Groovy Green

Green is my favourite colour but I don't use it on my eyes very much. Doing the trent army theme for fancy dress at least once a term whilst being at university I've got used to using the colour in creative ways. Let's get going!

Mac Painterly Paint Pot to prime as usual and then straight in with some neutral shades. I used Truth from the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette all over the lid as a base and then went in with Undone on the outer part of the lid and Downfall in the crease. Now it's time to go in with the green. I decided to focus on the lash line so it's kind of subtle but at the same time when the eyes are open all you can see is green. Taking Dragon from the Urban Decay Palette on an angled brush I swept it close to the lash line and then blended it out into the lid. Then I went in a little darker with the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Kaki Repstyle but kept it even closer to the lash line. I finished off the eyes with the Rimmel Kohl Kajal in Sable Brown and the Seventeen Back Lash Mascara.

This wasn't the most successful colour in this rainbow takeover series but I think that this could look really cool (if someone with better skill than me did it) but I don't think the pink polo shirt I'm wearing in the photos helps, great planning there Abz well done!

Browns!

I've been to Browns a few times but it's not been recent enough to have been featured on this blog, how exciting! In recent weeks I've shown places I've been to a lot so it's nice to share a new place and a different menu of food. Let's begin.

We skipped starters and went straight into mains where I had smoked haddock fishcakes and crispy fries. The fishcakes were super delicious, smokey from the haddock and with a good ratio of fish and potato. It came with a herby tatar sauce which I loved and it went well with both the fishcakes and the fries. Speaking of fries, these were insane! Full of flavour and really crispy which is exactly what I'm looking for. They came with ketchup and english mustard mayonnaise which was really nice as it gave the mayo something a little extra special. I'm not normally a big fan of the little side salad that usually comes with this kind of dish but I enjoyed having a little nibble of the leaves. The portion size was just right and afterwards I didn't feel like I was about to explode, which is the sign of a good meal.

For dessert I was looking for something a little lighter than what I normally go for, but there was nothing that I really fancied, so I went for the Cambridge burnt cream which was just a creme brûlée. The portion was quite big and although it tasted nice the dish was very shallow so the custard was thin whereas I prefer deeper dishes so I can a big spoonful. The custard was creamy and the top wasn't greasy which sometimes happens with this dish. My biggest disappointment was that the shortbread biscuits it said it came with weren't shortbreads but rather a floppy 'normal' biscuit. Overall I really enjoyed this meal and Browns is always a good outing so no doubt I'll be popping back in sometime soon.

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

I've heard so much about this little orange sponge, everyone from friends to bloggers have raved about it, so I thought it was about time I gave it a go. I think that that this is one of the best 'brush' type products that I've ever bought, especially for face makeup. I always use it damp, as this way the application is meant to look more natural, and it works well with all of my foundations and concealers. I find that by applying the foundation separately to areas of my face (each cheek, then chin, nose, etc) then blend it in so that the foundation doesn't dry up before I have a chance to work it into the skin. In terms of which sides I use for what I mainly just use the flat side for everything. It works well on large areas, like my cheeks, and is great around the nose and eye area. The pointed side comes in handy for getting into the very inner corners of the eyes and is fine on blemishes but I find that the flat side retains more water making it easier to blend out some of my thicker concealers, like the Mac Pro Longwear. Overall I'd say if you haven't got some kind of sponge in your makeup collection then you need to go out and get one, it's a handy thing to have and you never know you might fall in love!

Favourite Friday: Vineyard Peach Body Butter

My lovely mother kindly gifted me this Body Shop body butter, which I was very grateful for because I'm slowly working my way through by moisturiser stash and it's depleting by the day. I've never heard of this scent/flavour before but I've fallen in love with it! It's a standard peach smell, really sweet but not sickly and fresh. It's a great spring moisturiser and I like the fact that, as with most Body Shop body butters, the consistency is really thick so it feels like you're getting a deep moisturise. Other body moisturisers that I've enjoyed over the years have been The Body Shop's frozen cranberries and coconut body butters and the Soap and Glory sugar crush and smoothie star moisturisers. All of them were super moisturising and I much prefer thick moisturisers as apposed to runny ones. If you can get your hands on the vineyard peach scent then I'd definitely recommend it (I think my mum got it at an outlet store so I don't know if they still stock it in normal shops).

Yelling Yellow

 Yellow eyeshadow. Those dreaded words. I mean, what would possess someone to put the colour of the sun on their eyelids for all the world to see? Oh yeah, me. I hope that you learn something from this because finding a way to try and make this work was an ordeal, but I got there in the end so let's get started.

Eye primer is the same as normal, Mac Painterly Paint Pot and then it was straight into the yellow pond of doom. I used Bamm! from the Sleek Brights Palette and boy is it bright. I packed it onto the lid with my Mac 242 brush (which incidentally I seem to have lost after taking the above photo, I'll be sending out a mass search party). After I'd got a pretty bright yellow colour I went in with Undone from the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette and put it through my crease, making sure to blend it out and into the yellow to make it a little less intense. Once I'd blended it out so it looks softer I went it with Reign from the same palette and took it on the outer corner, like with most eye looks that I do. Then I take the same shade on a smaller brush across my top lash line and blend it in to make the yellow less prominent. Then I used the standard Rimmel Kohl Kajal in Sable Brown and my Seventeen Back Lash Mascara.

I don't know how I feel about yellow. It took so long to work it in and I think it looked really strange. I don't know if it was the combination of brown and yellow or if yellow isn't a colour that should go on the eyelids but if you can get yellow to work in any kind of makeup look then please let me know, I'm very curious.

Zizzi's!

My family went through a phase a few years ago where Zizzi's was the place to go. We over did it a bit and stopped going for a while so now it was nice to go back and revisit to see what'd changed. Me and my mum went to the one in Meadowhall just before I came back to university and I love the way that they feel like outdoor restaurants but they're under 'the dome' of the centre. We went for a quick lunch so service was speedy but it wasn't so fast that it didn't feel leisurely.

For starter we shared the calamari and the garlic bread with mozzarella and balsamic onions. There was literally so much food to say that they were only two starters. That could have comfortably fed four people I think. The calamari was soft, not at all chewy and had a really tasty batter. The only problem I found was that some of the pieces were really over seasoned so you got a massive hit of salt or pepper. It came with a mayonnaise dip, as this dish normally does, which went really nicely with the squid and the garlic bread. This was literally the best garlic bread I've ever tasted. It was garlic-y but sweet from the onions and had a nice soft bread texture that was nice with the cheese. The portion size was huge but we kept it back for the main so there wasn't much that went to waste. I definitely want to recreate this at home, it would be delicious.

For main I went for the standard lasagne, as this is what I use to test how good a restaurant is. This one was a little bit different as instead of lots of cheese on top it came with breadcrumbs. They added a nice crunch but also a softness which was really nice. It came with so much creamy sauce which is my absolute dream yet there wasn't so much that there wasn't enough meat. The only thing was that there was some kind of crunchy vegetable in it which I didn't enjoy as I prefer everything to be soft when it comes to veg. The portion size was huge and after the starter me and my mum said that we could have shared a main, so at least we know for next time. 

How Much Is My Face Worth?

My dad says that I own too much (which I completely disagree with) so I decided to see how much money I've spent on my 'everyday makeup face'. If I had to guess I'd say that everything probably comes to around £50. That may be optimistic but I don't own much high end makeup, the only thing being eyeshadows, so even though I use a lot of products they were all relatively cheap for makeup. Let's begin!

First I prime my skin with The Body Shop Instablur (£14) and then apply my all time favourite foundation the L'Oreal True Match Foundation (£9.99) which I use the N1 and as the name would suggest it's a perfect match for my skin. Concealer wise if I have a long day then I'll apply my Mac Pro Longwear Concealer (17) and then powder with the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder (£3.99). Brow wise on an everyday basis I start with my Soap and Glory Brow Archery (£10) in Blondeshell and then use the L'Oreal Brow Artist Plumper (£5.99) to keep them in place. As always I prime my eyes with the Mac Painterly Paint Pot (£15) and on an everyday basis I usually go to my Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette (£32) and use some kind of combination of the shadows from there. Then I line my eyes with my Rimmel Kohl Kajal (£2.99) and use lashings of the Benefit Roller Lash Mascara (£4-mini from Elle Magazine) and the Seventeen Back Lash Mascara (£6.49) for extra volume and to use on my bottom lashes. To bronze I use my Soap and Glory Solar Powder (£11) and will someone please tell me if they've repackaged it to a hard packaging because I think I've seen it somewhere and that would be amazing! For blush I use my Benefit Dandelion Blush (free-it was gifted so it could be classed as cheating but nah!) and highlight with the Maybelline Eyestudio Mono (£4.99). Finishing off with my Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Nudist (£8).

Now it's time for the total, drum roll please....£145.44. Yikes, that is a lot for one face of makeup, in fact that is awful. I'd hate to think how much it'd be if I had even more high end stuff mixed in. It makes me worry about how much all of my makeup would be if I added it all up, that's not even going to happen!

Favourite Friday: Cheap Palette

If you haven't heard about this palette then where have you been? Every blogger and their dog has been talking about this and saying bold statements like these palettes are the drugstore equivalent to Urban Decay eyeshadows. So, naturally, when I found myself in need of a cheap palette to take on holiday with me this was the one I turned to. These palettes are the Collection Eyes Uncovered palettes and they come in three different nude shades. In terms of the shades I felt that the matte black would make this palette a lot more versatile and I don't have that many grey eyeshadows (which kind of justifies the purchase). At £3.99 you really can't go wrong with these. They're not the best eyeshadows I've ever used but for the price they ain't half bad. They take a lot of building up to get an intense colour but once that's done the lasting power is pretty darn great. My favourite colour is the second to last as on the lid it turns into a cool shimmery purple which looks gorgeous. If you're in the market for something new to add to your collection, get one of these palettes, you'll thank me.

Oddly Orange

Orange is one of those colours that can look great but it can be quite hard to work with. For this look I used orange on the eyes and lips but in a way that didn't make me look like a crazy person. I think that it turned out quite well and the eyeshadow made my eyes look really blue which I'm always a fan of.

Jumping straight onto the eyes I primed them with my favourite primer of all time the Mac Painterly Paint Pot. For this look I used the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette and worked mainly with the shade Lucky taking it all across my lid, packing it on with a Mac 242 brush. It's a gorgeous peachy orange shade with lots of shimmer so it looks insane on the lid but not over the top. I also took a little bit through my crease but not too much, just enough to give a little glow when I open my eyes. The only other shade I used was Reign on the outer corners to give a little more dimension. I didn't pack it on and I made sure to really blend the edges to make it soft. To finish off I used my Rimmel Kohl Kajal in Sable Brown in my waterline and tighten and used my Seventeen Backlash Mascara for more natural lashes. On my lips I used my Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Fruitti to give them a bit of an orange tint. This is perfect for the spring/summer time in my opinion because it's nice and bright but you can dab it on to leave more of a stain.

I really enjoyed experimenting with orange and I don't think that people should be scared of using this colour in your makeup because it can look really good. I'll definitely be using the shade Lucky more often.

La Cachette! (Take Three)

Another trip home means another visit to La Cachette and another great meal! You know the drill let's just get into it. For a while now I've been meaning to try the rabbit pie but because I've been having the Beef Wellington for main I left it, so today was the day. This was so delicious! The rabbit was tender and melted in the mouth and went perfectly with the sauce. There were chunks of carrot underneath which were nice and sweet and the pastry was thin and not overtaking. Perfect portion size, gorgeous flavours, what more can you ask for?

Next up for main I had partridge which I chose because I've never tried it before. This was one of the best mains that I've ever had, not just here but anywhere. It came with creamed cabbage, chorizo and fried polenta. The polenta was to die for, crispy on the outside but soft in the centre and the creamed cabbage was out of this world. It was so tasty, seasoned to perfetction, and the fact that the creaminess was just right made it even better. The partridge was delicious as well and everything went really nicely together. I wasn't too bothered about the chorizo as I found it hard to cut but the flavour was good and I'd definitely have it again.

Finally onto pudding. By the time it'd got to dessert I was stuffed so I went for one scoop of almond and praline ice cream. It was really tasty, sweet, not too almond-y and the little chunks of almonds made it super great. I'm never normally an ice cream person but I really enjoyed this, a little something to end a fantastic meal on.

My Skincare Routine

I've never done a skincare routine on my blog before which seems very strange seeing as though I'm VERY into it. If I haven't gone through each step of my routine I feel like something's missing on my face. This has been my routine for about nine months and I don't think that it's going to change for a very long time so let's jump into it!

In the morning the first thing I use is the Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean Cleanser. This just takes off any remaining grub that may still be on my face from the night before but also wakes me up a little bit (because those 9am starts are just not working for me at the minute). Next up is my beloved Seaweed Toner from The Body Shop. Until I found this my skin was just an oily mess but now it only starts to get a little greasy as the day goes on. This isn't stripping but it leaves my face feeling matte and clean. Then the Simple Revitalising Eye Roll-On comes out to play and is so soothing on the eyes that I just want to roll it on all the time! I also use the Simple Spot Roll-On which is similar to the eye one but is designed to tackle spots. It's not the best one I've ever used but it's not too bad, I'd rather have a tea tree one as I feel like that's better than tackling spots. Next up is my lip saviour; the Lush Mint Julips Lip Scrub. This takes off the dead skin and leaves lips feeling soft, and tasting really delicious! While the scrub's on I use The Body Shop Absinthe Hand Cream. This has become a habit now and when I don't do it, I feel like there's something missing. After slathering on my Maybelline Baby Lips I use my Nivea Oil Free Day Moisturiser. I can feel this running out by the day which really makes me sad. It's moisturising without making my skin feel greasy and slippy and I don't feel too shiny later in the day, which some moisturisers tend to do. Moving onto night time and to take my makeup off I used to use the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish but I still need to repurchase so for now I'm just using The Garnier Micellar Water which does the job just as well but it takes a little bit more time. The only change to my routine at night is that I swap my moisturiser. I use the Vichy Night Detox which is the best night moisturiser I've ever used. It's thick but, again like most of these products, it doesn't make my skin oily and greasy. I'm going to be sad when this runs out and I may have to do a cheeky repurchase.

So that's my skincare routine. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know because as I said I'm in the market for a new 'makeup takeoff' cleanser so any suggestions would be greatly received!

Favourite Friday: Tour

Last week I went on one of the best trips of my life, tour tour tour! Off I went with a few hundred (maybe a thousand) fellow students from Nottingham Trent University to Loret De Mar in Spain and boy was it an experience. After a 30 hour bus drive that was supposed to take 23 we were treated to four days of sun, sea and booze, responsibly of course! The one thing that I'll take away from this adventure is that one litre cocktails are a thing, one whole litre, for €7.50! Can you believe it!?! Anyway, if you ever have the chance to go on something like this I say jump at it. I didn't think it was going to be my thing but I ended up having the best time and I'm defs going again next year! The only downside is that I came home with THE worst illness I've ever had, cough, cold, vomiting, headache, feeling faint, you name it I had it. So I would recommend taking some Berroca's (and using them, I took them but didn't use them).

Raving Red

It's time for the first splash of colour and in true rainbow style we'll start with red. Red is one of those colours that no one ever really uses on the eyes because it 99% of cases you look like you have some kind of disease. I wanted to have a go and see if I could create an eye look that made red a colour that doesn't look too scary.

After doing my standard face and brow routine, I got straight to work on the eyes. After priming my eyes with the Mac Painterly Paint Pot I used Heaven from the Too Faced Natural Eye Palette on the inner part of the lid and then Nudie from the same palette on the outer lid. Then I went straight in with the star of the show, my Kiko Eyeshadow in 138. Using a Mac 217 brush, but any fluffy brush will do, I lightly started to build this up in the crease. The reason I did it lightly was just in case it got a bit too heavy, this way I had more control. I made it so the colour winged out a little bit and once that was achieved I used Reign from the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette on the outer corner. This way the red was softened on the outside and didn't look as harsh. Now for the scariest part, taking it underneath. I just did this as normal, on a Mac 242 but this time I tried to keep it as close as I could to the lash line. Finishing it off with my Rimmel Brown Kohl Kajal and Benefit Roller Lash Mascara and that's the look done.

Personally I really like this look, it makes my eyes look really blue, and I think I got away with it without making my eyes look red and puffy. Trying this out makes me want to do it again, so you never know!

The Old Mill! (Take Two)

Bring on the Easter Holidays and all the food it has to offer! Hooray! This Easter Sunday the family decided to go out and we took a trip to The Old Mill in Brighouse (which is a Chef and Brewer to anyone who doesn't live in the area). I've been a fair few times and I really enjoy it, but we encounter problems when there's more than four people as they can't seem to deal well with big parties. I understand that with a lot of people it means that the wait for food will be extended a little but the gap between the starter and the main was bordering on an hour and by the time it came I wasn't really that bothered about it (it didn't help that I've contracted an illness from my Spain trip but more about that on Friday). Anyway for an upmarket chain pub it was pretty alright so let's jump into the food.

For starter I had something from the special April seafood menu which was a Smoked Salmon Bubble and Squeak. This was very delicious. The hollandaise sauce was delicious, I was told it had split but it didn't impact the flavour. and the smoked salmon was to die for. Recently I've become a big fan of bubble and squeak and this didn't disappoint. There was much of a cabbage flavour but the taste was good all the same. The only thing that let this dish down was the fact that the yolk in the poached egg was hard, like a rock, and because I don't really like a hard yolk I gave this away to someone else. The dish didn't miss it but it wouldn't have been a nice addition.

Now onto the main. Our first problem lied with the fact that what I originally wanted, the Luxury Fish En Croute, was unavailable meaning I had to pick something else from a menu that on that day I wasn't overly inspired by. You know when you really have your heart set on something so much that anything else is just kind of average, this was one of those times. I eventually went for the Belly Pork and it was okay. It was cooked very nicely with a soft but crispy top. The mashed potatoes were alright and I don't really understand why there was half and apple of the side of the plate. However, the star of the show was the sweet and sticky cabbage. It was delicious and full of flavour which kind of redeemed the meal a bit.

I don't mean to be slagging off the meal because I had a great time and the food was good but a mixture of a never ending illness and lack of Fish En Croute meant it wasn't my best trip out. I'm holding out hopes for my next visit though!

Origins Face Masks

Don't you just love it when you discover a bargain because I do! The other week when I was doing my usual blog stalking session I saw that someone had bought three Origins Face Masks, a brand which I had previously not tried, for £20 instead of £50. So I was straight onto the Boots website and before I knew it they were in my basket. I couldn't wait to use them so each night for the next three nights I gave them a road test and all of them are insanely good.

Starting with the Charcoal mask this is the one that I'd heard most about. This is what I'd call a 'traditional mask' as it does the whole hardening so that you can barely move your face and you can really feel it working. It claims to draw out the badness and open the pores and it definitely does. After using this my face is left soft and in the days afterwards considerably clearer. Next up is the Overnight Mask. I was a bit weary before using this as I have oily skin and the thought of leaving something on my skin for a long time made me think it could become a little greasy. However, this is anything but. It smells fruity (big bonus) and has quite a thick consistency. When I wake up in the morning my skin feels fresh and soft and is great after a night of drinking, a real life saver. Last but not least, is the Out of Trouble 10 Minute Mask. I think that this one is my favourite as it's super thick, smells like menthol and clears my skin up like no other. It's a quick fix for when my face is going through a bit of a bad spell. I lather this onto my face and neck, leave it for, you guessed it, 10 minutes and feel the magic happen. After washing it off my skin feels soft and tight, in a good way.

I'm so glad that I bought these, they work so well! Hopefully they do my skin some good and I don't get too addicted because I don't think I could afford to buy them again at normal price.

Favourite Friday: Season Change

Winter is my favourite season of the year but sometimes the cold and the rain gets a little bit much. This is when I enjoy the fact that spring has sprung. The solar eclipse that we experienced a couple of weeks ago was the first time that I felt the seasons change. In celebration, here are five things that I love about spring:

• Spring makeup-Dewy Skin and pale pink eyes, yes please!
• Breeding season-Baby lambs and other sweet creatures are the highlight of the year for a creature cuddler like myself.
• Sunshine-Everyday makes you feel happy when the sun is shining.
• No more thick coats-Sometimes towards the end of winter I just want to shed a few layers.
• Greenery-The green green grass of spring!

Rainbow Takeover

As one 'blog bit' comes to an end, another one begins. To replace the face fights which has graced Thursdays on my blog for nearly two months now I've decided to make it all about colour. Each week I'll be going through the colours of the rainbow and incorporating them into a makeup look. I'm really excited to try this out, some of the colours might not work out but it's all about experimenting! Most of the focus will be on the eyes, because that's the easiest way to inject a bit of colour, but I'll be trying out lips and maybe a bit of highlight action, you never know! So stayed tune on Thursday's for that.