56. Surprises and Snow

It was my Auntie's surprise birthday party on Saturday night, up in Bromley in Kent. Me, Tom, my mum and my stepdad travelled up in the day and went for lunch and checked into our B&B, which was luckily only a 2 minute walk from the hall, as whilst we were getting ready, it started to snow and settled pretty quickly! The owner of the bed&breakfast seemed very concerned about me walking in the snow in my high heeled boots, and offered to bring me wellies in the middle of the night. She did not seem amused when I told her I had plenty of men on hand to carry me, nor understand my reasoning that as my boots were big fat wedges, they would actually help me wade through. Oh well. They were indeed absolutely and completely comfortable, walking through the snow in the dark at 1am after several gallons of wine, so win win for high heels and alcohol. The spotty nail wraps were from a glossybox and the rings were from Topshop. The dress I wore I snapped up for £30 in the asos sale the other week, and I recieved a fair few compliments on it, despite it probably being a bit too dressy for the occassion. I also had numerous relatives and family friends trotting over to inform me that I was tall whilst they looked me up and down, no doubt crying "GODZILLAAAAAA" in their heads.
All in all it was a fun weekend, and my auntie loved it, after having genuinely no idea that it had been planned for months and months, and that over 70 of her friends and family were in on the secret, some even flying in from Ireland for that one night!

43. December Glossybox

December Glossybox-a Christmas special! I'm considering cancelling my subscription, just to cut down on some of my unnecessary outgoings, but after this months box, I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it! Most months there are only a couple of products I use, and the regular perfume sample finds itself being ignored too. However, in this box, I had used every single product within 24 hours of opening it!

1. BLINK+Go Hi-Definition Mascara-my lashes are naturally quite long, but lacking in curl, and I have yet to find the perfect product. This was nice though, it gave me properly clump free bambi-like lashes, and I think it would excellent for layering up on a night out for some dramatic looking peepers. Not sure if I would spend £15 on it yet, but I'm very happy with this sample!

2. Cargo Cosmetics Classic Lipgloss in Serengeti- Nothing too dramatic going on here, I want to describe the shade as like a tanned peach if that makes sense! Its nice and natural looking which I prefer in a gloss-if I want a hit of colour, I'd much rather use a matte lipstick. This is now living in my handbag, so I can slick it on at work after my lunchbreak, in an attempt to stay looking preened.

3. Deborah Lippman Nail Varnish in Razzle Dazzle (plus Stripper to go nail varnish remover mitt)-Oh how I adore this varnish! I've been itching to try out a glitter polish for Christmas and I love this reddy pinky colour-oh so festive! Needs a few coats to get this sort of opaque look, but I'm wondering what one coat of it would look like over the top of a different colour, maybe a dark purple. I thought that being a glitter, it would chip off very easily, but even without a top coat I'm impressed with its staying power. Side note-this varnish would properly look even nicer on someone who can apply it properly, instead of like a child who struggles to stay inside the lines.
Oh, I liked the novelty if the little finger mitt to remove my old varnish, but I think I'll stick to the usual method for now!

4. MeMeMe Seventh Heaven-Moisturising Facebase- I am in love with this product. I'm not a massive skincare junkie, but I was interested in this, as it specifically is aimed to prime as well as moisturise. At the time of applying my make up I can't say I noticed a massive difference, but as the day wore on, I realised my skin was still soft rather than starting to dry out and go a bit red and patchy like it normally does (especially at this time off year, with the air conditioner units at work blowing out hot air the whole time). But the thing I love most about this, is the gorgeous goegeous scent. Its citrusy but sweet at the same time. MeMeMe is a brand I'd heard of, but never tried out before, but I think I'm going to be investigating if there are any other products with this smell!

5. Rituals Foaming Shower Gel- First off I'd like to say how pleased I was with the unexpected size of what I assumed would be a small sample-thanks Glossybox! This will definitely get used, it smells nice, though I have to say that when I used it, I felt like I'd accidentally picked up a shaving gel rather than a shower one, because of the foamy action, but I'm sure I'll get used to it, and probably end up not wanting to go back to the lacklustre lathers of a normal shower gel! Be careful when you use it though-I wanted to squirt a little on the back of my hand so I could smell it, when I was sat on the sofa looking at all my goodies. It ended up shooting across the room, making me feel like Spiderman/a porn star, and left this splatted on the wall which was a good metre away from where I was sitting.

I've seen a few variations on this months Glossybox, and I reckon I've done particularly well with my selection, but I think its been a good one for most others too, so I'm probably going to give it a chance to win me over next month too!

31. Tries And Buys

Token bottle holding shot

So this was the shade of Leighton Denny polish I got in October's Glossybox, and oui, I like! If you ignore my horrific nail painting skills (I did these on my lunch break, not thinking about the eating and washing up and stock picking I was going to have to do immediately after), yes, if you ignore my skills (or lack of) I think you will agree what a lovely icy winter colour it is.

Its not a shade I would have chosen myself-I usually favour blacks, greys, navys and the occasional red (though perhaps I wouldve picked it out for the name; Sex Kitten) But everytime I catch a glimpse of my digits, I think "Ooh, what a great look." I think thats the best thing about glossybox and other similar schemes, trying things outside your usual safezone.
As for the actual application, the first coat seemed very transparent and I worried I was going to have to apply 20 coats to achieve the opaque look I favour, but I actually only needed two proper coats, plus a few touch ups (though thats more down to me missing bits.) I've also noticed that despite my rushed application, no top coat, and having to rip open cardboard boxes with my nails for the 2 days following, it hasn't chipped at all! I'm impressed! So all in all, A HIT!!

Yesterday I recieved most of my wages, and immediately came home to order these babies off Forever21

 

Aaaaand I also got these bad boys off of fyfo.co.uk by Rocket Dog. They also came in leopard print (OOF!) but I told myself the black will be worn much more. Christmas list maybe?!

YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM YUMMERS!

14. Sunshine On A Cloudy Day

Jacket-Levis
Dress (skirt)-Charity Shop

Belt-New Look

Boots-Bullet

Bit of a bargain outfit going on here, the jacket was given to me, the dress (actually a beautiful old lady skirt, fully lined and all) was £6.99 from a charity shop, the belt was £4.99 for two (one black, one tan) and the boots were an Amazon under twenty quid find years ago when the military boot trend had only just begun.
Anyway, I dont usually wear much yellow, but this sang to me from the window of Barnardos a couple of weeks ago, and it certainly brightens my winter wardrobe. As did the price. Barnados is apparently my favourite shop, as I went back in there today and got myself a new book-"Last Night at Chateau Marmont" by Lauren Weisberger (of Devil Wears Prada noteriety) and this charming, vintagey looking tooled bag in chocolate brown. Love the twisted metal fasten.

 

It can only be carried by the top handle, but I think it will be perfect to carry if I'm going out for drinks or something. Aka this Saturday I shall use it. It looks a bit moc croc in that picture, but its actually a floral design.

Today I also got my last few bits for holiday-travel size shampoos etc, the Garnier B.B cream miracle worker thingy, recommended by a friend, and after watching an old episode of 10 Years Younger in bed this morning, I was frightened into buying my very first anti-aging product, also by Garnier. I'm 23 now after all, I'm hoping to get Botox  for my 30th birthday, not my 25th.

OH! I also subscribed to Glossybox, where you recieve a lovely little package each month containing 5 samples of high-end cosmetics for £10 plus p+p. I've only read good things about it so far, but its handy that you can unsubscribe whenever you want if its not your thing/you have an angry credit card bill that needs every last penny.

Anyway, there is a chocolate muffin calling out to me now, and a borrowed DVD of Dirty Dancing to watch (apparently its a crime I haven't seen it before). Enjoy your day and scour a charity shop!