Oh!

Tomorrow is the day I go back to work after having nine days off.

I like my job but I think we all get that back to school feeling. . ! Anyway I'm sure I'll be over it by this time tomorrow, it will be like I had never had any time off in the first place.


And at least my bank balance can start to recover. . , there have been a few little purchases this week that were possibly not quite so urgent. To be honest, I have been stocking up and shopping a bit like my Mum used to every September before we all went back to school. Except I have not been buying school blouses, frilly socks and new lunchboxes.

I have been buying haircare products, creams, make up and suchlike.

See.

Honestly I've been stocking up like now I'm going to back to my 'normal' working life, I will never be able to get to the shops again.

I suppose that they may be slightly unnecessary purchases (I still have almost full bottles of Aussie shampoo and conditioners in the bathroom and a drawer full of eyeshadow) but at least they were 'educated' ones.

The Urban Decay Naked palette (on order) is a palette that everybody loves and seems to make use of. The phenomenal hype means that it is also the one thing that if I hadn't bagged it immediately then I might have missed out on it. Again!

Another quite hyped product is the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment. Every review I've read for this treatment seems positive and although I think a couple of people are sceptical about any additional growth achieved, I think everybody has claimed that it has added to the condition of their barnet. One other reason that I purchased this one is because I'm thinking of giving the Hair Sublime tablets a break. Lately I have been a bit slack about taking them. My hair has got longer since I started taking them back in the summer. However, since my hair has also not had a haircut since that time, I'm not sure how much of a difference the tablets are actually making. I'm pretty sure they were making a difference a few months ago but I may now have a break, save some pennies and see what happens!

I am actually really enjoying the haircare products on the high street at the moment (although I can not get the Revlon range out of my head since watching some Tanya Burr earlier in the week). I have used Botanic colours, John Frieda colours, the John Frieda Three Day Straight and Smooth styling spray and even a couple of products from Naked's (a brand I have questioned in the past) hydrating range lately and they have all exceeded my slightly cynical expectations.

In fact, my Moroccan Oil has almost ran out and although I still think it is absolutely wonderful, I'm not sure that I will rush out to replace it. My hair seems a little healthier and the high street products also seem to do enough for my daily hair requirements. I still think that Moroccan Oil is your best bet for natural "Hollywood" hair but I don't really require Hollywood locks.

After using my new Banana products from The Body Shop in conjunction with the Lee Stafford Hair Growth treatment, my hair felt so clean and soft after washing. Even when it was still damp, my hair felt silky. Normally at that point, it feels quite coarse. So if the way my hair feels is any indication of how content my hair is with these new products then I have very smily, happy hair.

Now after raving about the high street hair products, I'm going to contradict myself slightly and own up to buying this Phyto product to treat my hair after washing and when dry each morning. This is intended for very dry hair. Mine probably falls between dry and very dry. This treatment is a bit more expensive then most of the hair products you find in your average chemist but it is not up there in the price range of Moroccan Oil and Fekkai. I am sure there are similar products at a lower price. In fact, I have got a couple from Umberto Gianni (one pretty good and one not as much so) but Phyto is a brand I'm fond of. Along with the Moroccan Oil, I think that it was the Phytorhum shampoo and the Citrus conditioner which brought my hair back to life when it hit quite possibly its lowest point last year and this is why I could not resist and had to pick something up when I walked past a Phyto shelf in John Lewis earlier this week.

I've also got a Ren face mask (again purchased after watching Tanya) as I have really got in to my face masks later particularly Dr Organic and the whole mask thing is something that I would like to expand on in my beauty routine.

Oh and the Oilatrim, that was a Pixiwoo recommendation and these are great value emoillent products that seem to be of multiuse. The bath oil can be used in the bath and on the skin. I've also found that it makes a great scrub mixed with a little sugar. The lotion can be used as moisturiser. So far I've used it for my body and as a handcream. I've also read that it may help your lashes to grow so maybe I will not be replacing my Rapidlash at all.

I've only had Oilatrim a couple of days and did find the medicinal fragrance overwhelming at first but I have very quickly got used to it and think I may well get great value from these products especially over the next couple of weeks. I'm starting to feel a bit pale and am ready for a bit of fake tan. However, I'm determined not to get obsessed this year so am trying to hold off until the sun really does hit town. In the mean time, I will use these products to try and get my skin in good, glowy healthy condition.

Back to work preparations don't stop at the shopping, I have started to use the OPI matte nail envy stregthner in the bid for perfect nails.

I have also painted my toenails in the Barry M Pale Purple in case springtime arrives this week!

Ha, think I'm trying to look on the bright side. . . going back to work must mean that the spring will arrive soon!

Am I the only one that does this strange hoarding thing? What products do you have high hopes for at the moment? What will be in your spring collection?

X

Patisserie and Gleam

Patisserie is a lustre lipstick that I love when I see it photographed.

However. . .

Sometimes when I apply it. I am a little bit disappointed. It is so close to my own lip colour that when I look in the mirror in certain lights, it is almost like I've applied nothing. I guess like most of us, somewhere deep down I still hold on to the ridicoulous notion that some make up product/combination will transform the way I look. So Patisserie, a lipstick which sits so close to my natural lip colour, is not a lipstick I get excited about. In fact, it has pretty much been relegated to my work draw. I very rarely pull it out for any other reason.

Until today.

And then I only pulled Patisserie out because it was the only lippie in reach and I thought well, since Patisserie is for me so non-descript. I can always go over it later with something more interesting.

Yep, I've got a whole drawer of lipsticks at home and four or five in my handbag. All of which I could easily have used to paint over Patisserie.

Except I never did.

Today, I tolerated Patisserie. In fact, dare I say it, I actually think that I quite liked Patisserie. I think this has a lot to do with the eyeshadow that I teamed it with. Gleam from MAC, a lustre colour that is almost the skintone of my eyelid but better.

Gleam is a shadow that I am very fond of. A slightly lighter and pinker All That Glitters.

Gleam also has a sparkle to it. Maybe it is this sparkle that balances out the mundane, safe nature of Patisserie and pulls the pretty combo together.

Now here I need to apologise as I was going to put a nice face of the day in here and I took tens of pictures on my new camera (ooh), only to find that when I got the pictures up on the computer that the camera had picked up something and that was the fact that one of my make up brushes had shredded all over my face and ruined my pictures so I got handy with the cropping tool to give you an idea of how Patisserie and Gleam worked for me.

What do you think? Do you have seperate lipsticks for work? Have you met Gleam?

X

Ideas: The Naked Palette!

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm one very happy girl tonight as there is finally a Naked palette from Urban Decay on its way to me from Debenhams, thanks to Charlotte's heads up on Twitter and post here.

Now, why don't I have one already?!

Well, this is what I have spent the last few months asking myself? When it was first released, I put it off to see if the reviews lived up to the anticipation. Of course, apparently the palette did live up to the anticipation and the amazing palette quickly became almost impossible to procure at a reasonable or fair price.

So I studied all of those excited posts and new eye looks that popped up all over the place for the next month or so with very sad and regretful eyes. I really felt like I'd missed a trick!

Of course, the Naked Palette is now old news to most of you and there are less posts and looks popping up. Although, I have noticed that it is still mentioned frequently in holy grail and favourite product type discussions. I think it is more the case that the palette is not old news but it is just that for most of you, this gorgeous palette is now a staple and something that you can not imagine life without.

So on a sidenote if you want a back up, you may want to check out Charlottes link and see if there are any palettes left as I  got mine for £25.92 including delivery. The palette has a full price of £32.

The colours are mainly neutral, just my cup of tea and very wearable. I think that I'm going to get my moneys worth. Sidecar looks like my kind of colour and I look forward to getting Creep and Gunmetal because I'm lacking some blues in my collection and Sin just looks so soo pretty.

Awwwwwh, I can not wait for this palette to arrive.

So, please, if you have blogged Naked Palette posts or looks before, link me to them in the comments below. In fact, any suggestions or Naked Palette chit chat is more then welcome below. Did the palette live up to the hype for you? Do certain lip products/shades work with certain colours in this palette? What should I concentrate on given the fact that I have green eyes with goldish specks and dark hair?

I think for me the next week, is going to be a Naked Palette fest. I'm gonna immerse myself in it all and enjoy it!

Of course, it is just a coincidence that my eyebrows are going to be shaped (and therefore dressed appropiately for the worthy shadows) tomorrow. It would be too sad to get my brows tweezed and tidied just for a few eye shadows, no matter how special they are.

Or is it?! ;)

X

Embryolisse

I have been using this moisturiser at least once a day since Christmas after hearing the Pixiwoo girls raving about it. Apparently this cream is a must have for many professional make up artists and dermatologists for years. It was developed by a doctor in a Parisian hospital over sixty years ago and Embryolisse claims that it moisturises,soothes, smoothes and repairs skin.


And yes, I think it really does tick each of these boxes. According to the tube, the Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre formula is composed from ‘Emoillient oil and combination of natural active ingredients: shea butter, beeswax, aloe vera and soy proteins. Symdiol 68T paraben-free preservative complex’.

It is quite a thick cream that can be used as a moisturiser, primer, night cream, face mask, cleanser and probably for any skincare function. I’ve used it mostly as a moisturiser once a day. Sometimes at night and sometimes in the day.

When I put it on my skin, I am careful not to use too much as it quite a thick cream (but mixes in easily with foundation to create a tinted moisturiser), I feel no irritation at all. It is very gentle and the only thing I really feel is the weight of it occasionally when I have been a little more heavy handed but after two or three minutes, it quickly sinks in to the skin and ten minutes later, all I’m left with is very soft, smooth skin. The Coco Beau website says that Embroyolisse products can leave your skin like silk. That is a good way to describe the work this lovely cream does.

When I use this at night, I do layer it on more thickly but I’m left with hydrated and soft skin the next morning. There is also more of a glow and a healthy look about my skin as of late. I’m not sure if this is down to the Embryolisse (I have tried a lot of new skincare over the last few months) but if my skin hadn’t took to the moisturiser then I’m sure it would have quickly lost the glow!

Please note, I’m not sure how to explain this. The Embryolisse does always sink in to my skin and leave the satin finish. However, over the last week or so, I have noticed that it takes just a little longer to sink in properly on my forehead. I think my skin is actually balancing out a little and losing some of its dryness. It maybe that by repurchase time I no longer need the concentrated classic and am better suited to the lighter lotion. Some of you with more oily skin may want to consider this as an alternative from the very beginning.

The packaging for this product is not particularly exciting, a squeezable tube (very hygenic and dispenses easily) and a cardboard box. In fact, there really is a very functional, medicinal feel about this product maybe because it works and it comes with a great advice leaflet but that is as far as the indulgence goes.

However when you are paying so little for a product that actually works, then there may well be a few pennies left over for an additional ‘treat’. Like my thinking?!

Ooh and also, I have purchased both my Embryolisse tubes from Coco Beau here and honestly I can not recomend this site enough. Personally I have never had such great service from a website. Delivery was very quick even at Christmas within 24 to 48 hours. The products were wrapped beautifully in tissue with a little note thanking me for my custom. I was so touched by the extra thought that Coco Beau appear to give their customers.

Have you used Embryolisse or brought anything exciting from Coco Beau? Oh and has anybody used Oilatrium, another recommendation from Pixiwoo?

X

Gucci, Guilty!

So what with Christmas and one fabulous birthday, my perfume collection has blossomed over the last couple of months.

Yay!

I absolutely adore perfume and there seems to be so many beautiful and unique fragrances out there at the moment.

I know I’ve written about some of my lovely perfumes before but today, I thought I would tell you what lovely fragrances I have gained recently. There was Tom Ford, White Orchid; Jennifer Anniston Jennifer Anniston; Givenchy, Play; Playboy, Lovely; Playboy, Sexy; Ghost, Ghost and Gucci, Guilty. I think that is all of them. . , what a lucky girl I am!

I have to say that I have two favourites and they are the Jennifer Anniston and Gucci Guilty. They are both very unique perfumes. Today, I’ve just got to write about the Gucci one as to me it seems kind of a parody within itself.

Picture from here

Many of you may know that I’m a sucker for Gucci scents particularly the Rush line. So as soon as I found out, there was a new Gucci scent coming out late last year, guess where I headed. Yep, straight to the perfume counter to take the obligatory sniff.

Gucci Guilty is an absolutely gorgeous scent, very different to Flora (see my review of that here) and to be honest, I think I prefer Guilty.

Guilty is a peachy mandarin scent with top notes of pink pepper, a heart note of lilac and base notes of patcholi and amber.

Now, be warned, despite my love for this perfume. It is by no means perfect or even an easy one to wear. This perfume has been described as a Sex in the Bottle perfume by reviewers on Make Up Alley.

I have heard this phrase before in relation to White Orchid from Tom Ford yet the two scents are very different. White Orchid is deep but Guilty is very obviously fruity and the peachiness is so intoxicating (reviewers on Make Up Alley have described Guilty as overipe, I get that). For the first hour or so after the initial spray, I keep finding myself looking down almost feeling as if I’ve got too much flesh on show or something. It is almost uncomfortable in that way and certainly not a scent, Mum will be getting on Mothers Day. However once the scent settles, it becomes warmer and easier to wear, settling in to a nice clean powdery scent that I could happily wear all day.

Except I can’t because this scent does not seem to last all day,three or four hours at the most but that second phase, while it lasts, is so pretty and a little more remniscent of Lady Million (another great recent release).

I have found that the body lotion lives up to the scent and in fact, is beautiful. Like most body lotions, it is gentlier then the perfume and therefore, a little less intoxicating to wear but it lasts just as long as the perfume so for the day, this may be a favourable alternative to the somewhat raunchier perfume.

I’ve also found that spraying the scent on to my clothes or hair instead of my skin seems to mute the scent just enough to make me able to go about my day to day business more comfortably yet smelling lovely.

Rereading this post, I feel it sounds as if I’m almost warning you off this perfume. I’m not, I love it but yeah, I guess I did feel a bit “guilty” wearing it yet you don’t expect fruity notes such as peach to make you feel so guilty yet it does and still comes across as the 'bad boy' of perfumes which I just can't resist.

Hmm, I think this is quite a clever perfume and really do think it is one perfume that every woman (except my mother, gran or younger sister!) should try once. Maybe, take a look at some reviews (I suggest Make Up Alley and here) too. I have found that not everybody gets the intoxicating rawness of the scent and these are the people who actually find the perfume more long lasting. I’m not sure how to explain that. Maybe it comes down to all those extra factors, different body chemistries, noses and temperatures etc but please find a sample, get a sniff and decide for yourself. I, for one, think this is one perfume that is not easily forgotten.

Don’t forget to let me know what you think of Gucci Guilty and what other perfumes you are liking at the moment? I could talk perfume forever!

X

Inspired!

Picture from here

Hey, what a long time!

I know!!

I’ve said that before. . !!!

I hope you are all well and had a great Christmas/New Year. Again, I’m a bit late.

So, today, I suddenly had a strong urge to blog again. I know that 2010 and my “mission” officially ended weeks ago but maybe I will pop up now and again, after all.

I think that when I started to blog, I started to think in a certain way and it is hard to shake this. There have been many occasions when I have wanted to share my thoughts on some wonderous or maybe not so amazing product, regime, or another. Sometimes, I have tried sharing such musings in the ‘real’ world and to be honest, my profound wisdom (or otherwise;)) might as well have been expressed to a brick wall. Everybody is very polite as their faces glaze over and their ears switch off but there is nobody like you Guys, with the same passion and enthuasism.

It would be ok if I could just pick up a product and slap it on but no, instead I have to examine the packaging in minute detail; give it all a shake, a sniff and so much more in-depth analysis before I can finally indulge myself and actually use it. Phew, what a rigmorole I go through every time I go to moisturise or touch up some lippie. It would be nice to be able to share all this again with people who really do care.

It would be fair to say that since I started blogging more then a year ago. It has been very much, lots or nothing. That is who I am, I am extreme and will put my all into something for so long and kerbang, that is it and I am on to something else and I guess, that explains the mission in the first place - one year to make more of myself- and the sporadic posting that followed last year.

However, this blogging marlarky, the products, the online community and the resulting experiences seem to have added up to one massive force and I’m finding it a lot harder to let my ‘Mission Pretty’ fad go. I’ve spent the last few weeks sculking around blogland, increasingly desperate to play again.

So here I am.

I’m not making any promises about posting such and such so many times a week blah, blah, blah but well, lets take it one post at a time and see what happens!

X

Snowflakes and a special cause!

Hey everybody.

Picture from here

Hope you are well. I'm sorry that there has been a lack of (aherm, actually zilch) posts over the last week. Snow doesn't half suck the time up. Not enough where I live to snow us all in but the dusting we have had, has caused absolute chaos as we try to get about and do the day to day stuff.

Seriously, I am shattered and it is so, soo cold.

Anyhow, I wanted to post a link to a very interesting post that I read yesterday. It was written by Kelly of Hair Advice and all things nice.

I love Kelly's blog because I'm hair obsessed and as a hairdresser herself, most of her posts focus on different hairstyles, products and ideas. It is seriously a great read from an insider and although the post I want to highlight is a little a bit different to her normal ones, it provides no exception to her 'great read' standard.

Kelly has posted about a very special cause, The Little Princess Trust, which provides poorly children, suffering hair loss, with wigs and real human hair of their own.

I can only imagine the difference that this could make to an individuals sense of well-being and quality of life.

Please, please, please take the time to read Kelly's post here.

Thank you.

X