Mini Make up haul

 I'm feeling a little better *hooray* so I ventured out of the house and straight into Boots. I wanted to finally buy the Real Techniques Core Collection but they never seem to have them in stock, I even asked a shop assistant and she snapped at me (I think she was having a bad day). So not to waste a trip  I picked up a few things that I needed.

Collection 2000 always seems to me like a brand I would have bought when I was younger but online you hear endless praise for the Lasting Perfection concealer so I thought I would try it out. I picked it up in shade 'Fair 1' which I think is slightly too light for me but the next shade up was very orange toned so I'm going to have to blend it well. I also picked up their Colour Lash clear mascara to set my eyebrows with.

When I was browsing I saw the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains which I have always wanted to try, and they where on offer for £5 each rather than the usual £7.99 so I couldn't say no. I picked it up in the colour 'Honey' which is a beautiful muted pink which would be good for everyday wear. I'm usually more attracted to the brighter sades and 'Lovesick' and 'Rendezvous' are next on my list if I get on well with this one.  

 I also stopped in TK Maxx as there sale is usually very good on cosmetics. I found a set of two Essie nail lacquers for £5 which is a huge reduction. They both have the thinner brush which means they aren't the Boots collection so I'm not sure if the same colours are available in all Boots stores. The first dark wine colour is 'Bordeaux' which is a perfect a/w shade. Its fairy sheer, like most Essie nail varnishs, but two coats is enough to make it opaque. The second shade 'Allure' is a manicure polish so on the nail its very sheer and milky, the consistency of the polish is very watery but it dries quickly. Its not a shade that I would have picked up on its own but I  think i'm going to get some use out of it when I'm growing my nails or when I just can't be bothered to paint them. 

British Birds 001

Alexa Chung is rad. I love her.

She's been one of my style icons for years, a love affair starting way back in her Popworld days. In my opinion she looks her best off duty when her style is slightly more androgynous, although she can pull off just about anything. She has a real eye for classic pieces as well as vintage and puts them together so uniquely. We share a love for collared shirts and jumpers as well as the humble Barbour jacket. So here's a few of my current favorite outfits of hers:

http://alexachungweloveyou.tumblr.com/

Midnight City

I'm still really ill so to cheer myself up a bit I decided I would paint my nails. I'm annoyed that I'm not well enough to face the sales, but hopefully in the next few days i'll be elbowing through the rails with the best of them!

First I used 'nourish me' by Essie as a basecoat, then 'Blue Plum' from Barry M's new Gelly Hi-Shine range, a glitter from Miss Sporty (with no name, don't you just hate that!) and W.I.P at Urban Outfitters 'Squares'.  To get the ombre effect I used a thin coat of the fine glitter 2/3 of the way down the nail, then a second layer on the top third. To finish I added the large holographic glitter to the very tip of the nail.

The new Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine nail paint promises an 'extra glossy finish' but I am quite disappointed with it. It has the same colour pay off and shine as their normal nail polishes, so you're paying an extra pound for nothing. You might as well buy a glossy topcoat.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you all had a lovely day. Unfortunately I've been really ill with a runny nose and a sore throat so I've spent most of my day with a tissue to my nose feeling rotten. I woke up early with the rest of my family this morning and we had toast and opened our presents to each other, my mum and I went to church, then we watched old musicals and ate far too much Christmas dinner. Now its an evening full of Christmas specials and films and no doubt Quality Street.

These are just a few presents I revived from my family (this is in no way boasting):

 Form my big sister I got a lovely Stella McCartney perfume in the limited edition print bottle. It may surprise you that I don't own any perfume, as i'm usually very picky about scents but this smells lovely, quite floral but not too girly. I love the print on this bottle, it very 70s and would easily fit in a makeup bag.

 My mum loves Clarins, and usually gets both my sister and I a little gift set from there at Christmas, this year it was the 'All About Lips' set. Inside is a small makeup bag with four products inside: 'Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector' which is a seer tinted gel lipgloss with a doe foot applicator, 'Colour Quench Lip Balm' which is a hydrating gloss, 'Colour & Moisturising Lipstick in Joli Rouge' which is a beautiful berry nude lipstick and 'Intense colour & Shine Lip Gloss in Gloss Prodige' a berry lip gloss.

Now I know what your thinking but bare with me, I know UGGs are like marmite, and I too hated them until I tried them on in store. My friends who own a pair completely agreed with me that they are like walking on clouds, and my other friends just gave me a look of disgust when I said I was going to ask for a pair for Christmas. I went for the mini's in grey, which I think are subtle enough to not look like UGGs, but still be really cosy. 

I was hoping to have my first blog OOTD to be my Christmas dress, but because I am so sick, I haven't ventured out of my onesie, So instead here are my Christmas nails. I used Essie 'nourish me' as a base coat, then Essie 'forever yummy' as the main colour, over this I used Barry M '105 red glitter' and to top it all of W.I.P at Urban Outfitters 'squares'. Its so sparkly I'm almost blind.

Wish List 001

001. Longsleeve Collar Tip Shirt Topshop £36 - My love of collared shirts has probably stemmed from my sixth forms dress code but surprisingly I don't own many plain white shirts that aren't inappropriately sheer. The length of this shirt and the subtle details of the pockets and shrunken collar is what attracted me to this shirt. It's quite pricey for a plain shirt but versatile so worth it (am I convincing?).

002. Read Beanie form Ebay £3.75 - I've jumped right onto the beanie trend, and naturally I want every colour under the sun, but I always lusted over the red beanie for Alexa Chung's collection for Madewell. Unfortionately, you couldn't buy her collection in England so a bog standard Ebay beanie will have to do.

003. M.A.C lipstick in Impassioned £14 - I've been looking for a bright pink lipstick for a while now for nights out but blue toned pinks look sickly with my skintone. I'd narrowed it down to either this one or Brighton Rock by Topshop, but my experiences with Topshop lipsticks are that they look cakey on my lips, so trusty MAC it is.

Hello,

Only moments ago my school broke up for the Christmas holidays, ending with a spirited assembly on the end of the world (thank God we all survived 21/12/12). This means I finally have some free time on my hands to get my Blog up and running. I've been reading fashion blogs religiously since the tender age of fourteen, and I feel its a natural progression to start one of my own.
So allow me to introduce myself:

My name is Lizzie, I'm eighteen and studding Fine Art, Art Textiles and English Literature at A Level and I hope to go on to study fashion at university. Expect from my blog Reviews, DIYs, general chit chat and lusting over things I can't afford.