Wednesday, 25 January 2012

My Birthday and the goodies!

So may have noticed it was my birthday recently.
I turned 20 on sunday :) Though I refuse to call myself twenty, and say that I'm 'twenteen'.

On saturday night I went out with a group of my closest friends dressed as wheres wally.
I was actually the only girl there, was none of my girlfriends could go, so it turned out to be a bit of 'lads night' haha! But a high percentage of my friends are male, and often the best fun is when I'm out with them because we can just be totally silly and well 'wallys' ;).

I also got some amazing presents so would like to share with you some of those, and a couple of pictures from the night.

Firstly, the presents, because I know you're all nosey like me, and like to know what gifts people get!

I was very lucky and got lots of perfume this year!






The perfumes I got were, Dolce and Gabbana 'Rose the one', the original 'the one' is one of my favourite perfumes and I have always wanted to try the rose version. I also got Juicy Couture 'couture couture', Marc Jacobs 'Lola', Vera Wang 'Princess' and Vera Wang 'Love struck'. All of these perfumes are ones I have wanted so I was thrilled with them all!.





Some beauty items I got were the body shop cranberry joy body scrub (everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE cranberry), Liz Earle facial exfoliator, 2 more illamasqua cream eye shadows, mac polish, more illamasqua eyelashes, YSL aqua liner (which is in a pale green shade and AMAZING!). I also got a bit more mac and illamasqua but don't have them to hand.



Being the comedy fan I am I also got 2 new stand up DVDs :).




I then got this amazing little thing, a jelly belly toasted marshmallow scented reed diffuser! Cannot wait to use this!





Now, I didn't get ALL of these necklaces for my birthday, I got the hooks for christmas, a couple I bought last year but 80% of them I got for my birthday after picking them out from the accessorise sale.

I also got a few other bits, and my granny is buying me my IMATS weekend ticket, my best friend is booking me in for a new tattoo, YAY :). So I've been more than spoilt!

Anyway here's a few snaps from my wally night :).







I hope the guys don't mind their pictures on here, I just won't tell them ;)
Louis (far left) is the evil yellow wally, incase you were wondering,
anyway, I had a fab birthday weekend :)

Hope your all very well!
Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x


Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Review

I know I've absent for a while, it was my birthday at the weekend, and I'm also on a currently on a course this week, (which is proving very helpful and I shall report on that later). So my free time has been very limited. I will be posting about my birthday and sharing some of the fab things I got super soon :)

But for now I just had to blog about this new product....

I'm sure many of you are aware of Chanel's newest foundation to launch, Perfection Lumiere. This replaced one of beauty's most loved foundations, Pro Lumiere. It will also be replacing matte lumiere, which whilst I don't own, I do know is also a very popular and well loved choice.
Pro Lumiere was one of my most loved foundations, it gave a beautiful natural dewy finish, but also provided a good coverage for flawless skin, it's been a makeup artists favourite for years, which is why it took by surprise to hear that it was being discontinued. Due to this, I had such high hopes for the new foundation, I've always got on so well with chanel foundations and I've never been let down by them, until now, sadly.



Thankfully I didn't dive right in a purchase a full bottle, because it has a very hefty price tag of £36. Any cosmetic product with this kind of price, even by my standards, really has to be something very special. I can definitely justify the price when it comes to my beloved pro lumiere and vita lumiere aqua, however i found this new addition to the line very disappointing.

I took a sample of shade 30, this my shade in the other chanel foundations (however in this particular range I found it a little bit more orange). I was super exited to try it out, but when applied, it made my skin look so flat! I'm lucky and usually have very good skin, however after applying this foundation it reminded me of those bad school days when I was younger and no idea what I was doing with makeup, it looked caked on, seemed to highlight imperfections I didn't even know existed, and made me look like I was desperately trying to cover up bad skin, when really, underneath the very thin layer, my skin was in fact very decent!

I think the reason for this is that the foundation is VERY matte. I'm not a massive fan of matt foundations to begin with anyway, if you are then you may get on with this product, but trust me when I say it really is very matte. I prefer a foundation to look like real skin, and skin this matte just doesn't exist. If I had to describe how this foundation looked on my skin, if you imagine using poster paints at school and remember how they looked when they had dried on paper, it wasn't far of that... on my skin.

Another problem I have with this foundation is that it contains spf 10 with titanium dioxide being the active ingredient, so I wouldn't particularly advise using this foundation if you're going to be around any flash photography.

This foundation does have a very strong floral/fruity scent as well, personally, I love this, as I like a nice smelling foundation, some foundations, for example mac studio fix fluid smell pretty foul. However some people I understand do not get on very well with strong scented face products.

My biggest issue is really this...
Why replace Pro and Matte Lumiere, two well respected, good performing, loved products, for this foundation? I could understand if it was a product that was a 'better updated version of' pro and matte lumiere, but this is completely different! Right on the other end of the scale! 
It seems silly to replace such a great foundation with a such a different formula.

There are however some good points, I won't totally bash this foundation.
It would be great for really oily skin.
Because of its heavy matte formula, which is thin in consistency but full of coverage, it makes it great for those who have trouble with oily skin.
Also like I mentioned the coverage is very decent, definitely medium to full.

I really didn't want to have a bash at chanel, adore the brand and have never had an issue with any of the products before, but this one disappointed me SO much! Especially since it's been really hyped and has replaced one of my favourite foundations.

I really do hope Chanel realise their mistake as I would presume most of their customers would easily prefer having pro lumiere back in the line other than this very poor product, any day!

As I said, this is just my opinion, you may love this foundation! I do urge you all to go and try a sample first though, try it on yourself at home and see if its for you, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for dry/combination skin. I have normal skin and still found this made my skin look like the sahara crying out for a drink!. 

Have you tried this foundation yet? What are you views? Are you upset about Pro lumiere being discontinued? 

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x

Thursday, 19 January 2012

A sweet makeup experiment...

As most of you are aware, as well as being a beauty and fashion addict, I'm also a freelance makeup artist with some experience in commercial styling as well. Its was about 6 months ago that I decided to put my heart and soul into freelance and try and make it my career. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into building up my portfolio, making contacts and improving my skills. But I feel that in these past months I have personally achieved quite a lot. Whilst it's still an ever growing project to make this into a fulltime career, I am getting the first pieces of my jigsaw in place!

I do quite a lot of shoots but I don't post many of them on here, however today I had a shoot with two local photography students who had found my work on the internet and got in touch. These girls really are fabulous, their skills are beyond the majority of any college students and it turned out to be possibly my favourite shoot of all time.

We did various looks but this is my favourite, and the funnest to do. I'd always wanted to do a kitsch shoot in the style of mac's quite cute/sugar sweet collection promos. Lots of glitter and sprinkles later... these are some of the pictures. Just to note, these are not the finished photo's simply some snaps from the day I thought you might want to have a nose at :)











Hope you like :)
Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x


Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Makeup goes Meow!

From the name of my blog it may come as no surprise to know that two of my favourite things are makeup and cats. In which case, I believe this to be the most appropriate post I've ever publish on this blog to date.

Paul and Joe have been a brand I've admired for quite sometime, from their elaborate cute packaging, to the quirky collections and kitsch colours.

Well this year they're celebrating their 10 year anniversary, and being cat loves like myself, they're doing in purrrrrrrfect style.

Check out these gorgeous products!



The collection is set out in 2 halves, the Collection Sparkles and the Kitty collection. Sparkles, is shown in the top photo with the eyeshadow palettes and paw print lipsticks. Kitty collection is the below photo, this also contains a cute pressed powder with a paw print puff, and a gel liner to get those cat eyes!

This 10 year anniversary collection is currently available on Asos, and in a few stores. It launches to Harrods on the 25th.

 Another kitty trend thats got me lusting are the Charlotte Olympia 'Kitty' heels. 
These were spotted on the beautiful Alexa Chung at the British Fashion awards. 



They also come in a gorgeous wedge form, which are right up my street!


Sadly at between 500 and 650 british pounds a pop, I very much doubt I will be walking the streets in these, but the search is on for a good dupe!


What do you think of the current kitty craze, will you be getting your paws on anything?
Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x



Tuesday, 17 January 2012

The smell of cupcakes...

I had been on the hunt for a while for this product! Well, not this particular one, anything that fitted its description, but came across this baby first.

There is a small outlet village about 20 minutes from where I live, I actually bought this about 2 months ago, but felt that I needed to share it with you all because its gorgeous.

Basically the hunt started when I walked into a home furnishings store and it smelt like cakes, I asked an assistant if it was a special plug in that they were using, but in fact they were actually just baking cookies as a promo at the back of the shop! That would have been a big YAY for everyone else, but for me, I wanted the bottle of what ever that smell was so that my room could smell like a bakery! So since then I'd been on the hunt for something that would do it!


(yes thats Elvis in the picture, my room has a rock n roll theme and i bought it at the boot sale for a bargain)


I found this candle in a home store outlet shop (not the one i was originally in) and my face filled with joy when I smelt it and realised it was what I'd be after! It smelt SO much like cakes, not a fake cake smell, like it was a REAL cake. Its adorable and has cute little faux sprinkles on top!

I love burning this in my room, I do wish it would smell a bit stronger and fill the room, however my mum can smell as soon as she walks in my door so maybe its just me! The hunt hasn't ended, and I don't think it ever will. I will always long for more things to make my room smell of cakes, without having made any effort to make any!

For those interested, I found it on the internet here. It is in euro's but I believe you can still purchase it over here.
 Is this to sickly sweet for you, or would love a product like this?
Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x

Saturday, 14 January 2012

Quick OOTN

I thought I'd do a quick outfit post to show you what I wore tonight.
I went to my granny's cousins surprise 70th party. It wasn't actually as dull as you may think surprisingly, and I did have a pretty nice time :)

Sorry for the rubbish quality photo, I really do need to get my camera sorted (and tidy my room!)



The dress is from Primark and I thought I got for a bargain £10 but the tag said £13 so maybe not, either way it's still a steal and I lurrrve it! I the back has buttons all the way down like Pippa Middleton's famous dress.
Shoes where a massive bargain from Primark for £6! I am SUCH a big fan of wedges, especially black ones, these are lush with a dark wooden effect rounded wedge base, with faux suede and leather on the top of the shoe, laces and peep toe. They're gorgeous.

For once, my hair is neither in a bun, or loaded with extensions. I've been growing my hair for a while now after regretting having it cut short, though it did probly need it due to the condition. I've been laying on heat on my hair and only straighten it or curl it the odd once or twice a month, sometimes not even that! Today I thought I'd give it a heat fix, armed protectant spray of course. Because of how well its growing I didn't feel the need to either tie it up or shove and extensions in, so yay to that!

Hope your having a fabulous weekend! My OOTN next week will be a lot more interesting ;) Its my birthday next sunday so on the saturday night I'm having a wheres wally themed dress up bash, look out for that!

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x




Thursday, 12 January 2012

To cute to use?

I made a BIG order on urban outfitters not so long ago and my things came yesterday WOO! Still deciding on what to keep and if I need to send anything back.

But one thing I got which I thought you guys would love to see are these lipsticks!



I can't remember the original price of these because they've now sold out, but I think it was £20.
I picked them up for a bargain £5!

How gorgeous are these! They remind me so much of the Paul and Joe lipsticks, only these are meant to be owls. 

Anyway, the colours are gorgeous as well as the cute product packaging, but I can't bare to use them!
They just seem to cute and adorable to use and ruin!

Have you ever had a product that you feel like you can't use because you don't want to wreck its prettiness and aesthetic appeal? 

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x


Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Origins Ginzing Eyecream Review

So it's going to be another raving review today lovelies!
As I mentioned in another post, I got a lovely Origins set for christmas, included in the set was the Ginzing eye cream I had been lusting over!



Now I've never really been into eye creams, I never found one that I felt really did anything special for me, but this eye cream has had so many raving reviews (one more as of now), so I wanted to see if it was worth the hype. I can tell you right now this is one of those products that is most defiantly worth the hype!


Origins describe the product as a refreshing eye cream that promises to brighten and de-puff. They say that it will reduce the look of dark circles and make bags and puffiness appear less visible. It contains 'caffeine from Coffee beans, Panax Ginseng, Magnolia Extract and natural optic brighteners which rapidly wakes up, refreshes and restores radiance to tired eyes'. 

I do say, I have to agree with them. This is the only eye cream I've ever used that I have found has actually made a difference to my eyes. I personally am a late sleeper, so I often wake up with dark circles and some puffiness. This cream not only reduces puffiness but also has a brightening effect. The cream is  a peachy pink colour, which helps to counteract dark circles, and its also slightly luminous, which helps with brightening. 

It feels really nice and refreshing to put on the morning it gives you a little boost and makes you feel more awake! I also find the foundation/concealer under my eyes looks much better after using this in my routine.

It's definitely worth a try. As I said, this is the only eye cream I have found to work on me, which is saying something! It also happens to be Tanya Burr's (pixi2woo) favourite eye cream of all time.

It retails at £21 but you can get it in a set here on QVC for £32 that includes the vitazing moisturiser and overnight moisture mask. This is the set that I got, it's a very good deal if you interested in both products as it's a nice saving plus you get the overnight mask!

Have you tried this eye cream before?

Origins is starting to become a bit of a favourite of mine at the moment!

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x




Tuesday, 10 January 2012

MeMeMe Seventh Heaven: Review


Glossybox's December box was a total gem wasn't it! I really have loved all the products, and one of my favourites being this beauty!

Its by MeMeMe, a brand stocked in superdrug, its one brand I've already looked at products from, but never really found anything I liked the look of enough to warrant purchase, until now...


This is an absolutely fabulous product! I use it as a primer under my foundation, it's lovely and moisturising, it reduces the look any pores, it makes my foundation go on super smooth and makes the foundation appear airbrushed in its finish! I find it also helps the foundation last longer as well, especially when I typically like to where lighter foundations with sheerer coverage, they don't tend to last all day but they seem to with this.

One negative to some people (which I find a massive bonus personally), is the scent of the product.
It has a lovely citrus smell to it, it is a fairly strong scent for a skin product, but I personally love it and find it only makes me love it more!.

I definitely intend on buying this fullsized when I run out :)!

Did you receive this in your glossybox?
What did you think of it if you did?

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x

Monday, 9 January 2012

Giveaway madness!

Okay so there are some AMAZING giveaways going on at the moment. I don't overly like to overload you with posts about them BUT Lainy Lulu is a new blogger and has  FAB give away, infact shes giving away Urban Decay Naked 2! So I really think this is worth raving about! Plus she has a lovely blog so check her out. Enter here!. http://laineylulu.blogspot.com/2012/01/giveaway-free-urban-decay-naked-2_09.html?showComment=1326157351113#c4128550869763685662


And if you haven't yet entered my giveaway, I still have more prizes to add to enter here :)

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x

Origins Vitazing Review

If you saw my post on the beauty items I got for christmas, you may remember how excited I was about receiving a box of Origins products!

I had been after vitazing for so long but never took the plunge to buy it.
I'm now left wondering why I didn't!



This products is outstanding! Now, if you don't know the concept behind vitazing, its meant to be this miracle moisturiser with lots of top ingredients including the much sought after mangosteen. It's an energising moisturiser and has spf 15. But theres one thing about this product that makes it worth the rave...
The fact that it can double as tinted moisturiser! 

This by no means has any sort of coverage to it at all, I won't cover any blemishes, but it will even out your skin tone, give it vitality and radiance, and make it look like you got all the hours sleep you needed! Origins describe it as giving you a look that, 'mimics a week on holiday' and I really do believe it sort of does do that! 

The product comes out as your average white creamy moisturiser.


When you start to blend, you can begin to see it get a slight colour.


As you blend further, it becomes a gorgeous flesh tone.


Then once completely blended, it gives the skin a beautiful subtle hint of colour, and leaves you with a fresh, dewy and bright finish! 


Obviously the process of blending it into your skin takes seconds, I've just shown you the process broken down so you can get an idea of how the product works.

I honestly cannot recommend this enough. It's the perfect product if you're running late or just need to nip out somewhere but want to look a bit more bright. It really does make your skin look fabulous! I can pop this on in a minute, and feel totally fine to leave the house. I also use this under foundation sometimes, it means that my skin tone is even, therefore I only need the tiniest bit of foundation for perfect coverage. I also sometimes wear this as my foundation! Its undetectable to the eye that you have anything on, yet it really just perfect your skin! 
Obviously I wont be using this on its own if I have any blemishes, when your skin is being good it really is the perfect product!

Its pretty pricey at £26 a tube, but I feel it will last a good while, and it does a decent enough job to warrant its price tag. 

Have you tried Origins vitazing? Or perhaps theres another product from the brand you love? Let me know your thoughts!
I shall also be reviewing the ginzing eyecream and overnight face mask very soon :)

Also don't forget to enter my giveaway here
You can win a set of clarins goodies, plus other items, and more to be added!

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x




Sunday, 8 January 2012

Kreativ Blogger Award

I really should sleep! But I've had a superduper tough day today, emotions running wild, head everywhere, one of those times when things really just get on top of you. But blogging makes me feel better I've just seen I've been given yet another award! From Sandra at Bbalm.blogspot.com thankyou :)!


Here's what you do - Link back to the person that awarded you - Answer the questions - share 7 random facts about yourself - award 10 other bloggers and let them know.

1. What's your favourite song
I simply cannot choose one! Anything by Blink182 there my hereo's I'll list a couple of my faves since I'm a big music rock n roll diva!
Whats my age again - Blink182
Dumpweed - Blink182
Highway to hell- ACDC
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeplin
Come together - The Beatles
Last Resort - Papa Roach
Golden Cobra - Limp Bizkit
Great Escape - Boys like girls
Life is a highway - Ton Cochrane
Journey to the end of my life - Allstar Weekend
Boiled Frogs - Alexisonfore/city and colour

Bit of a list sorry, more! Theres so many more to!

2. Your favourite dessert
Cheesecake!

3. What ticks you off
Football and rude/ignorant people/liars.

4. When I'm upset I..
Play my guitar, plan things to enjoy.

5. Favourite Pet
I have loved all my pets I simply cannot choose! But I adore my cats, TJ and Pixie :)

6. Black or White
Black.

7. Biggest Fear
Death,  actually. And never finding a 'soulmate'

8. Everyday attitude
I'm 99% of the time the most laid back, chilled, happy go lucky, bubbly excitable little character ever.

9. What is perfection
Nothing is perfect, but that's what makes things so great. I guess being content is perfection :)

10. Guilty pleasure
Pretty babyfaced boys. I'm a sucker.

10 beautiful bloggers

Cute Blog Award!


I was very kindly given the cute blog award from http://yolandaas.blogspot.com/
 Thank you very much!

This is the second little award I've gotten, so cute :)!

How this works is I now answer a little interview/survey and pass the award on to a handful of other bloggers who I feel should get the award.

1. What is your go to makeup product?
 A nice nude lipstick and dark eyeshaddow! 
  2. What was your favorite fashion trend of 2011?

   I guess the whole 'crosses' thing got big, and love that :)
   3. What is your favorite dessert?
Strawberry or Lemon cheesecake!
4. Favorite color?
Yellow!
5. What is your middle name?
                                        Louise.                                       
6. What was the last song you listened to?
Chase and Status - Eastern Jam
7. Cats or dogs?
Cats!!!
I send this award to:


Have a lovely week and dont forget to enter my giveaway!
Loves,
Gemma.
-x

Saturday, 7 January 2012

100 Follower give away!

Wowie! I've got 100 of you following my little blog! Firstly, thank you so much to all of my beautiful followers, I can't stress how happy I am to be a part of this community, your all so supportive and it's such a wonderful thing to be a part of, especially when we all share a passion. Not many of my friends really get my whole 'thing' with makeup and how fascinated I am with it, but I can express it all on here and know that you guys share the same love :)

So then the give away!


So far...
Clarins travel Exfoliating cream
Clarins travel foaming cleanser
Clarins travel beauty flash balm
Clarins mini gloss (like nars orgasm)
No 7 lipgloss
Travel Trevor Sorbe smoothing balm

Just to let you know, I have more prizes for grabs other than what is shown here, my friend Michelle who works for clarins has kindly donated some goodies and says that she has a few more things that she can pop in :)! Along side this, I have got a few other bits I'm adding to the give away.

ALSO, now heres the cool bit, along with all of these prizes and others not pictured, for every 10 followers I get over 100, I will adding another prize! So you could end up with even more goodies!
I will also be doing 3 runner up prizes, so that you all have a decent chance of winning something :)

You may enter from today, and it will close on the 7th of February, so theres a whole month for there to be extra prizes added! Plus, I will be at the IMATS just before closing date, and will pick out a prize from there to add to the package!

So heres the boring bit
The rules

You must be a follower of this blog.
You must comment on this post with your name and email address, and tell me what your favourite all time product is (Because I'm nosy :P)

This will entitle you to 1 entry.

If you want extra entries theres a few things you can do!

Tweet about my give away with a link +1 entry
Do a post about my give away + 2 entry
Like my freelance makeup page DollyRoger Makeup here +1 entry

Let me know your name/twitter/blog if you do any of these things for an extra entry.

All thats left to say is good luck!
And thank you SO much for following my blog, it means an awful lot :)

Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x

Illamasqua sale bargains!

I don't know how many of you are aware, but illamasqua have had a FANTASTIC sale on recently, with items from £5! It's very rare for beauty brands to have any kind of sale at all, the most you'll usually get is by hunting at outlet stores, maybe a 10% off code here and there for department stores, christmas sets occasionally on offer, but thats usually as far as it goes, very rarely does a brand have and actual full on sale! So when illamasqua, a brand I've adored and followed since its very beginning launch a couple of years ago, has a sale, I was straight in there! I love the brand and have quite a few of their products, one of my all time favourites being the liquid metals.
I really wish I could have bought every single thing on there! Sadly as bargainous as it is, it does all add up, and I simply cannot afford to get everything, (though I do think I'll be making another order before the sale ends, and I don't know when that is).

Here are my picks from the sale :) Everything I got was down to £5 minus the lipstick which was £7.50. Some of my choices may seem odd, but please bare in mind that I am a makeup artist, so the 'out there' products are a god send to me, and almost little a little toy I get to play with :)!.


I really was spoilt for choice when it came to lashes, as much as I wanted every single pair, I had to narrow my choices. I chose these 3 based on my current collection and what I had been looking for and don't have in my collection. The top pair are a design that I've been wanting for a while, the second pair I bought based in mind of a shoot that I've had idea for, and the 3rd pair look like a perfect dupe for the Mac Hello Kitty lashes that came out a few years ago, I do own these lashes, but sadly due to lots of wear, they are now a bit past their time. 


I have 5 cream shadows here, my mum has also chosen me a few shades for my birthday as she knows how much I wanted more of them. They are a mix of satin and sheen finishes. Cream shadows are fabulous for a base under eye powder shadows to create a bolder and longer lasting finish, but they can also have a pretty slightly glossy finish sometimes when used on their own, which looks beautiful for photography in shoots. I've had a little play with these, the consistency is great and they are lovely to work with, I will do a review soon when I've had a more time to play with them.


I think that these are my favourite purchase of the bunch. Chunky pencil liners. They are SO creamy and well pigmented, and the colours are gorgeous, there is also a silver available but I have quite a few silver pencils I didn't warrant getting another, as tempting as it is now because the formula of these is fab.
The colours are so beautiful, they remind me of the colours that the Olson twins wear on their eyes, which is one of my favourite looks, so I'll get a ton of use out of these! Photo's do not do any of these products justice.





Last up is a lipstick, I've included two photos because it was hard to capture the true colour of this lipstick, it's not accurate in either photo, more like a middle ground of the two, however it is a bright hot orange, theres no mistaking that. But come summer this colour is going to be all over our magazines and catwalks, its a colour that always looks very beautiful and striking in shoots, and one that I lacked anything like in my collection.

I do plan on grabbing more form this sale before it goes, I have my eye on a few other things. 
Have you check out any of the illamasqua sale? Have you tried any of their products before?


Lots of love,
Gemma.
-x