If you like Philosophy fragrances....you will LOVE Jennifer Aniston's perfume!

I was in the middle of sorting out beads when the door bell  rang, I could not believe it when the delivery man handed me a 'Harrods' box as I was not expecting it to come until the end of this week at the earliest.

Obviously I dropped everything and ripped the box open and I was not let down by Miss Aniston...her fragrance is perfect for me. I am not going to pretend I know much about perfumes, I don't! As I mentioned in a previous post a strong fragrance gives me a splitting headache so I stick to the same few brands.

In the past I have used Philosophy fragrances, I find them  easy to wear BUT the scent all-too-soon fades on me meaning I go through the bottle in a flash.

I purchased the Jennifer Aniston perfume only knowing what the press release shared, it sounded like my type of thing and it is.  I have had it on for 40 minutes now, two squirts and it is still  fresh smelling, no fade, not over-powering but it is there....I feel  when  I wear some light perfumes, after the inital application  the scent all but dies instantly.

At the moment I can't put my finger on which Philosophy scent this reminds me of, might be 'Baby Grace'? Not sure, but to be fair there is not that much difference between the Philosophy Graces. The benefit of Aniston's is it will last so much longer therefore will be more cost-effective that Philosophy ;))

Jennifer's perfume is womanly, clean and gentle, nobody will smell you before seeing you...but you will feel fresh and know you, well, smell good!!

As the great lady herself said, it evokes memories of 'pure happiness'.

Perfume (EDP 85ml £36)is exclusive to Harrods

 My sneaky purchase, Tom Ford  'Moroccan Rouge' lipstick, at £35, is it worth it?  Doubt any lipstick is worth that much but it is a little bit of luxury not to be repeated any time soon.

I went for this burgandy shade as I knew it would suit my colouring, seems to brings out the blue of my eyes. Did not want to remove the 'TF' logo just yet so did a quick swatch using the back of the lipstick....I am pleased with the shade, the packaging is as gorgeous as I have heard. Will get back to you on how it feels on the lips, the most important thing!

Have any of you went for the perfume? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Time to cut up the credit card!!

Something about cold and wet weather leads me to spend way too much online...and this week was no exception. Now I should say that I never spend more than I have, would love too but I still have a sensible side that dishes out guilt if I try to go over a limit.

Having purchased lots of MAC make-up earlier in the month, then having my brothers birthday gift to buy I had already spent quite a bit doe-ray-me (slang for money in my World) 

 I really, really needed a new bronzer, I still love my NARS Laguna but find when I tan it is just not strong enough. So as I REALLY needed one I decided to go for Korres Monoi Bronzer in 02.Sunglow Warm shade as reccomended by Tali on her blog.  I was able to get this at ASOS for £12.75 with free delivery, was very proud of myself for not adding lots of other things to the basket, think it is the first time I have ordered one item from ASOS.

Shortly after things went down hill!

Next up MAC....Lollipop26 (blog) is a huge favourite of mine, Laura could talk about anything in a video and I would watch it. She just seems normal, she is pretty, educated, funny but she seems like the type of girl you would want as a friend....no higher than mighty attitude some gurus have.  Pretty much 99% of items I have purchased after Laura reviewed I have loved, NARS Sheer Glow was a revelation for me. Up until I tried it I hated liquid foundation with a passion, they streaked on me, rubbed off on my clothes and generally made me miserable.

Sheer Glow is fantastic but expensive for amount you get and I find it too heavy for a casual, shopping type day. When Laura gave a positive review of MAC's Face & Body I had to do a little bit more research and thought it sounded perfect. I opted for shade C3 from seeing swatches online and it turns out to be perfect for me and really looks natural, mum just said my skin looked lovely!

As it only arrived this morning it would be silly to give a final review but so far so good...really looks good, feels good and I like the value of it.

Now MAC is not a company I can just buy one item from!

As you can see I also went for,

* Prep &  Prime Face protection visage SPF50 - First reaction is how little you get for £20...felt a little thick going on but will give it a chance.

* Studio Finish Concealer - seemed to find equal hate/love reviews but took a chance on it, first try it went on smooth and did conceal my dark circles so feeling positive about it.

*  Brow Set in Beguile - My eyebrows are a nightmare, naturally I could give the Gallagher brothers a run for their money! I need to tidy them up daily and seem to go from too thick to too thin...constant battle that I have yet to win. This gel seems to just add a little colour and fill the shape out, perfect for lazy days.

Then Jennifer Aniston with her gorgeous blonde mane, tanned skin  and fabulous figure arrived at Harrods with her new perfume.  I can't wear heavy scents, I get a headache just walking through the perfume section on stores so the words  'beach' and 'tropical' in the description had me sold instantly.

As there was only a few pounds between the small and large EDT I opted for the large, obviously! It cost £36 which I did not think was too bad, there is no chance of me getting to London  so ordering online was my only option.

A month or so ago I tried to order Tom Ford's  Moroccan Rouge lipstick, at £35 it was a considered purchase but I had set the money aside and when I saw them on Harrods I decided it was fate.  I love nude shades too but they did not have the shade of nude I like and berry colours really suit me.

Harrods delivery is between 5-10 days so  could be a bit of a wait but hopefully it will be worth it!

In between all this spending my Visa card would not verify, panic stations!! I must have spent over limit!

In minutes I was able to see online (how did I live without it!) that I was nowhere near my limit and had paid the bill, a quick customer service call later I found out my card had been blocked. Apparently a company I used it with before had a security breach so they block cards just incase...thankfully all transactions on my account were mine and a new card is being issued. Panic over!

Had to whip out the debit card, usually save it for emergency situations, and getting my hands on a lilac headband from Lorraine's online shop was an emergency. Had been wanting to get my hands on one of these for a few months and when they went on sale it was a must-have item and at $25 it was not going to break the bank at this stage of the spending game!


Maybe I need to do a blog sale to lessen the guilt of all this spending?!
Not going to literally cut up my credit/debit card but the shame of all these parcels arriving has led me to hide it, on the upside my birthday is next month s I will not have to do without nice, shiny new items for long!

Like Cake?

Just thought I would share this picture of a cake I made last month for my brother's engagement party...kinda proud of it!

MAC 'In the Groove' Haul

Hi guys! Long time no see!! Things have been pretty crazy for me recently and my blog has suffered...I promise to try and update more often.

So, MAC had ANOTHER collection out so of course I got sucked into the hype and made a order. Unfortunately I do not have a counter near me and as the UK had the collection first I had to purchase from the few pictures and descriptions available. Would much prefer to test the items first but that is not possible...thankfully I have been happy with what I picked.

I went for 4 items from the collection,

*JAZZED lipstick   £12.50

*STEREO ROSE MSF   £19.50

*TOGETHERNESS Mineralized Eye shadow (Trio) £15

*PERMAPLUM Powerpoint eye pencil    £12.50

I have lots of pink shade lipsticks so decided to go for 'Jazzed' , a peachy/coral colour that usually I would dismiss as unflattering but I am so excited by this colour. It is a cremesheen lipstick which happens to be my prefered type, the shade really is perfect for Summer and I have had many a compliment already!

HOWEVER, I did find the colour a little uneven on my lips, I really had to work at getting an even coverage...really not sure why this was the case but the eventual payoff makes the application effort worth it.

So Jazzed gets a huge thumbs up from me!

Next on my hit list was "Stereo Rose" Mineralize skinfinish;  I am not going to lie, I had never heard of this before but when Lollipop26 mentioned that she really wanted to try it it got me interested. At £19.50 it is not cheap but I figured if I really disliked it I could pass it on.....thankfully I love it!   Thought I loved it but now in 2012 I have used it twice!

For the first few days I thought this colour was not for me in the summer, I tend to like purple shades on my eyes during the hotter months and feel pink blusher works better but I went for natural eyes today and the stereo rose give me a lovely healthy 'bloom' to my cheeks so might have to give the purples a rest during the day. 

Pleased with this product although I do think it is a little over-hyped...lovely yes, glad I got my hands on it but I would not worry about having a back-up.

What was that I said about giving up purple eye shadow??! No seriously I am going to try and resist it during the day BUT at night I will try to rock it with the help of 'Togetherness' eye shadow triple! Having never tried a MAC mineralized eyeshadow I was not sure what to expect and to be honest I think I got too excited about the shades in this trio and did not read reviews on the texture.

First the colours, I have tried to come up with good descriptions but I feel temptalia (http://www.temptalia.com/mac-in-the-groove-collection-mineralize-eyeshadow-trios-review-photos-swatches) does it best so here it is,

                             "Togetherness is a cool-toned purple trio that includes a soft lilac with a satin sheen, blue-based violet purple with a frostier finish, and a mid-tone silver gray."

Each colour swatches really nicely but I found the shadow fell on to my face way too easily and the colours looked a bit blah on my eyes. In fact I actually liked how the eye shadow looked a few hours later...kinda a sultry 'come to bed' look.....if only I had a man to direct that look at!

But back to the make-up...I do have a little buyers remorse with this product, I have so many purple shadows and this one really does not wow me. I will use it but have a feeling it will sooner rather than later end up in my drawer with all the other 'mistakes'...oh well, you  live and learn!

Permaplum Powerpoint eye pencil was a last minute add to my basket, it is nice....nothing more to say really, oh apart from the fact it does not work in the waterline at all but still a nice liner shade.

I also got Cherry Electric Superglass, looks nice on the lips and it stayed on for ages. Looks quite sheer on but I found that perfect for a day look...apparently you can layer it with a lip liner for a dramatic look.

MAC Prep + Prime powder was my last buy, used it once and applied it too heavily, felt cakey so will try and find the best brush to apply it with and then review it. Heard good things about it so hopefully I will work the application out!

So that is my haul, liked a few more lip products but held back as I have so many simlar shades. MAC collections are like a never ending story...no sooner had I received all this stuff and I was online checking for the next collection, I have a serious issue!