A Package of Pretty Parcels

One of the nice things about the blogging community is the chance to read and comment upon other blogs that you like.  I have a number that I follow on a regular basis and they cover everything from feminism to makeup, recipes to lifestyle, culture to current events, all over the world. 

Bloggers on occassion run competitions on their blogs - it's a recognised way of increasing interest, marketing new products and a 'Thank You' to their regular readers.  I try and engage with as many blogs as possible, chat to their owners and other readers and have on occasion entered competitions but never won one.

Until now.

I entered a competition run by Jen on her blog Vibrant, Vivacious, Veracious Beauty.  It's not the first time Jen and I have interacted - we have each commented on the others articles in the past and Jen was one of my first ever readers back in January.  She was running a comp for a variety of goodies so I entered her competition and thought nothing more of it.

Imagine my surprise when a short while later I got an email telling me that I had won!  I was seriously excited - I mean, it's not every day you win a competition!

Jen lives in Canada so I thought it would be a little while before I received anything.  It arrived just one short week later.

I ripped open the package with the frenzy of a three year old on Christmas morning.  Steve was a little taken aback when he came home to find bubble wrap and brown paper strewn around the living room and me sitting cross legged on the floor like a kid with my camera, cooing over the beauty products.

I have now been able to give most of the products a good test run.

The Consonant Face Cream is very rich but absorbs remarkably quickly.  I suffer from dry patches as well as oily spots and need to be careful about what I put on my face.  This feels moisturising without being heavy and it acts as a good base for makeup.  It is also travel sized, perfect for the wedding last weekend!  The fact that it is organic and unscented is an additional bonus. 

The Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips I haven't worn yet - I'm still trying to find the right occassion.  They would have just ripped right off in production week and aren't exactly work appropriate, but I'm sure I will give them a go over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

O.P.I Top Coat is good.  I have resisted buying O.P.I nail varnish as I am worried I may get hooked on them and they aren't exactly the cheapest brand out there.  This is a good top coat though and kept my mani in pristine condition for all of three days as well as shiny and glossy - a personal best for me as mine are normally chipped within 24 hours!  A top coat is always useful as well!  The only downside with this is the drying time.  It takes ages.

The NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in 715 Burgandy is a good lip pencil - little to no bleeding and non-drying as well as fairly easy to apply.  Be warned though - it's a pain in the backside to sharpen.  Most people say either take the bottom off and scrape the product out, or scrape the top off the black and then you can sharpen it.

 The Urban Decay glide on eye pencil is ok.  I'm a bit funny with eye liners - I have every shade under the sun as it is the one thing I will not step outside without, and as such I advocate the cheaper brands with the broader colour ranges.  This has good pigmentation, glides on well without pulling and is generally a good eye liner and the colour range is OK.  I have quite oily eyelids (colour just disappears on me) and I find it isn't as long lasting as other, cheaper brands.  I wouldn't necessarily buy it over any other eye liner.

The Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey is my standout product.  Released last Summer, I had heard about them as a dupe for Clinique's Chubby Stick but had not managed to get my mitts on one yet.  Oh boy do I wish I had bought one ages ago!  It is uh-maze-ing, heavily moisturising (my lips are ridiculously dry at the moment) and smells like menthol which is the secret to adding a little extra plumpness to lips.  They are a chubby pencil with a swivel up design so you don't need to sharpen them.  Pigmentation levels are really good and there is a wide range of colours which are easily buildable.

I'm really picky about lipstick colours - it is so hard for me to find a shade that actually suits my skin tone and I also have a naturally plump lower lip with a defined heart upper lip which makes all lipsticks really obvious on my face and quite hard to wear so I tend to stick to lip liners with gloss or balm over the top.  This colour and formula was so easy to wear and if, like me, you struggle to get on with true lipsticks, I would highly recommend these.

So Jen, thank you so much for sending me the goodies!  It's been like a second Christmas!

Make sure you all pop over and check Jen's blog out.  She is so down to earth and funny and I have learnt a lot of beauty tips from her!

Versailles Gold

I've been eyeing up Essie's Penny Talk nail varnish for a while.  I'm a bit late to the rose gold bandwagon but it is an extremely pretty shade that works well with my skin tone and in a varnish it is work appropriate (unlike my neon green).  I just can't justify spending £10 on a nail varnish though so I have been looking for a good dupe for it for a couple of months now.

I popped into Boots yesterday to pick some bits and pieces up for Steve as well as a couple of bits that I *needed* myself.  I may have used my Boots points to get the Real Techniques Core Collection (something else that I have been eyeing up for a while, even more so since I got the stippling brush which is seriously good) and the Eco Tools Smudge Eyeliner brush as well as a crystal nail file.  I am so sick and tired of continuously purchasing standard ones I figured this would save money in the long term.  At the till they gave me a voucher for £2 off Max Factor foundation and as my day to day staple is the Max Factor Facefinity compact I stocked up.

While perusing the shelves I spotted the L'Oreal Colour Riche nail vanishes.  Normally £4.99 each, these were on offer for 2 for £7 and they had the Versailles Gold (106) in stock.  This is the closest dupe for Essie Penny Talk I have ever seen.

I am wearing two coats, with no base or top coat and no nail preparation before hand (I was very impatient and just wanted to see what it looked like).  It went on incredibly easily, even for someone as cack handed with nail varnish as I am and dried to a beautiful finish very quickly.  The pictures don't really do it justice; it is a very pale metallic gold with a subtle rose shimmer through it - very wearable.  I absolutely love it.  I also picked up another L'Oreal shade in Babydoll (207) but have yet to try it.  So far it has been on for 24 hours and it hasn't cracked or chipped or bubbled or peeled.  Which for me is impressive as my nail varnish never lasts particularly long.

I also picked up some dry shampoo.  I wasn't going to mention this but used it last night before I went to rehearsal as my hair was a mess, came downstairs and Steve commented on how nice my hair was looking.  Not bad for a dry shampoo!  The one I picked up was Lee Stafford Dark for oily roots.  It smells quite nice and is easy to use (spray and rub with your fingers) and had the bonus effect of providing lift, texture and volume.  It did leave a little bit of grey residue which I had to work out but it did the job. 

Office Storage

Steve popped into my office out of the blue a couple of weeks ago on his way home from a meeting.  It was the first time he had been able to come and see me in my new office (I've been in my new role for about 5 months now) and it's the first time I have ever had a private office.

After having a good rummage around he turned to me and very seriously said 'Your office is such a girls office'.  This left me a bit perplexed to be honest.  He then went on to explain that it was all to do with the fact that my drawers was neat and tidy, I had lots of brightly coloured stationary, photos and pictures up.  It also had something to do with the makeup, moisturiser, body spray, nail files, perfume and other girly paraphernalia I had lurking in various nooks and crannies.

There is a bit of a trend at the moment for bedroom storage (I did mine here) so I thought it might be nice to go into office storage as well.

ADDITION - Looking back this post is a little cringe-worthy (it was one of the first posts I ever did and I was / am still learning.  I'm not going to take it down though - it's all part of my blogger education!

I have a curved desk with a number of storage areas and have extended it with two sets of drawers.  I like having a lot of space to work on!  Everything is within swizzle distance of my chair to make it easier to get hold of something.  I love cherry blossom and use it for my desktop background.

I use a drawer divider in my main drawer to keep everything nice and tidy.  I like to have everything in its own compartment.  Going clockwise from top you have:  treasury tags and elastic bands, sticky dividers, glue stick and correction fluid, a set of marker pens, a fan sharpener combo, various make-up items, perfume, hand sanitizer, nail files, painkillers, compact mirror, staples and blue-tac, rubber (erasure for non-Brits), ink cartridges, sharpeners, paper clips and my fountain pen in its blue box.

Right by my computer I keep my pen pots with my Biro's, pencils, highlighters, coloured felt tips and my frog bookmark.  I have no idea where he came from and I never use him but he makes me smile.  Just behind you can see my Hollister body spray in Ventura (vanilla overtones) which I don't think you can get anymore (other scents here) and my Soap and Glory Hand Food which is like putting liquid marshmallows on your hands.  I cannot describe how good this stuff smells.

I like having bright posters and photographs around.  The two posters I picked up at a poster sale - one has vintage tea cups and cupcakes in it, the other brightly coloured ducks.  I love them both.  The photo frame was a gift that I wasn't too sure about at first but it works really well with the colours in the two pictures from our wedding day.  The pine organiser has files, spare pads and plastic covers in it.

I have an emergency stash in my drawer.  If I have an unexpected meeting, get caught in the rain or forget my make-up bag for after the gym this means I will never go short.  I have a small box of Corn Silk translucent face powder.  This stuff isn't great but it works in a pinch to reduce shine.  I then have a twin set of Benefit Ultra Shines Lip glosses in 'Back to the Fuchsia' and '24K' and Rimmell 1000 Kisses in Carry on Cherry (600).  My two lipsticks are No 17 Lasting Fix in Showcase and The Body Shop Colourglide in Coral Splash (66).  I also have a Lyspyl lip moisturiser that smells like strawberries.  Yum!

I always keep a small perfume in my desk.  At the moment it is Kylie Minogue Sweet Darling. You only need a little of this scent with top notes of vanilla and patchouli and a dry down of white musk.  Vanilla scents are my absolute favourite -most of my perfumes have warm overtones to them.  This particular one is becoming progressively harder to get hold of. 

I have a small addiction to Benefit.  I am a complete sucker for their marketing and I love their products.  These three little cases are ideal for the office.  Realness of Concealness has miniatures of Bo-oing, High Beam, Lemon Aid, Lip Plump and Ooh La Lift and is great for touch ups to your base throughout the day.  I don't think you can get Justine Case direct from Benefit anymore but it is another useful little box to have in your bag or at the office.  It includes miniatures of California Kissin', Eyecon, Benetint and Some Kind-A Gorgeous.  My final case is for the eyes.  Big Beautiful Eyes is just fab and includes miniatures of Bo-oing, three eye shadows (a base, a contour and a liner) and two mini brushes that aren't that bad.

With this little lot in my drawers I will always be presentable at the office.

Finally I have some other bits and bobs  - some are useful, some less so!  Here you can see the Hollister Spray and Hand Food again.  Just in front is a compact mirror, handy for any girl and I really like the picture on this one.  Shoes always speak to me!  The red thing in the centre with the Egyptian head on it is actually a spinning hand drum.  Steve bought it back for me from Cairo from one of his work trips and I have had it in the office ever since.  Occasionally people will walk in, ask to bang it (you twiddle it and the small balls hanging on thread hit the centre making a hollow drum noise) and then walk out again.  It appears to be a good stress reliever!  You can see my two nail files under it.  At the front is my enamel magnifying glass with a butterfly handle.  This was a stocking filler a few years ago.  I have never used it but it is pretty so I keep it in my office.

Finally every office needs a stash of snack and drink options.  I have a never-ending supply of fruit and herbal teas, coffees, dried fruit, nuts and seeds to stop me hitting the chocolate at 3pm.

So that is my office storage.  How do you manage yours?

Boudoir Storage

A lot of bloggers have been covering their beauty and jewellery storage systems.  I was feeling left out and decided to join the party.

My makeup brushes are kept in my china Cat Walk teacup.  Originally a present from Steve I stopped using it for tea and it was ideal for my brushes.

My wooden jewellery box was also a gift and perfect for rings, earring, brooches and some of my necklaces.

We redecorated in the autumn and I wanted a decent storage system for all my makeup, lotions, potions and jewellery as I was fed up with it taking over the bathroom and always on display.  This bookshelf was perfect and I bought the rattan baskets to file everything in.

Each of the boxes stores a different category of item - it is slightly alarming how much stuff I really have!  The top row is makeup and bangles, middle row is hair (accessories, products and styling tools) and the bottom is miscellaneous, body and nails.  

On top are both mine and Steve's storage boxes - the 2 large wooden carved ones are mine, the leather, gold in-layed and small box are his for cufflinks, tie clips, collar stiffeners, watches, chains etc.  The two large wooden boxes were bought by my mother in Thailand in the 1980's and have my large necklaces in them and the medium and small necklaces are stored on my glass necklace tree - another gift.

Finally the products I use on a daily basis are kept out on the pallet shelving unit Steve made during the summer - it's huge and beautiful and perfect for all our daily products. 

My system may seem overly complicated for some people but for me it keeps everything tidy and out of the way until I need it while combining decorative and practical uses for items.  I know where everything is and can lay my hand on something specific in seconds so it works for me!

How do you store your items?