A sweet little tip!

Add a tiny drop of either rose or neroli essential oil to your primer/base - it will make your foundation flawless and look hydrated.

Inecto Pure Coconut Oil

Inecto pure 100% Coconut Oil is an absolute bargain! I bought the Shine Enhancing Glossing Spray 100mls at £2.19! The smell is absolutely gorgeous - and makes you totally stress-free!

Spray liberally over damp hair before styling or lightly to dry hair to finish a style. I am going to take this on holiday with me as I feel it will be very useful! I am going to spray this in my hair after a day in the sun, to give my hair a helping hand!

This is also a British product! So with every purchase you know you are supporting British business! :) I bought this at Superdrug; for more info check out the Inecto website.

Ebay and cosmetics - the good, the bad and the ugly (mostly ugly).

I don't know about you, but I love Ebay. I have bought everything from old records, clothing and books, things I need, to things I definitely don't need and even things that I didn't even know I needed - but did!

It's like being at a rummage sale as a kid at The Village Hall; I remember the excitement back then, never quite knowing if you'll find that hidden gem amongst all the junk! The hidden gem being an Evel Knievel stunt bike, and Sting and The Police videos - Yeah, I was a strange kid!

Recently I bought a limited edition lipgloss by MAC, from one of their past collections called 'Heatherette'. It was boxed and unused, but the product was released over a year ago. It arrived and I opened the tube and had a quick smell - the trademark vanilla scent was almost completely faded. I thought to myself, do I really want to put a year old product on my lips? The answer was no. I packaged the lipgloss up again and relisted it on Ebay - and made a £4 profit!

I am sure the lipgloss would of been perfectly fine, it wouldn't of killed me, but let's all remember that cosmetics arn't clothing -make-up has a use-by-date. Our threads can last years if looked after, after all vintage clothing can make more money than the hot new products off the shelves! This sadly can never be the same with our MAC collections....

What really bothers me about cosmetics and Ebay, is that people are selling products which are already tested, to half used! I pose the question, would you use a stranger's toothbruth? Then why on Earth would you BUY used lipstick or foundation? I understand there are techniques of making such products useable by dipping them in alcohol, but it's a real turn off for me. The below photo I found of a couple items for sale on Ebay right now. Any takers? Ewwwww!

Disgusting - used cosmetics being sold on Ebay

It's not rocket science - get to know the parts of your eye :)

Brow Bone/Highlight: A light colour should be applied to this area; a light sparkly colour like MAC's versitile 'Vanilla' pigment, Benefit's highlighter-Miss Popularity, or for a more dramatic look try a light tone of what you wish to put on your lids, or go low-key and use a skintone colour.

Above Crease: The blending area! As your main colour will be on the lid, the colour needs to be blended as it moves it's way upwards towards the brow. You can do this by blending your lid colour upwards, but I suggest using a lighter color than the one used on my lid to help fade the colour upward. You can also use the same colour you chose for the highlight if you wish.

Outer Crease: Your outer crease extends from the inside of your eye right to the end of your eye. I deposit colour in the outer crease, then bring it inward to the middle of the crease -easy peasy! I don't normally darken the entire length of my crease because in my opinion this makes your eyes look smaller!

Inner Lid: A lighter colour is put on the inner lid.

Middle of Lid: A slightly darker colour should go in the middle of the lid. So, for example, Inner lid =Light, middle lid= medium, and outer lid =dark.

Outer Lid: Here as I said above, this is where the darkest lid colour goes. Also can put the same colour you used for crease here to add drama!

Waterline: Please becareful with this area as it is highly sensitive. Liner added here can easily get into the eye and sting! The waterline is called the waterline as it is watery, therefore product does not last long if applied here.

Inner Lower Lash Line: A lighter colour which is similar to the colours used on the lids can be applied to the inner lower lash line - your preference really!

Outer Lower Lash Line: To create smoky eyes, apply a darker colour to the outer lower lash line or go for thicker eyeliner and smudge it around the outer lower lash line.

Simple eh? :)

Colours to suit your eye colour - guaranteed!

Blue Eyes


Great Colours for you:
Orange (the complementary colour for blue) is a great colour for you. To highlight your eyes, choose eyeshadows in shades of golden brown, earthy brown, peachy pinks, apricot and even gold.

Colour to avoid:
Blue-green (this will reduce colour intensity of your eyes).

Your colour palette:
Coppers, orange/coral, golds, bronzes, beige, brown and dark grey.

Green Eyes

Great colours for you:

Mauve and all its variations (purples, plums, pink, etc).

Colours to avoid:

Blue - it's far too boring for you!

Your colour palette
Plum, mauve, purples, pinks, red-brown, crimson, copper.

Hazel Eyes

Great colours for you:

To emphasise your eyes, adopt the colours that appeal to you! From golden brown to grey-green, all shades will bring out your pupils.

Colours to avoid:

All halftone colours as they are just a bit plain.

Your colour palette:
Browns, oranges, grey-green, khaki, blue-grey, golds.


Brown / Black Eyes

Great colours for you:

Deep colours that will highlight your dark eyes (dark grey, navy blue, brown, black, deep plum, etc) .

Colours to avoid:

Pastel shades. They will bring out the whites of your eyes and make your eyes look a bit washed out.

Your ideal palette:
Navy blue, dark grey, plum, pink, copper, bronze, and gold.

High protection suncare for the face - MAC and Clinique reviewed

I am the typical English Rose - I have the whitest skin in the world! I have never had a tan in my life. The closest thing to a tan I have had was being the colour of a lobster! I find it's quite a pain to be so white.

I spent a lot of my childhood in Africa (I had parents who loved to travel!) and I did not really have much of a problem. Then I had a shock, two years ago I went on a holiday to Mauritius and after a couple of days I was feeling rotten and got prickly heat and after a trip to the chemist on the island I was told to cover up completely and stay out the sun!!! It was more than a little bit depressing! I now have to take allergy tablets 1 week before I travel abroad. So it is essential that not only I buy a good hat, I buy the appropriate creams and lotions.

My boyfriend lives in Athens and at the airport on the way to visit him last summer I bought a special bumper pack of Clinique Super City Block SPF 40! It is a little embarrassing in the mornings to apply all the different creams and things, I feel like a total prima donna! The only thing I really worry about is my face to be honest, I hate that red cheeked, red nosed 'british holiday look' so I applied the city block quite liberally to my face.

I did keep re-applying the block throughout the day, before and after swimming, but I noticed that my face was still slightly flushed at the end of the day. The lotion is actually quite thick, and it does feel like you have protection. When I returned to England I had a lot of freckles, which is a clear sign of sun damage. I was really upset because I followed the instructions and was very careful and still I got burnt!

I really do not know what to say about this product now. I loved the idea, but I am not really convinced it works in very hot climates (it was 40degrees-ish!). I do wear this whilst in England because I want to keep my skin looking youthful. The Super City Block is £ 12.23 for 40ml. You can wear it alone or underneath your makeup. I have tried both ways. To be honest it does work well with makeup (although it did feel a little more greasey that usual but I think that is to be expected with a product like this). It is also available in SPF 25, and 'New Derma White SPF 40' which apparently prevents dark spots and discolourations.

I found another excellent product and it's by MAC (surprise, surprise!) it's their prep and prime with face protectSPF 50! I found this not only to be an excellent makeup primer, and it gave me the confidence my face was being protected. Unfortunately the MAC UK website does not stock this product anymore, but it is still available in shops, and also in the USA.

The only downside of this product is that it is quite small, and you only get 30ml for about £24 (if I remember correctly!). Well, on the upside, it fits in your handbag very well!!! ;)

I'm sorry mac, I just don't get your shadesticks!

Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a BIG fan of MAC products. I love them. I have once bought a shadestick in sharkskin and also beige-in.

I found the application of the shadesticks quite difficult because they felt very hard and aggressive on my eyelids. I also found them to cake a little and crease.

I was a little upset because this was my first flaw I have ever incountered with MAC. The shade-stick is apparently versitile because it can be used as a base, or as a simple eye-shadow. For me they just don't feel..... right. I far prefer Urban Decay's Primer Potion for a base as it feels far lighter and less sticky. I have heard that to make the shade-stick more useable you have to heat it up by rolling it between your hands. I tried this, and it didn't make too much of a difference. It is far preferable to buy a MAC paintpot!!! I think that we expect the highest standard from MAC, and really, this doesn't quite reach it girls!!

What do you think? Am I right?