Unusual gift ideas

I've never known life without the internet, as such I cannot imagine what it would be like to buy presents without it! Of course physically going to the shops is great fun too. However going to the shops can sometimes (especially during the festive period or sales time) feel like you are searching for a needle in a haystack. That is why I love finding new websites where I can buy little gifts that aren't necessarily available in the shops. 

This vintage style necklace with polka dot bow and heart locket is available here. The heart is a little locket and actually opens up with room for a photo, now you've just got to decide who the lucky person is who gets to be inside your locket! It's only £10 and came packaged in a cute little pink net bag :). IKandi will be continuing to update the website so keep an eye out.

Other bargains on the site include clutch bags at £20 (I've seen similar ones in the shops for about £40 so this seems a real steal!): 

Another website I've recently discovered is bedcrumb. Have a browse of the site yourself and you'll see the cute quirky designs. I have one of the bedcrumb brooches (see below, cute aren't they!), at first I wasn't sure how to wear it, as having a soft cotton brooch is really quite unusual but it looks great on knitwear or pinned to a bag.

A real hate of mine is paying £4/5 for a mass produced card... that's why I love bedcrumb cards, they're hand finished and range from around £2.75 - £3.25 check them out here!

Oh, and did I mention, shipping is free to the UK with any bedcrumb product. Perfect!

Do you prefer shopping online or instore?

Blogger, Elizabeth xx

MAC's Wonder Woman collection launches in NY today

Sometimes I wish I lived in America just so I could get my hands on the new products first... The Wonder Woman collection is bigger than normal MAC products...  woohooo!!

... The launch will be happening in the UK on the 10th Feb so look out!! What do you think of the new Wonder Woman range for MAC? Will you be buying any?

Images in this article sourced from racked.com 

Barry M Nail Effects

I've finally managed to pick up a bottle of Barry M Nail effects! I tested it out on Mum on Monday evening, since then she's been baking/cooking/shopping/working... so I thought that was a good test for nail durability!!!

The colour underneath is Nails Inc Caramel (free with 2 diet cokes) and the top coat I used Sally Hansen Hard As Nails With Nylon (because I couldn't find an ordinary top coat anywhere in the house!)

Soooo... here are the results, the photos are off the webcam so sorry for the poor quality:

It looks a lot better in person, and Mum was really pleased with the effect. Tip: you must use a top coat or the nail effect flakes off everywhere!! I think I'll apply two clear coats over the top next time I use this because it did chip a little on day two.

I've only managed to pick up the denim and caramel colours from Boots Diet Coke offer, but I really want the other two!!

Have you managed to get all the Nails Inc Diet Coke colours?

NARS Sheer Matte Foundation

NARS Sheer Matte Foundation in Siberia.

What it says on the website:

An oil-free, soft matte-finish foundation with sheer, buildable coverage that controls oil and shine throughout the day. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, skin is more luminous, softer and smoother. 

Used daily, Sheer Matte Foundation improves skin brightness, radiance and texture. For normal to oily skin types. 

• Minimizes visible discoloration
• Brightens and clarifies overall skin tone
• Oil free. Absorbs oil and controls shine
• Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic. Fragrance Free
  

Although I don't have oily skin... I do use a lot of  moisturiser before applying my foundation and I like a matte finish without having to use any powder.

I've never found a foundation quite pale enough for my skin, (especially in the winter months when I don't even have freckles) until now. NARS Siberia, where have you been all my life?!! To think, I'd never even tried a NARS product before, I'm most definitely a convert. I still love my MAC foundation, but I'll probably just use that now in the summer months when I've a little more warmth to my skin. Hopefully you can see from the below swatch just how good the NARS is on my skin, I've not blended the foundations in properly here so that it would show up better on camera :) ... I think it's the shadow on the right hand side of this pic making it look a tad darker than it is... and the fact its less thick than the MAC foundation...

The only down side is that the coverage isn't quite as good as my MAC studio sculpt, but that's to be expected as the consistency is completely different. The NARS foundation is much more of a liquid compared to the creamy/mousse texture of my MAC foundation. Despite this, I'd still rate my new NARS foundation as a 5/5, I've got plenty of concealers if I need to cover any blemishes!

What's your favourite foundation?

The truth about Microdermabrasion

Beauty treatments are a very personal and sometimes terrifying ordeal. Laying there in the capable hands of the 'Skin Health Spa' beauty technicians I couldn't help but feel a little worried about what was about to happen... I'd booked in for a microdermabrasion and IPL treatment on my face.

Image off google

Microdermabrasion, in essence, is a deep exfoliation. A vacuum like machine is used to blow and suck tiny crystals on to your skin - in doing so the outermost layers of your skin are removed, leaving you fresh faced. I was having my face treated and with having very sensitive skin was pretty worried I would end up spending the long train journey home resembling a tomato rather than having the complexion I could only dream of!

I'm personally not a fan, although the technician did tell me how it'd work much better if I had marked skin or scars, whereas I was just suffering more from tired and clogged skin. The IPL however, really cleared up my skin as the high intensity light has an antibacterial effect on the skin. No bacteria = no blemishes!

SWIIIIIIIIIIIIISH!!

Want your hair to swiiish like Cat Deeley (would you believe she's 34!!!!) then take good care of it! I've been dying my hair since I was about 12/13, so that's a good 8 years... as you can imagine, with this much dying, it's essential to keep that moisture locked in to avoid the scraggly scarecrow look. I do like Pantene Pro-V products but my hair product love lies elsewhere.

My four steps to well conditioned swiiiiiiiiiishable gorgeous hair:

Step 1: A great shampoo
Step 2: A rich conditioner
Step 3: A heat protection product (I use tresemme heat defence spray)
Step 4: (If you've wild hair - or just a lot of it!) A gorgeous taming serum or shine spray

I'm currently using the new Paul Mitchell range.  Paul Mitchell's Awapuhi has been around for a long time now, but it's the brand's 30th anniversary and so to celebrate they launced the new Awapuhi Wild Ginger range which contains keratin to strengthen the hair from root to tip. It's quite pricey but blimey it's good!


I use the moisturizing lather shampoo, the keratin cream rinse and the shine spray. The shampoo is especially good value because you just have to use a pea sized amount as it lathers up loads!! I used quite a large amount the first time I washed my hair with this and spent about 10minutes trying to rinse away all the lather!!!


Never fear. If your hair is more scare-crow at the moment than Cat Deeley and you've not got the money to buy the new Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger range then why not pop down to the nearest chemist and grab yourself an intensive conditioning treatment! I love Aussie Hair Care 3 minute miracle :), you can also buy it in sachet form for about 99p. Use this weekly and you'll notice your hair is much easier to control and looks shinier... (and the rest of the time follow steps 1-4 to avoid such a hair disaster in future)

What's your top tip for gorgeous tresses?

Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise

Product price: £45.00

What's in the box: Madara Dry Skincare Set contains; Madara Purifying Floral Foam Cleanser 150ml Madara Floral Water for Dry Skin 200ml Madara Deep Moisture Cream for Dry Skin 50ml.

I was sent this set to review, and am pleasantly surprised. I've always wanted to switch to using organic products but worried they'd not be as good as other brands. The only down side for me to this product was that the moisturiser smells rather like grass (A nice enough smell - maybe I was put off because I have hayfever and it reminded me of that?!) But my skin really has improved! I used the set for dry skin, because I've been a bit ill recently and my skin tends to suffer and feel dehydrated. The toner is one of the only toners I've used and not had a stinging sensation where I've got a spot or two, so I've actually been able to apply the toner correctly without wincing - must be the benefits of organic :) .


Now that my skin is better hydrated, my makeup is going on much more evenly! No patchy bits around the nose (where I had dry skin) woohooo! I'll definitely be buying this again (or asking for a set for my birthday) *hint hint Mummy*

GIVEAWAY 12TH FEBRUARY - Dolce & Gabbana - CLOSED

I wanted to buy something nice for my first ever blog giveaway - so how about this:

This is a pic off google - thought you could see the prize better my camera is dreadful!

A gorgeous trio of perfumes, they've got roller ball tops and a cute little carry case so just perfect for keeping in your handbag!

How to enter this giveaway? Please read carefully :)

 You must be a follower of my blog to enter this giveaway
 Leave me a comment saying something like "enter me please". I should be able to notify the winner on GFC but leave your name and email address too if you want to make my life easier :)
 You will get 1x entry for being a follower and commenting

 You can also get 1x entry for posting this giveaway anywhere on your blog (and leave me the link) and 1x entry if you tweet this giveaway to me (tell me your twitter name and tweet to me www.twitter.com/eliza_beff)

Winner will be chosen using random.org

This giveaway closes at midnight on the 12th February so you've plenty of time to enter!

Good Luck :)

Pores

Pores - the bane of my life! I've got quite large pores on my nose (I say large, they're not huge but I am quite prone to blackheads :() I use Biore nose strips but they're very expensive, they work out about £1 a strip... so when I saw these in M&S I thought I'd give them a go:

Beauty Care Nose Pore Strips, 6 for £3, so they're less than half the price of the Biore ones! They claim to instantly clean clogged pores and help to remove blackheads, and are a larger size for a better fit. I've tried these out twice now (one week apart), they're pretty good, though not too strong - so I'd recommend putting them on after a hot shower and an exfoliate to really get a deep clean! Then feel satisfied having a look to see if any blackheads are on the nose strip (Ewwww? C'mon I know you all look!)

Have you got any recommendations?

Recessionista from Tesco

Having a little weep when you check your bank balance? Fear not, Tesco have a new hairstyling range out, and all the products are priced at just £2!

I've tried the hairspray and my Mum has tried the mousse (for a scrunchy curled look) - both good products especially for the money - pretty similar hold to elnett hairspray but you get a bigger can for the same money! Other products in this range include a hairspray gel and sculpting putty.

(I had planned on posting pictures of my hair with this one from New Years Eve - however I ended up in hospital until 5am, a friend fell over -don't worry they're fine, so I don't think it'd really be fair to show what my hair looked by this point!!)


P.S. I can't see it written on the can anywhere, but the mousse smells gorgeous, like sweet apples! 

Upstairs Downstairs - Lady Percy

Hopefully you've all got to see the brilliant Upstairs Downstairs (If not, it's still on BBC iPlayer at the moment)

Lady Percy (pictured) is a naive fascist with impeccable clothes, hair and make-up. The key to the Lady Percy look is well groomed and defined eyebrows, a matte face and an understated but strong lip. I'm going to have a look when I get back from work through my make-up box(es) and pick my top products to create this look: