Pro Impressions and OPI Silver Shatter

Aloha Bloggerinos,

With all this lovely sunshineyness, I've been heavily inpsired to splash colour into every area of my life, and my nails have not missed out on this.

I bought this nail polish remover at the Beauty UK convention which I showed in my YouTube Haul video that you can see HERE. Since trying it a good few times I can happily report that it is BRILLIANT.

It has quite a strong smell that can get a bit up your nose but I'll let that go seeing as it does it's job sooooo well- it even cuts right through glitter, which to me is the real mark of a good remover. I've been using it with the special nail varnish remover sqaures (as shown in the video) or regular cotton wool and it works fabulously with both. You can find out more about the Pro Impressions range HERE.

Fancying a jazzy nail effect, I decided to try out my new OPI Silver Shatter, which I also bought at the Beauty UK convention for a bargainous £5.75 (ish. I know it was in the £5 range), which is superduper considering this retails for £10.50.

I'm quite certain you all will have read about these new fandangled shatter polishes and know that with just one coat on top of another colour, they create a cracked effect. I was never too keen on the standard black shatter colour that Barry M bought out, I felt it was a little too stern for my personal style, but this really caught my eye because it's much more subtle and has a hint of sparkle to it- Yippee!

I applied the OPI Silver Shatter over Boots No.17 Catwalk Couture (click HERE for more) and thoroughly enjoyed watching the polish separate and 'shatter' before my very eyes! It was oddly mesmorising actually!

I've really enjoyed this summery beachy nail look and it has lasted a good 5 days with only minimal chipping. Woop Woop!

(Modelling my nails against BabyGlitter's rainbow onsie!)

If browsing pretty polish colours is your bag, here are the OPI Stockist Details : 01923 240 010 Lena White.  

Have you tried any of the products mentioned? Are you and OPI fan?

 

Toodlepip!

 

xx

*CLOSED* Sterling Silver Birds Giveaway *CLOSED*

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Not too long ago, whilst cruising round etsy.com in my imaginary virtual convertible (it's a mauve 1950's Cadillac with pink and gold sparkles in case your interested), I stumbled across the most charming little etsy store called Ivory Cove and instantly fell in love.

I was so intrigued by all the gorgeous pieces because they were unlike anything I had seen in highstreet stores and proper jewellery shops that I felt compelled to know more. Now I know that's a little odd, but I have a thing. I have a deep love for handcrafted items, no matter what they are. My Mum used to run craft fairs and make pressed flower arrangements and so I grew up around craftyness. I have seen how much love and hard work craftspeople put into their things and therefore I value the item so much more.

So, I decided to contact the shop owner and ask her a little bit about Ivory Cove on the planning that I would then do a little feature of the cool shop on here. Well, once we got to chatting, Taryn (Ivory Cove's Creator) said I could actually have one of the lovely pieces of jewellery to show all you lovely Bloggerinos! Yowzas! 

Taryn used to make beautiful pieces of jewellery for herself and as someone who (like me) is a lover of all things creative, she decided to set up an etsy store to share her passion and make a few extra pennies. Currently she is a working part time as an Accounting Clerk, is also studying, is also a loving wife and is alllsssooo up to the eyeballs with orders for Ivory Cove. She is one busy lady!!

I'm so glad she finds time to make these lovely things because the birdy nest is uber cute and features throughout the store in silver and gold, on necklaces (like mine above), earrings and also rings. I've got my eye on the matching ring to this I think!

I've worn the necklace practically every day since receiving it which is quite unlike me as I like to mix things up every day, but I absolutely adore it, it's so unique and I've had LOADS of compliments on it too *smiles*. What was quite unusual though is that I had compliments on it from such a wide spectrum of people with different ages, tastes and even genders! I think this means this necklace would make a fantastic gift for someone.

It doesn't feel flimsy, doesn't turn my neck green, hasn't faded or broken (even when Baby Glitter tries to pull on it- naughty little glitterbug!) and looks great on my natural pale skin or with a fake tan. What more could you ask for? I think it helps that Taryn uses genuine precious metals because you really can tell it is high quality and not cheapy feeling at all.

I really hope Ivory Cove takes off and becomes a huuuggee success so that Taryn can devote all of her time to it and make more gorgeous blingy birdy treats for us all!

To say Thank You for checking out Ivory Cove, Taryn has very kindly offered you all the chance to win one of these amazing sterling silver necklaces too- Yippeeee!!

To enter is simple:

1. Hop on over to Ivory Cove and have a gander and the lovelies. With every item there is a Facebook 'Like' or Tweet button. All you have to do is Facebook 'Like' your favourite items. 

2. Pop a comment below to let me know you have 'liked' something and what it was/what they were (I'd be surprised if you only like one thing!

3. One winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday the 1st of June and you will be contacted to arrange your beautiful prize. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS SO WE CAN CONTACT YOU.

This contest is open internationally. You don't have to be a follower of my bloggypops but I would love it if you were :)

Good Luck Bloggerinos! Happy Browsing!

Toodlepip!

xx

The A-Z of Me

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I saw this on Stacey's blog (The HQ of Beauty) and thought it looked like a fun tag, so here we are, tagging! Woop woop!

The A-Z of Me!

Age: I tell people 25. I'll tell people this for as long as they believe me!

Bed Size: Double from IKEA with memory foam mattress and twinklyfairy lights- it's my sanctuary.

Chore you Hate: Cleaning the kitty litter tray- urgh.

Dogs: Labs or Dalmatians. Ooorrrr those dogs that are like Lady from Lady and the Tramp. What are they?

Essential start of your day: Shower with citrus smelling shower gel.

Favourite Colour: Pink or mint.

Gold or Silver: White gold

Height: 5"8

Instruments I play: Once at school we made 'guitars' out of cardboard boxes and rubberbands.

Job Title: Fanx.com FunMaker and Mummy.

Kids: Little Baby Glitter of course :)

Live: Northampton.

Mum's name: Diana Jane Pentland 1955-1992 :(

Nickname: Lou, LouLou, Soups, Loops, Foldy, Chummeeehhhhhh.

Pet Peeve: People that are late, bad breath.

Quote from a movie: "One Boooottlllleee!!". Three Men and a Baby.

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: Little Sister called Tiyana, but I prefer to call her Bananarama. As you dooooo.

Time you wake up: Baby Glitter wakes me up between 4am-5am. Yippee.

Underwear: It’s all about the comfort. Lucky old Matt eh?!

Vegetables you dislike: Turnips- bleaaugghh.

What makes you run late: Baby Glitter, she's awfully demanding.

X-rays you've had done: Only on my teeth. Hmm do pregnancy scans count?

Yummy food you make: I can't cook. I hate it. I need a chef.

Zoo animal: I'm rather partial to a monkey.

 

 

I tag every Bloggerino that reads or follows this blog. Let me know if you do it :)

Toodlepip!

xx

NB- Cute bow images from www.weheartit.com

MAC Flighty

Aloha Bloggerinos,

This June we are set to see the launch of MAC Flighty, which promises to be a 'high altitude collection of sensually spongy water colours' that 'fly higher than gravity's rainbow'. This excites me! I love collections that have loads of colour in them, and the fact that this is all about the eyes, totally floats my boat.

(Sorry for the blurred image, for some reason I couldn't download the press image and had to turn to google images. It's the same picture, but not as sharp. Grrr)

MAC Flighty consists of 4 coloured mascaras, 16 whipped mousse cream shadows and 1 brush.

The colours in this collection remind me a lot of MAC Peacocky and I am loving the look of the green mascara as I think it will enhance the greeness (real word there) of my own les yeux.

I thought I'd include the product names and colour descriptions, because if you're anything like me, you'll love to read the colour combos and get excited thinking about looks you could create!

ZOOM COLOURED MASCARA

HIGH ESTEEM Mid-tone grey with silver pearl

BLUE CHARGE Deep navy blue

PLUM RESERVE Light violet purple

GREEN IS GREEN Jade green

RRP: £13.50 / EURO 16.50

BIG BOUNCE SHADOW

THE COOL ELITE White with silver pearl

GOOD FORTUNE Soft pink yellow with pink and silver pearl

REWARD YOURSELF Bright peach coral with gold pearl

IMPECCABLY RICH Light cream with gold pearl

SIZZLIN’ DIVA Copper with gold pearl

TROPHY Soft peach with pearl

FREE AS AIR Sky blue with silver pearl

SPREAD THE WEALTH Dirty olive with gold pearl

EXTRA CHARGED Bright green with multicolour pearl

UP THE ANTE! Rich copper with gold and silver pearl

RICH THRILLS Dirty silver with multicolour pearl

LUXURY TOUCH Violet with gold pearl

COUNT YOUR ASSETS Rich blue purple with multicolour pearl

MY NEXT INDULGENCE Forest green with blue and gold pearl

RICH, SWEET Chocolate gold with gold pearl

BLACK DIAMOND Black with gold pearl

RRP: £13.50 / EURO 19.00

My wishlist is Free Air, Spread the Wealth and Green is Green. Do you have your peepers on anything special?

Toodlepip!

xx

FOTD :: Beauty UK Exhibition

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I'm a bit late posting this but I have been soooo busy with Baby Glitter, my YouTube channel, working at fanx.com (A cool way to say thanks, dontchya know) HQ (if you can call working 'playing on swivell chairs with Baby Glitter and throwing ideas at Lee' working!), taking up sewing again and keeping my house nice! Sheesh I'm shattered just typing it all out, let alone doing it!

Anyhoo, I decided to have a play with lime green to match my top. I love to match things.

Gargh I forgot to put foundation and powder in there! It's MAC Studio Sculpt NW15 and Collection 2000 Ivory Pressed Powder. Oopsie!

Any questions, let me know :)

Toodlepip!

xx

Darcy - 6 Weeks Old

Aloha Bloggerinos,

While my snazzy video about Baby Glitter's New Job is being watched, I thought I'd give you a quick update on my gorgeous little glitterbug!

As the title of this post suggests, she's 6 weeks old today- how time flies!

Obviously not loads is going to happen in 2 weeks at this stage of her life but I'll give you the lowdown (is 'lowdown' a cool word? I'm not too sure) anyway.

She is now 57cm long (she was 51cm at birth) and her head circum. is 39cm. She weighs a little over 10lb and I think she feels a lot more 'meaty' hahaha.

The little squidgybug smiles loads, is kind of making 'ooohhh' or 'ggaaaahh' sounds every now and again and is tres alert. I sing her little songs - except I never know the lyrics so I make random ones up and then realise I sound completely off my rocker!!

She's lost a lot of her 'baby hair' which is a shame but I know it will grow back. The milk spots on her nose have gone and so has her baby acne- Hurrah!

Now that she is a bit more aware of her surroundings, I have been laying her on her playmat under the baby-gym and she lays and stares up at the animal toys and looks totally fascinated, it's so cute!

More to come soon, thank you for all your Baby Glitter well wishes.

Toodlepip!

xx

MAC Bloggers Event- Senior Artist Masterclass

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Now, I'm probably the last blogger out there to write about the MAC Style Suite Red Carpet Event last Thursday, but such is the nature of Baby Glitter- when she sleeps, I sleep!

Last Thursday I was very honoured to attend a MAC Masterclass with Senior Makeup Artists Lynsey Alexander and Neil Young in association with Philips British Academy Television Awards 2011.

What does this mean you ask? I wondered the same until it was explained on the night (I felt a right durrbrain!). Basically, for the BAFTA's which is on the 22nd of May this year, one whole floor of the ultra swanky Pelham Hotel in South Kensington, London, is turned into a 'Style Suite' for the presenters, nominees and celeb types. So one room will be where they can have their makeup done by the wonders of MAC, one room will be filled with amazing clothes from super designers and another would be full of jewels and bling- jealous much? I am!

The event was held in this gorgeous room with plush chairs lined up and amazing goodie bags on each seat. All the MAC PR ladies were so nice and remembered me from the last event (which you can read about HERE) and asked after Baby Glitter. I'm useless at remembering people I've only met once so when people remember me I'm always really impressed haha.

We were refreshed with lovely champagne (and after 9 months of not drinking this was VERY welcome) and cute canapes which I avoided to prevent any nibble related disasters like last time.

There's me on the end (pic above) sat next to Muhsine of Bubblegarm. I was really excited to be sat next to her because Bubblegarm is in my top 3 of fav blogs and I actually felt a bit starstruck at first ahahaha! We had a nice chat about pregnancy (Muhsine is almost 5 months) and then on the tube on the way back I quizzed her on all things blog and babies! Yay!

Anyway, both Lynsey and Neil had a beautiful bare faced model and got to work creating gorgeous flawless looks that we may well see on the red carpet this year. Yowzas!

Neil focused on the lips and used the infamous 'Show Orchid' (apparently favoured by the likes of Cheryl Cole), with a subtle eye look. I now MUST own 'Show Orchid' but sadly it's a pro colour and I couldn't get it at my local Debenhams- gargh.

Neil has a great rapport with Lynsey and included all of us like we were his chummies. I think he'd be an absolute hoot on a night out! Him and Lynsey used to flatshare together- can you imagine? You would NEVER leave the flat looking a mess would you?! Brilliant!

Lynsey worked on a gorgeous smokey eye using just one shade of paint pot but blending to create depth and variation- it was very impressive and something I shall be sure to practise. Lynsey created this lovely nude lip by applying concealer to mute the natural pigment on the lip and then overlaying 'Shy Girl', which is also on my lust list now as well.

Lynsey made the model's skin absolutely AMAZING and told us all about the importance of prepping the skin and applying in light layers, rather than slathering on thick strokes of foundation. This lovely model is wearing Studio Sculpt which is what I wear (in NW15 by the by) so I was pleased as punch. I noticed that she also used eyeshadow for eyebrow filling and definition which is definitely something I'd like to try. For this blondey/fair model, Lynsey used 'Omega' pressed shadow in case you were interested.

Side note- being the Palette Lover that I am, I was entranced by both Neil and Lynsey's palettes and asked all about them. They buy lots from Muji and decant the products themselves. For a minute I thought there was some special way to get my hands on MAC Lipstick Palettes but alas, there is not. DIY melty spoon over heaty jobby for me then.

As you can see, the models looked SUPERB! I mean, they didn't exactly look like gargoyles before, being profesh models and all, but if I can take away a fraction of the skill that was applied here and use it on my own face, I'll be doing 'reet :)

  

Here's me and the Master of Makeup! Woop woop! They could be models themselves couldn't they?!

And below is the lovely loot we were sent home with- I actually squealed on the train when I opened all this up. It was all products that had been used in the Masterclass, so it was great because now I know the best way to use them and how to get the most out of them.

 

I'm sure I'll be talking about these individually and will also be showing you them in an upcoming YouTube video.

I'm so thrilled to have been invited to such a brilliant event. I learnt soooo many great tips (which I haven't included because lots of the other bloggers that attended talked about them and I don't want to reinvent the wheel so to speak), caught up with lots of gorgeous bloggers and had a lovely few hours out of the House of Nappies/Bottles/Baby Sick (ahh bless little stinky Baby Glitter).

I'm really excited to review some of these new products and feel heavily inspired to try some new looks! Do you have any of the above products? What do you tink of them?

Toodlepip!

xx

Now, I did actually post this last week but then Blogger went a bit dolally and deleted it. Luckily the BRILLIANT Katy from Rotten Otter saved the day and helped me get it back. Thank you clever Katy! xxx

Hannah's Gorgeous Gift

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Do you remember I told you it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago? Well, one super nice YouTuberino/Bloggerino actually sent me really nice birthday present!!

Hannah ordered me these GORGEOUS earrings from a handmade online boutique called The Parlor. She told me the products were made by her sister's friend who lives in Manchester and when I had a look on the website I was giddy with glee at all the lovely things!

I was really thrilled with these earrings because they are so 'me'. I absolutely adore bird accessories and think the brass and the emerald compliment one and other perfectly.

THANK YOU HANNAH, YOU ARE TOO KIND!

I like to wear these with this necklace my sister Tiyana bought me from Accessorize. Told you I like birds!

If you'd like to have a look at The Parlor, click HERE.

I think luurrrvvee the Peppermint Tea Charm Bracelet, the black Elegant Earrings and the Galaxy Earrings.

Have you ever had a reeeaallly cool unexpected present? Tell me!

Toodlepip!

xx

Sigma Brush Kit WINNER

Aloha Bloggerinos,

The time has come to announce the winner of my Sigma Syntheric Brush Kit competition. Wahhoooo!

To enter, I asked Bloggerinos to tell me what they would buy from Sigma if money were no object and to also send me a 'look' with the inspiration being a Sprinkle of Glitter.

I was really amazed at how many of you entered and really enjoyed seeing all your looks and hearing about how you achieved them. It was really, super, tres tres difficult to decide on one winner because I could see that you all put such effort into them and had gone to town on various glitter effects.

So in the end, after MUCH deliberation, I have chosen STEFI as the winner! CONGRATULATIONS!

The reason this look won is because I really felt that Stefi thought outside glittery box and she has really had fun with shimmer, sparkles and gems!

Here are the products Stefi used to create her winning look:

Face

mac stuido fix fluid in NC15

garnier ainti dark circles roll on

collection 2000 lasting perfection ultimate wear concealer

Eyes

barry m shimmering eye and lip crayon (5)

frontcover eyespy vanilla ice shadow

frontcover eyespy tallulah pink shadow

duo adhesive

gems off a old phone case

frontcover moonlit metals moonshine glitter

barry m fine glitter dust (7)

maybelline gel eyeliner (black)

maybelline the falsies volum' express masscara

 

Lips

barry m shimmering eye and lip crayon (5)

next cherry lip gloss

Stefi HER OWN BLOG, so do have a look at that. Stefi, I will be contacting you tonight for your details and I hope Sigma send out your kit speedy speedy!

To all of you that entered- THANK YOU! I didn't see a single look that I thought "pah, that's rubbish!", they were all brilliant and super glitzy! One Bloggerino even did some panel detailing which I thought was really clever!

I'll hopefully be having another Sigma Giveaway if and when I hit 2000 followers, so keep your eyes peeled!

Toodlepip!

xx

Gems

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Whilst mooching about on weheartit.com (I bloomin' well love that site), I played my favourite game, which is to just type a word into the search box and see what comes up. Usually I type things like "glitter", "sparkle" or "sequins", but today I tried "gem" and here are my top picks.

Oh my oh my! I tell you what, next time I go to a fancy dress party (and now I really hope I'm invited to one soon), I'm going to do this look on my face. I wish this were acceptable day wear because I luurvve it.

I love the colours mint and mauve so this picture made the cut.

It's pink, it's gaudy, it glitters, it had to be on here.

Once I've lost my baby weight (and let's face it, the excess lardybum I was carrying around before pregnancy anyway), and I become of super model stature, I'm going to stick gems to my thighs. Even if I'm wearing jeans.

Not much of a beauty or life post, but definately a sparkly gems one ;)

Toodlepip!

xx

Darcy - 4 Weeks Old

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Darcy is having a little snooze (hurrah!!) for a few minutes so I thought I would take the opportunity to update you on the little lovie.

What a 4 weeks it's been! Now I won't lie to you Bloggerinos, this last month has been the hardest time of my entire adult life. Of course there have been gorgeous loving moments, but a lot of the time it's sleep deprivation, yellow poop, a constant round of cleaning, sterilizing and making up bottles, laundry, lugging baby stuff (car seat, moses basket, change bag, bouncer, jungle gym, etc, etc) round the house and feeling REALLY FRAZZLED.



And then she smiles, or looks up at me with her eyes which look like blue marbles and you don't mind any of the hard graft. It's crazy. It's like she has a power of you which forces you to just love her regardless of how you feel. I look at her and think about how I want her to have the best possible life. About how I want her to not have the childhood I had, about how I want her to enjoy school, have good relationships and do all that she wants to do with her life.

Not a great deal has happened in the last 4 weeks (aside from our lives being turned completely upside down of course haha) but I'll fill you in anyway.

Darcy now weighs 9lb11oz which is good news because when she was a week old we had to go to hospital for a coupe of days because she lost far too much weight. I now take her to a baby group on a Tuesday morning and get her weighed so I can monitor it. It's really nice there, lots of toys and other people and a health visitor to answer any questions. Also it's free so that's a brucey bonus!

Matt and I set up a savings account for her which I am really proud of. I intend to encourage further education when she's older so this will go to that. If university is something she really objects to then she can use it for driving lessons or travelling or something of that ilk.

She's a little bit more interactive now. She just about smiles, looks at things and follows your fingers/toys with her eyes. I really love 'playtime' with her, but unfortunately, she seems to think playtime is at 4.30am. It isn't. 4.30am is TiredMummyTime.

I'll update you again at the 8 week mark, but so far, she's a little snugglebug and I want to just gobble her right up. But I won't. This would be frowned upon. Eek!
Toodlepip!

xx
PS

Thank you to everyone who has entered my Sigma Brush Kit Competition, there have been some amazing looks! Keep your entries coming! xxx  ----Why has this centered but nothing else has??! GGRRR

Win A Sigma Brush Kit!!!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

So below you will see my Lou's Reviews for the Sigma Synthetic Face Kit of brushes and just how much I luurrvvee them, ie. A LOT. Well, those generous folks over at Sigma HQ have provided and extra kit for me to give you as a prize- wowie!

.(This is my set. You'd be sent a brand spanking new set direct from Sigma Brushes)

To enter you must do 2 things.

The first is to click HERE, have a look around and tell me which product or products you could buy if money was no object. That's the easy bit- who doesn't love a bit of fantasy shopping?!

The second is where you really get to let your creative juices flow (urgh that sounds a little bit gross doesn't it?! tehe). What I would like is for you to create an amazing makeup look, using whatever products and brands that you choose, with the inspiration being "SPRINKLE OF GLITTER". Please email no more than 3 pictures per look (just the 1 is fine though) to louise.pentland@hotmail.co.uk. To help me see any emails that may slip into my spam box, please put "My Sprinkle of Glitter Look".

I would love to know which products you have used but this is not compulsory and will have no baring on your entry- I'm just interested that's all :)

So to summarise, to win a fantastic Sigma Synthetic Face Brush Set, email me with your 'Sprinkle of Glitter' inspired makeup look AND the Sigma product you would most like if money were no issue by Saturday the 7th of May.

You don't have to be a follower of my blog to enter and it will have no baring on your chances of winning but it would be cool if you were.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all your gorgeous looks-eeeeeee!!

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Sigma Brushes - Synthetic Face Kit

Aloha Bloggerinos,

About a month ago, I was sent the Sigma Synthetic Face Kit of brushes which promises flawless makeup application without absorbing too much product into the special 'sigmax' brush filaments.

Well oh me oh my these brushes do not disappoint!

It was actually excellent timing that these popped through my letterbox because I have recently been having a bit of a stress with foundation application. I use MAC Studio Sculpt (in NW15 in case you're interested) and I used to apply it with a regular foundation brush (Avon or GOSH being my brand of choice) and noticed that the application was becoming really streaky.

I tried washing the brushes more regularly, thinking the issue was product build up in the brush fibres but this only relieved the situation for the short term.

Then, whilst at the MAC London Fashion Week earlier in the year, I had a fabulous mini makeover and rather than sweep on my foundation with a foundation brush, she literally buffed it into the skin with a kabuki styled brush and the result was sensational, even if I do say so myself.

The Synthetic Face Kit comprises of 3 fabulous brushes- F80 Flat Top Kabuki, F82 Round Top Kabuki and F84 Angled Top Kabuki.

I think I have had the most use out of the Round and Angled Top Kabuki brushes. I use the Round Top to buff in liquid foundation and it works like a dream. My skin literally looks airbrushed. I will NEVER go back to a regular foundation brush. Ever.

I use the Angled Top brush to contour bronzers and highlighters and I love all the effects you can get from it. The fibres don't pick up too much powder and so I can build up the coverage to suit and no longer have the oh-gawwdd-too-much-brown-on-my-face-I-look-like-a-street-walker effect, which is always a winner in my books.

I love that these brushes have chunky short handles and fit into my travel makeup bag. I've washed them a good few times and there is no shedding and they come up good as new. Also, they come with little plastic brush guards which is something I really like, they protect the brushes from yuk and also keep the shape well. Woop.

All in all I am REALLY impressed with this set and they are a much loved addition to my brush collection.

To have a look at these and loads of other gorgeously tempting kits, click on the big Sigma link on the left of my blog or click HERE and have a nosey round- you won't regret it!

Toodlepip!

xx