Recent Primark Purchases

I popped into Primark yesterday before I went to the gym and came out with a couple of things, including a black belt, some socks, some underwear and 2 lovely items of clothing which were new in.

Sheer black shirt dress - £15

This dress is super pretty and flattering, since it comes in just above the waist. I can see myself wearing this all year round - For example, in the winter with a chunky knit and thick tights and in the summer with a pair of flip flops. There was also a cream/yellow version as well, which I tried on but I found it was rather see through, so I opted for the black one. It kind of reminded me of this dress from the Primark SS11 lookbook, which is released in March.

Horse print tunic - £6

This tunic/dress is super cute. I love the horse print and the peter pan collar. It's really flattering, since it comes in just above the waist. There was also a pinky/peach version of this, but I decided against that one since I have the pinky/peach swallow tunic that was released last year. The collar has a really gorgeous and subtle embroidery detail:


I'm super impressed with the Primark SS range at the moment. Have you bought anything from Primark recently?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Dupe: MAC Virgin Isle

Normally I ramble on and give you the whole back story in each post, but today I thought I'd get stuck straight in... I think I may have found a potential dupe for MAC's Virgin Isle Cream Colour Base, which I wrote about here.

Topshop Cream Blush in Neon Rose vs. MAC Virgin Isle CCB

Neon Rose is part of Topshop's permanent make-up range, priced at £6 for 4g, while Virgin Isle was limited edition from the MAC Stylishly Yours collection, priced at £13.50 for 3.2g. Although correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it is a MAC pro product, so it would still be available after this collection has gone.

All photos were taken in natural daylight with no flash.

Left: Neon Rose, Right: Virgin Isle
(I probably should have given the products a clean before I took photos, lol!)

As you can see, the two products don't look particularly similar in the pan. Virgin Isle is a lot brighter than Neon Rose. Neon Rose looks pinkier, while Virgin Isle has a more orangey-red tone.

Swatch - Left: Neon Rose, Right: Virgin Isle

Swatch blended out - Left: Neon Rose, Right: Virgin Isle

Personally, I think the two products look very similar in these pictures. You can see that Virgin Isle is more pigmented than Neon Rose and you can see the different finishes of the two products - Neon Rose has a cream to powder formula, while Virgin Isle does not. But apart from that, I would say that they are dupes of each other.

What do you think? Are Neon Rose and Virgin Isle dupes or not?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Project Empties #1

It's been 2 months since I decided that I want to do Project 10 Empties and I'm disappointed to say that I've done a terrible job at keeping to this! Initially it started off well, but then I decided to change the rules to make an exception for limited edition products, since I desperately wanted MAC's Virgin Isle CCB and the Nails Inc/Coke nail polishes. Since then I've managed to also buy a number of other unnecessary products. Major major major fail.

I think I'm going to change the name to "Project Empties" so there's no limit to how many products I need to use up and I'm going to make it so that I can still buy products (since I obviously have no willpower). But I have to make sure that I only buy the equivalent number of products as I finished in the previous month. I don't know if that makes any sense, but an example is: If I finish 3 products in January, then I can buy 3 in February. At least that way I won't be adding to my collection, just replacing... Ahem.

I just thought I'd share the products that I've used up in that time and do a mini review of the products.

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Primer
Review: Here. Despite this being a small jar, it lasted me from June to the beginning of December, so I was mightily impressed.
Would I repurchase? Yes! I already have.

Garnier Fresh Essentials Eye Make-up Remover
Review: I really liked this product. It removed my eye make-up easily and didn't leave any residue. It has a faint fruity smell, which I thought was rather pleasant. It says that it is suitable for sensitive eyes, but I disagree - I managed to get it in my eye a few times and it was painful (However, I have extremely sensitive eyes...)
Would I repurchase? Yes

Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Cleanser
It looks like there's a little left in the bottle, but I couldn't get that bit out :/
Review: I really liked the smell of this cleanser. It's a really nice, refreshing lift, especially if used in the morning. It made my skin feel clean, but didn't leave it feeling tight or dry. I occasionally found that you have to get the right proportion of water and product to get a nice lather. I don't feel like I can comment on how well it works for acne prone skin, because I usually just get the occasional breakout and I used other products in conjunction with this. If you don't like products with SLS, then this isn't for you.
Would I repurchase? Maybe

Finished Items: 3
Accumulative Finished Items from December 2010 to January 2011: 3
Allowance for February 2011: 3 (Even though it was Dec/Jan combined, it's just easier to make February's allowance 3, because I don't remember which products I finished in which month.)

Have you finished any products recently?

Thanks for reading. xoxo, Joy

NOTD: Shade 11

2 coats of 2true nail polish in 'Shade 11'

This colour is quite deceiving and super pretty. It looks lilac in the bottle, but on the nails it looks lilac in some lights and almost silvery in others.

I found the application really easy. The formula was great to work with and dried quickly. I didn't put a topcoat on, but it had good lasting power. I'm pleasantly surprised at how nice this polish was, especially for the price! In Superdrug, the 2true range is permanently on offer for 3 for £5. I would definitely recommend taking a look at this range next time you're in Superdrug! :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Picture Tuesday

Photos: Nishe (Here)

Diet Coke and Nails Inc

It's that time of the year again... Nails Inc. has teamed up with Diet Coke again to bring 4 special limited edition nail polishes. To get them, you just need to purchase two bottles of Diet Coke from Boots.

From L-R: Cool Caramel, Delicious Denim, Perfect Plum and Heavenly Heather Grey

I don't usually drink diet coke, however in this case, I decided to make an exception. So I popped into Boots and picked up 4 bottles of Diet Coke (at £1.18 each) and "Denim" and "Heather Grey". I decided against 'Plum' and 'Caramel' because they reminded me of Nails Inc.'s 'Victoria' and 'London' (ETA: I now know that Caramel doesn't look anything like London!), respectively.


Swatch:

From L-R: Heather Grey and Denim
Please excuse how dry and horrible my hands look :/

Will any of you be popping into Boots to pick up some Diet Coke nail polishes?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

P.S. I know I'm technically supposed to be doing Project 10 Empties... But I've decided to change my rules so that I am allowed to buy limited edition products, because it'll be too difficult to get hold of them once Project 10 has finished.

Obsessions: Dainty Pendants

I usually don't wear necklaces, mainly because I forget to put them on or because they're all tangled into a massive knot. However, recently I've been loving wearing necklaces with teeny pendants.

I bought the tiny wishbone necklace from ASOS in the montage below and I have been wearing it everyday since I got it. I really want the skull necklace from Daisy Knights, I like how (sterotypically) skulls are deemed as 'scary and gothic', while the pendant looks so delicate and pretty.

I just thought I'd share some dainty pendant necklaces that I've found on the internet.

Clockwise from left:
Simple Silver Crystal Pendant Necklace (Accessorize.com)
Rose Quartz Cluster Ditsy (Topshop.com)
Dogeared Peace Reminder Necklace (QueenofCharms.com)
Wishbone Pendant Necklace (ASOS.com)
Skull Necklace 50 (DaisyKnights.com)
Initial Giftcard Necklace (Urban Outfitters.com)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Usamimi Headbands

Usamimi headbands are quite big in Asia at the moment, and I've noticed a few places in the UK selling them now too. I saw this gorgeous white lace one in Urban Outfitters before Christmas, but decided against buying it because I thought that £10 was extortionate for something that is basically material around wire. This led me to embrace my creative streak and try to make one myself.

I was surprised at how simple they are to make. It took me approximately an hour and a bit to make/hand sew the one above. Considering I'm awful at sewing, I'm pretty impressed with how the headband turned out. *Pats myself on the back* The headbands are extremely versatile and can be worn in a number of different ways.


For tutorials on how to make these headbands, you could type "How to make usamimi headbands" into Google. This will bring up a tonne of sites showing you a couple of different methods of making these. The site I used for guidance was Yes Stylist. The tutorial on there is amazing, there are step by step instructions and pictures, making it so much easier to understand.

I did things a little differently to the tutorial linked above, but I thought I'd summarise it here:

What you'll need:

• Material (Any material should be fine apart from silk/satin, because that will probably just slip off your head)
• Scissors
• Thin, bendy wire (I used 24 gauge)
• Needle and thread
• Tape measure
• Pins (Not entirely necessary, but do come in handy)

1. Decide how long and wide you want your headband to be. Mine was 30" long, 2.2" wide. Cut out the material you need. This can be done by either doubling the length (to fold and sew it lengthways) and or doubling the width (to fold and sew it widthways). I doubled the width, so I cut a strip of material 30" long and 4.5" wide.
2. Turn the material inside out. If you have a design on the material, it should be facing away from you. Sew along the lengths of material to end up with a tube. Don't sew the ends up at this point!
3. Turn the material back inside out - The design on the material should now be facing you. (This was probably one of the most time consuming steps!) I found that using a pair of tweezers to help pull the fabric back through was easier than using my hands.
4. Measure the wire to be approximately 2 inches longer than the material tube.
5. Loop the end to avoid having sharp ends and snagging of the material, thread it through the material and secure with a few stitches.
6. Sew the ends together. I decided to sew them into a triangular tip by folding over the excess material into a triangle and sewing around the edge.
7. Put it on your head and you're good to go!

I bought 1m of material, which was WAY too much! I managed to make 2 headbands, a 16x16" cushion cover and still have a tonne left over!

What do you think of these headbands? Will you be attempting to DIY one? I've already bought some lace to try and recreate the one from Urban Outfitters.

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

MAC Virgin Isle

I got back from uni today to see a black box by my door. Firstly, I was excited that I had a parcel and secondly, I was even more excited that my MAC order had arrived! I haven't really had a chance to play around with Virgin Isle yet, but I just thought I'd share some swatches with you :)


After reading Kelly's post here about Virgin Isle Cream Colour base, I immediately knew that I wanted it. After seeing that you could only get it at MAC Pro, I started to fret until Temptalia posted some information and gorgeous swatches about MAC's Stylishly Yours collection (which is instore and online now). I didn't buy anything else from the collection or the other collections, because technically I'm supposed to be doing 'Project 10', but this product looked too good to miss and since it was LE, I knew I had to snap it up.

Swatch:

Left: Unblended, Right: Blended

Virgin Isle looks quite scary in the pan. The MAC website describes it as a 'vivid, bright coral'. It's really pigmented - I literally lightly swiped my finger over the CCB to get the swatch above. It's a multi use product, so it can be used on your cheeks and lips, but not your eyes like some of the other CCBs. I'm super excited to start using this and I think it'll soon become a staple in my everyday makeup.

Have any of you bought anything from the Stylishly Yours collection or any of the other collections?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Picture Tuesday

Photo: Vacant Stares (Here)