foil wrappers and chocolate rabbits

Rushed off my feet so far this week, with the end of the tax year looming and Easter bank holiday in a few days, work has been hideous. Have been looking through the pictures I took when Company magazine visited and thought I would share some of my photos from the day and a quick flash of the article.

Have you any plans for the weekend? As I am sure you know, I love any kind of celebration and hope to bake and ice some fondant fancies for my friends. I love the idea of Easter cake and egg hunts, pretty foil wrappers and chocolate rabbits.

I have a fancy dress party to go to on Saturday and also hope I will be able to sneak a few hours in with my husband before he heads off to New Jersey for a few days next week. So jealous of his proximity to NYC it is unreal. Then there is the building of that new blog and I will looking for small boutiques and blogs for sponsors. Watch this space for more news.

Have fun with your families and loved ones this weekend.

It's true to say I have been lounging around doing not much. Don't know what is up with me this week. Lots of people are off work with sickness so the rest of us are taking up the slack and by the time I get in I am a little despondent. Hopefully I will buck my ideas up by the time my weekend starts tomorrow at 4pm.

Hope your week has been more fulfilling.


Image from Paranaiv.no

Follower Giveaway!

Hello beautiful peeps!!

Well, the time has come for me to do my first ever 'thanks for following' giveaway! I really wanted to wait for 100, but I'm too damn impatient! Plus, I'm moving house tomorrow and wont be able to post at least til Monday now, so this is my way of saying sorry!

So, to give away I have...

1 Sleek Bohemian Palette

1 Victoria Jackson Eye Palette

1 Sigma Makeup E/S Blending Brush

1 Victoria Jackson Refillable, Retractable Bronzer

1 Duo Mister Mascara 'Tease' Eyelashes

1 Bottle of Sherbet Lemon No17 Nail Polish

So the rules are...

You need to be a follower. This is a giveaway to thank my followers, therefore to be in the running, you need to be a follower!

To enter, I'd like you to leave me a comment telling me about your Desert Island or Holy Grail beauty product. Just a few words, what it is, what you love about it and why it makes you feel good. It can be hair, skincare, makeup or body care - whatever!

For a second entry, you can either blogroll or post about this giveaway, but make sure you put the link in with your comment.

That's it! Make sure you leave an email address in your comment so I can contact you, if you're the winner.

The Small Print

The competition will be open until Midnight (GMT) Friday 2nd April 2010, so you have a little over a week to get thinking. Open to International entrants. All prizes are brand new - I do have my own Sleek Palette and the yellow nail varnish, but you will receive brand new products. I have purchased all the prizes myself, with the exception of the Sigma brush which was a gift when I bought some brushes recently. The winner will be selected by random google selection widget.

Good Luck!! A xx

Wreaths and wishes

Happy Monday everyone I hope your weekend was filled with sunshine and happiness. My husband has been away again at a trade show in Taiwan so I have actually been back in my work room, getting the feel for making a few more things as its only two more weeks until I drop a day at the bank. Hooray! Some tiny blossom adorned wreaths have been added to the shop to bring the first days of spring ever closer to home.

Ps I was featured in April's issue of Company Magazine and I would love for you to vote for my blog in the poll over at their site.

Sleek LE Bohemian Palette

There's a web urban legend that, it only takes 5 clicks from any topic on Wikipedia, to find a way to a mention about Hitler. I reckon, in Beauty Blogosphere, the same could probably apply to this Sleek LE Palette. It's everywhere, having just been released a few days ago.

I actually almost didn't bother posting pics of the one I picked up on Saturday morning, as you could easily find plenty reviews and pics elsewhere, but then I thought, imagine everyone thought like that, there would be no reviews! Deep...

A lot of people have mentioned that the LE packaging is pretty cool, which it is with the black swirls on the cardboard (which I so prefer to the nasty plastic the palettes usually come in). I kinda wish it was still black though, as I don't really like to see my shadow dust everywhere! Overall, still very nicely presented and for £5, the value for money is ridiculous.

I'm really pleased to see so many matte colours/shades - sometimes we want simple, non-metallic eyes!! Not quite sure I understand the whole bohemian theme, but I do love the shades; in particular the burnt orange, 2nd top left and the 2 greens.

So, the good news is that this palette is mine! Hurrah! The BETTER news, is I have a 2nd one, in my kit ready to be given away... Keep your eyes peeled over the next week for details of how you can win this LE Palette and some other lovely goodies!!

A xx

This is actually my 2nd attempt at yellow nails (see the first here). Despite actually having the same name as attempt #1, this is a much softer, pastelly yellow, that I think was what I was hoping #1 would look like.

Was £2.99 from Boots, literally still warm from having been placed on the shelf! I like it and it's making me feel all easter bunnies and daffodils. I am ignoring Neil's comment that it looks like I have emulsion on my finger tips...

What do you think? are you embracing pastels this spring?

A xx

Celeb Copy Cat - Lady Gaga Telephone

Hello hello, baby...

Not going to say too much on these, other than I am so so disappointed with my pictures as this looked way more awesome in the flesh. Also, thought I'd take a leaf out of Gaga's book on piss takes and so instead of Coke cans, I rolled my hair with make-up brushes... (I thought it was funny!)

I know it's crap, but I couldn't do it without one cringey phone pose pic, could I!

I can't believe I forgot!

What a airhead! I forgot to mention that BeautyBloggingBlonde is deeply honoured to have been asked to join the Handpicked Media network! I popped the tag (look right) up a few days ago and must have gotten distracted before I put this post up!

Anyway, at least this way I can link to their brand new website!

So, that's all really. Exciting times ahead for my wee blog!

A xx

A quick update...

Good evening gorgeous dollies

I mentioned a few days ago that Mac and I are moving; well that's now less than a week away and I am still ferverently working on getting my dissertation & other uni work finished before next week, so I can concentrate on packing. In addition, I have now gone back to work (yay!) so am still trying to tease the technicalities of how to balance work, house, uni, wedding and blogging. So while I try and establish some kind of Blog/Life balance, I thought I'd introduce you to 2 lovely ladies (assuming you don't already read their blogs!)...

Mizz Worthy and Le Salon De Beaute both have fabulous blogs but also very cute youtube channels, with tutorials, tips, reviews etc. So check them out! (but don't forget about me...)

Click here for LeSalonDeBeaute or here for Mizz Worthy.

That is all.

A xx

Early morning sunshine

A run of good weather and early morning sunshine has put a spring in my step and I am finally getting around to listing the wreaths I made over at Etsy. I have a few more to finish and will share some more pictures soon.

Sigma Brushes

About 3 weeks ago Katy (from Makeup by Katy) and I made a joint purchase of the 'Professional Brushes Complete Kit' from Sigma Makeup. The kit included a mix of eye and face brushes, 12 in total.

The maths: we opted not to take the brush roll (an extra $20), so the kit cost $69 + $14 shippping, so in total, this was $83 or approx £55, for 12 brushes, incl postage! We split the kit 6 brushes each, so we paid about £27 each or £4.50 a brush. The shipping was quick - we ordered on a Monday evening and it arrived the following Thursday or Friday - I can't remember which. So about 11 days from the US.

Everything was packaged really well, with the face brushes covered in a thick plastic protector on the heads and each brush being individual wrapped. Having now used the majority of the brushes I kept, I'm so pleased with them. The large powder brush has shed a few hairs, but other than that they have been a delight to use. All of them have a really good weight about them, particularly the larger brushes, so if you like that feeling of heaviness, then these are for you.

Sigma SS150. A very dense powder brush, but super soft. Handle is really chunk and weighty. Perfect for an all over dusting of loose powder. I really love this brush. I've already given it a proper wash and it seems to have maintained it's softness.

Sigma SS 187. This duo fibre brush feels like air on the skin, it's so delicate! I have used it once to apply a sheer cover of liquid foundation, but felt like it didn't achieve enough coverage for this time of year. Have been using it now to apply bronzer, but will probably go back to using it for liquid foundation/tinted moisturiser in the summer. Not one single bristle has shed from this, which I'm amazed at and again, it's been washed and is still just as soft as new.


SS190. Good, solid foundation brush. Bristles are soft, but dense, so a really good application of foundation is achieved without too much work. It's almost identical to the MAC 190 in terms of bristle length, density etc. Given the MAC 190 is probably a HG product for me, I'm delighted I've found one of equal capabilities to use on MAC shampoo day.

From top to bottom:

SS224: Amazingly fluffy blending brush. Natural bristles have a tendency to irritate my eyelid, but this is so soft and didn't feel at all scratchy. Is excellent for softening any E/S edges, or just dusting off the finished product.

SS252: A really nice sized E/S brush. Good for application across the whole lid and really holds onto the shadow, minimising fall-out.

SS275: This is an angled shader. I haven't actually tried it out properly yet, but I don't anticipate any issues, if the experience of the other 5 is anything to go by!

Overall, I genuinely don't have anything bad to say about these. My experience so far of Sigma has been brilliant and for the price, I will definitely be looking to make future purchases. This is a look I created using the above brushes.

Nude Nails

Right, as I self-confessed Rouge Noir addict, it's difficult for me to say this, but...

"My name's Amanda and I love Nudes"

There. I did it. It's off my chest and I feel like I can stop pretending. For me, it all started with the hype of Chanel Particuliere, then I came across Inattendu and now it seems I can't stop.

I picked up a bottle of H&M's 'Latte 2 Go' last week, for £2.99, thinking hmmmm this is exactly the same as Inattendu. Wrong! Who knew so many shades of nude could exist? So, here's a breakdown...

Chanel Particuliere: A grey, mushroomy 'greige' shade, that's quite cool toned without looking blue.

Chanel Inattendu: A pink, peachy nude that's very warm. Is light and kind of makes me think of ballerinas. (I don't know why!)

H&M Latte 2 Go: The greyishness of Particuliere, but in the light girlie warmth of Inattendu. Is the exact colour of Christian Louboutin patent nude pumps.

So, whilst my Rouge Noir, Diabolic and Blue Satin is relegated to the bottom of the nail polish drawer, I will be donning these 3 for the spring and likely well into the summer.

Something

Something to finish off your outfit from the previous post? I love these beautiful jewel encrusted bangles from Emma Cassi's new collection.

Blinkers

I know many of you loved my frilled dress from a few posts ago so here is a little collection of shear spring delicates that can be layered together from Topshop. The shopping centre is a danger zone for me and my credit card at the moment. Probably need to get some blinkers fitted to stop me peeking in the windows and seeing all the pretty dresses on display.

I had such a lazy weekend, never even got out of my pyjamas or left the house. I need to get up and baking soon and then get out in that beautiful sunshine that is blazing through my windows. Have a great Monday I hope you haven't all had to work?

FOTD & Happy Birthday Mum!!

Last week my mum celebrated her fif...shhhh birthday, but she was in Dublin for it, so we out for a quiet family meal this weekend instead. As I was running late, I had to squeeze getting pics into getting ready and yes, the first pic I am still wearing my dressing gown and my hair is only half done and very fluffy...

I was trying out some of my new Sigma brushes that arrived yesterday and have to say I am massively impressed with the fluffy eye blending brush I received. I will do a review post separately on these though.

so products used were...

Face

Benefit 'That Gal' brightening primer

Chanel Pro-Lumiere in 10

Chanel loose powder in Clair

Benefit 'One-Hot Minute' bronzer

Eyes

Sleek 'Original' palette E/S

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Liner in Black

Benefit 'Bad Gal' lash waterproof

a very light touch of Shu Uemura eyebrow pencil

Girls Aloud 'Nicola Lashes' & Duo Lash Glue by MAC

Lips

Beaute Weightless Lip Creme in 'Girlina'

On an impromptu trip to the shops last night (love all week round late night shopping!), I picked up a couple of these little nail varnishes from H&M for £2.99 each. The blue is called 'U Must Have This' and the nude is ''Latte 2 Go'. I'm goin to do a greige post in a few days, where you'll be able to see it compared to Inattendu and Particuliere both by Chanel. I haven't tried this one yet on my nails, but in the bottle, I already think I'm liking it more than the 2 Chanel shades!

The blue actually dried matte, which took me by surprise. It has the finish of a poster paint! It's probably not a colour that I would wear to work, but for a saturday night it's quite fun. I am super impressed with the quality of the polish - it pretty much went on in one coat, with only 1 or 2 nails needing a quick second coat. It dried really quickly too. Not bad for £2.99!!

No full on finger shots today I'm afraid; a combination of moving home, completing my dissertation, going back to work, wedding planning etc has left me with some cuticles in desperate need of tlc. So once I've got them back to their usual tip top shape, I'll do the greige post.

A xx

changing spaces

I love the wonder on the faces of the train passengers as they get off the train at Carlisle station after one of Homebase's guerilla makeovers. How fun would it be to randomly do one of these makeovers in your neighbourhood? Maybe I will take on a park bench or bus shelter of my own when warmer weather finally arrives.

Make-Up by Katy - Guest Blogger

Morning!

I'm very excited about today's post as I am introducing Katy, from Makeup By Katy, my very first guest blogger! Katy is a very experienced and passionate Make-Up Artist, having worked internationally for more than 13 years.

The post she submitted for me is from a wedding she did for a bride called Paris a couple of weeks ago. I am so honoured and delighted she is coming to Aberdeen to beautify my bridesmaids and I for my own big day!

Check out her blog and her website!

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Hi Girls!

Today I was lucky enough to be the make-up artist for a gorgeous bride called Paris. We met by chance only a few weeks back and she loved what I did for her. She asked me to do her wedding make-up so I re-jigged a whole lot of stuff to make myself available for her. I'm so glad I did because I was in my element.

Paris showed me a look she had in mind that was so out of the ordinary for bridal but I loved it! She is Iranian and was having a traditional Iranian wedding. This meant she wanted full on black smoky eyes, false lashes, shimmer. The lot! I actually had to talk her into softening it a little. The end result was so perfect, we had the whole salon crowded round aghast. I also had the pleasure of making up her Mum and Sister.

Have a look below to see the creation! Enjoy!

Sister of Bride

Mother of the Bride

Yours, exhausted but happy

Katy xx