Whats In The Box

Say hello to my new MacBook Pro! Its not actually my birthday until August 16th but my mum decided to buy me my present a month early. I pretty much have the best mum ever! I got my last MBP for my 19th birthday so its impressive that my old one is still going strong. But my 3 year AppleCare had run out last September so if anything were to happen to it I would be shelling out a lot of money on a really old model. Just gotta find someone to buy it now. I can't let it go just yet as I haven't installed Adobe CS5 on the new one so I can't actually edit photos or do any kind of design work. I only had CS3 on the old one so thats another nice new upgrade I'll get to explore. You can see from my desktops that I love ridiculous vampire romances haha. I also got this beautiful new case from Liberty. The floral pattern is offset so it gets really trippy if you look at it for too long. A nice upgrade on my plain old purple one I got from the Apple Store.

I'm really enjoying the massive amounts of RAM, HD space and OS X Lion. I turned off the backwards scrolling and autocorrect so its a lot easier to use. I love the tap to click feature and the revamped Mail application. I only upgraded because I got Lion for free from buying a new Mac but I would say its worth the effort. Everything just seems loads faster, sleeker and fun. If you're thinking of buying a new computer, deffo save up for a Mac. They might be expensive but I couldn't even consider going back to using a PC now. Long live the new Maccy King!

Chevy Thunder

Dress - H&M
Leggings - H&M
Belt - H&M
Necklace - Gogo Philip
Bracelet - Urban Outfitters
Ring - Me & Zena
This is what I wore yesterday for a trip to the pub and today for a baby group. I bought this dress from H&M in Sheffield on Saturday. I love the shape of it more than anything, very flattering even though its a bit short! I decided to get the train over there because the Tramlines festival was on. Its basically a weekend of free music in pretty much every venue around the city. There were quite a few well known acts such as Los Campesinos, Ash, Pixie Lott & Olly Murs so not bad for free. I stayed at the Nando's New Music stage as thats where all the indie bands I like were playing. It was during the day so I had to take Chloe with me but she had fun dancing about to the bands with me haha. It was during Tramlines two years ago that I found out I was pregnant with her. I remember being disappointed I didn't get to see KASMs or Preston (megalolz) and just rather scared & in shock that I was gonna be a mum!

Tomorrow I'm off to the park as they're turning it into some kind of faux beach for the week. Looking forward to building some sandcastles and eating some whippys. Hopefully the weather will be a bit more Summer-like so I can actually pretend I'm on holiday.

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

Last week I went to the Illamasqua store on Beak Street as I really wanted to buy their new Skin Base Foundation. I'd just settled into a really nice foundation routine of using Estee Lauder Double Wear mixed with NARS Copacabana Illuminator applied with a BeautyBlender so I wasn't particularly looking for a new foundation but this product definitely intrigued me. BB creams are supposed to be the big new thing in cosmetics (even though they're not actually new) and the fact that this foundation was inspired by them made me want to try it out. Looking at the shades on the website it appeared that there was finally a foundation out there that might actually be pale enough for my skin. I thought I would be shade 02 so I was very happy when the MUA instore also matched me to that colour. She applied it with one of the Illamasqua blending brushes and after trying various methods I think that really working it into the skin with a stippling brush is definitely the best way to apply it. I'd previously tried Illamasqua's Rich Liquid foundation and was colour matched to shade 120 (this was before they brought out a couple of lighter shades in that range) and I hated it. I bought it because it looked nice under the shop lights and the MUA spent ages and ages buffing it into my skin. When I tried to apply it at home I realised how ridiculously orangey it was for me, how thick and cakey it looked & how horrible it smelled. Skin Base foundation is about a million times better than Rich Liquid. They've changed the smell of the new foundation and it blends effortlessly. It doesn't look like a mask on your skin like Rich Liquid does, it looks like your skin but better.

I really like this foundation because it kinda melts into your skin giving a flawless finish. It gives a medium coverage but its buildable. It manages to cover all my redness really easily but it does show off my freckles more which I'm not too fond of. One of the main reasons I wear such high coverage foundations such as Double Wear is to cover them. However they seem to disappear under flash photography. The thing I like best about this foundation is how beautifully it photographs. Everyone knows that foundations with SPF often give you a 'ghost face' when photographed. Its hard to find a good foundation that lacks it, the only other one I can think of is MAC's Face & Body. So the absence of SPF is definitely a major plus point.


Without Flash

With Flash
See what I mean? The lack of SPF makes this foundation ideal for nights out, weddings, modeling or any other occasion where you know you're going to be photographed. Its an achievement for a foundation to make it look like my face and neck are the same colour, so its pretty damn amazing when it can do this even with flash photography.

There are some things to consider if you're thinking about buying this product. Most people seem to be a mix between two colours eg. 02 & 05 so because one bottle costs £25, if you need to buy two to get your exact shade it can be a bit pricey shelling out 50 quid on foundation. Another thing is that many people will be interested in this product because they've heard its like a BB cream when its actually not. I don't think it works as a moisturiser, primer, concealer & foundation. So don't think of it as a BB cream, think of it as a really nice foundation that will photograph well. Skin Base is also supposed to be suitable for all skin types. It probably is but if you have dry skin I would use a very good moisturiser before applying this. I don't even have dry skin but my nose started to look a bit dry and flakey when I used my normal Dermalogica moisturiser. It applied like a dream over the Oilatum Natural Repair one which I'm sure many fellow Pixiwoo fans will own. My only other gripe with this product is that I find it really hard to squeeze out of the bottle! Am I just weak? When I've gotten through the bottle its gonna be so difficult to squeeze out the last remaining blobs of foundation because I can't even do it when the bottles full!

Overall while there are a few negatives about this foundation I think that the positives more than outweigh these. I recommend that you try and get some samples because its an expensive product to test out if you find you don't like it. I am a big fan of this foundation, its up there in my list of foundations I absolutely adore which so far only includes Double Wear & Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. But if I know I'm going to be photographed somewhere, this is the one I will reach for.

New Nails: American Apparel Neons

I picked up 3 of the new American Apparel Neon nail polishes the other day. I got Neon Yellow, Neon Green & Neon Orange. The other colours available are Neon Red, Neon Coral, Neon Violet & Neon Blue so you can have a whole neon rainbow on your fingertips. I must say I really love these colours! Kinda wish I'd bought all seven now. I'm definitely a bright nail polish person, I have hardly any dark colours in my collection but these 3 are unlike any others that I have. Even the brightest Barry M ones have nothing on these. Its not really apparent in the photos but in real life these are the exact same colour as highlighter pens. The yellow is especially bright. I'd not tried any of the American Apparel polishes before but I'm pretty impressed with the quality. The colour is opaque in two coats but I'd definitely add some Seche Vite or your other favourite top coat if you like a lot of shine like I do. The formula is fairly thick so a quick dry top coat is the way to go. Another good thing about them is that they are DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde-free. I spent a fortune on some Zoya polishes when I was pregnant just because they didn't have these ingredients. The American Apparel Neon nail polishes cost £7 each or you can get 3 for £17.

Triangle

Top - American Apparel
Skirt - Zara
Jewellery - Gogo Philip
Hiya babes! I got back from London on Wednesday night and I'm really missing it already. I feel like I did more last week than I normally do in a month! On Friday I went shopping round Oxford Street and spent a ridiculous amount in Topshop, American Apparel, MAC & Illamasqua before having a huge pulled pork sandwich in my beloved Bodean's & a papaya bubble tea in my fave dim sum cafe in China Town. Then on Saturday I went with my mum & Chloe on a day trip to Brighton. I'd never been before so I was really excited to go. We had cupcakes from Angel Food Bakery in the Lanes and then went to the pier for some fish & chips. Chloe loved the wind in her hair, eating mushy peas & she got to meet her hero Igglepiggle haha. Sunday was spent chillaxing before another day trip to Oxford. That place is ridiculously touristy! I'd never been there before either but I won't be going back in a hurry. We had lunch in Jamie's Italian where I had a lovely burger with some polenta chips. My hayfever really ruined that day for me, I sneezed literally every minute we were there. People must've thought I was diseased!

On Tuesday I finally got to go to Westfield! We ate in Wahaca which is my 2nd fave restaurant ever (Bodean's being the first!). Gotta love a good taco. Reading back this entry its no wonder I've put on a few pounds! We saw Nick Hewer filming for the Junior Apprentice. I think they were running a flower stall but I only found that out after we left, gutted we didn't buy any when the girl tried to sell them to us. Should be interesting to watch, hopefully my face won't appear in the background! Then we walked around the shops. Finally managed to buy a MAC Ever Hip lipstick after going to 3 different stores in London searching for it. The girl there said they had loads left so if you're looking for one, head to Westfield sharpish. I also got a nail polish from Inglot. Actually in total I bought 6 nail polishes last week, I must be mental. I bought this pink skirt from Zara which was only £7 in the sale and all this awesome gold triangular jewellery from Gogo Philip as all their stock was half price. Anyone whos been to Westfield, did you go in a shop called Gilly Hicks? I'd never heard of it before but it was so weird, like an Australian Hollister on crack. I hate shops like these, how are you supposed to see any of the bloody clothes? As we were leaving I swear the girl at the front said 'Have a super awesome day you guys!'. Dear god...

Heartbreaker

Dress - H&M
Cardigan - American Apparel
Shoes - Fornarina
Wow, could I look more depressed? Well to be honest that's because I am. If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed me moaning about my boyfriend going in holiday. It would be bad enough if he was just going on holiday without me but he's gone to Malia with his mates. A land full of drunken whores. Fabulous. I swear he still thinks he's a single 20 year old rather than nearly 27 with a fiancé & a baby. He only went this morning but I miss him so much already. This situation definitely warrants my heartbroken shoes. They're by Fornarina who are probably only known for that horrific advert Lindsay Lohan did for them. But they actually do some nice clothes & all their shoes are dead cute. I got them free as part of one of those Carnaby Street discount nights which makes me love them all the more.

Speaking of London, thats where I'll be from Thursday onwards. So I suppose I do have something to be excited about. Can't wait to hit up the shops & Westfield especially. I've not been back home since April 2009 so it'll nice to go back to all my old haunts. I'm ready for some epic Bromley times & to see some old friends. It will also be nice to have some internet for a change. I'm currently writing this on my phone which is probably more effort than it's worth. Can't even read any blogs which is just rubbish & probably not helping my mood. Hope you're all feeling better than I am at the moment!

June Favourites

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Coral Reef
I recently bought a load of these True Colour lipsticks off the Sleek website but Coral Reef is definitely the best of the bunch. Its such a beautiful coral which is very red in tone. As this is one of the sheen formula lipsticks it is very moisturising and gives your lips a very slight gloss. The colour payoff on all these lipsticks is so impressive. They're dead cheap too, whats not to love? Heres a pic of me with Coral Reef on because the picture above gives you absolutely no indication of the lipstick's colour. Whoops, my bad.



Burt's Bees Beeswax & Banana Hand Cream
One of the best smelling hand creams ever! Theres some real treasures amongst the Burt's Bees range. I always keep this tub in my handbag because it is uber-softening and makes my hands smell delicious. The cream is quite thick but it really sinks into the skin very quickly. The only other hand cream that comes anywhere close to my love for this is Soap & Glory's Hand Food.

Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Ultra-Softening Lotion
This product has gotten a lot of love from bloggers recently, I have to admit I love it too. My skin doesn't feel soft 7 days after applying this lotion like it claims but it does feel very soft for at least a day afterwards. This is really great on your legs to give them a bit of a healthy shine in Summer.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime
I first got to try this out when I had my hair dyed blonde back in November as its one of the staple products used at my hairdressers. This is basically the most amazing hair serum. Its very similar to Moroccanoil but I just prefer this one. I run this through my ends throughout the week to keep them looking glossy and healthy. It makes my hair feel really soft and helps to seal my split ends. It contains maize, argan, camellia and pracaxi oils and you can use it before washing your hair as a pre-conditioning treatment as well as before & after blow drying. Its a pricey product but it lasts for absolutely ages so its well worth the investment.

V05 Give Me Texture Instant Oomph Powder
One of the few products that actually does give you tons and tons of volume in your hair. My hair is quite fine and limp so I find it hard to get it to do anything other than lay flat against my head. This powder poofs it up and keeps it up until you wash it out. Its dead cheap as well, I got 2 pots for about 4 quid in Superdrug. This stuff is essential for a night out.



Babyliss Big Hair Rotating Styler
This is hands down the best thing I have ever bought for my hair. I know I've featured a lot of hair products this month but this is the ultimate. My hair undergoes a lot of bleaching & general abuse to get it this colour meaning that it is incredibly damaged. It also means that its requires a lot of hard work to give it some shape and stop it looking like a scraggly mess. This does it in an instant. I tend to use it on my ends to give them shape rather than for volume at the roots. I do dry my hair with a normal hairdryer first and then just use this to finish. If you were to dry your whole head with this I imagine it would take a little while. It can be used in so many different ways to do exactly what needs doing to your hair. It would be difficult to use this and not end up with beautiful locks afterward. Seriously everyone needs to go and buy one of these. I cannot praise it enough.