Monday 30 January 2017

Urban Decay UD All Nighter Foundation Review


Not one to fall for marketing / a few good product reviews, I purchased the UD All Nighter solely on my own thought process - Lies, all lies. I totally went for it when I saw it as the new "Double wear" on my Instagram feed.

As soon as I was ready for a new foundation I hot footed it down to Selfridges to eye up the latest foundation on the UD counter. Normally when I am purchasing a more expensive foundation, I like to get a second opinion on the shade by having a swatch on my face, y'know just to make sure I am not going to look like I am wearing a mask. (and when I mean swatch I DO NOT mean take the majority of my make up off thanks love! just saying). With one slightly over zealous pump onto the back of my hand I could see how high coverage this was, a little goes a long way. That immediately pleased me, minimal effort for the trowelled on (I've been up all night with the baby) look - WIN. Not that I am trying to achieve that look but we all know that there's mornings where the trowel is required.

I then went to meet up with my husband after having my make up applied, quite chuffed with the thought I was going to turn up looking LUSH. He didn't notice, fair enough he is male so I prompted him by saying "Do you like my new foundation?" turning my face side to side only to hear "oh you've got it on now?" from the mouths of babes husbands. Not really sure how to interpret that comment, I went with "it looks so good he didn't even realise I had full coverage foundation on" yeah I will go with that.

Evaluating the packaging (sorry I am that person) it is of good quality and dressing table worthy, oh and I can get a good Instagram pic out it (thanks UD!) BUT its always in the back of my mind that the premium being paid for products like this go into the lux packaging pot.

As mentioned above a little goes a long way, no need for triple pump action here. Which means not only is it high coverage it will last a good while = more funds in the Charlotte Tilbury collection pot.

So now I have covered the good, lets go on to the not so good.

I find this foundation really hard to work with, fingers, beauty blenders and brushes - all struggle to give this a good even blend. Not one to give in, I tried it in various ways, with & without primer, with & without moisturiser etc. all had the same result. I can only put this down to the matte finish, which in hindsight I haven't ever really found a matte finish product that worked too well for me. I am oily skinned so I assumed this would work a treat, instead it ended up clumping in places and just didn't blend well on to my skin at all. The only way I have found this too work for me is to add a face oil into it (UFO Sunday Riley - its a suggestion on their bottle) it then glides on a treat. But that's a bit besides the point with an oil free foundation isn't it. I then use a setting powder on top to keep it in place.

Secondly it oxidises on my face - I don't intentionally want to have a different colour on my face compared to the rest of me (again, it happens) the only solution here is to cover any bare body part with this so that it all matches but frankly I ain't got time for that, and that's defo more than a three pump job.


I can summarise the texture of this on my skin in one word - CLAGGY (or if i'm being lazy I simply say "clag") - I promise, if you add it to your vocabulary you will be surprised how often you use the word.

Overall I was expecting to love this when I pumped it on my hand, unfortunately it just didn't suit my skin type, which is surprising as I thought it would be perfect for oily blemish prone skin. I will continue to use it with oil drops just to use it up as it works fine that way and then the hunt is on for the next foundation.



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Tuesday 24 January 2017

Asos haul & try on - Mum's day off

No kids for the day = shopping, obvs. This time I hit ASOS, want to see what I bought? watch the vid below...


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Wednesday 18 January 2017

Beauty at bathtime - beauty rituals for mum at bathtime


The stinkbugs are in the bath having their Sunday night "your having a bath whether you need it or not" bath (anyone else have the mandatory Sunday night full service as a child?) which means i'm shackled to the toilet seat for a good half hour/hour whilst they throw pots of water around. If your little ones are like mine then they will see this as play time more than anything else, and seeing as mummy is not keen on splashing, it leaves me sat there like a spare part.

So what to do whilst Shamu and Flounder are having a splash off? catch up on your beauty essentials!

Dry body brushing

My skin feels so much better when I do this but I just don't have the time everyday! so a few minutes on your arms and legs every time the babes are in the bath soon adds up. Heck you could even go for full body, depending on how nudey you want to get. I could probably get away with just pants, the kids won't even notice at their age. Give it a few years though and they will probably ask me why i'm always brushing my arse when they are in the bath. I've already planned my answer "you want to go on holiday don't you?" with the impending doom of bikini weather, they will just have to put up with the mum visuals. From what I've read you are supposed to use natural bristles like cactus (don't use your house cactus, it DOESN'T work the same) and also brush upwards, don't go against the grain, if your hairy legged it will piss you off - cat style.

See to your feet

I will be honest, my foot care only comes into action when I have to don a sandal. When the sunshine comes and my toes finally see daylight, I am annoyed that I didn't bother to moisturise them throughout the year. It doesn't take long to whip on a bit of cream, give your feet a good slathering and then quickly put them back into slipper hibernation. If your feeling ambitious then a quick slick of colour on the nails is always pleasing, even if you only see them in the shower. However I am not so brave, my children have a homing device for wet nails which they will seek and attack by whatever means.

Get squatting

Squats, sit ups, steps, whatever daily fitness target you have set for yourself get going. When your sat on the sofa chilling out you can think "YES! I am so glad I bothered to do that" my personal fave is stepping to Taylor Swifts Shake It Off - I have calculated it to be 500 steps for the whole song, a few rounds of that and I am well on my way to reaching my 10K goal. Hazard warning - I will not be held liable for any slips or  "I meant to do the splits" type moves due to flying H20.

Pluck you

Bushy eyebrows be gone! yes the full brow look is cool but I don't think the mono-brow has quite made it to cult status. Use the free time to have a lil tidy up with the tweezers - this is my favorite method of eyebrow tidying - I am not one for sitting in a busy shopping centre having flobbed on string rip out my eyebrows (sorry if you are, its just not my thang)


Lip exfoliation

I am an avid lipstick wearer and there is nothing worse than lipstick on dry lips. Nothing. You go out thinking you look hot with your vibrant lippy only to get home and notice it's all gathered in the cracks (Insert shocked face emoji here) one of the best ways I find is to regularly exfoliate, and when your in a hot steamy room it's the ideal climate. I use a flannel and simply rub my lips until smooth and then add a layer of Carmex, your then ready for that highly pigmented matte lipstick.

Sheet mask

This has got to be the easiest type of mask to do, one step, minimal mess, jobs a good'un. Get the kids in the bath, wack on a mask, dab off the excess and its done, you won't even know its there. Apart from the nose flap going in and out when you breathe, that and the fact the kids will either cry or laugh at the sight. Apart from that, it's easy.

Drink your quota

I think we all at one time or another say we need to drink more water, and seeing as there is an abundance of water in the room, it's as good a time as any to consume some (only don't consume the flung water - suds and baby filth is not the ideal flavour for water) Fill up a large glass and set yourself the task of drinking it whilst they are in the bath, or even better go large and double up on another glass.

So there you have it, we can use a long bath time session to our advantage, we really don't have any excuses now! Do you have a bathtime ritual?
http://honestmum.com/brilliant-blog-posts-19th-january-2017/
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Tuesday 10 January 2017

Clinique Moisture surge review


Do you have oily skin? does the name "Moisture Surge" put you off? me too, the last thing I want is another layer of moisture to fill them pores, y'know just in case the natural oil hasn't clogged them enough already. That was until I tried it, and for me there is no going back, in fact I will not use another daily moisturiser ever again.

Woah there girl, bit of a bold statement don't you think? actually I take it back because lets face it I will be using others (this gal likes to buy and try aight?) but at least that statement shows how much I like it and at least for now I mean it.

Now if I could get away without using a moisturiser then I would because I hate using anything with pore clogging potential. But now that I have stepped into the realms of acid toning, there is no way I could get away with skipping the crucial last step in a skincare routine. If I don't then I get that scaly look which might be cool for a reptile but I ain't no lizard. 

Now if I use a standard moisturiser then it opens a whole world of problems, yes I would like a tad of moisture please but I don't need a layer of lard ta v much. Nor do I require an unabsorbed film of "mattifying"gel to solidify on my epidermis. Or it could even cause the most annoying of oily skin problems with its insufficient absorbing properties - the double whammy, scaly AND oily skin, think a sunbathing gecko with greasy factor 50 on.

Then moisture surge comes strolling in acting all cool and says I GOT THIS. And its not wrong, it gives the right amount of moisture for my oily skin without clogging pores. And it gets even better, not only is it suitable for my skin but it actually ABSORBS, y'know that thing that other moisturisers claim but don't actually do? yeah that. No residue whatsoever, it absorbs in and gets the job done.  None of this "matte finish'" malarkey all it does is moisturise, so it doesn't leave a soft/silky finish either but I am more than happy without knowing of its presence.

There are two versions, the one I use which has a gel like texture and the other (intense) which is more of a cream. I haven't tried the cream one (my hubby does) so I can't comment on how it works for me but I thought I would show it anyway, its suitable for dryer skin types. But I may try it the next time I get a pesky dry patch, which seems to pop up every now and again just to throw a spanner in the works. As a quick comparison though, the cream smells very chemically compared to the gel, just an observation. 


The gel works well as a base for foundation, with no residue, it provides a good starting point for makeup application. I also add Clarins tanning drops into it and it works just fine! I am struggling to find any down sides to this moisturiser - oh wait that's because there aren't any! 

If I haven't sold it to you enough, then go into Clinique and get a sample, try it, then come back and thank me.

You're welcome! 


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Tuesday 3 January 2017

New Year's Resolutions 2017

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step"
- Chinese proverb


New year - check
Feeling fat and intoxicated - check
Unstoppable urge to state that I am going to stick to every New Years cliche - check
Claiming 2017 is "My year" - check

So here goes - 2017 IS MY YEAR, Queens Don't stop me now is playing in the background and I am setting the precedence for the year. This time next year I will be running down a road with a medal around my neck, crowds cheering, high fives being dished out, balloons, party poppers the lot. No I am not planning on running a marathon, this is symbolic for me WINNING at life. POW. FIST PUMP. TRUMPET SOUNDS.

Now what I need you to do is just humor me OK? we all know the truth that come two weeks time I would've semi-reverted back to my 2016 self, a whole month to fully revert. But lets just go along with it because you never know, I might actually stick to it this time SNIGGER.

No scratch that - this IS OUR year, we can do this! by writing this post I am setting my intention out to the universe and once its out there its out.

Getting organised - HA HA HA - ahem, yes I am going to get my shit together. This has got to be my biggest problem, I can't seem to get myself into a routine where I get everything done. Procrastination is my enemy (and my friend, love you x) but what I have to realise is that just by thinking about something doesn't mean that it gets done - In my mind my "crap" draw has been cleaned out numerous times, yet it still surprises me when I open the draw and see the mess. Oh I actually have to manually do it? I have many calendars, schedules, diary's that I have bought, now they WILL be used.
I got the diary in the pic above for for Xmas from TKMaxx - I love this one because its a week to view, with to do lists and it also has a monthly view too. Plus the front has a positive statement - white and gold - LOVE.

Exercise - I don't actually mind this one, surprisingly. But once I am on the workout train I get into a routine and feel SO MUCH BETTER for it. I personally like to do short intensive muscle pumping type workouts. Honestly it makes my mood so much better once I have pumped iron, must be those En-dolphins they talk about. Although I haven't worked out for a good few weeks (erm months) now so getting back on it is going to be a struggle

Eat healthy - I am not going to go mega crazy because I LOVE FOOD. And lets face it as a SAHM sometimes the highlight of your day is a cup of tea with a bit of cake. I do however need to cut back the crap, defo the alcohol and just be a bit more mindful of whats going in the cake hole. The better I eat, the better I feel - FACT.

Drink more water - Meh, meh and a bit more meh. But the thing is I do feel so much better for it, what I don't like however is the constant loo trips. They say that drinking more helps weight loss? well that's because your constantly walking to the toilet. Maybe that will fill my 10,000 steps a day? WIN

Practicing gratitude - when you stop and think, there really is so much to be grateful for in your life and once you shift your focus to the positive it makes such a difference to your view on the world. Wow get me being all positive on day one! I am going to start a gratuity jar where we write on a piece of paper something we feel grateful for or a happy memory and at the end of the year we open it and read out all the happy things for the year.
Wanky? a bit, but I actually think this is a nice idea and a good way to remember happy things from the year.

Now that I have written this out it's become clear to me that there are two main areas that I need to focus on - health (physical and mental) and organisation. Quite interesting when you give yourself a bit of analysis isn't it? but then I suppose that's what January is all about, a time to review and refresh.

I have also added a New Year Resolution video to my Youtube channel (you can watch it below) for more waffling about my NY resolutions. Oh and I also mention the items I got for Crimbo, juvenile? yes, but hey who doesn't like a nosey at other peoples stuff!



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