Lou's Reviews : : Eyeko Graffiti Pen Eyeliners

Aloha Bloggerinos,

As you will know, I was a lucky ducky and spent a night the a few weeks ago, living it up at the swish Eyeko Event in London.

At the event we were all given a goodie bag (youtube video HERE ) and we also had the opportunity to pick up the products that were scattered around the room. I've never had anything from Eyeko before so I made full use of this and picked up quite a few things! haha! I am super duper glad I did though and having been using them every day, which is most unlike me because I like to chop and change.

One of the productst I will be reviewing are the Graffiti Pen Eyeliners which retails on the WEBSITE for £5- bargain! I have the black, brown, purple and navy and am in love!! Hello navy blue, oh how I didn't realise how bright you make my eyes! I have always been a kohl eyeliner kinda gal because I struggle to get a good steady hand with the liquid liners. Hoowwweevverr, these little beauties are genius. They look and feel like felt tips to use and because the nip is fairly short and very sturdy, I feel no difference from my preferred kohls. The pigment is amazeballs and drys within seconds.

I love the felt tippyness and know that if they bought out more colours (please do!) I would be first in line! I also found that the longevity of these is brilliant. By the time I go to bed at night, the colour is there just as much as it was in the morning and this is something I could never achieve with my other liners, brucey bonus indeed!

(Look at the thickness variations you can do (ignore the purpley swatches!!)- how many liquid liners can you do that with hmm?)

Eyeko offer free shipping in the UK and Europe and free shipping elsewhere if you spend over a certain amount. Allssooo, as I am now an Ambassador, if you would like to order anything from the website, enter my special code E11341 at the checkout and you will get a free gift with your order! Now who doesn't love a freebie?!

Have you tried these eyeliners before or would you consider treating yourself to one?

Toodlepip!

xx

Hot Pink Minxy Dresses

Aloha Bloggerinos,

If you have been reading a while, you will remember when I put my never used bridesmaid/cocktail/evening (veerryyyyy versatile) dresses for sale. Well, I was going to put them on eBay, never got round to it, but am now going to bite the bullet and work out how to do it- any eBay selling tips would be greatly received as I am basically, a dunce!

So before I whip them on the world wide market place (oh la la), I thought I would give you one last chance to snap them up, just in time for the party season. I originally had them on for £60 (rrp of £80 brand new, with tags) but I will be putting them on eBay for a start off price of £45. Soooo for you dear Bloggerinos, they are £45 and this INCLUDES p&p for the UK. It would be £5 p&p elsewhere but I will send recorded delivery so it's super safe for you :)

HAVE A LOOK HERE :)

Let me know chummies!

Toodlepip!

xx

How to be a Body Shop at Home Consultant

Aloha Bloggerinos,

EDIT Aug 2013 - I have been receiving a great many emails asking me about being a consultant for the bodyshop and I thought I would address this now. I was a BSatHc (heh heh) for 2 weeks and then left. I found the experience to be not what I was told it would be. BS were often out of stock and it would be left to me to still take the customers money and promise the product 'soon', which in my opinion is not good enough. There was little support from BS and it was based purely on sales, not customer care. I would not recommend this job at all and feel pretty silly that I bought into the idea so much. I made hardly any money from it (like under £50 per party) and would spend hours doing it, travelling to the venue and sorting the admin. I am now not responding to emails regarding this topic. 

I've had a few questions about how being a Body Shop at Home Consultant (bsahc for ease!) works, so I thought I would do a post and explain it all.

It works a little bit like Avon, but so far I have found it to be rather a lot easier. At first when the lady told me it wasn't nearly as hard work as Avon I was sceptical but I have for sure changed my little mind!

What do I get?

For an initial start up of £40 you are given a huuggee stack of lovely glossy catalogues, a book of order forms (they make me feel tres profesh haha), a stash of leaflets and invites annnddd a great big bag of full Size Body Shop products! My bag is the "pamper kit" but hopefully soon I will be ordering the "makeup kit" so that I can do makeovers. I only paid £40 for my pamper kit but it's retail price is actually £190 so I feel very lucky. I also have a login code and password to the BSaHC website so that I can easily process orders (and it is easy, even for someone like me who struggles with the likes of Twitter hahaha), read the Inspiration section, learn about rewards and incentives and access my statement type jobby where I can see how much mula I've made!

You can imagine that when I have all these out on the hostess's coffee table or whatnot, with lids off and tops open, it looks really impressive and smells heavenly.

So what do I do?

To make money, you make sales. That's the jib of the nub. You can do this a number of ways. You could show your glossy catalogues to friends, family, neighbours etc and ask if they would like anything. I showed mine to my Auntie and she happily ordered about £30 worth of products. You can pop the catalogues through people's doors a la Avon and collect and hope for some orders. I haven't done this as it's cold and this seems a bit laborious for my lazy liking! Oorrrr, the easiest and most enjoyable way, is to have Pamper Parties! So far I have done 2 and they are a hoot! My friend's Mum, Dawn, hosted one at her house for some of her friends and the sales total was very good. I'll explain the numbers later. My friend Nicky also had one on Friday night and it felt more like sitting about with the girls (and I only knew Nicky!) than 'working'.

What happens at a party?

To book a party, the lady (or man I suppose but I can't really see that happening) picks the date she would like and you see if you can make it. So far, all of my bookings have been in the evening for a 7.30pm start but as I don't work in an office anymore, I could do day times too.

For both the parties I have done so far, I turned up about 10 minutes early to set up. Set up is just whipping your lovely products out and taking the lids off so the smell emmits all through the room and gets people excited. For your first party, your Body Shop team leader lady will come with you. Mine is Kelly and for my first party, she basically did it all and I just watched. I reeaallyy appreciated that because I was quite nervous and she showed me a good structure for the partay and a few tips etc. If you were to join, your leader would no doubt do the same.

So to kick off, all the guests have a catalogue and order form and you basically just show them what pamper products you have, pass them round so people can smell and feel and try them out, talk a little bit about the products (all the info is in the catalogue if you are unsure) and that is literally it! You can also talk about some of the products that you don't have, I like to focus on the cosmetics, for obvious reasons and play a few games to get the atmosphere really cheery (you will be told about games so don't panic, you don't have to invent them yourself!). Then I give the guests about 10-15 mins to flick through and write any orders down and make myself available for any queries. Then I just mingle about and take the order forms and ask if they would like to host their own party. At Friday night's party, there were only 6 people there but 3 asked to have their own party! Woop woop! I like booking parties like that because I feel like I know them and am relaxed around them.

The whole thing lasts about 2 hours, unless you're friends with the host like I was, so I stayed for drinks and nibbles afterwards :)

How much money do I make?

Basically, for every sale I make, I take 25% commission. So, if at a party, your total sales were £200 (very do-able) then you would have made £50. 

As you can imagine, from only 2 parties and an auntie sale, I have already made back my initial outlay and a bit of fun money to boot!

If the host has party sales of £150, she is entitled to £25 worth of products for free, which she can choose herself from the catalogue, so not a set group of stuff she might not like. As the party sales increase, so does her free spend- another reason to book a party!

How do I feel?

I was really unsure about the whole shibang before I started because I don't like to be pushy and I'm not very good with sales but I have found that because everyone knows the Body Shop, it just sells itself and people trust the brand. Super! There are also offers and deals in the catalogue that you can't get in store or online so that is a big bonus for customers too!

I'm glad I started at this time of year because people are doing their Christmas shopping and are all in the festive party mood!

Any questions, let me know Bloggerinos :)

Toodlepip!

xx

This week I'm in love with....

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Howdy doody? I wrote this this morning but am only just getting the chance to post it so do excuse me ;)

I'm in a really good mood today because 1. It's Saturday and sunny and 2. Matt and I are going to IKEA to buy baby-in-my-tum a cot and change table etc- yippee!!

I thought I would share my good mood with you and tell you what I have loved (and maybe loathed) this week. I don't think this will be a regular feature but who knows? Who dares to bloomin' dream eh?!

Love love loved:

1. I know I'm still banging this drum but my new Eyeko Mascara. I've made a youtube video on it (HERE) so I will just summarise- Squeezey tube and slim line spiral brush left me with low expectations. Applied two coats and felt like I had thick, lustrous false lashes on, could. not. believe. it! The wand curls, yes curls, separates and thickens and have had a billion comments on my lashes. By far my favourite mascara of all time. Will I be re-purchasing? You bloomin' bet I will! It's an affordable £8 from the Eyeko website which you can find HERE. If you would like to buy anything, feel free to use my Ambassador code E11341 to claim a free gift-who doesn't love a freebie? Oh yes, free postage and packaging too. 10/10.

2. Being a Body Shop at Home Consultant. I was really apprehensive about doing Body Shop Pamper Parties as I thought nobody would want to buy anything and I would look like a tit but I couldn't have been further from the truth! I've done 2 parties now, everyone had a great time and were really happy to try products and make orders annndd I've had 4 more bookings from guests at the parties! Each hostess gets to choose £25 worth of free products from the catalogue so I think that really helps! ha! Nice way to socialise, talk to people about things I love and also make some mula- woop! I will be doing a proper post on this soon because it's all very interesting indeed.

3. My latest MAC goodies. A very lovely MAC lady took pity on me not being able to attend the MAC Venomous Villains event a few weeks back and kindly sent me some products and a very swanky press pack through the post. Reviews to come soon but so far, so good.  :)

4. My Beauty Blogsale doing well. I am trying to make a bit of space in my room and also make some pennies for Christmas so I have enjoyed topping up my paypal account and sending you goodies. There are still some bits left so do have a look HERE.

5. My bump! I have a definite pronounced bump now that I am 18 weeks pregnant and I love it. I find myself stroking it and sending it loves. My gorgeous niece Sophie has drawn a very accurate account of the current situation. Matt may get clothes and wonky shoes, but he doesn't get a sexy green quiff now does he?!

Loathe loathy piddly pants:

1. The weird man at my interview on Tuesday who spent 20 minutes talking to me about 16th Century conveyancing. The job was for admin. No conveyancing in sight. Weirdo.

2. Having expectations of people that don't come to light. Should I lower my expectations or keep my (normal I might add!) standards?

3. Having to put the heating on. Bbrrrrr it's cold but gee wizz energy companies charge sooooooo much!! haha!

No pics for this section, who wants pics of things they hate?!

What do you think Bloggerinos?

Toodlepip!

xx

In other news...

Aloha Bloggerinos,

It seems to be all systems go on the blogging front at the moment and I couldn't be happier! I have been to an event and invited to a couple I couldn't attend *sad face*, I have had goodies through the post, amazing comments, a big blogsale extravaganza and some uber kind things written about me on other people's blogs!

On top of all that, the baby-in-my-tum is growing nicely, I felt a able to open up a bit about my past in a previous blogpost and it's nearly Christmas which is THE most brilliant time ever!

I thought I would use this post to do a bit of 'housekeeping' as it were and to keep you all up to speed :)

I know I have been leaning towards cosmetic reviews and posts of late but that's just because I was given a goodie bag at Eyeko (more to come with this, sorry if you're sick of it haha) and a few other treats have come my way. Crafts have been a bit on the ground of late because my sewing machine has got in a pickle and with raging pregnancy hormones I didn't deal too well with it. In the fight between me and the machine, the machine won and now sits victorious in the dining room, gloating. Grrr! I will be doing some soon though I promise, because I like to make things for the festive season! I will more than likely show you how most things are made so that you can save a few pennies in your festive budget.

In other news, with a bit of pushing, I have gone wild and joined twitter! I'm still getting to grips with it but if you would like to add/follow (what's the jargon here?) me, my twitter name is Sprinkleofglitr.

I have also upped the ante on my YouTube videos and am trying to do them more frequently, so do please have a looksie at those! My channel is Sprinkleofglitter or you can click on the link to the left.

I have my first Body Shop Pamper Party tonight which I am pretty bloomin' nervous about but I will of course let you all know how it goes, wish me luck!!

No pictures today, sorry Bloggerinos.

Toodlepip!

xx

The Ring, The Bump and Me!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

It's been a while since I did a 'life' post so I thought we'd have a break from cosmetics and have a chat. Are you sitting comfortable? Then let's begin.

Well it's been over 5 weeks since my big white wedding and the bump is blossoming nicely.

Being married has been surprising for me. I was quite apprehensive before the wedding because I worried that I might feel trapped or old. I know, I know, why did I get married if I thought that? I only thought that a tiny bit at the back of my mind and the rest was joy that I was marrying a man who treats me with compassion, kindness, generosity and a great deal of love. He even let's me have a cat, despite not being a pet person! As far as spending the rest of your life with someone goes, I'm fairly sure I've got a good'un.

So, I digress, since being married I haven't felt old or trapped, I've felt proud and secure. I feel proud to say 'Mrs Watson' and pleased to tick the 'Mrs' box on forms. As for feeling secure, this is by far the best bit. I felt secure beforehand, but now it seems to be a much deeper version of it. Like things really are for richer for poorer (the latter being the present, urgh, spare few hundred anyone?), in sickness and in health, til death us do part. I like this. I like knowing that we made this commitment and are both keen on sticking to it. I'm not overly religious but I do believe in a God of sorts and saying the vows in church makes them more sticking somehow.

As you can imagine, being pregnant was the icing on the cake. We had always planned to have a baby when we were married, but we were blessed 12 weeks earlier than that and I finally feel good again. The first 14 weeks were AWFUL. I knew you were meant to feel sick and tired but this was ridiculous. It got so bad I ended up in my midwife's office crying that I was rubbish at being pregnant! Good old hormones eh?!

Now I'm 17 weeks along and blooming! I love it! I have a nice bump, cravings for roast chicken crisps and finding myself thinking what it will be like when I have a teeny weeny baby that will be all mine and Matt's to treasure.

I didn't have a nice childhood. My mum was ill with cancer from when I was 5 to 7 years old and sadly lost her fight 5 days before Christmas. Very soon (too soon) after, my Dad married a horrid woman who was physically and mentally abusive to me, until my Dad divorced her when I was 15. I haven't mentioned this before because 1) It's not nice and 2) I don't want you to think I'm some sort of victim. I won't go into too much detail but it was a horrific time for me. The one and only good thing that came out of all of that sadness and violence was my little sister who is a total gem, and will be a super duper Auntie/babysitter mwahaha! Please don't feel sorry for me or think I am some sadcase who sits rocking in a corner and crying over my lost youth, because I'm not, I am very happy. I'm not ashamed of what happened to me and if I can use it to enhance my life now, I will. I use this awful past as a tool to make my future better.

So with all that sh*tty childhood (sorry to swear but that really warrants it), you can imagine how completely thrilled I am to be getting the loving family I always wanted. I want my baby to have the life I didn't, with a mummy that isn't ill (fingers crossed) and a daddy who notices and cares.

I feel like someone has given me a giant present wrapped in sparkly paper with a massive bow and said "here you go Louise, have everything you ever wanted" and whenever I think about it like that, I smile to myself.

What makes you smile to yourself?

Toodlepip!

xx

Image lovingly borrowed from wehearit.com

Blog Sale Tomorrow- Woop woop, Card's at the Ready!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Just a quicky (ooer Missus), tomorrow night I shall be posting my first ever beauty/accessory blogsale at 7pm.

Do stop by and check it out and I will send you goodies and big loves :)

PLEASE NOTE: This is a little add on message on Sunday night, photobucket is taking its sweet time, so I may be a little be later than planned, sowweee xxxx

Toodlepip!

xx

I'm a Body Shop At Home Consutlant

Aloha Bloggerinos,

As some of you may know, I left my office job at 8 weeks pregnant for various reasons. I wasn't really an enjoyable atmosphere anymore, I was planning the wedding, the contract was coming to an end etc etc.

Since then I have been thinking of things I want to do with my life before baby-in-my-tummy arrives and have signed up to a few recruitment agencies. In the meantime, I came across something very exciting....Body Shop at Home.

(Sorry for the cruddy pinched-off-the-website image. It's the front of the latest catalogue, I tres much enjoy the festiveness! Roll on Christmas!!)

I contacted a manager and a week later, I am an official Body Shop at Home Consultant, with one sale under my belt and two parties already planned! Hurrah!

It works a little bit like Avon, of which I'm sure you are all familiar, except the focus lies more on Pamper Parties! How fun is that?! Every lady that hosts a party gets to choose £25 of free products, I get a percentage of the sales and everyone's a winner! Also, this is something I can continue with when the baby is born because it's as time consuming as you make it be- perfecto!

I'm really excited about it all and will obviously be keeping you posted! If any of you would like to buy any Body Shop items and have them delivered to your door, but with exclusive offers that you won't get in the shops, keep your eyes peeled, because they'll be posted right here! Woop woop!

What do you think? Do you think Body Shop at Home sounds good or are you strictly a store/website gal?

Toodlepip!

xx

Eyeko Bloggers Event- My oh My!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I'm in such a ditheration of excitement that I don't even know how to start this post!

After an uppy-downy week with some really good ups (more on these later) and some big downs (like not being able to attend the MAC Venomous Villains Event because baby-in-my-tummy made me all sick and dizzy), last night was the PERFECT remedy!

I was kindly invited, by Ling from Moonbeamstarlight, to the celebrate 10 Years of Eyeko Cosmetics, at a very swanky bar in London- switswoo! This was the first event I have ever been to and despite being really nervous about not knowing anyone, it was fantastic.

I figured the best way to tell you about the event was kind of in a story through my eyes and I'll try and slip the facts in as I go, if I don't, I'll put them at the end :). I tried to take lots of snaps but my camera works best in daylight and as it was dark is was either dim-with-no-flash or blinded-by-the-flash, super!

The event started at 5pm in Angel, Islington, so I hopped on the 3.25pm train from Northampton. The first carriage I sat in had some really loud girls in talking about their plans for NYE (organised or what?!), so I moved to the next carriage which had a guy with the loudest iPod I've ever had to endure. If he wasn't a great big bald body builder type, I might've said something, but the wuss inside me held me back. The train was delayed by 20 minutes so I didn't get to Euston until 4.50pm-eeekkk! I was literally dying for the tinkleywinkley department but there was no time so I ran down into the tube and jumped on the train to Angel. I like the Angel stop because I think it's a nice name and I believe in them too- ahhh.

In my stupid head I thought, "I'll easily find the venue", but then my eyes saw the situation and said "it's piddling with rain and you don't have a clue!". Being as I was late, about ready to wet my knickers and getting my hair soaked in the rain, I practically THREW myself in a cab and away we went. About 4 and a half seconds later (durrr) we were there and I pootled into the bar, attempting to look like a profesh blogger type.

As we went in there was a huge canvass to sign with Eyeko eyeliners (clever!) and have our Polaroid picture taken. I get all flumoxed so just wrote "Wowee! Louise xxx". Note to self- memorise witty things to write on giant canvasses.

And then I was in! There were amazing looking cocktails (booo, I wanted one!), beautiful cupcakes and canapes to keep us going and it was a case of mingling about and looking at all the products that were scattered all over the room. I thought it was a nice touch to have them dotted about because wherever you looked, there was something to try and photograph. Someone told me it was OK to take them and put them in our goody bags (more on those later), so I was like a kid in a candy shop!! I cannae wait to review them all, so far, so good!

(Look at the boxes the cupcakes came in!! Wowzas!)

I had a really good chat with Ling (moonbeamstarlight) who actually works for Eyeko and she signed me up to be an Eyeko Ambassador!! Yay! What this means is, whenever you would like to buy something from their website, which you can see HERE, enter my code into the 'Ambassador Code' box (E11341 ) and you will receive a free gift with your order!! Who doesn't like a freebie?!?! Mentalists, that's who! I plan on reviewing all my lovely goodies so hopefully that will nudge you in Eyeko's direction :)

(Ling and I)

Next up I had a little visit to the Tarot Card Reader who was freakishly accurate with my reading. I love things like that and really believe them so I thought that was a really cool add-on to the evening. By the Tarot lady there were makeup, hair and nail artists so there was an opportunity for a bit of pampering. I didn't actually take this up as I'd already groomed myself to within an inch of my life (thanks rain for ruining all my efforts) but did enjoy watching people been done-up. I sadly didn't get the name of the girl having her makeup done but if it's you- hello! Let me know and I'll link your blog :)

We then had a little speech from Nina and Max who own the company and that started it 10 whole years ago, about their top Ambassadors and a competition we could do in groups. The competition was to draw the best body art with the eyeliners. I was with Catherine from Perfectly Polished and Bettina from Beauty Swot and Catherine drew the most AMAZING doodle of the Eyeko girl on my arm! Jeez Louise it was good! I would've drawn a stickman with maybe a few hearts round it hahahaha. Sadly we didn't win the competition but as they say, it's the taking part that counts.


(Catherine doing my 'tattoo' for the competition, woop woop)

Being the blithering idiot I am, I got up a bit too fast and knocked my drink all over Catherine and Bettina and wanted the ground to swallow me up it was so embarrassing, I couldn't say sorry enough!! Soorrrrrryyyy!! Bettina did you camera survive it's little wash? :(

It was then mingling time again and I got to give Zoe from Zoella a big hug. She's so small and cute that I wanted to pick her up, put her in my bag and kidnap her. In my excitement I actually said that outloud to her. Smooth Louise, smooth. Luckily, we have been chitchatting via email and facebook, so I hope she won't call the police or anything.


(Zoe schmoee foe loe and meeee)

More mingling lead me onto a play with their new range of blushers and lipsticks that are soon to be launched, with Nina the co-owner, how cool is that? She was super friendly and approachable and we even had a little chat about my pregnancy and her children, which I thought was really nice of her, to take the time even though there were so many people there for her to talk to. I CAN'T wait for the new products to come out, they are outstanding in quality and tick all my boxes for price and quality, yippe!


(Me, Co-founder Nina, Bettina and Catherine)


(Co-founder Max et Moi)


(The new Fat Balms, for face and lips, that will soon be released)


(Looookk! Open it up and there is a secret mirror and brush!! Yippee!)


(Nina holding the soon to be released blusher)

As the evening drew to an end, we all sat about chatting and socialising. I was literally beside myself with glee when I found out that Sophie from Sophie is Made Up reads my blog!!! I've read her blog for AGES and felt like I was meeting a celeb and then to hear she reads mine, well that was it, I was dither stations! We had a chirpy little chat about marriage and suchlike, lovely :)

All too soon it was time to shlep back to Angel station with my new blog chums Stephanie from Topshopprincess0188 and two other really nice girls who's names have totally escaped me because I'm useless- please comment so I can follow you and whatnot! x

And it was home time, time to mill about at Euston and then catch my train with the array of drunk men who made leaud comments about me all the way home, aahhhh the glamour!

I will be doing a YouTube video on my goodie bag (a-mazing thank you very bloomin' much!), which you can find on my YouTube CHANNEL. Please do hit that subscribe button, it's lagging behind in the blog/channel race!

A few facts I didn't slot in:

1. Eyeko Nail Polish is made in France- oh la la.

2. Eyeko Products are not tested in animals.

3. Max was born in Russia but has also lived in LA and New York, yowzas!

4. Nina had previously been using Nars and BobbiBrown Blushers mixed together to get her glow and this is what the new blushers are based on. She wanted to create a product of the same high quality but at a more accessible price.

5. Eyeko products were once stocked in Harrods and Selfridges but are now exclusively online.

6. Kylie Manogue uses the famed Eyeko 3 in 1 cream!

7. Ling's Eyeko business card is by far the coolest I have ever seen! It's glittery for goodness sake!!!

I feel so honoured that Ling, Nina and Max invited me to the brilliant evening and look forward to trying my new Eyeko products out and keeping in touch with fellow Bloggers, yaaayy!!

Toodlepip!

xx 

Get Your Glitter On!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

As October looms ahead, I think we are well and truly into Autumn. For me, this is the most magical time of the year. Trees turn golden, you get to treat yourself to lovely coloured gloves and scarves, dig out your winter clothes that you forgot about, turn on the cosy lamps and drape thick blankets all over your lounge.

I also tend to feel more attractive in the Autumn. I think this is because I feel confident wearing dark purple nails and dark smokey eyes, rather than the lemons and pastels that summer tends to suggest to us. With the festive season (by far the best time of the year) on the horizon, I also feel that is it perfectly acceptable to smatter yourself in glitter. Yes, SMATTER!

There seems to be a bit of a glitter issue though which I would like to address. Yes, children love glitter, yes, 12 year olds love a load of sparkle at a school disco, and yes, I know the rule 'less is more'. That's all very well and good but what if you really happen to like large amounts of glitter? Should you stick to the so called rules and have a light shimmer over your collar bone or a dust of luster on your eyelids? I say NO!

If like me, you love the sparkly goodness and feel repressed by the very un sparkly rules, panic not. These rules aren't set in stone like the old testament, it's just what people say. Who bloomin' well cares?!! If you can stand tall and have confidence, get your glitz on!!

There are many ways you can incorporate glitter into your look and here are my top tips on how:

1. EYES- There are quite a few ways you can go about this one.

You can apply whatever look you were going for with matte or shimmer finish and then with a small, dry brush, dab on a little bit of sparkle in the outer corner of you eyes to give a bit of joosh.

These are a selection of my glitter pigments. Clockwise from the top : Too Faced-blue irridescant, MAC- gold, Topshop- Pink, NewLook- Silver holographic.  

You could do your 'look' and then either over regular eyeliner or in leau of, apply a bit of glitter eyeliner. I have tried many a glitter eyeliner, right from the cheap 2true brand (£1.95 per item), to Ubran Decay (£15 per liner). In my shamefully extensive experience, the best brands for this are Collection 2000 an 2True. I found some of the more expensive brands to have a very thin brush and sparse glitter flecks, as opposed to Collection 2000 that has a dense line of glitter particles and a wide variety of colours.

My Collection 2000 liners.

My favourite, is the 'all over' glitter effect. I have a nifty little thing from Collection 2000 that is double ended (ooer missus). One end is glitter and the other is an adhesive gel. I apply black eyeliner, and then cover the lid (but not the eyeliner) with the gel. Then, using a small dry brush, I apply glitter thickly over the area. The gel allows the glitter to stick to every bit of skin so it looks dense. I do this look with my MAC Gold glitter pigment that I bought from a LE range last Autumn. The best picture I could find of this look is from a night out so please excuse my idiotic pose, I was a little worse for wear!! To add the extra wow factor to this look, I wear false lashes too. What I will say, is this is a rather full on look, so it's not for daywear!

2. LIPS- Like eyes, lips are a very versatile face part for cosmetics.

To add some lip sparkle then the obvious choice is either a glittery lipgloss, shimmery lipstick or a mixture of both. I would suggest you try sticking glitter pigment to your lips though, it would be a bit weird and scratchy. If you were feeling adventurous you could try adding your fav colour of glitter pigment to clear lipgloss but I would ensure the glitter is very finely milled so it's not 'bitty'. Pretty much all brands will have a few sparkly lipglosses to choose from. I love the MAC Dazzleglass ones the very most because I find them to be sheeny shiny on my lips rather than gloopy poopy. I also have a regular lipglass in 'Oyster Girl', which is a nudey pink with a slight gold shimmer. This is nice as it's subtle, a good choice for the office I find.

If you have a particular favourite lipstick but want to glitz it up, just add a layer of clear sparkly gloss and your away. Beware though, if you are doing sparkly eyes, try not to do sparkly lips (unless you REALLY want too) as that can look a bit much even by my standards!!

 

3. HAIR. This is not an area of sparkle that I personally pop into, but for fancy dress, I have been known to go there.

The easiest way to glizt up your hair is with Glitter Hair Spray. This is just hairspray that as you spritz it, particles of glitter shoot out. You can buy all sorts of varieties with different coloured sparkles and you can pick them up in places like Boots, Superdrug or Savers. I don't personally own any glitter hairspray because I tend to go glitzy on my eyes or lips. However, last year for a Halloween Party (please see embarrassing story at the bottom), I wanted to put glitter in my hair but didn't want to fork out for the spray that I would never use again. Instead, I generously added regular spray and then with my fingers in a 'pinch of salt' fashion, threw on some of my glitter pigment. Big mistake! looked good for the do, took about 6 washes to get out! Use this technique with extreme caution.

4. BODY. Glitter on the body is all about quantity control. Too much and you look like a mirror ball, too little and it's not worth it.

For big nights out (oh how I miss those now I have ze bun in ze oven), I like to add a bit of shimmer to bare arms, shoulders and collar bones. For this look you have to pick your glitter wisely. In my experience, the best ones are very, very finely milled. If you have big chunks of glitter wacked across your cleavage, you run the risk of looking a little cheap, and I imagine this is not the look you were going for.

To achieve the shimmery body look you can go a few different directions. I personally use my glitter pigments and a large fluffy brush and simply dust them onto the skin. By using a brush you can control how much you are applying and build it up as you see fit. 

You can buy many cream based products that you apply like a lotion and in the mixture there is sparkle which will then be applied to the skin. I have used these previously but found them to either be drying or sticky. This is obviously a matter of personal opinion though.

Another route I take with body shimmer is Lush's GlitterBug massage bar. It smells divine, is under £3 (I think) and applies tiny blue/iridescent sparkles to your skin. Note to self: buy a new one/locate old one asap.

Hopefully you have enjoyed my glitter tips and haven't slipped into an eye strain induced coma because of the length! Mwahaha! 

What are your tippy-pips or are you all together anti-glitz?

Toodlepip!

xx

Little story as promised:

Do you remember my niece Issobelle? Well last year, I was having her a lot after school and spending lots of lovely time with her. My Auntie Jackie asked me if I wanted to bring her to a fancy dress halloween party near where she lives, with her kids and her friends kiddlywinks too. I said yes and was really excited because I LOVE dressing up! I dressed Issobelle in her princess outfit and then set to sorting myself out. I wasn't working and didn't want to shell out for an outfit so decided to pop my creative cap on and see what i could do.

I decided to go put on a mish mash of mental clothes, do crazy mental makeup and huuuggeeee glittery dragged-through-hedge-backwards hair, I was a FASHION VICTIM, taadaaa! I thought I looked AMAZING!! Even Issobelle said "wow!".

Feeling pretty confident we went to the par-tay that was being held at a local Toby Carvery (so please bare in mind regular members of the public were also there, along with the mothers of the kiddlywinks). 

Issobelle and I walked in, feeling pretty cool as Princess and the Fashion Victim, only to turn the corner and feel horror to the pit of my stomach. NONE, and I mean NONE of the other grown ups were in fancy dress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was stood there in a crazy mish mash of clothes and mental makeup and they were all in the restaurant like normal women!!!!!! Cuuurrrrrr-rringe!

xxxxx