OOTD- I wish it could be Christmas Everyday!

A belated Merry Christmas everyone! 

I hope you all had a wonderful time, ate lots of yummy food and got piles of pretty presents! I really did have a perfect Christmas this year, the food was amazing (I definitely need to start eating normally again now though!), the whole family got together and I was a very lucky girl and got lots of lovely presents. My boyfriend got me an adorable little pink iPod nano and I have loads of beauty and fashion presents to blog about now too, but first I'm going to show you my Christmas day outfits...

Christmas onesie- Primark
White ankle socks- Primark 

I started the day in my footless Christmas onesie from Primark, which is ridiculously comfy and cute and was perfect for acting like a kid in whilst I opened my stocking. As this was taken in the morning I didn't have any make up on, which is why I have a present covering up my face as I'm not ready to go 'au naturale' on my blog yet!

Dress- New Look
Tights- River Island
Flats- New Look
Bracelets- Pandora and Links of London
Necklace- H.Samuels
Earrings- Topshop

I always like to dress up for Christmas day, but also want to wear something that skims over my tummy so I can eat as much as I want without worrying about having a visible food baby, so my deep purple puffball dress was ideal! I got it from New Look for my 17th birthday meal and it's always come in handy for family eating type functions. I really love the satin fabric and the sequinned band that nips you in at a nice and flattering part. I'm loving patterned tights at the moment so I wore it with my diamond tights from River Island and because I was only going out to drive and pick up my boyfriend I wore my black tie up dolly shoes also from New Look. For jewellery I kept it simple with my staple Pandora and Links of London bracelets and valentine necklace. I'm getting back into dangly earrings at the moment though, so wore some over sized black tear drop danglys from Topshop.  

I thought I'd finish by showing you all the fun presents that were under our tree on Christmas day (it doesn't look quite as exciting now they've all gone!)...

 and my little girly tree from Paper chase that I have in my room...

I hope your all having a lovely week! I must say I really like the gap in between Christmas and New Year because my family still have time off work and I have time to sort all my stuff out and think of what New Year resolutions I'll be making and undoubtedly quickly breaking next year!

Love Meg

x  

NOTD- Christmas sparkle!

Good evening girlies!

I'm just going to do a quick nails of the day post before I start wrapping all my presents up...

I fancied adding a little bit of Christmas sparkle to my nails this week so I invested in a Rimmel London glitter top coat in disco gold and put it on top of my No7 stay perfect nail colour in Foxglove. The deep purple and glittery gold remind me of Christmas baubles, which is a look perfect for the festive season. I don't know why it's taken me so long to invest in a good glitter top coat actually, as it's such a good way to spice up nail colours that your bored of. This particular one was £4.59 from Boots and I'm really impressed with it as it lasts ages and has just the right amount of glitter to be noticeable but also let the base colour show. 

How will you be painting your nails for Christmas? Are you a fan of glittery polish?

I hope you've all had a Merry Christmas Eve-Eve!

Love Meg

x

OOTD- Tis the season to wear pretty dresses

Hello lovelies! 

December is my favourite month of the year, not only because it's my birthday, anniversary and Christmas, but also because it's the party season which means lots of great excuses to wear fabulous frocks! So today I thought I'd show you  the best party dress that I've worn this year...

I wore this dress to a night at the Oscars themed SUPAS session back in November, which is basically an organised open mike night that Sheffield University Performing Arts Society put on (hence why I'm singing into a microphone). I actually borrowed this dress from my housemate, but I really wish it was mine as I think it's the most perfect party dress! My housemate got it from Warehouse last year and I'm sure she said it was only around the £30 mark. It's perfect for my figure as the tight body clings to all the right places and nips you in at the waist. I'm also a huge fan of one shoulder dresses as it means I don't have to wear a completely strapless bra (which can be a bit of a nightmare for me!), but I still get to have my shoulders out a bit and the flower detailing is gorgeous. I also adore the colour of the dress as it makes such a statement and is classy but a bit sexy at the same time. 

With such a statement dress I don't think you need to overdo the accessories, so I kept it really simple with just my staple heart necklace that my boyfriend got me for Valentines day and my sequinned peep toe platform heels from Dorothy Perkins. I'm sorry you can't see the heels very well, but as I've left them in Sheffield over the holidays I can't show you a better photo of them till I'm back at uni.   

Do you have a favourite party dress? Are you looking forward to getting all dressed up this month?

I had a really nice sleepover with my girls from home last night, we ate far too much Chinese and vienetta and drank way too much wine- so yeah a perfect night really! and right now I'm just getting into the Christmas spirit watching 'Love Actually' with the family...oh I do love my cosy nights in dressed in pj's at this time of year, as well as my nights out in pretty dresses!

I hope you're all having a great start to your weeks!

Love Meg

x  

I love beautiful brows...

Hello Lovelies!

After years off obsessive waxing, over plucking and lighter eyebrow lusting, I've finally decided I don't want to make my eye brows disappear any more! I've never had horribly dark or bushy ones or anything, but I've always wanted mine to be lighter than their brown colour and always aimed to make them as thin and least noticeable as possible...but how wrong I was, as in the celeb and fashion world there are now lots of dark eyebrowed light haired lovelies showing us how to embrace and enhance our brows. Initially when I dyed my hair blonde I wanted to get my eyebrows tinted to match my new lighter hair colour, but now after taking inspiration from the lovely lot above, I really love having a more dramatic darker contrast as I think it frames my face better and looks kind of sexy. To get this look I've letting my eye brows grow slightly thicker, as I usually get them waxed into a pencil thin style and I've also started filling them in with an eyebrow pencil. Keeping them in shape is still very important to me, but now I've got a less thin high maintenance shape I've been able to stop the drastic waxes and just make sure I keep on top of plucking stray hairs instead, which is much kinder on the purse too!

Meg's top dos and don'ts  for Beautiful brows-

1.DO start off by going to a beautician and getting your eye brows waxed or threaded into the sort of shape you want, as you could have a bit of a nightmare if you try creating the initial shape by yourself.

2.DO start your daily make up routine by plucking any stray hairs, particularly in the central area between your eye brows and under the brow, as this is the easiest way to keep them in shape and reduce trips to the salon.

3. DON'T over pluck! Plucking your stray hairs is fine, but try not to pluck into the shape of your brows too much (I once had a disaster where I plucked far too much from start of my eye brows and had to go through a horrible stage of growing hairs back patchily so my brows weren't ridiculously far apart, so yeah DON'T DO IT!)

4. DON'T pluck from the top of the brow as these hairs will never grow back so if you take too much off your going to have to get very creative with an eye brow pencil for ever more! Serious over plucking of the rest of your eye brows can result in permanent hair loss too, so try not to get too tweezer happy!

5.DO invest in an eyebrow pencil and try filling your eyebrows to make them fuller and more fabulous.

6.DO get the right colour eyebrow pencil for your hair and skin tone- If your a brilliant brunette then you can get away with a shade as dark as you like, however if you are a bold blonde (I'm definitely running out of good adjectives starting with b now...), then you might need to be a little more careful, as unless you're brave enough to pull off the Agnes Deyn black and blonde contrast, I would suggest trying lighter shades such as hazel or blonde if you are naturally very fair.

7. DO invest in a home tinting kit like the ones from Eylure called Dylash if you can't be bothered to fill out your eye brows everyday and as a much cheaper £7-£8 alternative to expensive £30-£40 salon tinting. One of my very favourite bloggers, Corrie from Dizzy Brunette 3, wrote a great review of one of Eylure's Dylash kits which you can find here-
http://www.dizzybrunette3.com/2011/10/diy-eyebrow-tinting.html

8. DO dab a little bit of original Vaseline on top of your eyebrows at the end of your make up routine, as this will hold their sexy shape together all day and stop silly hairs going in different directions, just don't use too much or they could look weirdly greasy!


What I use to keep my brows in super sexy shape-

1. BOOTS STRAIGHT TWEEZERS- I got these straight tweezers from boots for only £1.80 and I don't think there is any need to go any more up market as they grab and take out each hair with firmness, ease and precision.

2. RIMMEL PROFESSIONAL EYEBROW PENCIL IN HAZEL- claims to 'Define, sculpt and comb' and leave your eye brows 'Perfectly groomed' and it certainly does! At only £2.99 from boots I can't recommend  this product highly enough- the pencil looks like it's going to last forever and the hazel is a perfect shade in between blonde and dark brown, making it ideal for those blondes who want their eyebrows to stand out a bit or for brunettes who want to more subtly define their brows. Plus you get the comb on the lid as an added bonus!

3. ORIGINAL VASELINE LIP THERAPY- As I said before using a little of this on top of your brows once you've  finished grooming them is a quick and easy way of keeping your brows in a perfect shape all day and at £1.40 for a pocket sized tin that keeps your lips in shape too you can't go wrong!

MY BROWS BACK IN SEPTEMBER- 

AND NOW-

Well there you have it, the longest post ever on eye brows! I might go a bit darker with tinting or dark brown pencil at some point but I'm easing myself into at the moment... I hope some of you get some useful tips from this and have as much love for eye brows as I do right now haha!

I've had a nice lazy Sunday with my boyfriend who returned from uni last night and also been to sing some carols, I hope you've all had a lovely Sunday :)
Love Meg
x

Reviews Revisited: Maybelline Gel Liner

Good evening girlies!

I thought I would use this gap between the first strictly come dancing and the results bit (I'm rooting for Harry by the way!) to do a quick blog post...

I was browsing back through a few of my old reviews today and realised a couple of my opinions of certain products have changed since I reviewed them, as sometimes initial opinions and opinions after using products for a couple of moths are different, so here is my first review revisited. Back in September I compared Collection 2000 liquid eye liner and Maybelline eye studio 24h lasting gel liner, if you want to read the original in full then it's here- splurge-or-save-on-eye-liner.html-but basically I concluded that I preferred to save by buying the Collection 2000 liner as it was only £2.99 and the pot lasted ages, however I think one of the main reasons I came to this conclusion is because I'd been using it for a few years and was very used to it, where as the Maybelline liner was a new purchase. Now after using the Maybelline liner for a few months I have come to a definite conclusion that I actually couldn't live without it and will probably never buy a different eye liner again! 

All the pros from my previous review still very much apply-

PREVIOUS PROS-

• It lives up to its claims that it lasts all day
• It also lives up to its claim that you can apply it to the top lid in one stroke
• It never cracks or flakes
• It has a very soft applicator brush, making application nice and gentle
• Easier and quicker to apply than I thought it would be- I managed to apply it perfectly in a moving car! 
• It dries instantly on your eyelids
• It never causes my eyes or skin to feel irritated or stingy
• It's very easy to use under your lower lashes if you turn the brush so it's flat

However, after using this eye liner everyday for the past 3 months I now disagree with nearly all of my previous cons-

PREVIOUS CONS-

• More expensive at £7.99 from boots- 

-It is still this price, but well worth it for the quality of the product and £7.99 won't break the bank anyway.

• The applicator is quite chunky making it hard to do precise flicks at the corner of your eyes

- After a bit of practise I've now learnt how to easily create the flicks I like with the applicator. 

• the gel doesn't glide onto your lid as easily as liquid does

-as long as you coat the brush with enough gel and don't let the gel dry out it does actually glide very smoothly  onto your lid.

• the gel isn't as dark and bold as I would like, so it doesn't stand out as much over dark eye shadow

-when I want the line darker I just go back over it. 

• I haven't used up a tub yet so I don't know how long it will last but you only seem to get a very small amount of gel

-This is the main thing I was wrong about, as although the pot looks tiny the one I got back in September is still going now even though I've used it everyday since!

• Because the applicator brush is separate to the pot it's quite easy to lose and the tip also gets easily clogged with old gel

-This is the one thing that I still think is a con, as my brush is very clogged with gel now and I've almost lost it a few times, however next time I buy it I'm just going to make sure I clean the brush after every use and look after it!

Well I hope that's helpful to some of you! I thought it was important for me to let you know what I think now I've had the time to make a more informed opinion as I would hate for people not to buy this product just because of my initial impressions of it! I'm going to make sure I use every product I review for quite a long period of time in future, so I don't have to make too many review revisits! 

I hope your all having a great Saturday night and enjoying Strictly like I am!

Love Meg

x

Blog Award Backlog

Hello lovely people!

I'm doing a blog award post today as I've been lucky enough to get awarded quite a few since I started my budget boutique, but due to being busy and always having other things to post about I haven't got round to blogging about them until now! I'm going to start with the award I got given after my first award which I blogged about back in September, which is an award from the lovely Lauren from...

http://meandmoustaches.blogspot.com/ 

...which you should all check out because it's a really great blog and she has such a cool style! 

THE RULES-

If you are awarded a Blog Award you must;

• Thank the person you received the award from 
• Say 7 random things about yourself 
• Pass the love to 15 other bloggers 

I've already thanked Lauren so here are the 7 random things about me-

1. I live on an Island 

2.I have double jointed elbows

3. One of my girl cats is called Fred

4.I've been with my gorgeous boyfriend for 2 years this month

5. My favourite food is peanut butter

6. My favourite film ever is the Muppet's Christmas Carol

7. I have a major girl crush on Pixie Lott 

I'm passing the love on to the following fabulous blogs (I've just chosen my top 5 as I would be here all day if I chose my favourite 15!)-

1. http://fayesfix.blogspot.com/

2.http://angiebeautybelle.blogspot.com/

3.http://antoniaivana.blogspot.com/

4.http://preppyfashionist.blogspot.com/

5.http://millabelle.blogspot.com/

Please do check them out as they are all written by such sweet and stylish girls and are well worth a read! I have a few more awards that I will post about soon so I can share the love with lots more of my favourite bloggers, yay!

I've had a really nice Friday Christmas shopping with my lovely friend Lydia who came back from uni yesterday, I didn't get anything too exciting for me though as I'm trying to wait util the Christmas sales before I go on a splurge again! Right now I'm super excited as my boyfriend gets home from uni tomorrow so I finally get to spend lots of time with him over Christmas after thirteen long weeks of only getting to see him for a few nights every so often...

I hope you've all had a great week and also have fun weekends planned :)

Love Meg

x

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Range

Good Afternoon Girlies!

Today I thought I'd do a review for you on the topic I've tried the most products for, but have so far not written about- hair! I think because I've tried so many hair products I didn't know where to start, so today I've decided I'm going to start with the first range of hair products I tried when I first went blonde- the John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Range...

I'm afraid I couldn't take my own photos as I no longer own the products (I will explain why later). Now before reading this review it may be helpful to read my post as it will give you the background on my hair, but basically the first time I dyed my hair from light brown to blonde in the summer it went a dark blonde gingery colour but what I wanted was a light ash blonde like Molly's hair colour from the Saturdays-

So I invested in the shampoo, conditioner and lightening spray from the the John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder range in the hope that they would lighten my colour.  

This is the description for the shampoo and conditioner...  

'Sheer Blonde® Go Blonder Lightening Shampoo and Conditioner gradually lighten blonde hair for a year-round sun-kissed look while restoring moisture and healthy softness.
The formula, containing a natural Lightening Complex,gently reduces the colour pigments in the hair.

Gentle enough for daily use.

Ammonia and peroxide-free.

For all shades of natural, colour-treated or highlighted blonde hair'

and this is the description of the lightening spray...

'Versatile, patent-pending formula with citrus and chamomile works with styling heat to gradually lighten and brighten for a natural-looking, blonder blonde. 

Contains thermo-protectant. Patent-pending technology combines fixative and conditioning polymers that retain hydrogen peroxide, allowing for control of lightening. 

Visibly lightens in 3-5 uses.'

I used all three products every time I washed my hair for about a month and here is my pros and cons list of my experience of their effect on my coloured blonde hair-

PROS- 

• The shampoo and conditioner had a nice consistency that felt nice when I was using them in the shower. 
• They also come in big bottles that last a long time.

CONS-

• I didn't notice any lightening of my hair, in fact the patches where I used the lightening spray the most seemed to go more orange than before.
• The lightening spray left my hair feeling quite dried out and a bit greasy.
• I didn't really like the smell of the products.
• The three products totalled at just under £19 which is quite a lot of money for everyday products that don't live up to their claims.

So from this experience of the products I would probably only give them a 2 out of 10, however I thought that they would probably work better on naturally light blonde hair that didn't need as much lightening, so I gave them to my friend Anna to try who has gorgeous natural light blonde hair, as she had been saying that she wanted to go a bit blonder but didn't really want to dye her hair.

  This is the pros and cons list of her experience of the products-

PROS-

• Highly noticeable lightening of hair colour, particularly when she went on holiday and had the sun to intensify the effect of the lightening spray.
• Didn't have to dye hair which meant no need to use damaging peroxide, bleach or ammonia .
• The effect was very quick, living up to it's 'works in 3-5 uses' claim.

CONS-

•  Dried out her hair a bit and made it less soft and silky.
• She thought the products 'smelt gross'.

Anna gave the product a much better 8 out of 10, which leads me to think this is definitely a product that works a lot better on naturally blonde hair that just needs a bit of a boost, rather than coloured hair that is a lot harder to make blonder. For all you bottle blondes out there, the best hair products you will ever buy are purple toning products, as they will keep your hair a lovely light ash colour and free of brassy tones! There will be much more on purple toning products in future posts, but just a quick note- the only way to transform dark gingery blonde to a really light ash blonde is to re dye it, as no toning or lightening products will be strong enough to lift the colour to an entirely new shade...I wish I had known this back in the summer!

Have you tried this range and what did you think? Or are you a fan of John Frieda products? Are there any bottle blondes out there who have gone through the same gingery nightmare as me?

I hope you've all had a thrilling Thursday! I'm just chilling out in my Christmas onesie tonight with trashy t.v and a prawn curry, got to love being home :)

Love Meg

x

OOTD- Everyday glamour...

Good Evening my lovelies!
 it occurred  to me that I haven't done an everyday outfit post for a while and as I came home for Christmas yesterday I thought I'd take advantage of having family members around me again who don't mind taking photos of my outfits...I have so much new stuff to show you as I went shopping last Friday to blow all my birthday money (it was an amazing day!), so actually everything in this outfit is new. My favourite things though are my gorgeous faux fur coat and wedged boots...

Coat- River Island
Blouse- COW
Cardigan- Primark
Belt- New Look
Scarf- Primark
Leggings- Primark
Wedged boots- New Look
Earrings- Dorothy Perkins
Bracelets- New Look
Ring- Topshop 

I've wanted a faux fur coat for ages, but have never found one that was in my price range and didn't look tacky, however I found this gem in River Island and as it was £30 off it's usual slightly too expensive £80 price tag I just couldn't resist! I love the fluffy almost feather like type of faux fur and the style and fit, although I did have to get a size 6 to make sure it was fitted enough and didn't just make me look like a yeti! I also adore the colour as I think the multi tonal brown is very wearable, so now I can add a bit of glamour to everyday outfits...

These brown suede wedged boots are little gems that I found in New Look, they are usually £30 but with student discount they were only £27. I really wanted a pair of heels that I could wear with everyday outfits, as all I own are platform stilettos for nights out and I'm bored of wearing flats all the time in the day. Wedges and chunky heeled shoe boots are really in fashion at the moment, however lots of the ones I tried before this pair were too clompy and unattractive, so I thought these more dainty ones were perfect as I can wear them on nights out as well. I'm going to wear them Christmas shopping with my friend Lydia on Friday to see how I cope in them all day, as they are a little bit on the high side for lots of walking, but I'm determined to give it a go!

Underneath my coat I was wearing bargain burgundy leggings which I found in Primark for £3, which make such a refreshing change from my black and grey ones. I also had my new white blouse on that I got from the vintage store COW for only £7, which I love because it goes with everything and has nice subtle silky print detailing. It does have quite a boyish fit so I nipped it in at the waist with my staple skinny belt from New Look. The cable knit cardigan and scarf were both Primark bargains, the cardi was £12 and I got it especially  to wear under my fur coat as my coat is quite short with three quarter sleeves, so my long cardigans look silly underneath it. I got the scarf because it was only £3 and I adore silk scarves as they are an easy, cheap way of glamming up any outfit! 

I've been playing around with 1940's inspired hair styles since 'Guys and Dolls' and this is an example of my side parted pinned back look that I really like as it's easy, keeps my hair off my face and looks quite pretty. I'm going to go into my make up in detail in another post, but you can probably tell that it has also been inspired by 'Guys and Dolls', as I have much more dark and defined eyebrows and brighter lips. I'll show you close ups of the earrings later as well, but they were from Dorothy Perkins (they have a 30% off sale at the moment so make sure to check that out!) and I think they are fab because they are nice and dangly with feathers, what more could you want! 

So that's how I try to achieve everyday glamour on a budget!

What do you think of my outfit? Do you have any heels you can wear all day? How do you jazz up your everyday outfits?

Hope your having a good week! 

Love Meg

x 

OOTD- Have yourself a merry early Christmas!

Merry early Christmas everyone! 

It may seem a tad soon to be doing a Christmas outfit of the day post, but we're having our university house Christmas today and I thought I'd show you how I've dressed to get into the festive spirit while dinner is cooking! 

Hat- poundland
Jumper- COW
Leggings- H&M
Socks- Primark

I've always wanted a proper Christmas jumper so this morning I went to find one at my favourite vintage shop, COW, as they have a massive selection of proper old school Christmas jumpers, cardis and waist coats. I tried loads on but went for this lovely red one as I really liked the tree detailing and the fact it's over sized, which means it's cosy and I can wear it as a jumper with leggings or as a dress with tights. I finished off my festive outfit with a bargain santa hat form poundland, which is great quality for only a pound!

I now plan on wearing this jumper as much as I can before Christmas is over, but at least I'll never grow out of it so I can wear it every year!

Have you got any old fashioned Christmas jumpers? Or do any of you have a COW near you?

Hope you've had a lovely week!
Lots of early festive love,
Meg
x

FOTD and HOTD- 1940's style

Hello everyone!

 Sorry I've been so rubbish at posting lately, I had my performances of 'Guys and Dolls' last week which were absolutely amazing but took over my life! Now it's all over and everything has calmed down a bit I can finally get back to my blog. It was also my birthday last Saturday so I'm now all old and 20, but this does means I have lots of pretty and exciting birthday pressies to show you, yay! First of all though I thought I'd show you my hair and make up that I had for my part of 'Miss Adelaide'. She is a 1940's New York show girl so I was in hair and make up for about an hour and a half every night before the show to get my look right.  

The 1940's pin up look consisted of dark smoky eyes, pucker red lips, teamed with layers of stage foundation and bronzer and dark defined eyebrows. It's not a look I'd go for every day, but it looked great on stage and I felt very glamorous! I absolutely loved the 1940's hair style too, it was created by curling my hair into ringlets with  hair straighteners, then back combing the front two sections and rolling them up and fixing them with lots of curby grips. I had lots of compliments about my hair so I'm definitely going to try and find a way of recreating a more wearable less time consuming version of this style. 

You can see below how the style works with longer hair on my beautiful fellow leading lady Emily...

I'm planning on doing a tutorial soon on how to create wearable 1940's inspired hair and make up, as well as showing you some of my costumes and how to add a bit of 1940's glamour into your modern wardrobe, so stay tuned for that!

I hope your all having a lovely start to your December!

Love Meg

x 

NOTD- Children in Need

Good morning girlies!

as it was Children in Need yesterday I thought I'd show you how I used my nails to get into the spirit of it with the Children in Need designer nail wraps by Nail Rock that my Mum got me last week. As you can see I tried them out yesterday and I think they look really cool. Plus buying them helps a good cause so it's win win!

I haven't tried nail wraps before so I was a bit apprehensive as to how they would turn out, but they were actually surprisingly easy to apply. The 3 basic steps are described on the back of the packet- first you prepare the nail by removing your cuticles, filing them into a nice shape and buffering the shine away from the surface...

You then choose the size most suitable to which nail you are doing, peel it away from the sheet and press it onto your nail with firm pressure...

You then shape the wrap by cutting the main part away and filing the rest into shape...

You repeat this step on all your nails and viola-you have a really funky nail effect that looks much harder to create than it is!

I did find the cutting and shaping of the wrap once on the nail quite tricky, particularly when I was using my left hand to do the cutting, but I think with practise it would get much easier. I'm also not sure how long they will last without peeling away, but they've stayed on so far and the packet says they are long lasting, so maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Have you tried nail wraps? Were yours the 'non heat' type? Did you do anything fun for Children in Need?

Have a lovely weekend everyone! I'm staying in London at my boyfriend's uni this weekend and it's so nice just to have some chill out time after being so busy!

Love Meg

x

Review- Rimmel Scandal eyes mascara

Hello lovely ladies, I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post, my life got taken over by essays, but now I've handed everything in so I can come back to blogging...

I went home for a few days last week as I had a reading week and my sister Nathalie also came home from Portsmouth. My Mum bought her the new Rimmel Scandal eyes mascara and as there has been so much hype and advertising over this product, I was keen to let you know what she thought of it.

It's usually priced at £6.99 from both Boots and Superdrug, but it's on offer for £4.99 at Boots at the moment.

Rimmel describe it as-

'a Rimmel breakthrough! Who thought a big brush could volumize and define like this? 

So big yet so precise, our MaxDensity brush reveals lashes you never thought you had. 

30% wider and denser, with more bristles to capture and coat even the smallest lashes. 

Combs through clumps for perfect definition.'

So that's the big brush that this product revolves around, however my sister wasn't impressed at all. We're both blessed with quite naturally long lashes, but this didn't seem to do much to enhance their length or thickness. Although Nathalie did say this product lived up to it's lack of clumps and definition of each lash claim.

 Although this product makes her lashes look nice and is very good value with the current £4.99 Boots deal, it doesn't deliver the killer scandalous lashes it promises, so I wouldn't recommend it to you unless you want to go for quite a natural understated lash look.

Have any of you tried this mascara? What mascara do swear by?

I hope life's been lovely for you while I've been away!

Love Meg

x

Body Beautiful TOTD

Hello girlies!

Today I thought I would start a new feature for my boutique, which is 'Body Beautiful Tip of the Day'. Basically, I've read a few other beauty blogs that talk about health and fitness and as it's something I'm really into, I thought why not start doing some similar posts myself. 

When I'm at uni I always find it easier to stay slim than when I'm at home, due to the amount of walking I do every day just to get to uni and because I have to buy my own food and I'd rather spend money on pretty things. However, during the week where I was in King Lear I was so busy that I became far too reliant on picking up convenience food when I was out and I also ate far too many biscuits and sweets from the pile of snacks in the backstage room. Then, after consuming a giant meal from Chiquitos before the Supas bowling social last Tuesday, me and a few other girls in Guys and Dolls decided we would go on a health kick at least until the show which starts on the 30th of November. I thought it would be much easier to keep up if I blogged about it, so hopefully these blog posts will keep me motivated so I can look my best in the skimpy show girl outfits I'll have to wear! I know that keeping fit and eating healthily can be expensive and difficult when you're busy, so hopefully I'll give you some easy tips to keep you slim on the go, without slimming your bank balance!

Tip of the Day-

Go on, treat yourself... 

I've tried going on health kicks before where I've cut out anything remotely unhealthy and fun, but this just led to me craving chocolate and burgers after the first day and giving up completely. So this time I've given myself a one treat per day rule so I can still eat fun and yummy treats, but in moderation. Not only does this help me stay in shape, but it also helps my bank balance, as it means the chocolates and cakes my Mum sends me last a lot longer and I don't have to go out and buy more.

 So yesterday, when I was eating my carrot and pepper at rehearsal, I didn't snap and go to the vending machine, because I knew by being good all day I'd earned that piece of strudel waiting in my fridge for me when I got home! You'll also find that you enjoy puddings, chocolate and crisps much more. Depending on the circumstances of your day you could make your treat a bit bigger than a snack, for example fish and chips or lots of alcohol, but obviously it would defeat the object of a health kick if your treat was really big everyday. And if you know you are going out for a special meal, you could save up a few treats from other days so you can just enjoy it or if you've had a day where you've been rather unhealthy, you could cut back on your treats for a while... 

What do you think about my new feature? Are you on a health kick at the moment? If you have any tips to share I'd love to hear them!

Hope you've all had a great week!

Love Meg

x

Halloween Outfit: meowww...

Good Morning my lovelies!

I can't believe it's November already! At least it's definitely acceptable to start playing Christmas songs and get planning for the big day now, I'm such a big kid when it comes to Christmas! But before I get too excited I still have part 2 of my Halloween post to do, if you haven't checked out the first one I did yesterday it's here. I would recommend reading it as this one will make a lot more sense if you do. So this is how my cat make up and hair turned out yesterday...

I must say I thought my black lips that I did with face paint and dark eyes that I created with my number 17 smoky eye shadow palette looked rather effective and I also loved having big back combed hair! 

This is what my face and outfit looked like together...

Dress- New Look
Socks- Primark
Dolly shoes- New Look
Cat accessories- Fancy dress shop

My friend Cath went as a devil and I think she looked lovely and that the red strapless tulip dress and sequinned blazer combo worked a treat. I really love my black lacy dress too, I got it from New Look when I was in lower 6th and it's always worked well for costumes as well as formal events and nights out...I think an LBD is such a must have in every girls wardrobe! I also couldn't resist teaming it with some black over the knee socks, as I just love how they are cute but quite sexy at the same time and they are always a nice detail to add to plainer outfits or short dresses when you don't fancy tights. I would normally wear heels, but as I had quite a bit of walking to do to get to the party from the gig we went to first, I opted for my trusty New Look dolly shoes, which are another must have in every girls wardrobe!

I also painted my nails with the No7 stay perfect varnish in beautifully black which I told you about yesterday. At first I thought this would just be a colour I wear on occasions like Halloween, but after applying it I've decided I'm going to wear it on normal days too. This is because I was worried it would make me look like a teenage goth, but actually the slight shimmer and glitter in the polish gives it a more girly edge, while at the same time it's still dramatic and a bit grungy. The pearly consistency of the polish also makes the whole look more lovely and shiny and metallic than opaque, although you do have to apply at least two coats, as one coat is too thin.

All in all it was a fab night and I was really happy with my costume, I just need to recover from it all today and deep condition my hair so it doesn't hate me for back combing it!

How was your Halloween? Do you wear black nail polish casually? How did your costumes turn out?

I hope you have a great day everyone! I'm off bowling tonight with 34 other Supas people (Sheffield University Performing Arts Society)...exciting times :)

Love Meg

x

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everybody!

I've just had the most perfect weekend as my boyfriend, who I hadn't seen for 3 weeks and my parents, who I hadn't seen for 6 weeks, all came up to Sheffield to watch me play the Fool in the last night of King Lear. It was so wonderful to see them all and to be part of such a great play (there will be photos of my Fool costume and make up soon!) However, now I'm in the mood to get spooky and party!

My lovely Grandad carved me this delightful pumpkin head and got my Mum to bring it up with her, bless :)

I love Halloween, despite the fact I'm scared of everything from the dark to dolls, as it gives everyone a fabulous excuse to dress up! I'm off to a house party tonight and as I obviously can't show you what I looked like yet, I thought I'd give you a few sneak peaks into what I'm using to turn myself into a scary kitty cat...

COSTUME-

I still haven't decided if I'm wearing a black dress or a skirt and top tonight, but my trusty ears, tail and collar combo, that I've had ever since my school did Cats the musical, are the staples of my outfit...

FACE-

I want to go for a really dark and dramatic look tonight, so I'm going to use lots of my smoky 17 eye shadow palette and I will also be trying false eye lashes for the first time to get the cat eyes I'm after! I went for eylure's intense lash effect and I will let you know how I get on with them tomorrow. I've also purchased some black face paint so I can have a cute nose and whiskers and I'm also considering painting my lips black for a really intense and halloweeny look...

NAILS-

I used one of my trusty No7 boots vouchers again today to purchase another stay perfect nail polish in beautifully black, so I can get some eye catching claws out tonight. My Mum also bought me some cute Halloween nail stickers which I might use, I particularly love the cat and skeleton ones...

So that's my plan for tonight, I'm going to stop blogging now so I can start my lengthy process of getting ready and I will show you how it all looked together tomorrow :)

What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Have you been to or got some great parties to go to?

I hope you have a great night if your out partying or just in waiting for the trick or treaters!

Love Meg

x