Friday nights Tweetup was a massive success, everyone was truly lovely and looked amazing! If you fancy a nosey check out some of the pictures on my facebook here

Outfit of the Night

Black Vest (under lace top) – Primark

Black Lace Top – ASOS

Bodycon Skirt – Topshop

Jewellery – Primark Bangles/ Peacocks Necklace

Nails – OPI for Sephora Metro Chic

Shoes – Barratts!!

I am totally and utterly in love with these shoes, I’m such a pointy stiletto gal, I only wear round as it’s in fashion. With pointed courts I instantly feel like my legs are elongated and look sexy rather than cute

I also tried the new Scholl Party Feet Ultra Slim Gel Cushions out, and had zero “ball burn” …… Happy Days!

For eye make-up I went with purples, a nod to the shoes, and also to make the most of the green in my eyes.

Base – MAC Paint Pot in Blackground

Main lid colour – Stars ‘N’ Rockets

Crease – Dark Purple from Coastal Scents 88 palette

Outer V – Beauty Marked

Liner – Collection 2000 in Shake it up!

Mascara – L’Oreal Voluminous

xoxo

Best Christmas present so far has to be the Coastal Scents Original 88 Palette.

I had watched & read numerous reviews on this palette, as I couldn’t decide whether to opt for the original or the shimmer version. I am so glad @cimota got me the original. It still has quite a few satin colours among the matt, so that more than satisfies my need for a little sheen.

I also knew the pigmentation was supposed to be good, I just wasn’t prepared for how good. In the pictures I am wearing the lightest red and as you can see they is nothing wishy washy about it!. I love bold colours and this palette is an inexpensive way of discovering how far I can take the brights! The actual formula is lovely, not chalky and really easy to blend.

I would highly recommend picking this palette up if you love eyeshadows. you can order it from Coastal Scents here for $21.95 (approx £15.00). Unfortunately at present it is out of stock in the shiny case. Hopefully it will be available again soon.

Shipping is minimal and set to a certain weight limit, so while you’re there I’d recommend picking up  some of their gel liners. Delivery has never taken longer than 7 days from them which is fab!

You can also pick the set up from certain Ebay sellers who will send it on from Japan. However I have heard a few nightmare stories about the palettes arriving broken due to ill packing. I have ordered a number of times from Coastal Scents and everything has always arrived perfect, in bubble wrap, paper and a sturdy box, my vote would be to pay a few extra quid and get it from them.

Christmas this year was just perfect, the kids were over the moon with the array of goodies Santa left, as was I!
@cimota and I spent our first Christmas as Mr & Mrs at my mothers and the spread of food was top notch as usual, including my brother Gordon’s ham, done “Nigella” stylie.

My only complaint was that it was over too quickly and due to a shortage of beds in my mother’s @cimota and I had to spend last night apart.. boooo!!!!

So although the festivities were fun and it was lovely to be spoilt, I am secretly very pleased to be back in our own town, in our own house, on our own sofa that smells a bit odd, with my own gorgeous husband as a foot rest

…….and if I needed anymore proof that he is my perfect partner, it would be that he didn’t tell me to go f*ck myself or huff for hours when I quite bluntly admitted to not being overly keen on the necklace & earring set he surprised me with.

Instead he has promised we can go exchange it next week to something I we both like!

The actual set was lovely, solid silver with a deep red enamel detailing, but a tad too modern for me. When it comes to quality jewellery I’m quite traditional and classic. I like to have pieces that I feel won’t date and I will be able to wear forever.
Any modern pieces I do buy tend to relatively cheap, costume jewellery. They enable me to keep up with the trends and avoid being out of pocket when that trend dies a certain death (Carrie style name necklace anyone?).

So what did I get for Christmas….?

• A cornflour blue knitted scarf
• Flower by Kenzo
• Champneys Hand Treatments
• Coastal Scents Original 88 Palette
• 3 Sleek Palettes; Original, Chaos & Jewels
• MAC Holiday Collection SE Brushes & Caddy
• MAC Strobe Cream
• La Senza Gift Voucher
• Real Leather Jewellery Box (Humongous! lol)
• Selection of Primark Jammies & Slipper Socks Yay!!

I’m over the moon and very thankful for everyone’s generosity, especially in what has been a tough Christmas in regards to the cash side of things.

I am particularly pleased with the jewellery box that I received from my mother, it is an absolute beast of a treasure chest, but exactly what I need and more. My present set up for storage is pretty unsightly, many many different boxes, a corset mannequin thing that necklaces hang off (purely invented to tangle them IMO!) and even a few make-up bags of costume crap. Its a headache and a half to find that “exact” pair of earrings when I’m heading out. This suitcase of a jewellery box is going to be a lifesaver.
I’m nearly sure she got it in good ole Argos and although this one is cream to match my boudoir, I think it is available in black leather also.

What did you get for Christmas?? xox

Am so stupidly excited today about Christmas!!

I am always childishly hyper (hubby would say annoying) in the run up. It has got ten times worse since having my own kids, as I just feed off their innocent hope and wonder towards all things “Santa”!!

It totally hasn’t helped that @cimota presented me with this “surprise” package yesterday. I have absolutely no idea what it contains but can’t WAIT to find out!!!

So in an effort to keep calm I’ve turned to my make-up for a half hour

This is a smokey purple look, almost charcoal looking, but as you can see in the third picture under certain light you see the pretty purple haze. Its very sultry and would be gorgeous for wearing to a Christmas Eve party or even New Years Eve. I have taken the sparkle up an extra notch using body glitter over the lid but you could leave that step out for a more subtle shimmer.

Click on pictures to enlarge

What did I use?

Face

• Revlon Color Stay Foundation 180 Sand Beige
• Barbara Daly @ Tesco Concealer Medium
• M&S Autograph Dark Circle Concealer under eyes
• MAC MSF So Ceylon (highlight)
• Paula Dorf Cheek Color Ballet

Eyes

• UDPP (base)
• NYX Jumbo Shadow Pencil 606 Baby Blue (main lid)
• Coastal Scents Neutral Palette Soft Pink (2nd row, 3rd from left) (brow bone)
• NARS Night Rider (main lid)
• NARS Barbuda (crease & under lower lash line)
• Coastal Scents Neutral Palette Purple Black (top row, far right) (smoked into crease)
• Barry M Loose Body Glitter 8 (applied with mixing medium all over main lid)
• Max Factor Master Piece Glide & Define Liquid Liner (top lash line)
• MAC Powerpoint Pencil Engraved (water line)
• L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara Carbon Black

Lips

• Chanel Gloss 108

This is a follow on look from the “Winter Blues” of last week.
Not everyone will be able to carry off the cold blue, especially those of you that actually have beautiful blue eyes to show off, therefore this is a similar look but with mint green as the focus.

You could add a lovely soft green or silver eyeliner to the upper lash line to glam it up more if you were going to a party. I would also use a white kohl pencil on the water line to keep it looking very snow queen but fresh (couldn’t put my hand on mine!!).

Face

• Laura Mercier Foundation Primer
• MAC Studio Fix Fluid NW20 (using this up, stupidly believed the MA in MAC when she said this was the shade and finish for me, doh!)
• MAC Select Cover-up NW25
• Benefit High Beam
• Coastal Scents Blush Palette (2nd row, 1st pan)

Eyes

• UDPP (base)
• Revlon Illuminance Palette Green Cream Shadow (over lid and into crease as base for pigments)
• Barry M Dazzle Dust 65 Green Iridescent (brow bone area as highlight)
• Barry M Dazzle Dust 83 Green Silver (main lid, crease & under lower lashes)
• Jemma Kidd Crushed Jewel Gel Eyeliner 01 Diamond (top lash line & inside of eye)
• L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara Carbon Black

Lips

• NYX Round Lipstick Thalia
• Maybelline Elixir Gloss Cosmic Pink

Its a rainy, dark, dismal day in Northern Ireland

So in an effort to cheer myself up I created this icy blue look.

Excuse the reddish tinged brows in the close-up, I thought I would try a different eyeshadow as a filler, and lets just say it doesn’t quite work

So what did I use……?

Face

• Revlon Color Stay Foundation in 180 Sand Beige
• Barbara Daly @ Tesco Concealer in Medium
• MAC MSF in So Ceylon
• Coastal Scents Blush Palette (second row, 2 from left)

Eyes

• UDPP (base)
• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in 606 Baby Blue (main lid & under lower lashes)
• NYX Shadow in White (crease to brow)
• Barry M Dazzle Dust in 20 (outer two thirds of lid and crease)
• No 17 Eye Dazzle in Star Crossed (inner third of lid and under lower lashes)
• Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Electric (top lash line)
• Jemma Kidd Crushed Jewel Gel Liner in Diamond (over Electric)
• L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black

Lips

• Gosh Lipstick in 134 Darling
• NYX Lip Gloss in 104 Sweet Heart

Yee Haaaaa!! I am feeling thoroughly spoilt on the make-up front, as late yesterday afternoon my second NYX haul arrived courtesy of Cherry Culture

From date of shipping it took 10 days to reach me, not as quite as fast as Coastal Scents, but still pretty damn quick for international delivery, especially at this time of year. Everything was packed really well, bubble wrap, surrounded by tissue. On top was a free Cherry Culture own brand lip gloss (cute idea, tastes gross, think plastic)

So here it is….

Lets take a closer look at what I got….

Six Eyeshadow Trio’s $4.00 each (£2.63 each)

• Anti Diva
• Lake Moss
• White/ Grey/ Black
• Aloha/ Mink Brown/ Deep Bronze
• Copper/ Rust/ Bronze
• Golden/ Rust/ Walnut Bronze

1 Tinted Lip Spa in Jewel $4.00 (£2.63)

1 Jumbo Lip Pencil in Narcisse $3.00 (£1.97)

1 Doll Eye Mascara – Long Lash Version Extreme Black $5.50 (£3.62)

2 Ultra Pearl Mania Pigments $1.25 each (£0.82p each)

• Nude
• Rust

Initial thoughts on all products are good, yes the trio shadow formulations are different, but certainly not terrible. They just lack the creaminess of the singles, pigmentation is far from poor though, so I think some internet critics have been overly harsh here.

The Jumbo Lip Pencil is devine, Narcisse is a deep plummy colour, perfect for this time of year. The formulation is fabulously smooth and I much prefer it to the like of Benefit’s Color Plump, which is grainy in comparison. I will definitely be looking a few more of these!

The mascara was a impulse add on when I placed the order, I didn’t expect it to be ground breaking, and its not but actually it is really good at giving curl to my lashes. However the formulation is a bit clumpy which means a lot more work with the wand to get each lash looking smooth. Can I be bothered?….

My favourite items from this haul hands down are the Ultra Pearl Mania pigments. What a complete bargain. Sure, the bullets are small, but don’t under-estimate the colour pay off in this stuff. A little, and I mean a little, goes a very long way. I’ve quickly put some on in the picture below to give you an idea of what to expect in regards to colour. Nude is on the inner third and under the lower lash line. Mascara is Rimmel London’s Sexy Curves.

Altogether my order value was $39.00 (£25.59)
Shipping was $9.95 (£6.53)
I did not incur any customs charges as the box was labelled as a gift.

All in all, even with shipping, it is far cheaper to buy NYX from the USA.
In the UK we pay twice the price for the trio’s. In fact we pay double for almost all NYX cosmetics.
All I can say, is in the future my NYX hauls will be bought at Cherry Culture and not All Wellan Good! I’m happy to wait the 10 days and pocket the difference

I am eyeing up Coastal Scents new 26 Shadow & Blush Combo Palette $21.95. The colour spectrum of peaches, taupes, pinks, plums are completely in my comfort zone. Has anyone already tried this palette? I’d love to hear what you think of it.

I already own the Neutral Palette $21.95 and the Blush Palette $16.95 and I am really happy with them. The colours are richly pigmented and the fact that there is a good mix of matt and shimmer shades makes them good value for money as well as versatile when it comes to working on people.

I also really like their Gel Liners $6.95 ea. They come in little glass jars much like MAC’s Fluidline.For me they last just as long as Fluidline when applied, however they do apply differently. I find Fluidline much softer in consistency and would rarely have to re-dip for product when applying. With the Coastal Scents Gel Liner I do have to dip my brush 2-3 times to get the desired intensity, however I’m not complaining, as they are superbly priced and the end result is the same IMO.

Even with shipping I still think Coastal Scents products are great value. In regards to shipping I think they do have a Christmas back-log, so if you are thinking of ordering now I would bear that in mind.

I have had two orders from them and used the USPS First Class International Mail option (around $15), you can choose a premium option but tbh both orders I placed arrived within 7 days, one with in 5. So I honestly think it would be a waste of money. With both orders I did not have to pay any extra customs/ Royal Mail charges, however I think its just the luck of the draw as I know of others that live in the mainland UK who have been stung for customs so make your own decision there.

The site is pretty amateur but don’t let that put you off. I’d recommend signing up for their Newsletter as they will email you with offers like 25% Off Mondays etc

Check Coastal Scents out for yourself here