The Skincare Diaries

New year, new me, and all the other cliches that come with the impending arrival of January 1st.... Where better to start than my skin

Skincare has become a bit of an issue for me.. It used to be a joy! Where I used to see gleaming bottles of hope and happiness I now see shelves upon shelves of decisions and confusion. It might be an age thing but I just feel like there is so much out there now I don't know where to turn; and I've used so many different things I can't remember what's reliable. So, seeing as I was trained to be a scientist at university I thought that's how I should approach skincare this year (I have to use those skill somewhere right?) so I have decided to conduct my own skin experiment and report the results here.

So far my trial is focused on two products:

1. Roc Retin-ox intensive anti-wrinkle night cream - I asked for a retinol based product for Christmas after hearing it is the one kind of cream that gives real results and that can supposedly reverse the ageing process (we shall see..) I think this particular one is from ebay as that tends to be where my mother purchases everything and the bottles says sample on the back!

2. Dr. Organics Snail Gel Facial Serum - I bought this after realising everyone else had bought it and thinking I'd better try it!

In order for this to work I need a before... I have scrutinised my skin to see my problem areas and I will be looking for real results! (Picture to come) 

If you have tried either of these product please do give me you thoughts and feedback I would really love to hear it! 

Xxx

My day in Hollyoaks!

I can't believe its took me sooo long to put up this post! I went to be in the audience for the Hollyoaks music show back in May (the studio is only about half an hour away from me) and I totally forgot to do a post for it until now - actually I was only reminded because I watched Britains next top model and they were looking round the Hollyoaks set!

Here is the McQueens house, I love the McQueens they're such a great TV family! It's so funny though because theres actually nothing behind that wall!

Here I am outside Il Nosh... we got to dance on the tables inside after this was taken!

and here I am at the pub...

 and outside the SU Bar...

and by the 'canal', wich is actually just like a little pond in real life! They do some very clever camera trickery at the Hollyoaks studios!

All in all it was a pretty fun day - but we did have to wait around A LOT in between filming! I do not envy TV people.. well actually thats not true, if I was getting paid for it I'd  probably love waiting around alot! 

Aaaaand a few weeks later I got to see myself on TV!!!! For like a second, but still it was a big moment for me and probably one that wont happen again!

Boots!!!

I want these Boots soo much it hurts a little bit!

Ahh look at them aren't they gorgeous!? These are the Helsan boots by Malene Birger and they retail for about £333.  I love the ankle strap and the platform, and the cosy sock detail and the grip at the bottom means they'd a good buy for winter! Also they have a side zip so you don't have to mess about tying up those laces! However at the moment £333 is just a little out of my price range, thinking about it the most I've ever spent on shoes so far is £70! On my list of things to do is to one day own a pair of designer shoes, but alas that day is today! (or even in the foreseeable future!)

Sooo I did a little research to see if I could find similar boots which were a little less pricey and I've decided to share what I found with you!

There are quite a lot of nice boots like this around at the moment...

This pair from Next (£70) are a pretty good dupe - and also have a zip fasten to save fiddliness!

Also from Next are these cute little skater boots (£60) although they lack the time saving zip!

Next up are these Bullboxer boots available from Barratts (£55)

 These comfy looking boots are from River Island and come in at £74.99 (no zip by the looks I'm afraid though!)

Although they don't have the lace detail I was looking for, this pair also from River Island, really caught my eye! (£74.99)

And if you liked the RI boots but are looking for something cheaper, this pair from New Look are a bargain at only £29.99

Again they don't have the lace detail I was looking for, but I really like this pair, also from New Look  (£34.99)

However I think my favourite lookey likey has to be this pair from Dune - which also just so happen to be the most expensive of the bunch at £125, typical! I just love a chunky platform sole though, and these definitely deliver on that! And they have a zip yay!

Thats enough drooling over boots, time to get some sleep!

XXX

FOTD - Khaki Shimmer

Here’s a face of the day from about a month ago! Only just got round to putting it up!
If my memory serves me correctly I used the following products:

Face: 
-    No. 7 Lifting and Firming foundation in New Ivory
-    Topshop highlighter in Sunbeam (Near the outer corner of my eyes up to the temple)
-    Make Up Academy blusher (No colour name apparently!)

Eyes:
-    Outer Corners: Max Factor eyeshadow in Burnt Bark (Serious staple of mine now)
-    Eyelid: Collection 2000 Dazzle Me Eye Dust in Lustrous (Gorgeous greeny goldy colour)
-    Inner Corner: Topshop highlighter in Sunbeam
-    Water Line and Lower Lash Line: Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Stash
-    Mascara: Volume Glamour by Bourjois in Noir Ébène (Ebony black)



(Can't remember about lips - I think it was just lip balm!)



XXX

Mini Topshop Make up Haul

Sooo first things first, I finally got down to Topshop today to take look at their new make-up. I had a whole list of things I wanted but when I got there I was surprisingly good – maybe because I’d already bought tonnes of make-up elsewhere! (I’ll get to that later on!)

Here’s my hand after having been in the shop! I didn’t go too crazy because there was a shop lady tidying and cleaning all the make-up and I felt bad hovering around her!

(Left to right: Metallic Kohl in first light; Metallic Kohl in Moontide; Crayon in Sunshower; Crayon in Moonshine; Lipstick in Brighton Rock; Kohl in Thistle; Lip Stick in Rosa; Crayon in Sea; Kohl in Coal; the shiny pink patches are the lip polishes in Smoothie and Coral- the colour pay off didn’t seem great with them)

And this is what I ended up going for:

Kohl in Thistle, Metallic kohl in First Light and the Highlighter in Sunbeam

I have to say I am sooo happy with what I got! The highlighter and Thistle kohl had been on my wish list, but I had expected to want the crayon in Sunshower, when I saw it though I realized I had an Urban Decay pencil of exactly the same colour which can do the same job and to be honest can look a bit too garish on my pale skin! Maybe when I’ve got a bit of a tan! I did really like the Crayon in Sea and also the Lip Stick in Rosa, but not so much that I had to have them there and then, I’ll wait a while and if I still want them in a few weeks I’ll get them then – trying to be a little bit sensible!

And the swatches:

The highlighter is just lovely, and it looks so nice on the eyes as well, will try put up a face pic with it on soon (I’m looking all messy having been to work and then shopping! Long day!) It’s something I can tell I’m going to use a lot this summer!  I’m thinking maybe I’ll get another and have a little giveaway?!

I love the colour of Thistle, but I knew I would it’s just my kinda colour! I have a few eyeshadows this colour but not an eyeliner so I feel justified in buying it!

The real surprise is the First Light kohl, I hadn’t really looked at it on the website (their photo is bit pants!) but it really caught my eye when I swatched it. It’s the most beautiful silver-purple colour, very metallic and really pretty! My photo doesn’t do well to capture the purple/lilac tones in it and I cannot wait to wear it!

Something else that looked a lot nicer in real life than on the website is the eyeshadow trio sunstar, the red in it is just gorgeous and I may get it just for that!

I bought quite a lot of foundations as well today for some weird reason! But I put the rest of what I bought in another post because my internet is going funny on me!

XXX