So I said on twitter that I was going to take a break from blogging here. I don't want to but it seems like I've lost my passion and excitement for it.  I felt like I was running out of products to write about and didn't quite know what else to write about. I'm not really all that creative, I wish I was.
So from now on, I think I'm going to try and do at least one blog post a week and it will be on beauty, fashion, health or fitness.
I'm sorry to anyone that enjoyed my blog beforehand but I hope you continue to stick around. 

Hello there (the angel from my nightmare)

Yes I quoted a Blink 182 song, it popped into my head as soon as I typed 'hello there'.   So it's been a while guys and gals! I've been so busy with college and I still don't have internet at my house. It's so rubbish. Hopefully soon though!   Not much has been happening really, getting on with college, trying to fix my phone and get money sorted. It's all coming together slowly. Last Saturday I decided to start eating better and exercising/generally move about more. So far I've lost 4.2lbs! I'll maybe start posting about healthy cost effective recipes I find ro come up with, rewards for losing weight, exercises I've been doing etc. Make my blog more lifestyle than just beauty. What do you all think?   I'm quite looking forward tot his weekend however as I'm off to London for 4 days! Yayyyyy. Going to see Alexisonfire's farewell tour and have a few days in London. The dungeons, Madame Tussauds, all the touristy things I didn't do when I lived there. Hopefully I have a camera and get pictures to put up, it would be nice.   I hope you are all keeping well and I really hope I get back into the blogosphere soon!  

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/be-happy1.jpg

   

Glitter polish; ooh shiny shiny!

I always thought glitter polishes were tacky or for little girls playing with makeup but as I've grown up I've realised they can be a great wee touch to the perfect mani or fantastic for sprucing up a plain looking outfit.

I'd heard of Model's Own and fallen in love with pretty much every shade they have so I was delighted when I went to the Scottish Bloggers meetup (I wish I could link to a post here but I didn't take any pictures that night!) and won Juicy Jules from Karris' giveaway.

This polish is simply put magical! The glitter gives off so many different colours and the polish looks great on top of a mani or on it's own and built up with different layers. The only thing I don't like about glitter polish is that it doesn't tend to chip, it just peels off all in one. Really annoys me, especially if I'm out!

What's your opinion of glitter polishes? Love or loathe? Link me to your favourite mani?

Mix and Mingle

How cute are these?! I probably don't even need to ask you all where I think I got them.. Poundland! I got them months ago and I still haven't opened them. (Saving them for blogging remember!) 

So they are both Revlon Mix and Mingle Lip Palettes. In shades Tango With Mango and Hello Honey, as you can see below.

I love the idea behind these! You can just use each individual shade or mix them together to make your own. At first I thought I wouldn't want to mix them and ruin the pattern but now that I've tried them both I've changed my mind!

Click the red more for close up and swatches :) 

Spray your nails dry

As soon as I saw this sitting on a poundland shelf, I knew I'd have to try it! I am the worst person for not waiting till my nails are dry to do things, then I end up ruining my nails and moaning at myself!

So I tried this out on the purple Revlon polish from my Plums and Oranges post a while back.

I'll admit, I was rather dubious as I am with most things but I also knew I'd have to try it and find out for myself.  It does what it says on the tin. You paint your nails then spray this over them, wait for 60 seconds and you should have almost touch dry nails. I did, it was wonderful! I;ll definitely be trying this out on all my polishes and probably letting you all know the results!

Have you tried this or any other ways of drying your nails? Do you have any tips you swear by (such as dipping you rnails in cold water after you've painted them)? You all know the score, let me know below!

 

Pure diamond; ooh la la!

I got these from poundland quite a while back and I've only used one of them once, "I don't want to ruin them before I've blogged about them" but now I can finally write about them and use them more! I got both of them in one packet, so 50p each, can't argue with that can I?!

Green and purple are my two favourite colours, I think they go so well together but look great on their own as well. Not just make up either, everything! Kitchenware, clothes, wallpaper. It's fabby! I digress, back to the matter in hand!

As soon as I seen these eyeshadows, my little eyes lit up! I don't know what it is about different shades in one pot? that I love so much but I do. It looks really nice and it saves carrying multiple shadows about with you because they are all right there!

The other thing that kind of took me aback was the fact that they are Nivea, I thought they only did skincare but I have been proven wrong!

Not really much more to say about these shadows so click the read more to see swatches

One thing I will say, I'm obviously too pale that the light/white shade doesn't show up on my arm!

Bourjois bundle

I wrote yesterday about the Rimmel bundle I got from TK Maxx, well at the same time I got this little set. I couldn't resist this, I've yet to achieve the perfect smoky eye so anything that will help me along the way! This cost £12.99 with an RRP of £21.50 so another fantastic saving!

Again I have to apologise for the pictures, this camera really doesn't like me. I need to get mine back from Sarah's soon! Anyways, onto the products!

To everyone who doesn't want to tilt their heads to ridiculous angles to see what these items are, I'll just tell you. From left to right (or top to bottom) we have, Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara in shade 61 Ultra Black, Smoky Eyes Trio in shade 03 Mordoré Chic, Effect Smoky in shade 71 Smoked Brown and I also got a wee free gift with it, a sample size of Effect 3D mobile unfortunately it's not got a shade number or name on it, it's kind of a sandy, beigey type shade I'd say (of course I could be and probably am wrong)

I've not really tried that much brown eyeliner, I've grown up using black so it's a bit of a welcome change if I'm honest. Something different! I forgot to take a close up of the smudging brush but it's not sponge like most of them are these days, it's a little brush. I was a bit disappointed as I love the sponge tip idea, but I'll give it a go! 

Again, I've not really used many shades like this, my shadow is usually very bright colours or non-existent, but I'm looking forward to seeing if I can create the intended smoky eye effect. Like the quad from the Rimmel bundle there is a wee guide on the back showing you how to achieve the smoky eye.

I have to admit, after opening the Rimmel mascara then opening this, I was a bit disappointed in this but I think that's only because I love bristle brushes so much that when I opened this I just thought 'oh no bristles' I'm not going to think about that when I try it though, open mind!

I'm not a huge fan of lipgloss, I tend to find it too gloopy and just plain eurgh but again I'll give it a go. Never know I might fall in love with it!

Yet again more fantastic savings! I really need to start shopping in TK Maxx more often, the savings are unbelievable!
What was the last big saving you made?

Rimmel bundle

Hello bloggers! I'm back and I have a few posts lined up, the first of these being this wee Rimmel bundle I found in TK Maxx for £7.99 the RRP being over £20!

The items are Glam'Eyes Lash Flirt volume and lift mascara in shade 001 Black, Moisture Renew lipstick in shade 690 Mocha Cream and Glam'Eyes Quad Eye Shadow in 023 Beauty Spells.

So I've not had the chance to try out these out yet so this is just my first impressions and I also have to apologise for the pictures, camera was not playing ball today!

I've said before in this post that I'm still not sure which colour lipstick to go for but I've managed to buy a shade that's quite similar to the UNE. So I must be starting to like browny/reddy tones at least (nothing beats a nice red lip however, that will always be my favourite)

So the shade isn't identical to the UNE lipstick from the linked post but they are similar enough that I thought of it as soon as I opened the Rimmel lipstick. It feels quite soft and creamy, so I'm assuming it will be quite nourishing on the lips.

I fell in love with this mascara as soon as I opened it! I'm such a fan of bristle brushes, I feel like they coat my lashes so much better and you get more life from them as there are usually those 'de-clumpers'? that get rid of excess product. 

The bristles on this brush are actually different sizes, as you can see from the two pictures. Longer bristles below and shorter ones above, I'm hoping this means all my lashes get evenly coated. I'm really looking forward to trying this!

I love the colours in this quad but this picture is doing it no justice whatsoever! Starting at the top and working clockwise, the colours are grey, a light lilac, black and a darker purple. All the colours have a slight shimmer to them, the blacks beings more obvious looking.

There is a little guide on the back of the palette, giving the shades colours and then with a picture of an eye, showing you how to apply the colours. There are two looks given on the back called Subtle (using only 2 shades) and London (using all four shades). I'll give both a look but I'm not really one for subtle eye makeup.

All in all, I'm really pleased with this bundle and I can't wait to try all the things! Usually if I get groups of things like this there is at least one thing I'm not sure about but not this time! With a saving of more than £20 as well, that's just the icing on the cake!

The perils of being pale

 

I'm sure everyone has seen the adverts or heard about no7's foundation matching service in some other way. Personally, I was rather dubious, foundation and I don't tend to mix too well.

 

In spite of this, I had some time to spare last week so thought I'd pop into Boots and give it a go, everyone loves a trier right? So I went in and asked the counter assistant if she would mind checking my face for me. I warned her before she started that I am quite obviously very pale but I still wanted to see what the end result would be.

 

She was lovely! I wish I'd taken note of her name. Before she 'matched my skin' she explained that the machine simply takes a picture of your skin, no laser, no pain, nothing like that. She also explained that the sample is taken from your lower cheekbone on both sides and the machine matches it up to their foundations.

 

I was matched to the Calico shade, the palest shade they offer and so the lovely lady said she would put some on across my jaw to see what it looked like. Can you all guess what happened yet? It was too dark! Of course it was too dark. Bless her, she seemed really confused though. "I don't understand how you can be matched to this shade but it's too dark for you." The curse of the paleyfaces!

 

At least now I can say I tried it. Alas, my hunt for the perfect coverage continues!

 

Have you tried colour match? What was your outcome?

 

Hello strangers!

So it has been a while 21 days since my last update! I miss blogging so much.   Unfortunately most of my time is being spent here...  

4 days a week I am here, off on a Tuesday and the weekend to myself (until my placement is sorted). Unfortunately, I don't have any internet at my house so I can't use my free time to blog. I really want to get back into it though, I've had so many adventures and I always think ooh I could write about this then remember I can't!

 

Well I could use the app but then there would be no pictures or just rubbish phone quality pictures and I'd rather not go back to them, I doubt you would either.

 

Another downside to being so busy is I've had no time to read my usual blogs so I have no idea what's happening in the blogosphere, no clue what new products are out or coming out. I don't know anything!

 

I'm hoping my bursary comes through soon and I have some pennies left over so that I can start buying things again and telling you about them all. Until then, I'm afraid there won't be much.

 

Hope you are all well!

 

Good news!

Just a quick wee post today bloggers to tell you all that I got into college today! *victory dances around livingroom*

I'd applied possibly last year or early this year and had an interview. After that I was placed on the waiting list. The course actually started last week so I'd given up hope of getting in, then I got a phone call today saying a place had opened up. Of course I took it!

So as of tomorrow, I will be a student again for the first time since 2005!

I'm on a full time course doing social sciences. I'm so bloody happy! :D

posted from Bloggeroid

New glasses

I got myself some fabulous new glasses after Nazilla asked on twitter for glasses wearers. She runs http://www.lillaloves.com/ and really is the nicest girl! I love her blog.

So after asking me a couple questions on my blog she sent me a code enabling me to get any pair of glasses from the selectspecs economy range, the code covered a pair of glasses up to the price of £22.50 and the £4 delivery price.

As most, if not all, glasses wearers will know, getting new glasses is great, it's fantastic putting that new pair on  and feeling fabulous. However, picking that new pair of glasses is not so much fun! I ummed and aaahed over many many pairs, very nearly picking an almost identical pair to the ones I already have but I finally decided on this pair.

It does't help that my prescription is ridiculous! Short sighted in one eye and long sighted in the other. Makes getting glasses a nightmare! Takes weeks for them to put them together. I go this pair within a week of placing the order. Amazing!

I ruddy well love these! Purple, check. Marble effect, check. Sparkly bits, check. Love them!For years now I've stuck to wearing chunky frames, I don't think thin or wire frames suit me at all. Plus I like making a bit of a statement when it comes to my eyewear.

I don't really know what else to say about these really, I just love them! I definitely recommend checking out selectspecs if you wear glasses. The prices range from £6 in the Value collection all the way up to £70 in the Platinum collection. I'll definitely be purchasing some more glasses from this site when I have the money spare. I love having multiple pairs of glasses, different ones for different moods!

Above pictures are just to show you the difference between old glasses and new ones :)

Do you wear glasses? How bad is your eyesight? Have you tried selectspecs before? Do you think you will now if you haven't?

Won my first Twitter giveaweay

Sandra from theblackpearlblog was holding a Twitter giveaway last week or the week before and surprisingly I won! I was so pleased, I'd never won a giveaway on Twitter before. I patiently waited for the parcel to arrive and was so excited to open it!!

As you can see, Sandra wrapped it all up beautifully which was a really nice touch, so thank you Sandra!

Unfortunately, in all my excitement, I didn't take pictures of what I'd actually won! Silly Alana. What I did win was 26 pairs of earrings and 4 bangles. I gave two of the bangles to Sarah and kept two for myself. Although I didn't take pictures, I will probably update my Instagram with pictures as and when I wear them. 

Username on instagram is ivorysmoke if you want to see the pictures.

I know I really need to get better at taking pictures and remembering to take the right pictures! I'll get there one day ;)

Another to add to the MAC collection!

The lovely Louise of thebeautyoflouise was holding a giveaway to celebrate reaching 800 followers and so I thought, I'll enter, I've nothing to lose. But I had something to gain! And here is what I gained... a lovely new MAC lipstick!

Louise contacted me by email to let me know I had won and I did do a bit of a victory dance! As you all probably know, I don't have a lot of money so a free lipstick and a MAC one at that cheered me right up! I chose the shade Bombshell as you can see from the below picture.

When I was looking through the shades online to choose one, I didn't realise this was a 'frost lipstick' as soon as I saw that on the box, I did get a bit worried. Worried that I'd maybe look 12 or just plain ridiculous but I have to say, I really do love it!

I resisted the urge to put any of this one before I took pictures for this post. Mega self restraint!

I miss my piercings :(

So I don't know about you, but I love this shade, I'm not usually a fan of light pink lipsticks but I just think this looks so lovely!! It's great for my skin tone and I just love love love it! Of course I might be being vain and really it looks ridiculous. What do you think?

What was the last giveaway you won?