Vampire Halloween Makeup

I love Halloween, and it's the perfect excuse for a little makeup experimentation. I am not good at costumes, so I simply donned the black lace and set about researching some vampire makeup.





I saw an amazing tutorial from MissChievous with red glittered eyes and bloodied lips, so after eating cakes and watching Strictly/ XFactor I emptied my vanity draws to select the products. Luckily I have lots of colour, so improvised rather than buying heaps of new products.



The look starts with a matte white contoured face. The eye socket is blended with aubergine, before being darkened with black. Bright red eye shadow is added for a flash of colour to the lid and under eye, before glitter is brushed on to finish. A dark wine lip completes the vampire face. I remembered about my old Babyliss crimpers (or perhaps was reminded by Xfactor Janet..) and clamped a few sections of hair in them to add volume.

Aware of blogging duties I took a hasty pic before exiting to a house party. By this point I had drunk a fair few tumblers of poisonous punch, so the focus on the Olympus was not as sharp as it could have been. Perhaps my lack of steady hand makes it spookier?




I gave flatmate Kat matching makeup. We started the night with 99p glow in the dark fangs, but these made us look manic, and I can't share the photographic evidence. Next year I am investing in some professional vamp teeth!



Click HERE to watch the MissChievous makeup tutorial

Tomorrow I shall be sharing Kat's Halloween nails!

Lily Vanilli- Best Red Velvet in London?

Yum, looking at these photos brings back delicious memories. One Sunday past, Emma and I took a trip to Columbia Road flower market, I lived in East London for 3 years and never bothered to go, but actually it is a lovely way to spend a Sunday.

It happened to be that freakishly hot October weekend and I was melting in a maxi, as we tried to complete our first task: find cake and coffee. Luckily we stumbled upon the Lily Vanilli bakery which more than satisfied our sugar cravings.

Emma and I are cake connoisseurs, from cupcakes to cheesecake, we have sampled some of the finest baked goods on offer, yet this particular red velvet cake was the best we have tasted! It used a sugar based icing rather than cream cheese, and was layered with freshly sliced strawberry for a sharp contrast. The secret however, lay in the discreet sprinkling of coconut in the center, divine!





After cake we browsed the flowers. These photos are deceiving, the market was packed with people and we did a slow shuffle past the blooms. I was too much of a miser to buy anything, but you are able to pick up a nice bunch for a fiver. Why not visit if you're in London?

Review: Fashionista Magnetism Nail Lacquer by The Saturdays

The magnetic nail polish trend has been around for a few months now, but it wasn't until a dreary Friday night in (I'm addicted to The Bachelor) that I tried it out properly. I used Fashionista Magnetism Nail Lacquer, which has been developed in association with The Saturdays. My colour is 'All Fired Up Red' and has Rochelle on the box, I think.

You are instructed to paint on a first coat, and then on application of the second you must hover a magnet over the wet nail. Unfortunately this is not very easy. The magnet has to be close to the nail to develop the pattern, yet too close and you end up blobbing the magnet on to the wet polish and making a mess. My left hand (pictured) was quite successful, the right hand not quite so...It is also a terrible chipper that barely lasts 2 days.

Even so, it has a novelty value and with practice and a strong top coat could be quite impressive. I'm going to bring mine to work for the girls to try out, will report back any further findings.

Astley Clarke Gemology Evening

Last week I was invited to a gemology evening with Astley Clarke. I arrived straight from work at the showroom and joined the other bloggers amongst the plush armchairs and glossy glass cabinets.

We were treated very kindly with flowing Moet and colourful sushi platters, but the best thing about the evening was that we were taught about gem stones by the experts. Gemologist Amanda Good talked us though a variety of stones, some well known (sapphire, ruby, amythest) and some less well known (tourmaline, spinel and citrine) as we viewed the beautiful jewellery up close.




It was amazing to learn that most stones come in many different colours (pink sapphire anyone?) and my favourite discovery of the evening was acrostic jewellery. Originating in Victorian times, these pieces conceal hidden messages, for example THIS Astley Clarke ring is set with Diamond, Amethyst, Rhodolite, Labradorite, Iolite, Nephrite and Garnet which spells out 'darling'- such a lovely idea that I will remember about should I ever get married!



All in all it was a charming intimate evening which was not only great fun, but taught me a lot. Usually a battered silver locket strung around my neck is as fancy as it gets, but I am now lusting after chunky faceted rings set with twinkling diamonds. Hearing about how the gems are mined, cut and designed in to rings/bracelets really gave the pieces a history, and I would love to start my own fine jewellery collection very soon!

Thanks to all the ladies involved for a fantastic evening! It was also great to meet fellow bloggers Natasha, Kerry, Jenny and Rebecca to name a few!

Check out all the gems at the Astley Clarke Website


PS. Sorry for lack of recent posts, our Virgin Media has been down for the past 2 weeks!

Indian Summer

Just as I was preparing to pull out the tights and pop on a hat, a heatwave has hit London. It's been pushing 29 degrees for the past two days, which is surreal for October. Yesterday we got an invite to a pool party on a boat at Battersea. I'm not good with the sun, so it was great to get a gusty Thames breeze.

Makeup was almost abandoned. I stick to my SPF essentials Nivea factor 50 and Mac Prep and Prime Face Protectant. I'm so sad to be back smoothering myself in sticky suncream, crossing my fingers for an Autumn chill to set in soon. I want to wear a coat!!



Top 2 pics nicked from B @ Fashion Slant