If you go down to the woods today...

12/24/2011 02:05:00 am

you're sure of a big surprise!

this little guy made his way into my tree =]
Merry Christmas Eve!


(today's the day the teddy bears have their piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicnic)


Love A. x


p.s. actual make up related posts will be coming soon!

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INSOMNIA - Can't get no sleep!

12/16/2011 01:29:00 am

And so, I have  insomnia  - not just slight insomnia, but these days chronic, exhaustive, falling asleep during the day insomnia!  Not terribly interesting, surely somewhat common, BUT it has led me to remember, at 01:36 and 6seconds on the 16th of December 2011, that I have..A BLOG! A blog created all the way back near the beginning of the year, and that was barely birthed before its foray into hibernation occurred!


I have undoubtedly been missing; on hiatus; in hibernation; buried in negativity; into the dark..and out again! my life is back on track in a wonderfully unexpected way, and as such, one has restarted this blog! WOOP!


As a brief catch up (mailto read: very brief) I am now doing an English Literature Masters, and am truly loving it!  Since I was a tiny girl, ahead of all the others on the roger red books in reception class, I have loved reading beyond anything else, trying to accomplish the feat of reading the entire Lord of the Rings (and also succeeding, give or take 100 pages) aged 10! I was indeed an odd child.  Nowadays my love for reading is only matched by my immense love and passion for make up.  I am, as discussed with my sister, firstly a magpie, and secondly a foundation wh*re (excuse the *, as you will learn, I just don't use 'naughty' words LOL) and need an intervention.


Looking at some of my absolute FAVE blogs:
http://www.viviannadoesmakeup.com/
http://www.dizzybrunette3.com/
http://mesluxes.blogspot.com/
http://bubblegarm.blogspot.com/
I can only hope to be as confident, personable and come across as eloquent and wonderful as these ladies!


So here I am, hoping that the future brings me opportunity for writing, publishing and beauty - preferably altogether! But in the meantime, I'll see you back here sometime soon for all things beauty and literature (maybe even sometimes baking) related =].

I am reminded, once again, of my favourite quote:

In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. 

And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, 

must I write?

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Love A. x
title taken from Faithless Insomnia

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You know it's like that!..And that's the way it is!..

2/09/2011 12:35:00 am

Before I forget, I would like to thank Georgina from one of my fave blogs Make Up Wishes http://makeupwishes.blogspot.com/ for mentioning me as a blog she was following!I highly recommend you have a read of her blog, it is beautifully put together, and the topics featured are nicely varied..Her beautiful little page header is the pic above this..Much love!x

Lol lyrics in the title are from Run DMC! Such an old school song, that for some reason or another never fails to make me laugh!

The sentiment of the song, however, fits my day perfectly..Unfortunately I have been made redundant *sniffle*sigh* - not uuuuuuuuuusually the kind of thing you hear a 23 year old saying!  It came completely out of the blue, and apparently I have more than enough grounds to file for unfair dismissal, so perhaps a silver lining is foreseeable? But it's like that!And that's the way it is!

"The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence."

Anyways, onto more joyous and pressing matters..Rapidlash, Vitamins/Supplements and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.  

First to the mighty titan that is Rapidlash.  I have been watching the reviews of this little gem of a product, and in actuality, eyeing up the little tube in Boots for a while now, but wasn't unsure as to whether I should spend the RRP of £40 on it.  Howeverrrrrrrrrrrrrr, after reading the numerous testimonials on the Boots website, as well as the opinions of many of my fellow bloggers, I decided to take the plunge..on eBay! Luckily I found myself a genuine, sealed, boxed tube of Rapidlash for £23! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! It seems eBay is truly my Aladdin's Cave of Wonders, and the Rapidlash is my lamp: although I only started using it on the 27th Jan, I can already see darkening and slight thickening of my (already black) lashes, as well as an impressive amount of length - my lashes never normally grow or thicken - which I must say is peculiar, as the hair on my head, well the growth there is always mightily impressive - and seemed to be irreversibly damaged after being left at the mercy of a ridiculously bad "eyelash extension technician" (technician she bloody well was not), and being slightly rescued by a second kindly therapist.  I think I will continue with the product for a month before posting before and after shots!

Next, onto Vitamins and Supplements..I do not claim to be a health care expert, but after a run of bad health last year and continuing into this year, I am obsessed and LOADING myself up on tablets..tbh, I seem to be guzzling them like sweeties!..Currently my (very sleepy) morning routine (if I remember it - I am the biggest Scatterbrain) consists of :

1 multivitamin with added ginseng (for energy)

1 skin, hair and nails capsule

2 Co-Enzyme q10 capsule (again, energy boosting)

1 Cranberry extract capsule (for healthy kidneys, generally the bane of my health)

1 Fish Oil Capsule (for my brain!)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand

1 St Johns Wort tablet (a mood lifter)

allllll washed down by a nice, sweet, milky cuppa =]..Lol, a lot I know, but I'd like to be slightly less ill this year - should probably add a vit c supplement into the mix!

The Bell Jar..I am approx half way through this book, and am finding it a true treat to read: it is personable, it is relatable, and yet still somewhat fantastical!..Sylvia Plath is truly a talented, talented author, who I studied at A-Levels, and can also recommend her collection of poems Selected Poems, which I believe were chosen by her husband Ted Hughes..I think I'll post a review of The Bell Jar when I'm finished, so all you ladies can decided if you want to read it too!

"I collected men with interesting names. I already knew a Socrates. He was tall and ugly and intellectual and the son of some big Greek movie producer in Hollywood, but also a Catholic, which ruined it for both of us."

Moral of the day? Smile, it's never that bad=]

Quotes: The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath 

The Pictures used in this post do not belong to me!

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Something truly bee-au-ti-ful! *swoon*

2/06/2011 06:55:00 pm

Guerlain Ombre Eclat

Velours D'or 410

Before this thing of beauty landed in my hands i was OB-SESSED with acquiring it.  I actually stumbled across it accidentally when browsing the Christmas Sales - something which has fast become somewhat of an addiction: you name it, I shop it!  Anyways, back to the story.  So, I have been off work for approximately 8 weeks now after having an operation (back to work tomorrow EEK!), and found myself unable to really do much.  So after being slightly depressed at the lack of movement my body was enabling me to do on Christmas day, that night I hit the (cyber-) sales!  I browsed, and ordered, my way through ASOS (ended up returning most of that), Very (beauuuuutiful lingerie and pair of boots, although I didn't realise there was a 6-week dispatch time on the boots until I received my order comfirmation: oops!), eBay, Debenhams (great lingerie sale), and ended up at the House of Fraser Beauty Sale.  Ooooooo the goodies to behold here were in-cred-i-ble, but trying to exercise some self-control, I decided I would purchase something high-end, luxe, and slightly different from what is already in my extensive make up collection!

What I ended up seeing was the following picture:

And the following price:

£18.00

Oh! How I thought the heavens were shining upon me that day!!  I have been coveting a true, dark, intense purple eyeshadow for the longest time, but no brand has fulfilled my desire.

So, after adding this gorgeous piece of craftsmanship to my 'bag' I stumbled across a little problem that had seemed to previously completely slip my mind.  I had not yet been paid, and the realisation was dawning upon me that actually no money would be entering my bank account for approximately two, perhaps three weeks! DI-SAS-TER!!

So off I trotted, adding it to my favourites, and checking back every day to make sure it still existed, and that it still existed at that beautiful price!

In the meantime, I re-read one of my fave books - Nefertiti by Michelle Moran.

I highly recommend any of her books if you like a lil historic fiction (think 'The Other Boleyn Girl" etc), and am currently waiting for her latest offering "Madam Tussaud".

  

I religiously checked my online banking, until sometime waaaaaaay after the new year, I WAS RICH! Heading straight from the link on my favourites bar, alas, my thing of beauty was now back to full price.  Sigh. So, what is a girl to do, you may ponder.. Well, head to eBay of course, and, as luck should have it, I managed to purchase it for around about the sale price! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

And here it is, in the flesh - worth the wait, I think you will agree.

I love the bee.  Buzz buzz buzz!

aaaaand the honeycomb patter

Isn't it funny
How a bear likes honey?
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
I wonder why he does?

- A. A. Milne

 The Colours are beautiful. 


 Top Left is a real yellow gold, with a lot of shimmer, very, very fine shimmer, great for a highlight on the inner corner of the eye.

Top Right is the purple I have lusted over my entire life - mostly matte, not overly shimmery, dark and intense, but not chalky.

Bottom left is a very difficult colour to describe, so I will coin a name for it: Grurple! It leans more towards the purple family, but laced into the purple are aspects of mauve, a mauvey-grey and almost a greenish tinge - very multi-dimensional!

Lastly in the bottom right we have a gorgeous almost-matte black.  Due to my colouring (slightly lighter than NC40) I always need a dark colour in the outer corner and crease - this is perfection!

The Below picture was swatched without a primer, and under some ridiculously bad lighting, so I can assure you that the colour payoff and intensity is hugely better than how it appears in the pictures!

I love this palette, both for the colours, and just for the beauty of it!

A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness.
John Keats

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First Ever N.O.T.D!

2/03/2011 03:31:00 pm

Jermyn Street
Nail of the day!

Apart from my incredible booksmarts =p and PR credentials (we shall discuss this later), I am a true girly girly girl, with looooooong talons that I ensure are always meticulously upkept. My job involves PR and creative writing at a Medical Spa (Botox, fillers, chemical peels, colonics, orthodontics, teeth whitening, laser liposuction etc! – girls ask if you want details, I am ridiculously well-versed in all body and facial aesthetics, so feel free to ask), and is partly why I started this blog. 

I am often front-of-house, and as such, ensure that I am immaculately turned out at all times. I take pride in my appearance, and never leave the house without a full face of make up, coiffed hair, and – my pride and joy – beautiful nails. Generally, I give myself a mini manicure once or twice a week, and always always have my nails painted. 

Today, I have decided on a Nails Inc colour (my faaaaave, along with Essie, which I have just discovered) – Jermyn Street, a taupe/mushroomy colour, with what seems to be a hint of purple or lavender to it. The colour is lovely and flattering, and cleverly disguises my just-cut nails (I HATE when I have to cut my fingernails. evidence in above pic YUK). My go-to base and top coats are ALWAYS ALWAYS my Nails Inc Caviar Base and Top Coats (which also go by the name of Kensington). These are touch dry in about 15 seconds, properly dry in about half an hour to an hour (much faster than most, especially Jessica – eurgh!) the base coat is a treatment base coat (useful as I have found my nails breaking of late due to being rather ill, so I can vouch for the fact that it really nourishes your nails back to full strength, and as such, have had to buy a new one!), and the top coat is incredibly glossy and hard-wearing.

Nails Inc Jermyn Street

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All we hear is Radio ga ga..Radio goo goo..Radio ga ga..

2/03/2011 03:26:00 pm

In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. 

And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, 

must I write?

- Rainer Maria Rilke

- Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

Is it not somewhat peculiar – but at the same time, hugely flattering – that in the all-encompassing search, and explicitly blatant and public crusade for individuality that she appears to be on, Gaga has spawned millions of what she herself has moniker her “Little Monsters”. In fact, one may conclude that this is indeed irony. And, as one Phoebe Buffay, whom I presume you are familiar with, may comment “Yeah, and you know, given my life-long search for irony, you can imagine how happy I am?!”

But she is amazing that Gaga.

And that Phoebe.

Friends "The One With The Male Nanny"

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..On the Occurrence of Alice..

2/03/2011 03:17:00 pm

Once upon a time, in a far off land..

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. 

“Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?” he asked.

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

And so it begins..

It’s been a long while coming..

Bubbling juuust under the surface.. That itsy-bisty teeny-weeny little niggling feeling, gnawing away at you.. The one you just can’t seem to shake..

Until today..

I have finalllllly set up my own blog, after months of reading beauuuuuuuutifully-written and painstakingly-crafted blogs of other people’s immmmmmense genius and intellect, I plucked up the courage, from some far off, elusive and unknowable place, to write a blog all of my own. Some of you may “pah-hah” and “tee-hee” at my needing to ‘pluck up’ the courage, but in my response to you (namely “meh”) let me tell you, to share the ins and outs and cogs and spokes of the innermost workings of my mind, takes great courage!

This blog, as you maybe realising, is not about anything in particular, per se, just about things that interest me, and perhaps, interest you.. Beauty, literature, random musings, perhaps a trickle of fashion, will all feature on here – all sorts!

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.

“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”

“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.

“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

The reason I decided to write this blog, is partly to do with having a worthwhile outlet for my English Literature degree – my mind, I have been assured, works in a fascinating way, and often the thoughts in my head read like Austen or Shakespeare, or on more ice-creamy, duvet-y, cold-y days, more like Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries. It is that whole sensibility notion – I LOVE IT. The romance, the femininity, the wonder of not just those authors, but say, Lewis Carroll, whose nonsensical Alice in Wonderland quite frankly describes the workings of my very own mind:

Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

On the occurrence of Alice: She really is just quite marvellous.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass

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