Secret Beauty Blog -

I didn’t ever intend to buy any makeup from Topshop, I try to stay away from buying into hype, especially with cheaper products as they rarely live up to my expectations and I have so much of everything I really don’t need anymore to add to the scrap pile! Regardless, I always have a browse when I get wind of a new collection and couldn’t help but notice how similar the Coy lip pencil is to the NARS Bolero velvet matte lip pencil from the new Summer collection. And of course, you never buy just 1 thing, can you?
I wasn’t prepared to pay £4 shipping and luckily I had a day uptown shopping planned and I must say I was really impressed with the layout in the London store! I was expecting one crappy little stand that had been pulled apart and had hardly any stock but it’s like walking into a mini department store, there’s even an SA on hand to help out, and every stand was clean and well stocked. There was tissues and MU remover on hand aswell as several stations with illuminated mirrors with disposable tools so you can try before you buy. I …

I’m not usually one for posting press releases but I saw this whilst browsing for a manicure deal and thought I’ld share it with you all -
New CID’s studio secret for smoky eyes. Their make-up artists are always being asked to create the perfect smoky eyes, so they recommend to run the i-smoulder pencil underneath the eye and inside the lash line, then blink hard to transfer the colour up to the top lashes. Repeat this a couple of times to build up the colour and then use i-smoulder cream shadow along the top lash line and blend upwards. Voila! Smouldering smoky eyes.

Retailing at £58 you can get everything here for just £22!

The kit includes -
i-smoulder (Pewter) – smoky eye pencil and shadow
Limited edition baked duo – baked bronzer and highlighter duo compact with mirror
i-gloss (Moonstone) – light up lipgloss with mirror
Offer is available nationwide, even if your city is not listed
Free delivery by Royal Mail 2nd class post – to be received within 5 working days of the order being placed.
Please note: We will automatically take the billing address as the chosen delivery address unless the option for a different delivery address is selected. This can be …

One of my all time favourite online beauty shops is having an amazing competition, all you have to do is design a G! The G doll comes as a free gift when you purchase ANY Harajuku Lovers fragrance.
Obviously, mine had to be something gross so here I present…
Night of the Living G

FREE Harajuku Lovers “Create a G” when you purchase any Harajuku Lovers fragrance.
Upload a photo of your finished G to Escentual’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/escentual to be in with the chance of winning £50 to spend at Escentual.com
The competition is running until the end of the month!

In the left corner, Benefit Coralista retailing at £23.50 for 12g (I’m using my Powder Time Lover set but I’m going by individual stats) and available from pushy counter girls in most major department stores and Benefitcosmetics.co.uk.
”Our warm coral-pink cheek powder is your “coral blush for a tropical flush”! This shade cheers up every skin tone in seconds.”
In the right corner, Me Me Me Rouge retailing at £8.50 for 8g and available from most Superdrug stores and Mememecosmetics.co.uk.
Both have similar cardboard box style packaging, the Me Me Me Blush Me! having one up as the box is also supplied with a mirror. Both are again supplied with a flat kabuki style brush which I find is quite useful, I know some people hate them but I think they distribute the blusher perfectly. The most obvious difference is the price, although you get 4g less in the Me Me Me blusher you’re also making a huge £15.00 saving! I LOVE Coralista, it’s been one of my most used blushers, not only is the colour amazing it also smells like pink champagne! The Me Me Me blush boxes sparked my interest ever since they hit the shelves, with many bloggers …

Just a quick heads up!
If you didn’t know, Debenhams.com are now selling MAC online!

I’ve also noticed they have stock of the eye shadows from the Peacocky collection which are sold out on the MAC website….
Debenhams also offer the Beauty Club card which gives you money off etc. and you can currently get 10% off  using the code PU4p & SHD1 for free delivery! (Thank you to Sinead for this info)

I don’t normally have soo many scents on rotation, I normally just have 1 or 2 and use them to death but since it’s just after Christmas a lot of these were gifts or sale purchases. I really like fresh/musk/floral fragrances over deeper, gourmand orientals but I will sniff anything once!

Starting from the back -
Jennifer Lopez ‘Glow’ – from £13.00
This takes me straight back to high school every time I smell it. I picked this up in the Debenhams sale as it was a bargain at just £13 for 50ml. It’s very musky, with a fresh baby powder burst and it lasts on the skin for hours. I normally hate celebrity fragrances but I really like this.
Calvin Klein ‘Beauty’ – from £30
I purchased the giftset un-sniffed in the Boots sale and really regret it. I normally love all Calvin Klein fragrances but this just doesn’t do it for me. It’s very heavy and the cederwood basenote feels like it makes a beeline for my brain and gives me a headache. Another one that lasts and lasts on the skin, if you like that sort of thing.
Harajuku Lovers ‘Music’ – from £17.00
This to me smells just like Marc Jacobs ‘Daisy’! Fresh, …

I’m not usually one for posting press releases but I thought this was a fab offer and definitely something that is easily available to alot of people. There’s a corner shop, well, on every corner & Tesco is never too far away =)

LOOK FABULOUS WITH NEWS OF THE WORLD

Free makeup kit worth £24 for every reader
LOOKING great on a budget has never been easier thanks to a great new deal starting this Sunday in the News of the World’s ‘Fabulous’ magazine.
Readers can get a free eye makeup kit by Models Own worth £24 by collecting two of three tokens printed in ‘Fabulous’ from January 9 to 23.  Readers then simply need to head to their nearest selected Tesco store to pick up their free makeup set.
The kit includes five fantastic products for readers to create a fabulous eye look:

Tweezers with a precision cut edge to create a beautiful shape;
A liquid eyeliner with pointed foam nib for amazing eye definition;
A duo eyeshadow to create a sultry smokey look that’s perfect for day and night wear;
An eyelash curler for a natural and lasting curl, and
Volumising mascara to frame your eyes all day (and night) long

Readers will also get a great free …

Happy new year! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and new years, one of my new years resolutions is to post twice a week (at least) so let’s kick it off with this gorgeous giftset which I was luckily enough to get from Santa (all the way from New York!)
Unfortunately Sephora doesn’t ship to the UK, I don’t know why seeing as every other company in the world ships internationally and they are missing out on a huge target market here in the UK but I digress! These ‘Beauty in a Box’ sets are a really great deal, the one I have is only $69, which is a huge saving off the individual products RRP of $121! I have seen all brands covered in these sets, from Dior to Stila to deluxe mascara & fragrance sampler sets. If you’revisiting the US or have a friend who can ship over to you the Beauty in a Box sets are really worth checking out.
So let’s get onto the goodies! If you follow me on Twitter you will know I’ve gone a lil NARS crazy recently and got a shedload for Christmas so keep your eyes peeled for more Nars …

Isn’t it fabulous? My gorgeous, talented boyfriend made me this amazing makeup storage box from the shell of an Xbox 360. Lined with black velvet and with 3 compartments it is perfect for storing my most used products and it is definately one of a kind. Enough of the waffle, just look at the pics…!
From the outside, you’d think it was just another Xbox…

Isn’t it amazing!
I love it =D
Obviously, this post wouldn’t be complete without a picture of our other prized Xboxes…

All designed and made by my boyfriend Danny Hoblyn. And yes, my cat is called Xbox =)
Danny has more details & pictures of his custom consoles here.

Whilst buying hairdresser-sized shampoo & conditioner on LookFantastic (Tigi Honey & Oatmeal FYI) my eyes caught sight of the giftsets and of course, I had to have a closer look. I spotted this super cute Stila palette and for £10 I just had to have it… As you may have guessed the spending ban hit the skids a while back, ahem.

Can you spot Xbox in the mirror? =p

From L-R
Convertible colour in Sakura – Shibuya – Sake – Kawai
I couldn’t resist popping this in my basket, it’s so cute! I love everything Japanese and the cutesy names really appealed to me. I haven’t had much experience with Stila as the brand is not that readily available here in the UK, only seeing a few bits and bobs in discount stores.
The convertible colour is absolutely gorgeous on the lips, it’s meant for the lips & cheeks but I don’t really like the feel of cream/liquid cheek products as my skin is so oily but if that isn’t an issue for you this would give a lovely pink flush. The shadows are smooth and easily blendable, all the shades have a shimmer finish bar Shibuya (the blue) which is a high …