London Calling...

Hey guys! today i bring to you my haul of some of the stuff i bought in london. it's not all beauty related, and its a relatively small haul, but i'm excited about everything!!

ok, so first off my sister and i went to brixton market, where we were trying to track down the delicious (and alledgedly good for the skin) mangosteen fruit. we were entirely unsuccesful in our quest for exotic fruit, and found no mangosteens, and bought a breadfruit by mistake thinking it was a guanabana. for pure comedy value, this is what i bought at Brixton market.

 i know its immature, but i just saw it and thought it was so funny! Cock soup will be going straight on my notice board this evening.

having found no fruit we went to a department store (which i can't remember the name of! sorry...) where i visited topshop, and bought a bargain jumper. it was in the sale down to £10, but i used my student discount which took it down to £9, and then i found an old giftcard in my purse whihc took it down to £4.70! awsome. here it is from the back, as it has the slit up the ba ck, i thought it would be best to show it that way.

its a very sheer knit, and it looks amazing with denim shorts and a white vest with gladiator sandals - great for festivals!!

also in this department store was a MAC counter, whihc i visited looking for a foundation. as detailed in the post below i was unsuccesful, which drove us to visit selfridges, where i went to the Bobbi Brown counter...

Pot Rouge for cheeks and lips in shade 21, Cabo Coral and...

Skin Foundation SPF 15 in shade 0, Porcelain.

SO excited about this foundation!! it actually matches my skin and it looks nice and not cakey at all. although the pump is leaking, so i need to switch it for another bottle.

and finally, the selfridges icing on the cake, i went up to the food hall for a quick scout around and i found...

MANGOSTEENS!!! as expected, they were completely delicious, (and apparently good for your skin), so if you're in selfridges food hall, i urge you to try them!

Love, Lucy xx

Still a MAC Virgin...

i had a rather tiring day today, but i went out, onto the streets of London, all ready to pop my MAC cherry. At the counter in brixton, a lovely (and very pale) guy spoke to me about the different foundation options, as this was what i was looking for. Having tried the two palest shades, neither was pale enough for my skin, so he recconmended MAC face and body in N1 or in white, but that is only availible in dedicated MAC stores and at selfridges.

Dutifully, we trekked off to oxford street (on a bank holiday satudrday!!), and found the MAC counter in selfridges. The counter was jam packed with people, and it was difficult to get near to the products. The shade i was looking for was nowhere to be found, so after a great deal of effort i asked a member of staff if it was availible. He looked more than a little irritated and got me a brand new bottle in its box. I was a little bemused by this; was i supposed to just purchase this or was it to be used as a tester? He was on the other side of the stand i was at in deep conversation with another member of the MAC team, so i tentatively asked if i could try it. He looked at me like i had 3 heads and said that i could, and then went straight back to his conversation.

i was a little put out; when i asked if i could try it, i was expecting him to get a brush and put it on my face so i could see if the shade matched. when i wasn't satisfied with what he said, he roused himself from his conversation again, and i said 'um, with a brush maybe?' and the swift reply came 'i dont lend my brushes.' i was a little confused, but since it was a virgin bottle i decided i would just apply it to my face using my fingers and see what the colour match was like. It didnt match, so i had to enquire AGAIN about the product in white. I was simply told that they didn't stock that colour, and he walked off.

In contrast to this, i headed over to the Bobbi Brown counter, where a lovely lady named Daniella Curtis perfectly matched my skintone with a foundation, was really enthusiastic and nice, and seemed to really care that i got the right products for me. Because of this, i bought a Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF15 (in shade 0, Porcelain if you're interested) and also a gorgeous blush/ lip colour Pot Rouge in shade 21, Cabo Coral. She also completely finished my face so i didnt have to walk out of the store looking like i just put my foundation on and forgot about the rest of my face.

I really really wanted to like MAC, but it seemed that as the counter was so busy and they are so popular, they are a little above themselves, and didn't really care if i bought anything or not, as they know another customer will be along soon. That is not something i expect from a high end brand that costs top dollar, so in future, i think i'll stick to Bobbi Brown!

Whats YOUR experience with MAC makeup counters been like?

Lucy, xx

Girls, I Need Your Suggestions!

this is a little different, but this is something close to my heart.on July 11th, i'm going to Uganda for 8 weeks to work in a primary school as a volunteer teacher.

I am flying with BA and while their luggage allowance is ok (23kg, or 32 if you pay £40), i will be wanting to bring as much play and school equipment as physically possible, so my own stuff is going to have to be kept to a minimum. as i'm staying for so long, obviously i will be wasing my clothes so that is not such a worry, but cosmetic items cannot really be replaced once they run out.

this means that i'm looking for small and lightwieght versions of the essentials. I will be bringing a very small makeup bag just in case we go on any nights our or something (there will be other young volunteers there too!) but otherwise, it's simply essentials.

last year i did a trip to Tanzania for just 12 days and i brought SO much pointless stuff, but there were also some things i really missed (like a nail brush as i was working on a building site!)

so, i need your help. alternative, smaller, lighter essential toiletries and cosmetics???

just to get you inspired, and because i hate a post with no photo, here are some pictures of me in Tanzania last year at an orphanage called Upendo (Love)

Lucy, xx

P.S i will be creating a Uganda blog, updates on that to come if you want to follow my journey! xx

Going Silicone Free!!

hey ladies, so let me first start with an apology for my long absence from blogging. to make up for this, you are getting two posts in one day!

recently i have been trying hard to improve the condition of my hair, as i suffer with dry split ends, and i'm trying to grow it out.

in order to do this, i decided that the first thing i had to do was go on a silicone free diet, so i have switched to a lush shampoo bar and tresamme naturals silicone free conditioner. i have been using the shampoo bar for a while but i only got the conditioner yesterday, so here are my first impressions.

Lush shampoo bar in Jumping Juniper

this bar is supposed to be clarifying, and is aimed at oily hair. since that isn't really a problem for me, and i'm actually trying to combat dryness, its not the perfect choice but its what i had and it seems to be working fine.

 

on the website an din the catalog they recconmend that you rub the bar on your wet hair, but i personally don't do this, i rub the bar between my hands and then run them through my hair. it lathers wonderfully, (that'll be the sodium laurel sulphate then) but i have to say i am conscious that because of the lack of silicone it can make your hair feel a little straw like when in the shower because there is nothing to make the hairs slide over eachother, so i dont so much rub all of my hair together, but try to keep it running straight down by back, and keep smoothing the shampoo through my hair.

 

i like this shampoo though you have to be a little more careful than with ordinary shampoo, and i wish it didnt contain SLS, but its the best i can find at the moment.

 

TRESemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner

i only purchased this yesterday, but i used it to wash my hair a couple of hours ago. it's nice as a conditioner, and unlike the shampoo, i don't really miss the silicone in this prodcut. it is a little less slippery than the ordinary conditioners from this brand, but it still feels conditioning and detangling. full review on this to follow when i have had a little more experience on it.

 

finally, here is a picture of my fine self thismorning after having washed my hair with these products and blasting with a hairdryer. oddly, it actually seems to have more body than usual, which i didnt expect!!

excuse the crappy iphone camera picture!!

 

whats YOUR haircare routine?

Lucy, xxx

 

Wishlist!

a few people have been doing this recently, and after looking at Vintage's list, i was inspired to make my own!

1. BaByliss waving wand £35 RRP

the oval barrel and clip free design makes perfect waves... i have tried out my friends and i want this SO much!!

2. Sleek Makeup iDivine Palette in Paraguaya £6.99

3. Not really a beauty thing, but i really want a beautiful vintage silver tray to put my perfumes on. Cost - anything!!


4. Sleek Ink Pot Eyeliner Gel in Black, £4.29

5. Maxi Dresses by H&M. I'm going to Uganda as a volunteer teacher in July and you ahve to cover up. there are loads of lovely maxis in H&M at the moment, so i'll be sure to pick a few up!! here are some examples:


6. NYC Expert Last Nail Polish. i already have one and i love it, and they are currently 2 for £3.49 in superdrug! sadly i can't find a picture, but i'll upload soon!

7. China Glaze Crackle Collection. LOVE that they have crackle in different colours, and i want them ALL!!!


so that ladies, is my current wishlist.

Whats on YOUR wishlist at the moment?

Lucy, xxx

Easy Peasy Purple Smokies

hey guys!! i tried this look out last night, and while it looked great in the flesh, it was really hard to photograph, but i've tried my best. for that reason, i did the tutorial steps on my arm, just because it was so much easier to show the steps, i hope you dont mind!!

So here goes. gather your materials. you will need:
An eye Primer. I'm using Benefit's Lemon aid
A purple eyeliner pencil. i'm using Benefit's kohl pencil in Royale
A smudge brush if your eyeliner doesn't have one
A black mascara. I'm using Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara in black.
And a highlighter. I'm using Benefit Miss Popularity, but a cream highlight would also be fine

ok, so prime your whole eye area, and conceal any blueish bits or any dark circles.

Take your purple liner, and draw around both lash lines. Don't worry too much about being neat, and you need to get a fair amount of colour on and you're going to smudge it anyway.

take your smudger brush and blend this up towards the brow, and down slightly below the bottom lashes.

line your top and bottom lash lines again, and your waterline. you are trying to get intense colour at the bas of the lashes fading to paler purple.

add lashings of mascara and a highlight to your browbone.

as i said, its hard to photograph!! i'm sorry for the abysmal photo, but please just try it as this is a really simole but effective look.

Love, Lucy xx