My Explosive Excuse for Missing the L'Oreal Event!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Well, this is a bit of a funny post. Not funny haha, just funny garrrghhh ggaarrgghhh!

So yesterday, I was supposed to trundle along to the oh so swanky L'Oreal event with ZoeChummy (Zoella to you lovely Bloggerinos) where I would sip champagne and squish her gorgeous little face. But alas, it wasn't to be, something got in the way.

What? Ok, I'll tell you. AN EXPLOSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right Bloggeirnos, my boiler exploded!!!!!

Here is what happened:

It was about 3pm and I was in my hallway waiting for my friend Nicki to come and collect Baby Glitter so that I could go to London to meet Zoe. All day I had been thinking I could smell gas but thought it was just my nose playing tricks on me. I even said to CeriChummy on the phone that I could smell something.

So as I was standing in the hall I smelt the gas smell again and thought "Hmmm maybe it's coming from outside" and opened my front door to sniff out there. As I opened the front door, there was a huge BANG and a really scary woooooosssshhhing sound!!!

My first thought was 'Gas Leak' and envisioned huge fire balls and house exploding and totally freaked out. I grabbed Baby Glitter (quite roughly, poor little thing) and ran as fast as I could into the street- I didn't even put shoes on!! I ran into the road and just stood there holding Baby Glitter screaming "HELP! PLEASE! HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPP! SOMEBODY HELLPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!" until my neighbour, Pete, came out to see what all the commotion was about! I frantically told him there had been an explosion and he rang 999 for me whilst I gabbled hysterically and cried.

The neenaahhnengines (Fire Brigade) came and they all trooped into my house and I stood across the road on Pete's drive watching them open all the windows and such. Pete's wife Vicky came home and was so brilliant making everyone drinks (by this time Matt had come home from work after I hysterically called his school office and my Dad had come over too to help) and inviting us all into her house. Her 2 little girls played with Baby Glitter too which was really sweet.

So whilst all this was happening, I rang Zoe in a massive flap, crying down the phone, but because I was so shook up, I didn't quite explain very well and just said "Zoeeeeee I can't come! There's been an explosion in my house!!" and basically hung up! So poor Zoe was worried sick until I finally managed to call back and explain.

After about 45 minutes, all the neighbours were in the street, the fire brigade had done their stuff, the national grid had turned off the water and the red cross people had come to ensure we were ok. I have to say, the red cross people are so cool- they come in a red cross camper van type thing with stuff on board to help- like milk and nappies if you have a baby and can't get into you house (like me).

Eventually we were allowed back in to see the damage. What had happened was the boiler had exploded and caused rather a lot of water damage. The bathroom was flooded and then the water went through the ceiling into the kitchen. The wooshing noise I had heard was actually water, not gas. I think the gas I smelt was the boiler indicating that it was on it's last legs. Thank God it wasn't worse.

So here I am today, waiting in for people like the gas man, insurers and such. I'm looking on the bright side- nobody was hurt, the only things that are ruined are just 'things', nothing special like photos, wedding dresses (I have mine and my Mum's), Baby Glitters special momentos, the cat is fine (haha phwef!) and the only rooms with water damage are the kitchen and bathroom, neither of these have carpet so it's easy to sort. And, most thankfully, we have insurance!!

After all this drama, my Dad took the opportunity to lighten the mood and took this silly picture of Baby Glitter in her bouncer, wearing his spectacles- tehehe!

I'm really gutted that I missed the L'Oreal Event, I was so so so so looking forward to meeting up with everyone and seeing all the lovely beauty products. My invite was via Zoebumpkins so I don't even have any contact details for the L'Oreal people to say sorry I missed it. I tried to call them but I was just put through to a voicemail where I left a VERY garbled message. Does anyone know what I should do? I'm really quite blue about it :(

Well Bloggerinos, that's my explosively dramatic tale! Was your Monday as manic as mine?

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Sleek Monaco Palette and Santorini Blush

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I know, I know, every blogger and their dog (or cat, I much prefer cats, puuurrrr) have blogged about the Sleek Palettes but her I am, jumping all over the bandwagon and showing you mine. Do you mind too much?

It seems like Sleek MakeUp are releasing new palettes faster than breeding rabbits, but this gets no complaints from me- I love it! I actually collect the I-Divine Palettes (despite the recent price hike- remember the days when they were £4.95 instead of £6.49?!) but not avidly like some cosmetic enthusiasts do. I will only buy them if I really like them, which is most but not all. I saw the Caribbean one and wasn't overly excited so left it and I never picked up the Bad Girl and Good Girl ones (is that what they were called? They came out around Christmas and were a set of blues/blacks/purples or a set of pinks).

I do wish I had bought the earlier ones like Safari and Jewelled but oh well. I'm going to make a video very soon on all the Sleek Palettes I have, but for now, here is the new Monaco beauty!

(I haven't provided swatches of this because I have seen soooo many blogs with swatches on that I didn't want to reinvent the wheel)

This is the perfect 'summer palette'. I find a lot of cosmetic companies interpret 'summer' as lime green, tango orange and sunshine yellow, which are all great, but not every day in summer do I want to wear such vivid shades, this supplies colours that you can wear every day and still feel colourful and fun.

With a mixture of mattes and shimmers, darks and lights, you really can create looks for day, evening, subtle, bold and my favourite kkeerraazzzy! Haha. I think if you were going on holiday and trying to pack light (something I have NEVER achieved), you could get away with packing only this for your eyes.

As always with Sleek, the shadows are all highly pigmented, easy to blend and easy to remove. I'm sure you will all know this but as well as using your brush/sponge/finger to apply as a shadow, if you dip a damp eyeliner brush in them, it will make a coloured liner for you. I've also been told, but never tried, that if you crush up some of the pigment and add to clear polish, you can make a coloured nail varnish from them! I do love a multifunctional product.

What do you think? £6.49 worth spending? I think so.

Also in the Mediterranean collection is the Santorini Blush which is described as 'popping pink' to give you a 'girly butter-wouldn't-melt-effect'. Hmmmm. I'm not too sold on this because it is very, very bright. More neon than popping!

To it's credit, you can apply it lightly and build it up, but it's just too 'out there' for me, I'm more of a bronzer gal. This colour is also limited edition but it reminds me of the permanent blush 'Pixie Pink'.

Something I do like about Sleek Blushes is that the pans are larger than a lot of other blushers I have tried and you have enough space to give your brush a good swirl round. I hate it when I have to kind of just stab my brush about, swirling is so much more feminine!

So beautiful Bloggerinos, what do you think of these summer Sleek staples? I'm rather smitten.

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: OPI Texas & Serena Glam Slam France Collections

Aloha Bloggerinos,

As a relative newbie to OPI Nail Polish I was pretty bloomin' excited when these jewelled treasures popped through my letterbox, pretty excited indeed!

Above: Guy Meets Gal-Veston (Texas Collection), Housten We Have A Purple (Texas Collection), Spark De Triomphe (Serena Glam Slam France Collection) and Austin-Tatious Turquoise. All polishes from the snazzy Texas Collection retail for £10.50.

In conjunction with the tennis season, OPI have bought out a tres cool shatter range, aptly named Serena Glam Slam France Collection. What a lot of pies Ms Williams has her tennis champ fingers in eh? The Gram Slam collection comprises of 3 jazzy duo sets of polish- one shatter and one colour/glitter. My set is a bright white shatter and a gold and silver sparkly (Spark de Triomphe). The sparkly is AMAZING! A mixture of fine and very very fine glitter it applies almost opaque with sparkle in just one coat. With more coats it is totally opaque- a rarity with glitter polish!

I tried the white shatter over one of the Texas Collection Polishes (Housten We Have a Purple) and wasn't entirely in love with the finish, a bit tipexy, but I think it will look a million times better over the Spark de Triomphe- I shall keep you posted. Perhaps I will apply it this week in honour of Wimbelondon starting and give you a fun NOTD?

The box is very professional and give a simple guide to shatter and the effect you can expect. I really like this wordy/picture element because although us Beauty Bloggers have all read and seen shatter in action, many women will not have and I think will find it pretty nifty! I also love that the range comes in the little boxes becase they are easy to wrap and make cool little gifts, or, if like me you are a horder and keep the boxes, you'll like them too!

 

Guy Meets Gal-Veston- A jelly orange. Took 4 coats to be opaque, which for me is too many, I draw the line at 3. However, it was an extremely smooth ride, great formula and with a China Glaze top coat, didn't chip for over a WEEK- this is a first for any of my collection!

Austin-Tascious Turquoise- Mermaidy bluey-green metalic. Looks beautiful against a tan and works well as a toe colour. I've had it on my tootsies for a couple of weeks and it's going strong. I've noticed that in some lights it also has a pinky-purple gleam to it too- puurrddddyyy!

Houston We Have A Purple- Medium toned berry purple, requires 2-3 coats but glides on smoothly and is worth the effort. My Auntie Judith described it as a 'sumptious fruity colour' and it really is, like ribena on your nails. I have also worn this with one coat and then one coat of Spark De Triomphe on and loved that combo so much I forced Lee from fanx hq to say how marvellous it looked- hahaha! Thanks Lee!

My most favourite combo- like cheese and crackers, jinglyjanglys and shakeyshakeys (YouTuberinos will know what I'm talking about!), this just works. Summer sizzle!

All in all, I am beyond impressed with these nail varnishes and the others in my collection (Pink Me I'm Good- baby pink with gold sparkles- hello you beauty!). I do think £10.50 is a lot of money for one polish but I would justify it to myself by thinking about how many wears you get out of a bottle and how it truly is the best quality polish I have tried.

I also made a YouTube video about these which you can watch HERE. Baby Glitter was being a bit of a monkey in it though so do let us off for our all-ver-the-place-ness!

What are your thoughts on this range and OPI in general? Do you think you're paying for quality?

Toodlepip!

xx

PS-

I couldn't help but mess about with my nail polish splodge- pretty non? x

A Random Act of WOWness

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Since starting at fanx.com I have been reading quite a few businessy type books in order to make myself a wizz kid and enhance my education- knowledge is power and al that jazz. After reading one really good book, I decided there were a few businessy type theories that I could actually apply to my personal life and one is 'A Random Act of WOWness'.

So, every now and then, I will be WOWing one of you lovely Bloggerinos with a little surprise package of sweets or makeup or glittery goodness (hmmm not that surprising cos I'll have to ask your address! ha!).

This is actually a picture of the second one I'm sending but I'll try a take pictures of future ones.

There's no rhyme or reason for this, just because it spreads fizzy smiles and I appreciate you all. I thought I would let you know about it not because I want you all to say "oohh wow how brilliant" and fish for compliments, but because it's exciting to me and this blog is all about the happies in my life :)

Incidentally, tonight I reached the 2000 mark on the followers and I feel all emotional and pleased. Thank you all so, so, so much!

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Liz Earle Foot Scrub

Aloha Bloggerinos,

A few weeks ago, I was sent another little goodie from Liz Earle to try and review for SprinkeofGlitter.

Liz Earle Foot Scrub (rrp: £10.45) boasts softening avocado, wheatgerm, peppermint and rosemary essential oils, as well as natural pumice to remove those horrid dry skin cells.

To use this fresh smelling foot scrub it suggests massaging daily into dry areas of the foot, concentrating on heels, toes and the balls. (ooer! Of your foot I mean!)

Now, this is a touch gross but I feel it important to share so that you get the full force of my review. My feet are horrid. There are no two ways about it, I have the driest feet you will ever see. So dry in fact that matt kindly calls me 'Concrete Foot' sometimes, because if I don't look after them, they take on that delightful grey dead look. Mmmm lovely. With this in mind, when I find a product that alleviates this problem, I'm one happy bunny.

I have been using this scrub in conjunction with my trusty ped egg (which I use about once every 2 weeks) and Lush Dream Cream moisturiser (which I use daily) and I can honestly say that I've seen a real difference. My feet look nice and normal and not like concrete at all! Hurrha!

Basically, whilst in the shower, I squib (excellent word is 'squib') some of the scrub onto a flannel and go keerraazzzy with rubbing my feet. It feels soooo lovely and therapeutic to know you are getting rid of all the dryness, to reveal smooth as a baby's bottom skin!

The actual product is the thickness of toothpaste and smells wonderfully minty fresh- I could sniff that tube all day I tell ya. The paste has little bits of pumice in it, not unlike normal exfoliators, that don't dissolve, so you can really go for it. A couple of pitfalls to avoid (which I have learnt from experience) are that it's best not to use this scrub in the bath because the little pumicey gravelly pips sink to the bottom and everything gets very rough indeed! Also, I have found a flannel is best for application. The first time I used my hands- what a stupid mistake, I had red raw hands for hours! The second time I used my shower lotus, but lost all the product and pumice in the netting. From then on I have used a flannel and this seems to work well. I think those special exfoliator gloves would be good too.

As usual, Liz Earle has come up trumps and produced another fantastic product- will they ever disappoint me?? If you would like to have a look at the official blurb for this product, click HERE.

What do you do to keep your tootsies flipflop friendly?

Toodlepip!

xx

Brand New Beauty Forum

Aloha Bloggerinos!

I'm literally about to preen my nest (yes, I mean tidy my house but I've gone bird mad) before CeriChummy arrives for some girlie fun- look out for videos!- but I wanted to quickly tell you about something VERY cool indeedy.

Sarah from SarahSeesAll (defo check her out- she's just written a blog post about makeup storage and I know we all love that!) has set up a forum dedicated to us Beauty Bloggers and all the good stuff we love to chat about. Although twitter, comments on blogs, comments on youtube profiles is a great way to interact, I think this will be brilliant because there are set topics of discussion and everything will be at one central point, rather that flicking back and forth! Woop woop!

I've obviously already registered and as soon as BabyGlitter/my crazy busy life gives me a spare half an hour, I'm going to have a reet good chitchat :)

Click below to join in the fun:

beautyfashionlifestyle

Toodlepip!

xx

Coral Bronzed FOTD

Aloha Bloggerinos,

A little while back I filmed a few videos for my YouTube Channel sporting a summery, sunkissed look and lots of you lovely Bloggerinos left really positive comments about it.

I thought I would do a little FOTD on it and show you what I used. Nothing special, just a quickie (ooer missus) so you can recreate if you fancy it.

MAC Lipstick- Vegas Volts

MAC Lipglass- Pink Lemonade

L'oreal Super Liner - Carbon Gloss Black

MAC Strobe Cream

Eyeko Magic Mascara- Black

2True Bronzer

ELF Blusher

MAC Studio Sculpt- NW15

Topshop Eyecolour- Tundra

ELF Pigment- Elegant

MAC Shadestick- Beige-ing

MAC Brow Gel- Clear

Do you use any of these products? What do you think of them?

Toodlepip!

xx

Darcy- 9 Weeks Old

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I'm jumping the gun a tiny bit here- she's actually 9 weeks old tomorrow but I have a spare moment now so here we are.

Since her 6 week update I feel like she has changed so much! I know that sounds silly because it's only been 3 weeks, but really, she is growing so fast!

She now weighs 11lb4oz -she's put on over a pound in 3 weeks!- and takes a 5oz bottle instead of 4oz now, so I'm really pleased that she has a healthy appetite.

Her arms and legs are getting a bit of cute baby chub on them now, so she is all squidgy and cuddly. Also, she can properly hold her own head up now so I don't feel as worried about her fragileness anymore, I just enjoy her cuddlyness!

She is sleeping from midnight til about 5am now, so I'm slooowwwlyy slloowwwlyy getting more sleep- yippee!

Last weekend we took her to Liverpool to see her Grandparents again and we took her to the park! I sat on the swing with her on my lap and she grinned away, but when I put her on the slide (I held her btw, I didn't just let go at the top! Haha), she actually fell asleep! Who falls asleep on a slide?!?!

All in all, she is coming along very nicely indeed. I'm concentrating on her nursery this week, jazzing it up with a few crafty projects, so hopefully I'll have some snaps to share with you soon.

Thank you for all your Baby Glitter well wishes.

Toodlepip!

xx

Happy Pinkday!!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

As you know, every now and again, I just type a keyword into weheartit.com and gorge on lovely eye candy. Today I searched for 'pink' and this was the yumminess that came up-mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm loves it.

Do you ever have a bit of an image feast or is this ever so odd of me indeed?

Toodlepip!

xx

Sterling Silver Bird Necklace WINNER

Aloha Bloggerinos,

The time has come to announce the winner of the Ivory Cove Sterling Silver Bird Giveaway.

Thank you to everyone that entered and took the time to have a look round Taryn's wonderful shop.

I'm happy to reveal our fabulous winner isss........dddrrrrrrr (that's a drumroll hahaha) dddrrrrr......

jamsar.sarah

Well Done Sarah!! Taryn from Ivory Cove will now be in touch with you to arrange your fantastic prize so please keep your eyes on your inbox!

I've really enjoyed running this giveaway and hearing what you all liked, I hope to be able to do another contest again soon :)

Toodlepip!

xx

Image: weheartit.com