Saturday, May 25, 2013

Urban Decay - Naked palette


Last weekend Debenhams held a 20% off sale across many departments.  Though this wasn't of so much interest, I always look out for sales at Debenhams because they occasionally have a little something percent reduction in the beauty department at the same time.  Often when they hold a site wide sale they will also offer 10% off on all beauty and fragrance products.  Although this may seem like a bit of a measly discount, every little helps, and this becomes an ideal time to stock up on some higher end products. 

To make life a little sweeter, the Debenhams Beauty Club facebook page then offered an additional 5% off all beauty and fragrance for one day only, when using a code.  This equated to 15% off my regular MAC purchase of foundation which is quite excellent! Savvy, I thought. 

Oh but wait...

Congratulations Debenhams, you win!  That clever little sales tactic got me... Before I knew it the Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palette had fallen off the shelf into my (online) shopping basket and I was checking out.  Since investing in some MAC brushes i'd been looking for a nice all in one eyeshadow palette that I could use for everything and be done with hit and miss single pots.

There are so many great reviews of eyeshadow palettes out there and the Urban Decay palettes have generally received commendations all around. Personally I love the Naked palette because it's neutral and i'm really not a very brightly coloured person.  Friends have made comments at the sight of my wardrobe and its many shades of beige...

Neutral isn't boring, (nor is it outlandish) and the subtle shades of this palette suit me perfectly.  The colour range goes from a gritty blue gunmetal through to the palest champagne.  There are a selection of pink/reddish tones and some beautiful browns and golds.  A range of textures cover ones glitter, shimmer and matte needs. This shadow palette is suited to take you from day time, to work appropriate, and night time wear.   

The palette comes with 12 shades, a pro-quality Good Karma shadow brush, and a travel-size eyeshadow Primer Potion in orignal formula. It retails at £36.00 from Debenhams but with the discount it came down to £30.78.  At just £2.57 a shade i'm happy with the purchase, even if it was an unintentional buy.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Tea time: The South Street Pantry ****





Going for tea happens to be one of my most favourite pleasantries and for this reason i've decided to keep a collection of excellent tea rooms as a kind of review.  The South Street Pantry tea experience is beautiful from start to finish.  The assortment of kitch little vintage teapots, cups, saucers and milk jugs get me each time. The tea, as described by a friend on his first visit, "is the best tea ever tasted."  I would have to agree!  The tea sells for £2.20 a pot and comes in a range of fresh leaf kinds:

  • Assam
  • Camomile
  • Earl Grey
  • Early Grey Rose Petal
  • English Breakfast
  • Ginger 
  • Green
  • Gunpowder
  • Lapsang
  • Lemon Verbena
  • Masala Chai
  • Oolong
  • Pantry Morrocan Mint
  • Roobios
  • Lemon and Ginger 





Now, they do make scones, devonshire cream, and standard pantry afternoon teas to accompany the leaves and water which are delicious, but I have to confess that on more than one occasion I have ordered the American blueberry pancakes. At first I thought it was sacrilege to serve something quite so un-British in what is essentially an English tearoom.  Little more needs to be said besides that the pancakes are very tasty and actually go pretty well with tea! 

See morning and afternoon menus online here. 



I'm a big into cake kind of a person so it thrills me that all of South Streets cakes are lovingly made on site.  These cakes are not just your usual carrot, walnut, chocolate, lemon or victoria sponge.  It's clear that a huge amount of imagination has gone into creating some of these one of a kind cakes... 











In addition to the great food and drink, the pantry runs a knit and craft club at 2pm on Tuesdays and will help to make special occasions just that.

 

Overall there is a great atmosphere, good alternative menus, fresh, homemade, good quality food, reasonable prices and excellent service.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Spring 2013 Favourites

Hair:

Since having had a dip dye at the hair dressers the lengths and ends of my hair have been left dry with the use of bleach.  Since then i've been trying a variety of intense moisture treatments.  The two which seem to have had the best results are the TreSemme Thermal Recovery and Herbal Essences Smooth and Soft.  Beneath is the highly recommended Tangle Teezer, which once I got over the irritating spelling mistakes on the packaging have found to be great at detangling long locks without breakages. A best seller with 880 reviews on Amazon for £8.77.  





Makeup:

I recently visited the MAC store at West-field, Stratford for session with one of the make up artists.  Overall it was a great experience and I found the staff very helpful and knowledgeable about all of the products available.  The outcome was to walk away with some well matched foundation.  I chose to settle with the Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15, which retails at a fairly expensive £20.50 and the Studio Fix Powder and also retails at £20.50.  Up until this point I would never have dreamed about spending quite so much on make up, but after years of using Max Factor Lasting Performance I was finding that the foundation was just no longer making the cut.  I began to notice the product looking shiny within a few hours of applying it and whether this was to do with skin becoming overly accustomed to the product or my hours at work increasing I wasn't happy with the look.  So far I have really enjoyed using these new MAC products, the foundation is much lighter than Max Factors and the coverage is excellent. Fortunately, both the fluid and powder seem to be lasting a suitable amount of time so overall I am pleased with the investment in some higher end lines.  I managed to repurchase these from Debenhams online during a time which they were offering a discount code on Voucher Codes.  These codes are often available and worth looking out for.

Another item new to my daily routine, is the Skin Primer, Matte It from the Body Shop.  The primer is for normal and oily skin and creates a smooth base for foundation.  It's designed to deter shine and help make up stay in place.  It retails at £12 for 25ml from The Body Shop.  This item lives up to the hype!

This month I also switched concealers and have settled with Maybelline Super Stay 24hr.  It retails at £6.19 from Boots but is often available on a selection of deals.  I purchased 2 for 3 so each wand worked out at just over £4.00.  It is currently in sale in Boots as buy 1 get the second half price.

The last of the items listed below are the Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara which I purchased from Target in the States over Easter.  I love the flexible brush and the lengthening effect it has on lashes.  I haven't seen it in the UK yet, but i'm guessing it may be similar to the Maybelline The Falsies Black Drama here.


Skin:

Having switched out my regular facial cleansers, toners and moisterisers for the all in one oil cleansing method i've been really happy with the results.  So much so that all of the ladies in my immediate family have now received their very own sloe gin bottles full of a concoction of cold pressed oils. (See castor and olive oil here)

When in a fix, or whilst traveling I will still choose Johnsons baby wipes over any regular make up removing wipe. The product is sensitive on your skin and doesn't leave it feeling stripped or irritated. They are currently on sale at Boots online for 89p, 1 x 56 pack.

I've also really enjoyed using the newly packaged Mudd face masks.  It's a 100% pure clay deep pore cleansing mask that leaves your face feeling fresh, smooth, soft and tightened.  The 10 application resealable package is a dream.  I've found it contains far more that the specified number of applications. A once or twice a week treat for anyone looking for some "me" time.

Lastly for skin products, i've become hooked on the Body Shop Satsuma body butter.  Voucher codes often has deals for The Body Shop so i'll only ever purchase at these times as it can seem quite expensive at £13.00.  The smell is amazing and it lasts throughout the day.  The consistency is good and it's an all round nice body moisteriser.



Nails:

I love having painted nails but it never seems to last a day on my hands.  Chipped polish looks awful so  I decided to try Essie on recommendation. The colour of choice is, "Not Just a Pretty Face", which retails at £7.99 in Boots. I am relatively pleased with the polish and colour but in all honesty it doesn't stick around quite as long as I would have hoped. Essie, when paired with Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat - (RRP £6.04 Amazon) does much better. I think the saving grace may be Seche Vite and will definitely recommend this to others.