment is TV presenter Holly Willoughby. The 30 year old posted a photo of herself on her Twitter page with her new braces with the caption: "Brace yourself, I've got braces...eek! X"

(Image borrowed from Holly's Twitter)

Holly's teeth look pretty perfect to me and as she tweeted saying she would only have to wear hers for a couple of months it's probably just to adjust a minor problem but even though I just wish when I was at school there was someone like her who all us brace wearers could have looked to for support. I'm sure that the way she came out openly and honestly to say that she has got them will give many people confidence in wearing theirs or to begin much needed treatment.

But moving away from braces and onto general teeth. When The Only Way is Essex was on our screens a few months ago I remember an episode where Maria Fowler told the rest of the gang that big teeth were in and that everyone was after the 'race horse' look.

Personally I'm not going to follow the 'race horse' teeth trend but it is true that big teeth aren't the focus of mockery anymore.

I also just remembered another trend which I believe originated from Madonna and her infamous gap.

People were that obsessed with Madonna's gap in her front teeth they actually wanted to create one in their own teeth! I'm not entirely sure if this can be done but surely Madonna has done a lot for people who do have a gap which they dislike by not getting her's 'fixed'.

So to coin a few phrases whether you can 'eat an apple through a tennis racket' (have big teeth), 'can slot a pound coin through you teeth' (have a gap) or are a 'metal mouth' (have braces), embrace (no pun intended there) your teeth and for goodness sake look after them! After all you only get one set and no one likes this look:

(All images borrowed from Google Images, unless stated)

Review - Nip + Fab Tummy and Bust Fix

I think you'll all remember the ASOS Groupon that everyone was buying a few months ago, well I bought one too! Actually I bought two, yes I was greedy!

So I had £40 to spend and I headed straight to the beauty section where I picked up these, Nip + Fabs Bust Fix and Tummy Fix.

I used these solidly for a month so have road tested them enough to give you an honest opinion of them. I did take before and after photo's but obviously I'm not going to post those!

Bust Fix - £16.29 for 100ml

I was sceptical about what this would do but I embraced the challenge. Nip + Fab do recommend you use this twice a day but I only used it once a day just before I went to bed. I have to admit I am really impressed with the results. My 'bust area' does seem firmer and more 'perkier' (!) I would definitely repurchase this and recommend it to others.

Tummy Fix - £19.35 (100ml)

This was more expensive than the Bust Fix but I had such high expectations for this. Again it was recommended for use twice a day and again I only used it once before bed. Now I've used it I've discovered that the only thing that will fix my flab is a strict sit up regime! Yes my stomach area felt more moisturised but let's face it, it's not a miracle in a tube. It didn't work for me, when I loose some more weight I'll definitely give it another go to firm up my stomach but I would recommend it to others.

I was that impressed with Nip + Fab I have added more of their products to my product wishlist which can be found under my blog header.

Are you a fan of Nip + Fab? Which products would you recommend? Oh and they can be bought at Boots, ASOS, Nip + Fab and Harvey Nichols.