NOTD: Prickly Pear, Florals and Polka Dots

'Another NOTD already?!' I know my last post was also a NOTD, but I change my nail polish fairly frequently and I am so in love with this colour and my little attempt at nail art, that I had to share it with you.

3 coats of Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in 'Prickly Pear'

Left: Berry Ice Cream, Right: Prickly Pear

I resisted buying Prickly Pear for as long as I could. When it was released, I knew it was one of those colours that I would love. It is a pretty light purple, which I would say is slightly darker than your typical pastel lilac. The colour is similar to Barry M 'Berry Ice Cream', which is another of my favourites, but comparing them side by side, you can see the difference in colour tone. The formula was easy to work with and needed 3 coats to become fully opaque. The colour is super glossy, even without a top coat. It has lasted well on my nails so far and there are no chips yet.

Nail art and I are not best friends. However I was inspired by Milly's pastel floral nails in her recent post, so I decided to give it a whirl. The technique she linked to was a tutorial by Corrie and it really was as simple as pi. I think the whole nail art process took less than 5 minutes. I didn't trust myself to decorate all my nails, but I threw in a little polka dot design and really like how it turned out. I didn't use any fancy dotting tools or stamps - I just did a few circular blobs of Essie 'Off The Shoulder' using the brush and then swirled in Sinful Colors 'Easy Going' with a cocktail stick, before dotting mini leaves and polka dots using the same cocktail stick and Barry M 'Greenberry' and finishing off with a top coat. Simples.

Have you tried any Barry M Gelly nail polishes? Do you like nail art?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Sales Haul

I don't usually share all my Youtube videos here on my blog, but I recently uploaded a small sale haul to my Youtube channel and thought I'd share it here too as I picked up some great bargains:




Have you picked up any goodies in the summer sales?

Thank you for watching. xoxo, Joy

Winning (+NOTD)

This post was supposed to be posted on Friday, but I must have pressed the 'Save' button, rather than the 'Publish' one as it wasn't published and I thought it had... Oops, that's what you get for blogging when you're tired!

Anyway, I was super lucky to win the lovely Leanne's 3 year anniversary, 2000 followers and 500 posts giveaway. She was asking for suggestions for nail designs and I suggested 'The Hunger Games'. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm bragging, but I just wanted to share a sneak peek into the things I won because I am so overwhelmed with the prizes and so excited to try everything! :D Thank you so much Leanne, I am so grateful!

Leanne posted all the prizes with a lovely little note with it :) When I opened the parcel, I felt like a child at Christmas!! The main biggie was the Sleek Spotlight Kit, which is absolutely amazing! I can't wait to try everything out. I can't stop staring at all the the pretty blushers! The other prizes came in a lovely orange box and had a mix of things, including an Orly nail polish, an OPI nail polish, Max Factor goodies, Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm, etc.

I knew straight away that I wanted to use one of the products and opted for the much talked about Max Factor's Fantasy Fire. It's a lovely purple duochrome. The formulation was quite sheer and took 4 coats to get a somewhat opaque colour. I should have probably looked around online before applying, because a lot of people recommend wearing it over another nail polish. But the colour is super pretty! I love it!

4 coats of Max Factor Nail Effects Nail Polish in 'Fantasy Fire' Please excuse the messy application and my horrible cuticles!!

Thank you for reading. If you haven't checkout Leanne's blog already, then definitely do so! her blog is full of pretty nail art, nail polish and beauty! :) xoxo, Joy

New Bits & Bobs

Last week I managed to get a MAC Her Blooming Cheek blush and MAC Pink Nouveau lipstick from the lovely Rachel's blog sale. I came home to see a parcel from her and literally ripped it open!

Her Blooming Cheek blush is a gorgeous, highly pigmented pink. It looks scary in the pan, but using a stippling brush to apply it leaves you with a pretty pink cheek. I think this will be a firm favourite this winter! Pink Nouveau is a bright Barbie pink lipstick. I originally didn't think it was very me, but upon trying it on I fell in love with it. I wore it when I went shopping with my mum with a neutral eye and I really liked it! Thank you so much again, Rachel!

Her Blooming Cheek, Pink Nouveau

I have recently been lusting after a dark red/wine lipstick for Autumn/Winter. I was waiting for my friend to get her eyebrows threaded in Superdrug, so I thought it was only right to have a cheeky look down all the make-up aisles! I went a little swatch happy and must have swatched every single dark red lipstick I came across. My hand looked like I had linear measles! After some deliberation, I opted for a red lipstick by MUA which was cheap as chips at only £1! It's a gorgeous red, which is lovely for night and day. It applies like a dream, is super creamy, non-drying and lasts for ages.

I also picked up a matte black eyeshadow (shade 20) as my old one had smashed into smithereens. Like I've said before, the pigmentation of MUA eyeshadows is amazing and they are soft and velvety. MUA has definitely rapidly become one of my favourite affordable brands.

MUA Lipstick Shade 1, MUA Eyeshadow Shade 20

What have you bought recently?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Haul From Home

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in approximately a week, I was at home for reading week at the end of October and was either spending time with my family, babysitting my sister or revising throughout most of it, so I didn't get much of a chance to blog and then when I got back to the flat, our internet had decided to go kaput and we have only got it back today. Thank goodness for mobile internet!!

Somehow I always manage to bring back to Birmingham a lot more than I take home! So I thought I'd show you my 'haul' of the stuff I brought back from home to Birmingham.

Post

I get most parcels sent home because of a few issues I've had with Birmingham postal service in the past. I won a giveaway from Shadahada's blog, but there were customs charges to pay and the postman left a card at the beginning of October. Unluckily, my parents went to China and America throughout the whole of October, so unfortunately I missed that and I think it got sent back to her :(

I was lucky enough to win the lovely Aseya's giveaway a while back. She was generous enough to post the item and added a few other goodies with it. I love the nail polish! That will definitely be featured in a NOTD soon! Thank you so much, again, Aseya! :D

I bought teeth whitening bleach from a dental showcase in March, but the trays that came with them were crap. I bought these custom fit trays for £35 on eBay, which is pretty good as it meant I didn't have to pay extortionate amounts at the dentist and the service from the eBay seller was great. They send you 4 pots of impression material and you have to take the impressions yourself (Quite a hilarious feat!) and then send you back our trays and a little vial of bleach. I highly recommend the sellers if you need bleaching trays.

Duty free and America

I asked my parents to pick up a new MAC Studio Fix Fluid for me from duty free, as I thought it'd be worthwhile to save a few pounds buying it in duty free. If I'd known they were going to America, I would have asked them to get it America, but oh well!

When I found out my parents were going to America, the first thing I asked them to pick me up were some Crest toothpaste, as I've heard people rave about these and I wanted to give them a try! I hope they live up to my expectations.

Previously Bought

I went to Bicester Village with my mum and picked up a few things from CCO. The Brighter By Nature Pads have received brilliant reviews on the Origins website, so I persuaded my mum to treat me. I have used a few of the pads and unfortunately I am yet to experience the amazing effects that everyone else has. I will persevere and update you all. The set of the Vitazing, Ginzing eye cream and Drink Up Intensive Mask was a brilliant bargain at around £30! I've been using the Vitazing moisturiser and omgosh, it's love!

I hope this hasn't been too boring for you! Have you tried any of the products I brought back? What did you think of them?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

4 Week, No Heat Challenge

Earlier this year, I saw a few posts and videos from a number of people saying that they were doing a 'Heat Free Hair Challenge'. CosmeticsCharlotte72 did a great summary video of her experiences and some tips here and Hannah from beautylishious did an amazing series on ways to style your hair without heat.

I am trying to grow my hair at the moment and in a bid to get healthy hair, I thought this would be a good challenge to attempt. I have terrible willpower, but I am going to try this challenge for one month and update you about how I get on! This is how my hair looks air dried and I guess this is how my hair is going to look for the next 4 weeks:

Please excuse the cheesy grin! It's probably because I'm wearing one of my favourite t-shirts of Danny Robert's Chanel girl illustration, which I bought from Fritha's blog sale :)

I thought I'd also throw in some 'hairspiration' pictures of people that give me hair envy...

Photo: Mariannan

Photo: Leblogdebetty

Photo: Tumblr

Photo: Google Images

Photo: Google Images

Have you ever attempted the '4 Week, No Heat' challenge? How did it go for you? And who gives you hair envy?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

You've Got Mail

Today I received two lovely bits of mail. Over the time I've been blogging, I have been lucky enough to win a number of giveaways and each time I receive the parcel, I'm always overwhelmed with sheer excitedness and am always so grateful that I have been given the opportunity.

In June I won Becca's amazing Cherry Vimto and Missguided giveaway. When my dad opened the door to the postman, he just gave me this look to say "What have you bought now?!" When I opened the box, we were both shocked at how generous they were.

The box the hamper came in was huge! Look at the size of the box in comparison to my Macbook!

The lovely hamper with the Cherry Vimto. I've recently become obsessed with adorning my room with wicker baskets to store miscellaneous bits and pieces, so this will look perfect in my room and I'm going to put my hair styling tools in it :)

Wow-oh-wow, so generous! After taking this photo, my dad didn't hesitate to steal all 3 cans of cherry Vimto as he left for work and I have managed to munch through a packet of the Vimto Chewy Sweets and a few glasses of Cherry Vimto Cordial. Nom :)

The gorgeous cherry red lace dress from Missguided. I am going to a wedding at the end of September, so this will be perfect for the occasion.

At the beginning of August, I won the lovely Christine's Sigma F80 giveaway. I already have a Sigma F80, but since coming home from uni my mum has decided to pinch it, so this came at the perfect time! The package was shipped on Aug 9, so I was impressed at how quickly the brush came all the way from America!

How cool is the Sigma logo? It's like a rainbow holograph!

Have you won anything recently?

Thank you for reading and a massive thank you to Becca and Christine for allowing me to win their giveaways! :D Make sure to check out Becca and Christine's amazing blogs! xoxo, Joy

P.S. Don't you hate when your camera runs out of battery just as you're about to use it?! I had to use my dad's DSLR for these pictures and they came out with a yellowish tinge, so I used Carrie's vintage Photoshop action again to cover it up.

Brum Blogger Meet

On Saturday, I went to the Brum blogger meet in Birmingham. It was organised by the lovely Fritha and Claire, aimed at people that are situated around the Midlands. I was really nervous, since I am sometimes awkward with new people, worrying that I wouldn't know what to say or be too shy. But as the day drew closer, I got really excited to see everyone's tweets. There was even a hashtag on Twitter for the meet (#brumbloggermeet)! I tried to learn names and faces in advance, but alas that majorly failed since I have a memory like a goldfish. I was also going to vlog the day, but in the end I decided against it and didn't even take any photos!

It was arranged to meet at Starbucks in the Pallasades and armed with my caramel frappuccino, I shuffled over to the big group of people with "Hello, my name is..." stickers on. After pulling up a chair between Selina and Florrie, all my nerves slipped away because everyone was lovely and really chatty. Upon arrival, I was handed a number of goodie bags. I was overwhelmed at how much stuff was in them and how generous the companies had been! After some sitting and chatting in Starbucks, we all headed over to the bull and the church by the Bullring to take some obligatory group photos.

Group shot taken by Fritha :)

We then went our separate ways for a spot of shopping. One group headed off for vintage shopping, while a tonne of us headed to the jewellery section in Forever 21. Every shop we went into, the beady eyes of the security guards followed us around the store and because we all had the distinctive yellow Max C goodie bags, we had a lot of people gawping at us! When we were crowded around the MAC counter in Selfridges, a woman even asked if there was a promotion on in MAC!

At 6pm, we went to Red Peppers in the Mailbox. The service in there was impeccable. The food and drink all came promptly and was super yummy! I shared a sex on the beach cocktail with Eloise and had pollo con funghi (spaghetti, chicken and mushrooms) for my dinner. During the meal, there were more goodies being distributed. This time, they were from Clothing at Tesco. I chose a lovely, drapey black shift dress, which is actually too big but I thought it was a very versatile piece and would look cute with a belt. Prizes were given to people that had participated in the challenges (1. To find the best head attire, 2. To take a 'street style shot' of someone stylish in Birmingham and 3. To find the best bargain) and to Selina, who won best dressed, and Gem, who won the furthest travelled as she had come from another country (Wales), lol!


After dinner, we all went out separate ways. I was planning on heading out to the HMV Institute with some of the girls and two friends from my course. But once the vino had started flowing in my flat, we didn't even make it out, oops!

As I mentioned before, we were so lucky to get such generous goodie bags! My flatmate was even jealous, hehe! I can't wait to play around with everything :) Here are some pictures of the stuff in the goodie bags from Max C, Crown and Glory, Matthew Williamson, Motel and Missguided.





I had such an amazing day and met some lovely people (links below). Thank you, again, to Fritha and Claire for organising such a fantastic day! Here's to more blog meets! :)

Links to the lovely ladies - Char, Claire, Clare, Danni, Elizabeth, Eloise, Emma, Florrie, Fritha, Gem, Gem, Hattie, Hayley, Lily, Louise, Maria, Michelle, Rebecca, Sara, Sarah and Selina :)

Thank you for reading my super long post. xoxo, Joy

Infinity And Beyond

Last year, I posted about Tattoologist, an amazing blog jam packed with compilations of tattoos submitted by readers. I still want a tattoo, maybe a small one on my ankle or somewhere discreet, and at the moment I really want it to be of the infinity sign. How long I like that idea for is unknown! Recently I've noticed a tonne of infinity sign tattoos pop up and at the moment, I think it's such a pretty and delicate symbol, which is different from the stereotypical hearts and stars that a lot of people seem to get. These are some of my favourite ones:

Photos: Tattoologist (Credit to the original photographers)

What do you think of infinity sign tattoos - Yay or nay?

Thank you for reading. xoxo Joy

Winning

I was so excited to find out that I had won the lovely Tine of Beautyholics Anonymous' 4th birthday giveaway a week or so ago. When the doorbell rang this morning, I pretty much squeed when I saw the big 'AIR MAIL' sticker on the front! He must think I'm a complete loon. Oh well. I'm surprised how quickly the parcel arrived - Approximately a week - since Australia is pretty much the other side of the world!

I received:

'Lessons of a Lipstick Queen' by Poppy King
A lovely card from Tine and her business card
Anna Sui Face Color Accent in 301
Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Rivage
NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna
Kink Lip Lustre in Bella
Kink Lip Jewel in Pink Fling
Kink Eye Defining Pencil in Black
Calvin Klein Brow Definition Pencil in 204 Brunette
Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Rejuvenating Hand Therapy
A $50 gift voucher from Sweet Contemplation Accessories (Not pictured)

From L-R: Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Rivage, CK Brow Pencil in Brunette, NARS Laguna, Anna Sui Face Color Accent in 301, Kink Eye Defining Pencil in Black, Kink Lip Jewel in Pink Fling and Kink Lip Lustre in Bella.

I'm so grateful and excited to be able to try out all the products! The Chanel lipstick is definitely going to be my new go-to lipstick, the Anna Sui blush is such a beautiful colour and smells amazing and Nars Laguna is my first dip into the Nars pool... And definitely not my last!

Thank you so much again Tine!! If you guys don't follow Tine, I suggest you click on over and do so! Her blog is lovely and full of all sorts of good stuff!

xoxo, Joy

Amy Antoinette Contest Entry

This is my entry for Amy Antoinette's Sigma Brush contest. When a contest involves doing a makeup look, I normally tend to shy away because my makeup application skills are by no means good. They're adequate enough to apply my simple daily makeup, but really don't compare to many of the other lovely people with beauty blogs (At this point, if you're wondering why I have a makeup/beauty blog, then my answer is: Because I love to BUY makeup and beauty products!).

The requirements of the contest where to create a look that would fit in with a 'romantic English Country Garden wedding'.

I took this with my new camera and haven't quite figured it out, so the picture is a little bit washed out and yellowy. Sorry. Also lol at how unsymmetrical my face is...!

Face
Estee Lauder Doublewear Foundation in Fresco
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC15
Collection 2000 Sheer Loose Powder
Benefit Hoola (As a slight contour)
Topshop Cream Blush in Neon Rose
Revlon Matte Blush in Perfectly Peach
W7 Africa Bronzing Powder (As a highlight)

Lips
Body Shop Sheer Lip Shine in Sheer Pink

Eyes
No7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse in Vanilla all over the lid
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Naked in the outer third and crease
No7 Gel Eyeliner
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara
Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Black-Brown

Again, sorry that the picture is a little washed out :(

I hope you like my entry.

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Hey Mr. Postman (Part II)

This is the second part of my accumulative purchases posts (with giveaway wins and a JWLRY purchase). The first one (with eBay and blog sale purchases) is here.

Left: 9 Bars, Right: American Apparel Nail Polishes in Office, Rose Bowl and Echo Park

9 Bars: I won these 9 bars from Lily's giveaway. In case you're wondering what they are: 9Bar is a deliciously nutritious seed bar designed to get the maximum nutritional goodness from seeds in a convenient and tasty way, so its no great surprise to find the main ingredient of a 9Bar is a blend of wholesome seeds. Sunflower seeds form the main base of the bar but the mix also includes pumpkin, poppy, sesame and the legendary hemp. The flax variety has added flax, or linseed as it is often better known, one of the best plant sources of Omega 3. Seeds are a nutritionally dense food containing a wide range of nutrients including minerals, vitamins, essential amino and fatty acids. As part of a balanced, healthy diet seeds can provide a wide range of nutrients. The bars were a good size and very filling. All but one (I can't remember which one!) had a thin layer of chocolate on the top. Calories wise, they have about 200 and something calories, which is in the same realms as a chocolate bar, but these bars are so much better for you. I really enjoyed all the bars and I will definitely be buying more! You can buy them online and you can get certain varieties in health food stores or your local supermarket.

Nail Polishes: I won these AA polishes from Joellen and they are the prettiest colours ever! I've heard so many good things about AA polishes, so I'm excited to try them once I take Orly 'Blackout' off (As a sidenote: After approximately a week, apart from a little more tipwear, 'Blackout' hasn't chipped at all! I am very impressed indeed!)

Thank you so much, again, Lily and Joellen! :)


I've wanted a double finger cross ring for ages! I bought this from Lily's jewellery shop for £6 recently and have worn it pretty much every day since I received it! It's a mini cross, which I really like because it looks girly and dainty, without being too overpowering :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Hey Mr. Postman (Part I)

Over the past few weeks I've done a spot of online shopping from eBay and blog sales and won a few blog giveaways. I had some stuff sent to my home address and some to my uni address, in the hope that they would arrive while I was there during Easter/reading week or term time. However, I haven't seen some of the stuff until now!

Even though I've had some of the items for a few weeks, I decided to do accumulative posts instead of posting as soon as I received things. In order to stop them from being mammoth posts, I decided to split them into two posts - One with my eBay and blog sale purchases and one with my giveaway wins and LLYMLRS JWLRY purchase.

Sorry it's a mix of camera and Blackberry photos. My camera ran out of battery and I don't have a memory card for my new one yet!

Clockwise from left: Jelly Lens, Hair Spirals, Royal Wedding Mug and Glycolic Acid

Hair Spirals (£0.99 for 3) and Jelly Lens (£0.99): I was on the hunt for some cheap alternatives to the Goodys Spin Pins, which retail at nearly £5 for 2 (Extortionate much?!). I found the hair spirals, after typing in 'hair spirals' in the search bar, from a seller in China who came up trumps with 3 for 99p with free postage! I had a nosy through the other items they sold and decided to also purchase the jelly lens. It's a bit of a gimmick to be honest and since I received it, I've not actually used it! But at only 99p, I thought it'd be a bit of fun. The items only took about 10 days to get here from China, which I was super impressed with.

Royal Wedding Mug (£5.50): Out of all my friends, I was the only person that was super excited about the Royal Wedding last month. With all the build up to the wedding, I had a look at all the memorabilia that was being released. After seeing a lot of merchandise with subtle royal designs, I decided I wanted something that was rather in-your-face, so I hunted around on eBay and thought this mug was perfect! The pictures are from the day they announced their engagement and I just love how happy they look :)

Glycolic Face Peel (£4.75 + £2.25 p&p): Recently my skin has been looking a little dull and I was getting a bit sick of my acne scars, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I'm a bit of a DIY obsessive, so I did some research on face peels. In the end, I decided Glycolic Acid would be a good starting point and settled on 30% concentration. I chose this one over one with a free neutralizer, because the 'free brush' swayed me... But as you can see, the brush is tiny and pointless! Plus the instructions say to apply the peel with a cotton pad, so I don't understand why they include a brush!

(I have only linked where I got the glycolic acid from, because the sellers of the hair spirals, jelly lens and royal wedding mug don't appear to be selling the items anymore.)

Clockwise from left: MAC Lustre Drops from Ellie's blog sale, Essie Midnight Cami and H&M Blue My Mind from Product Pixie's blog sale and Cloud 9 mini straightners from Ann's blog sale

I never really used to buy from blog sales because I didn't have my own Paypal account and using my dad's wasn't really an option. I used to look at blog sale posts and think what I would buy if I had my own Paypal. Thinking back now, I wonder how many things I wanted but missed out on... Since setting up my own eBay account and therefore a Paypal, I've been a keen bean and bought a number of things. I think blog sales are good opportunities for people to get rid of the stuff they don't use and for others to try things without committing to the RRP.

Sorry this post is so long! If I haven't already bored you to death, I will have the second part of this post tomorrow :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

How To Prevent Mascara From Smudging

Photo: Tfs

After writing my review of L'Oreal Voluminous, I decided to research what I could do to prevent it from smudging. I probably should have done it sooner, but it's always been one of those things that I'd tell myself to do, but never actually get round to it... (Does anyone else do that?)

Just by typing in "How to prevent mascara from smudging?" into Google came up with approximately 65,500 results! I just took a look at the first few links and came across a good list of tips and tricks. You may or may not already know them, but I thought I'd share the list here anyway:

• Give yourself credit: When applying mascara, use a credit card or business card to act as a shield between your lashes and your lids. Any slip-ups will go on the card instead of you.
• Soak it in: After applying eye cream or foundation around the eye area, give the product a chance to soak into the skin before applying your mascara. Skin that's too hydrated can attract smudges.
• Powder room: Apply a light dusting of powder around your eyes to help suppress oil.
• Towel it off: Thin, even coats of mascara are one of the simplest ways to prevent mascara from making a downward slide. To avoid clumpy, clustered lashes, just run the wand over a tissue to create a light-on-the-product coating. Let each layer dry completely before applying the next.
• Get back to your roots: Sweep on mascara from root to tip, tapering off at the ends. Less product on the tips can help prevent inadvertent slips onto the skin.
• You're in the clear: Use a clear coat of mascara once your mascara has fully dried for the finishing touch. This extra step acts similarly to a hair gloss, locking in color and protecting your lashes.

Source: Prevent Mascara From Smudging (Bella Sugar)

I decided to give the tips above a go and I have to say, I really wish I'd researched this sooner! Now that I know some tricks to keep my mascara from smudging, I've changed my mind about L'Oreal Voluminous - I'm definitely going to be repurchasing it! :D

Do any of you find that your mascara smudges throughout the day? What do you do to counteract that?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

First FOTD, plus a few other things

This is my first FOTD post (Actually it's yesterday's FOTD...), eeek. I was quite hesitant about posting this, because I was feeling self conscious about the picture as my skin hasn't been that great lately and I filled in my eyebrows unevenly! But in the end, I just decided 'What the heck, I'm just going to post it'. This is just a simple, neutral day look which I wore to my lectures yesterday.

Please excuse my washing in the background!

Face
Benefit Dr. Feelgood (As a primer)
Revlon Photoready in Shell
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC15
Collection 2000 Sheer Loose Powder
MAC Virgin Isle CCB
Bourjois Rose de Jaspe

Eyes (I forgot to take close up pictures of my eye, sorry!)
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MUA eyeshadow in Shade 11 all over the lid
MAC Brun eyeshadow in the outer third, crease and eyebrows
No7 Gel Eyeliner
No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara

Lips
Body Shop Sheer Lip Shine in Sheer Pink

Last week, I was lucky enough to win another giveaway. I was so chuffed when I saw an email from the lovely Leah telling me that I'd won. The parcel with the prizes arrived at the weekend, so that was a really nice way to start off a lovely weekend :) Thank you so much, Leah!!! Go take a look at Leah's blog (Look! Flying Monkeys!), it's full of a mix of beauty, fashion, food and all things lovely. :)


I just wanted to share a quick Boots purchase with you all. It never would have occurred to me that you could buy jewellery in Boots, but I was waiting for my friend while she was buying some stuff and was surprised to see a jewellery stand. Not only a jewellery stand, but one with lots of pieces that had 1/2 price stickers on them, score! There were some other pretty pieces, but this ring really caught me eye. It reminds me of a wing ring that I'd seen on ASOS a while back, but smaller and cheaper at only £2! I really like how it has the diameter of the ring on the label, rather than S, M or L. Although when I first tried the ring on, I almost had a panic attack when I thought it was stuck, lol! From now on, everytime I pop into Boots, I'm going to keep an eye out for their jewellery section! :)


Have any of you bought any jewellery in unexpected places before?

Thank you for reading. I hope my FOTD didn't scare you off, lol! xoxo, Joy

Pearls & Poodles Giveaway + DIY Projects

I found out earlier this week that I had won Milly's 1 year blog birthday giveaway of a MAC lipstick and an eyeshadow. I was over the moon and could not believe how lucky I was! Thank you so much again, Milly :D If you don't already follow Milly's blog, why not?! It's amazing, with a mix of beauty, fashion and lots of gorgeous cupcakes, you should all go and take a look!

I was able to choose which lipstick and eyeshadow I wanted, so I opted for Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick which I've wanted for a while now and Brun eyeshadow to fill in my eyebrows.

I've been at home for reading week this past week and when I got back to uni last night, I saw a little parcel from MAC outside my room and actually squeed before running into my room and ripping the box open.



As soon as I got into my room, I whipped Viva Glam Cyndi out of the box and applied it. It is a perfect coral-red, which is suitable for day and night. I love it! Brun is a lovely matte dark brown. It blends in perfectly with my brows and I can also see myself using this in my crease with some of the colours from my Naked Palette.

Since I've been back, I've also been inspired to do a little bit of DIY.

I made myself an eyeshadow primer, following Ingrid/MissGlamorazzi's tutorial here. I was surprised at how easy it was to make! All you need is foundation, concealer and moisturiser!

I forgot to take a picture before I mixed everything together!

L-R: On its own, over Urban Decay Primer Potion, over DIY Primer

In her video, Ingrid showed swatches of the DIY primer in comparison to other high end primers. I decided to do this as well to show how good the DIY primer is! The black eyeshadow is by BeautyUK and on its own, it looks like a washed out black/grey. With UDPP and the DIY primer, you can see how pigmented/intense it becomes. Surprisingly, the DIY primer makes the shadow pretty much as intense as the UDPP does! I don't think it'll help to delay creasing, but it's definitely a good alternative to forking out for the high end primers or if you run out of your favourite primer.

I also decided to make my own palette using Fee/MakeupSavvy's tutorial here on using a sanitary towel protective tin that came free with packs of Bodyform. I've had this box since I was in year 7, where everyone tried to be discreet and slide their towel up their school jumper sleeve without anyone noticing (Or was it just the girls in my school that did that?). It's been sat in my drawer for years now, so I decided to make use of it and turn it into a palette.


The MUA eyeshadows were super easy to depot. All I did was slide my knife between the pan and the plastic and lever it out. I was expecting to need to use my straightners to melt the glue a little, but no heat was required. Trying to depot the Beauty UK shadow was another story! I managed to flick a massive chunk of it out, dent the pan and in the end, didn't even end up depotting it. Bad times.


I still have some space in the tin, so I might depot some of my other random eyeshadows at a later date.

I just thought I'd throw in some swatches of the MUA eyeshadows. They're so pigmented and soft. I love them and for only £1 (90p if you have an NUS card or fill out a survey online - See the back of the receipt!), they're great value for money! I really like the MUA brand - It's affordable and great quality.

L-R: Shade 12, Shade 1, Shade 11

Sorry for the lengthy post. If you read it all, I congratulate you :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy