Wednesday's Waffle & Bloggers Award

Hi everyone.. remember me??

Sorry I've been MIA. Seven days worth of shifts in a row and an ill Kate do not go hand in hand with blogging.

I have awarded myself with the award of 'Crap Blogger' so don't get too jealous everyone..

- Current mood; most definitely could be a lot better.

-Work is just a bit of a sick joke at the mo. I swear someone up above is having a laugh at ruining my life! But don't fret I still have plenty of posts I need to type up for you dolls, It'll just be finding the time!

-I mentioned earlier that I've been ill, as some of you know I've been on the Cambridge Diet. It's been going really well but my Mum and I figured out that it's the diet that has been making me really ill and run down. Because of my shift pattern I do at work it just wasn't healthy for me to be on my feet at work, running around like a mad woman for 10hours of the day with 9hours between shifts. But I still managed to lose 14lbs in the three weeks I was on the diet! I'm absolutely chuffed! I would have much preferred to lose a little more but ya'no I can't go complaining!

I've got 8days off of work as of Friday and I've got a manic schedule ahead.. Saturday I'm going wedding dress shopping with my big sister (for her wedding), Sunday I have to have promo pictures taken for a film I'm taking part in and Monday-Thursday I'm visting a friend in Surrey.

I will try my best to schedule some posts for you all on Friday but please bare with me! When I have returned to full health I'll be back on this blogging thing!

Sorry for this longggg post!

Have a silly picture to make up for it

Hope you're all good dolls

Kate x

Product Rave !!!

So it's official I have the driest skin known to god (but only on my face :s) and I'm pretty sure I've tried most of what is to offer to sort my face out and yet everything has failed!

Exfoliants, masks, hot cloth cleansers.. you name it I've most likely tried it. Everything always temporarily fixed the problem but after two days it'd be back again.

Anyway, I was walking around Wilkinsons the other day and needed some more make up wipes and it was then I came across these..

At first I was dubious.. exfoliating facial wipes. dry, sensitive skin. eye make up. delicate eye area. Doesn't sound like a great combination huh? But seeing as I could get 2 packs for 97p I thought I may as well try it!

I'm so glad I did! I have been using these babies for about 2 weeks now and my skin has never felt so smooth. I literally don't get anymore dry skin on face! 

The wipe is a waffle texture so it's not too harsh on the skin but it really does do the job! As with all face wipes you have to be careful with how you remove your mascara but especially with these as you don't want to damage the delicate skin.

I find that sandwiching your eyelashes between the wipe and rubbing lightly that you aren't pulling the skin and therefore not damaging it. Because of the waffle texture on these wipes mascara removal is a dream!

My skin feels extremely clean after I used them, it removes foundation really well and I'm sure my skin tone is even balancing out now..

I literally can't rave about these enough! If you have a Wilkinsons local to you go ahead and pick some up!

Perfect for all skin types but especially those with dry sensitive skin.. who'd have thought it :) 

I'll most definitely be stocking up on these!

Found any products worth raving about lately?

Kate x

MAC Dupe Alert

I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with MACs Saint Germain lipstick.. if not you should be as it's a beautiful vibrant pastel pink with blue undertones. I lurrrve it so much!

Anyway! I've recently reorganised my make up storage and as I was sorting through my lippies I discovered literally an exact dupe for Saint Germain.

It's the closest I have found. A lot of people say Barry M 100 (Baby Pink) & NYX Narcissus are dupes but when you compare them to the dupe I'm about to show you, you'll realise they aren't that great a dupe.

 

Natural Daylight

Collection 2000 Lasting Colour 'Bubblegum' £2.99 & MAC Saint Germain £13.50

With flash

Side by side in natural daylight

(poor focus, thanks camera)

MAC Saint Germain on the left & Collection 2000 'Bubblegum' on the right

In this picture of the swatches it's apparent that Bubblegum is ever so slightly darker than Saint Germain but to be fair it's pretty hard to tell!

In both pictures of my lips I am wearing Bubblegum on the left half of my lip (top & bottom) and Saint Germain on the right half of my lip.

It's pretty hard to tell I'm wearing two different lippies!

I just had to let people know as I'm sure this isn't a very well known dupe!

Even though the Collection 2000 lippy is almost £11 cheaper it doesn't compromise on colour or longevity of wear.

It's perfect if you have always wanted to try out Saint Germain as you won't break the bank, or if you're like me and get through this shade ridiculously quick!

So I hope you all enjoyed this post :)

Kate x

Wednesday's Waffle

- Current mood; Exhausted

- For the past four days I have been working the late shifts at work. I basically start at 4pm and then will finish around 1am [2:30am on a Saturday] and these shifts take all my energy! By the time I have got home and unwound it's around 4am. So I end up sleeping during the day and by the time I get up it's time to do it all again. I HATE these shifts with a passion cause I pretty much have no time for a life for four days and I dont get time to write some posts for you lovely ladies.

- I was hoping to get a Valentines post up for you lucky ladies that have someone to spend it with on Monday but to be quite honest I don't know whether I have the time now :( I'm so tired today, the light has gone and I'm back to work tomorrow! But if people are still interested in seeing a nice make up look for Valentines then I shall try my best to get it up in time!

- For those of you who follow me on Twitter you will have seen the results of my Week One Weigh In! I had my weigh in on Monday and technically it was a 6day weigh in as I started the Cambridge Diet last Tuesday.. BUT in the first six days of the diet I lost 8lbs!!! I'm so so happy! It's the motivation I need to keep sticking to it.

I feel so much more confident and my skin is clearing up like a dream!

 [The trick to weight loss ^ ;)]

- Definitely have to thank Hannah for her help! She's doing so well on the Cambridge Diet and if it wasn't for her success I wouldn't have got off my bum and started myself!

If you aren't following her then you must do so now, she has a great blog which can be found here.

Haven't really got much to say this week seeing as my life has been ruled by work!

Hopefully I shall have another post up in a couple of days :)

Follow me on Twitter for more regular updates if you're interested in following my little weight loss journey!

Hope you dolls are well!

Kate x

FOTD - Fresh Faced

 Donations for a nose job made payable to lashesandlashes@live.co.uk.. thanks ;)

So I thought it was about time I done a FOTD. I hate doing them because I literally can't stand how my nose looks..

This is what I like to do when I don't have much time to get ready or I can't be bothered to do everything. It's definitely one of my favorite looks. Having bright lips makes a plain face less boring :)

My eyes look quite plain but I'm a fan of the 'No mascara & bright lips' look. Miranda Kerr pulls it off beautifully!

Products used;

Revlon Colorstay Foundation 'Buff'

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish 'Soft & Gentle'

Lancome Fatale Mascara 'Noir' [discontinued :(]

Barry M Lip paint 'Touch of Magic'

Kate x

Wednesday's Waffle

So this is basically going to be my version of 'Someday Summary' where I can let off steam, rave about products & keep you all updated on my daily going ons..

- Current Mood; Suprisingly good.

- As some of you may, or may not, know.. I started the Cambridge Diet yesterday (Tuesday). There are six different steps to the diet & I've chosen the hardcore one living off around 400 calories a day. It's all nutritionally balanced so you're not starving yourself of anything you need. So far, so good. It's not easy when you work in a pub/restaurant & you're running around all day but it's easier to stick to than I first thought!

- I did really want to take part in Frugal Febuary (where you don't buy any products, apart from necessities, for the whole month) But I don't want to commit to something I can't stick to, so I will be cutting down my spending to almost nothing.. well, I'll try!

- I've never been one to get hyped up about MAC collections, but I am kinda looking forward to the 'Jeanius Collection'. It's due for release in March '11. I will be treating myself to a few bits in March to [hopefully] celebrate weight loss and I've definitely got my eyes on some of this collection :)

 L-R 'Acid Washed' LE, 'Pretty Please' Permanent & 'Riveting Rose' LE.

LOVE Riveting Rose! I have one deep plum lippy already, but I think I shall be adding this to my collection! Acid Wash looks like one of them shades that will either be beautiful or absolutely vile.. only time will tell!

'Motorhead' LE

I won't be purchasing any of the shadows but the pressed design for this collection is really nice I think! Definitely much better than the Tartan Tale shadows anyway!

- Anyone else not impressed with the Peacocky collection? Yeah there is a ton of shadows & glosses.. but really.. who wants a bright blue gloss?! They could've released a beautiful cool tone MSF with that collection & think of the polishes you could create with that brief! The possibilities were endless with that collection, so in my eyes it was kind of a fail!

- On Monday I have my first weigh in after a week of being on the diet. I will keep you all posted! 

So I hope you enjoyed my first Wednesday Waffles! Keep your eyes peeled for more updates :)

If anyone has any questions or even tips for me about the Cambridge diet then please comment below!

Kate x

Collective Haul - PART 2 Beauty Items

Ok, so here's part 2 of this extensive haul haha :)

Vaseline Cocoa Butter £1.99 & Vaseline Healthy Hand & Nail cream £1.19 - Wilkinsons

The Cocoa Butter was reduced from £5! I thought it would be a nice prep for when I fake tan. The Hand & Nail cream is an old faithful, I've used this for as long as I can remember and I'll always go back to it!

Eyeko Toffee Fat Balm £3.90, S&G 'Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser' £5.50, New cid Eyes, Lips & Cheeks palette £12 - All ASOS

All these products were in the sale, the best saving has to be the palette though! The RRP is £24. I have heard so many good things about it so I had to snap it up (it's still available now). For a palette you get absolutely huge amounts of product in there. Each eyeshadow is 5.4gm, each lip colour is 2.25gm & the blusher is 7.2gm!

Eyeko Big Eyes mascara & Graffiti Eyeliner set £5 - ASOS. Sleek Blush 'Pixie Pink' £4.29, MUA lipsticks Shade 1 & 7, MUA blush Shade 1 & MUA eyeshadow shade 11 all £1 each, GOSH Velvet Touch Lipsticl 'Darling' £6.49 & GOSH Soft'N Shine Lip Balm 'Barbie' £3.67 - All Superdrug

So I totally picked up the wrong MUA lipstick, I didn't mean to get Shade 1 but I'll work with it! You get 3.8g of lipstick which is fairly typical. The Eyeshadow is lovelyyy! You get 2g of shadow which is .5g more than MAC ;) MUA blush you get 2.4g as opposed to Sleek which is 8g.. so it kinda works out the same price for amount of product! At the moment some of the GOSH items are half priced so I picked up one of their lip balms & GOSH darling is just an old faithful :)

SWATCHES!!!

 

(L-R) MUA 'shade 7' (LOVE THIS), 'shade 1', GOSH 'Darling' lipstick (slightly washed out by flash), GOSH 'Barbie' Lip Balm & Eyeko 'Toffee' Fat Balm

(L-R) Eyeko Graffiti Liner 'Purple', MUA eyeshadow 'shade 11', MUA blush 'shade 1' & Sleek blush 'Pixie Pink'

 New cid palette. (L-R) 3 Lip shades, 4 eyeshadows & the blush

Next up are some palettes I bought back in December, but I've only just received them. I got these from ebay, the delivery time was no fault of the seller. They ship internationally so if you're interested they're great for my international readers :)

Alltogether (including P&P) they cost me £11.96. I bought an 88 matte eyeshadow palette & a 15 camouflage concealer palette.

As you can see even though it is a matte palette there are some shimmer shades in there, I don't mind this so much though as they aren't overly shimmery! The colour range is so good and the shadows are nicely pigmented. I tried this out the other day and the shadows are lovely to work with & blend really nicely which is great! I seriously recommend this to everyone.. this is great if you're starting out with make up or if you are experienced with make up. The seller can be found here. This palette was £7.99 with free shipping! 

 Quite a lot of the shades have been bleached out by my flash, but in this palette you get 1 highlighter shade, 3 correcter shades - lilac, green & yellow & 11 concealers. I have used this everyday since I received it! The highlighter is one of the most beautiful highlighters I have ever used & I've used a lot! I've mainly used this palette for under my eyes.. I haven't had any blemishes since I received it so I'm yet to try it out on that but I'm sure it'll be great. If you want full coverage foundation then you can mix a tiny bit of fix + with the concealers and use them. I sprayed fix + on a flat foundation brush & dipped it in the concealer pan. I obviously won't be using the darker shades too much, but with a light hand and a stippling brush they can be used as bronzers :) 

The seller can be found here

 

This beauty was £3.97. I honestly wasn't expecting a whole lot from these palettes but the quality is so good!

Even if you just want to try these out they are cheap enough to but I would definitely recommend investing in these palettes!

 I'm SO impressed with them!

So that is the end of my collective haul! Well done if you stayed with me during it ;)

If you would like me to swatch the 88 palette & review the concealer palette a bit more then just drop a comment below and I will be more than happy to :)

Hope you're all good dolls!

Kate x

Collective Haul - PART 1 Clothing & Accessories

I've been so bad at blogging lately and I do apologise.. let's hope I'll get back into the swing of things now :)

So here is part one of my collective haul, I haven't bought a majorly huge amount of items, but I do want to talk about some in more detail. I've split it up into 'Clothing & Accessories' and 'Beauty items'. 

So first up is Clothing & Accessories :)

 Biker 'Leather' Gilet £15 & Crochet Waistcoat £8 - Both from Primark

Horse Print Dress £5 - Primark

I literally cannot wait for Summer to arrive so I can wear this! I'm going to cut off the straps as I'm not too keen on the skinny straps.

I'm definitely going to try & rock this with some 120denier tights & ankle boots though :)

Butterfly print Peg Leg trousers £12 - Primark

I wish I could get a picture that showed this better without having to put them on! They have a shirred waistband at the back & hang so nicely when on!

Oversized Grandad Cardi £12 - Primark

I absolutely love this cardi but I didn't quite anticipate how oversized it actually would be. If I hadn't of taken the tags out I definitely would've swapped this for a size smaller.. but it's still a nice addition to the wardrobe & I have worn it an awful lot!

 Floral Aviators £1, 60s Square Rim Sunnies £2 & Mirrored Aviators £2 - All Primark

 

 Nautical Rope Necklace £3 - Primark. Anchor Rope Bracelet £6 - ASOS

Click the above link if you are interested in the bracelet. I'm defo bummed out that it's been reduced since I purchased it a few days ago :/ haha!

Anchor Double Finger Ring £8 - ASOS

 This ring is now reduced to £6 :/ whatta joke! Anywayyy.. link above :)

 Hairbow £1.50 - Primark

So I don't know if people are aware of DollyBowBow but it's a little vintage inspired Jewellery & accessories site. A little while ago Kate, the site owner, introduced these new hairbands which have flexible wire in the middle so you can create loads of different styles with the one 'bow'. Now ever since she introduced they have been constantly sold out and obviously I couldn't get one.. but Primark now sell them! The material is  reversible unlike the DollyBowBow ones and it's also at a fraction of the price.. Score :)

So that is part one of my collective haul! I won't be buying many more clothes for a while as I'm going on the Cambridge diet next week, so obviously I don't want to be buying clothes that won't fit when I've hopefully lost the weight :)

Look out for Part 2 in the next couple of days

Kate x

NOTD - Desert Haze ♥

Desert Haze - ELF cosmetics

 Sausage fingersssss!

Does anyone else find it extremely hard to picture fingers in a flattering way or is it just mine haha?

Anyway! I adore this colour! I've been wanting a 'Greige' shade for yonks but I just haven't found one that made me want it enough to buy it. In this picture I used 2 coats. It has a lovely consistency and is very smooth to apply.

This was only £1 on the ELF site so it was rude not to buy it!

This sort of shade looks lovely on short nails!

ELF cosmetics can only be purchased online. This polish can be found here. They currently have a sale on a few of the polishes and lots of other items so check them out quick :)

Kate x

Just a little update..

I logged on to Blogger for the first time, last night, since Saturday! I have been so busy! At the weekend I worked night shifts and they always take it out of me, on Monday my friend and I went to Surrey and had a night out there.. on the Tuesday we travelled home, went shopping in the city centre & then went 20 miles the other way to get our hair done. Tuesday evening I went to the dentist with my Mum and then I FINALLY got back to my home town late Tuesday evening! PHEW!

Since then I have been working, so I've really fallen behind on my blog :(

It's not that I'm uninspired, I have so many posts I want to do, it's just literally finding the time in my crazy schedule!

Last week I injured my knee, I had to go to hospital last night. I've got soft tissue damage and also artifacts (I think thats how you spell it) in between the joints, which is basically excess fluid & little bits of bone. If anyone has any tips on speedy recovery it would be much appreciated!

Anyway, I'm explaining all of this because after tonights shift at work I'm self certifying for a week to help my knee as I currently can't straighten it.

So after all that waffling, I shall hopefully get back into my blogging routine this week & next. I've got lots of posts planned so you can expect more hauls, EOTDs, NOTDs, posts that I have been meaning to work on and also I'm going to be doing a Valentines look.

So I hope everyone is doing well! I'm now going to catch up on all of your blogs & then get myself ready for work.. JOY!

Catch you soon, Dolls

Kate x

EOTD - Smoked Out Browns

Products used;

GOSH Trio Eyeshadow 'TR2 Smoky'

GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner 'Black Ink'

Ardell '#120 Demi' Lashes

I got this GOSH trio as part of a gift set for Christmas and I've been wanting to have a play around with it for ages. This is what I done with it and I thought I'd share. I glammed it up with some big lashes and heavy liner, but without those it would be perfect for daytime.

I LOVE these lashes. I ordered them from America, cost me £3.99 and I prefer them over any lashes I have bought before. If you're interested here's the link for them. 

I also used to hate eyeliner but this has most definitely turned me. I put this on my waterline around 6:00pm, it's now 12:38am and still as intense as ever. So good.

 (a posey picture for good measure)

So I hope you enjoyed this quick little EOTD :)

Kate x 

Eyeko Tinted & Extra Glow Cream Review

So I've always been a fan of Eyeko, I've purchased a fair few items from Superdrug (I wish they still sold them there!), ASOS etc and I've been eyeing up their creams for absolutely ages!

The other day I went on to the site to purchase some and saw the offer they had on. The Eyeko creams are usually £8.50 each but if I bought these two together I got them both for £12! So me not being one to turn down an offer I had to get both, among some other purchases.

I wanted to have a play around with these before I reviewed them so I could get a good feel for the product.

 The packaging is so cute as per usual with Eyeko! This is the best picture of the creams I could get with the rubbish lighting I have.

Eyeko claim that these products are a 3 in 1 cream, being a highlighter, moisturiser & eye cream. Now I personally wouldn't use these as a moisturiser but I have such dry skin I use really hydrating anti-wrinkle creams so Im pretty hard to impress on that level. The only thing I think it personally lives up to is the highlighting.

I'm a highlighter junkie- I highlight on a daily basis. Now these products are perfect for this!

The cream has quite a thin consistency and a little goes a long way. You get 28ml of product in each tub so these little beauts are going to last a long while!

When I want an all over glow I use the Extra Glow cream all over my face, under my foundation and when I just want to highlight specific areas I'll use it on top of my foundation.

With the Tinted Cream I use this as a highlighter for specific areas but in the summer I'll be using it all over on its own.

 I haven't blended out the tinted cream (on the right) so you could see clearly the colour it gives my cheeks.

Overall I'm pretty impressed with these and I will definitely be re-purchasing these when I eventually run out of them :)

Has anyone else tried these creams out?

Remember if you want to purchase anything from Eyeko, enter my code E13453 at checkout and you will receive a free gift if you spend £15. Eyeko are still doing free shipping for the UK & Europe and are still giving away a free Lilac polish with orders over £15 :)

If you have anymore questions about these creams just drop it down in the comments box and I'll get back to you :)

Kate x

NOTD - Parma Violet ♥

Parma Violet - 17

 (You'll have to excuse the tan on the knuckles haha)

I LOVE this colour! People usually only stick to pastel shades during Spring/Summer, but I'm all for wearing whatever shade you fancy during any season.

This is 17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish which retails at £2.99. 17 often have 3 for 2 on their range as well.

I have a few of their polishes and I absolutely love them.

I can't comment on staying power as I always have Acrylics and any nail polish lasts forever on Acrylic Nails.

17 Can be found in Boots stores & Online :)

Kate x

I got a 'Haul' lotta stuff..

Yeah.. my titles a crap joke I know, I know.

Basically this is my first time shopping in a month :o (online shopping does not count!) haha!

I done so well.. I put so much stuff back on the rails/shelves but I couldn't resist these bargains :)

Get ready for a picture heavy post!

River Island - £5 reduced from £12.99

I saw someone blog about this a few weeks back (can't remember who!) and thought it looked great & then saw it reduced yesterday for a fiver.. Not going to miss that!

My Mum wanted me to buy it cause it looks pretty ahaha bless her!

River Island - £30 reduced from £60

River Island - £10 reduced from £25

I have wanted these boots for yonks!!! But lately I just can't justify spending £60 on peep toe boots I won't get much wear out of. These were the last size 5 and I have Christmas money to spend so I just couldn't say no. The leather is so soft and the turn over collar is suede with a slight sparkle. So beautiful in person!

Love this dress! I have a ton of Body Con dresses, but the cut out shoulders and key hole back make it so different to all my others.. Hoping it looks good on :)

Primark - £8 reduced from £15

Yes, they are meant to come out without laces :) I have wanted some worker boots for ages but I couldn't find any that looked 'feminine' enough for me.. they were all too clumpy for my liking.. I'm really specific about boots I wear.. I don't like boots that come any higher than just above the ankle.. I think I'm too short for them, I look strange and that was another problem I found with worker boots, they are always like half way up to my knee.. not a good look for me.

Primark - (l-r) £1.50, £2 & £2

I literally can't go into Primark without purchasing some of their jewellery, especially rings! I got the 'love' one cause I'm kinda obsessed with double finger rings, and who doesn't love a bit of tack in their lives! The Rose one is just really delicate for a statement ring and the rings on the right are actually a set of three, which you can wear stacked together or seperately, so cute!

Primark - All £1.50

I needed some small studs for work, apparently my smallest pair are still too big :( so these will do! The tea set necklace is so so cute and I love the bow bangle, although the size of the bangle is a bit too big for my liking but never mind!

I've wanted to try out Revlon Color Stay for ages and as my everyday foundation is running low I thought I'd purchase some. I got shade 'Buff' and I'm an NW20 in MAC (pro longwear NC15) this foundation is actually on offer at the mo, in Boots and Superdrug, for £9 so if I like it I'm going back to stock up on it :) The Gosh nail polish is in the shade 'Miss Sweety', this was only £2.49! 

The Eyeko things were delivered today so I thought I'd include them. The Eyeko tinted cream & extra glow cream were £12 as I bought them in a gift set thing. Rain polish & Chi Chi polish were £3.50. The lipgloss in shade 'Primrose Hill' & the Petite Polish were my ambassador gifts :)

(things I forgot to photograph) 

A daisy headband for £1 in Primark & Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Sex Bomb Massive Mousse (this stuff is amazing!) and their Glam Hair Grunge Glamour Tousled Salt Spray. These are currently on offer for 2 for £7 in Boots. They retail for around £5 each usually so it's a good deal :)

Has anyone tried their salt spray?? I can't stand the smell of this Glam Hair range but I love the products I have tried so far, so I'm willing to put up with it!

If you read all this post then I congratulate you. Was bit of a long one and I had a good waffle!

Did anyone pick anything nice up in the sales??

Don't forget if you'd like to order something from Eyeko then enter my Ambassador Code E13453 for a free gift :)

Kate x

(just seen that Eyeko are offering free shipping for UK & Europe and are sending out a free Lilac Polish with every order over £15!!)