Bright New Year

 

I wanted to get this up before I went out so no time to list everything I'm afraid.. sorry! 

I will come back to it tomorrow but here's everything I used to create the look above. The video tutorial is in the process of uploading but I'm staying out tonight so I wont get chance to update this until the morning. Which means I wont see you before.. so HAPPY NEW YEAR! Check back this time tomorrow if you're interested in shades and more info :)

Miss BB

I Resolve...

This year I have 3 main resolutions (that would concern you on this blog that is) they are as follows...

1. Look after my hair
2. Look after my skin
3. From the 1st January until the 1st March - NO SPENDING! 

So technically the third isn't a resolution for the whole year but I will still be pretty impressed if i manage to keep it all the same. The reason for the spending ban is our trip to Vegas on March 18th. I'm allowing myself a couple of weeks off just before in case there are any last minute "essentials" I need to pick up. We need to save as much as we can for spending money while we're over there and once we're back we intend to save towards a new car so hopefully I will learn over the next 2 months how little I actually NEED to spend and can continue to cut back once the self-imposed ban is lifted. I don't know about you but like most shopaholics (yes it's a real thing!) I get a buzz from the initial spend, I shop to make myself feel better and of course I shop because I have a seemingly unending list of must-have items I do not yet posses. I am going to try my absolute darnedest not to shop for that short(ish) time and if I can do it ANYONE can.. who's with me?

The relationship I have with my hair has always been the same. I expect too much out of it when I put very little in. I TORTURE my hair and expect it to shine and grow faithfully and when it doesn't I lose interest. I chop it off (MYSELF!!!) because it needs a cut and then I'm bored with the colour and so bleach the health right back out of it.. It's put up with an awful lot from me over the years and it's about time I gave it some proper attention. I am 25 now (soon to be 26), the time for pink streaks and home highlights is over! I hate to have it cut but I know it must be done. The split ends are spreading and it's breaking off halfway up my lengths.. I've spent mountains of cash on treatments, conditioners and oils only to realise until it's been seen by a licenced professional nothing will help. My hair is effectively a money pit right now so.. I declare 2012 "Project Hair". On January 1st I will take a picture of my hair as it both dried naturally, straightened and the state of my ends. I will shortly after be visiting the salon for the first time in over 2 years for a cut and making repeat appointments for regular trims until such a time that the condition will actually allow it to grow. I have already started some necessary damage control and added a heat protectant to my regime (never before used *slaps wrists*), will limit heat styling to once a week and just generally be as kind as I possibly can be to my poor, neglected mop. I know lots of people initially found my videos and blog through my hair adventures and I hope to be able to help those of you who did by taking you on this next journey with me. I will be regularly updating on condition, what I'm using and of course GROWTH and sincerely hope this time next year to have the beautiful hair I've always dreamt of.

Skin. I thought I'd found my skincare mojo earlier this year. I have my HG Clean & Clear Moisturiser and I found Superdrugs Tea Tree Toner and Cleanser to be a great addition to my routine.. Then I discovered Liz Earle. All I will say is it is everything they've said it is and more. If it's not working for you chances are you're not doing it right or you're not doing it regularly. The first few times I tried it I wasn't impressed but once it became a nightly cleanse.. wow! I'll admit I'm not great at keeping up a routine but now I know what it can do for my skin I really do try to get it in once a day. I just invested in a huge 150ml pump so that will definitely be a 2012 staple. As /i mentioned previously I have recently acquired a Clarisonic (very exciting!) also so between the two I am confident I will see a huge improvement in my skin. Unforunately as I've grown older my skin has changed and my trusty clean & clear doesn't seem to be doing the same magic it once did. It's still a great treatment for blemishes but I require something a little heavier to see me through now so I'm on the look out for my next great moisturiser.. i may go back to Clinique. Lastly one addition I will definitely be purchasing in the new year is a good eye cream. I'm considering the Loreal Youth Code range at the moment.. but then should I go the whole hog and get the matching night cream too? I'm quite sure that's a post in itself. 

It must be my age and where I'm at in my life (nearly married with 2 kids) I feel settled an I feel my appearance should reflect that. I don't want to look like a teenager with ratty hair and spotty skin.. I can afford to forgo my weekly makeup fix (or at least downsize it) to make way for some much needed base-level pampering, can't I? I mean after all anything I put on my skin or my hair will look so much better when they are in great condition. Being a blogger is great for so many reasons but one that's fitting now is motivation. If I don't do these things someone (or someoneS) will question me.. almost give me a hard time about it and while that may not always be desirable it's sometimes good to have that angel on your shoulder guiding you towards to right path. In this case it's a tweet in my pocket but it's the same principle. 

So they are my resolutions. I've been realistic, I'm not setting unachievable goals but they are challenging for me and I will have to work to keep them. Each has it's own reward which I'd very much like to reap so I'm asking you to please remind me of them when you see me slipping.

What will you change for the better in 2012?

Miss BB

My 2012 Wish List

My wish list for the coming year is not long but it's compiled of items I am desperate to get my hands on. The Moroccan oil is a last minute amendment as I recently purchased the 25ml and will certainly be needing the larger size. The 25ml was on my wish list you see but I just couldn't hold it in any longer. Another thing to mention would have to be the Clarisonic which I am likely to receive next week but that's still technically 2012 and I have waited a whole YEAR to get it so it' still going on the list. The Naked 2 does not hit the UK until January 1st where I will be banging down the door at dawn to get mine so again.. it will be an early check off for that one too but I consider it an absolute MUST-HAVE! The Babyliss Big Hair has seen some major blogger buzz over the past few months and since I'm trying to lay off my straighteners I am loving anything that can leave me looking "done" while avoiding them and the reviews I've seen of this are amazing. Lastly, I'm not sure a haircut can really go on a wish list but I consider any trip to the salon a luxury. I've coloured my own hair for years and haven't had a professional cut in at least 3.. maybe 4 so it it kind of a big deal. I hate to pay for someone to cut my hair when I really don't want it doing but come January "Project Hair" takes effect and the dead ends must finally come off *sob*

 I am on a self imposed spending ban (all but for the Naked 2 which I am allowing myself as an early birthday treat) from now until our trip to Vegas in March. I have the wedding to pay for in January and then all my spare cash will go towards our spending money. It's going to be tough but I'll appreciate it when I'm throwing dollars around our hotel room and cleaning out Sephora (these are the mental images I've chosen to get me through this difficult time)

Watch out for my second annual Budget Beauty Awards post coming very soon where I round up the years most used and favourite products. I've switched a lot of my hair and skin care in the past month so many of my beloved staples have taken a back seat in my regime but they still have their place in my heart and I'm sure I will find my way back to them.. I always do!

What's on your 2012 wish list?

Miss BB

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2011! 

Here's hoping you all have a fabulous day and Santa brings you everything you asked for!

Miss BB & The Gang

Mad Friday - OOTN

*What I'm Wearing*

Dress - Babyphat

Shoes - Primark

Fur Coat - Vintage

Earrings - Topshop

Possibly the worst night to go out EVER.. we met some characters I can tell you!

I'll blog about the evening itself later (expect lots more photos) but it's Christmas Eve and I have things to do! I will to leave you with this last image though.. My friend Kat (StyleSoCoy) was out with us and the obligatory photo shoot ensued.. I played around in editing and this is my favourite!

Why can't I look like that?

Merry Christmas Eve

Miss BB

http://www.stylesocoy.com/

Blushing Brushes

Look what arrived in the post this week!!!

Sigma 12 Brush Make Me Blush Kit

Believe it or not I've has these beautiful brushes in my possession for more than 2 days UN-USED just so I could get these pretty pictures blogged for you all while they're still all clean and pretty. As soon as I click publish I will be racing upstairs to try them out.. can't wait!

The best thing about this set (other than that they're PINK!) has to be the little carry case. It's a durable (also pink) leatherette container that doubles as two cute brush holders which makes it ideal for travel! I can't wait to pack these for our vegas trip. I'd planned on buying the travel kit before then but this way I can slot in extra full sized brushes or pencils etc. FAB!

Including UK shipping and the current 10% off code NY2011 this set works out around £75.00. 

That may sound like a lot but if you compare it to the MAC equivalent you're saving a fortune and having bought a couple from MAC myself I don't think the quality is at all inferior.

I already had the face and eyes kit but wanted a full set.. of course that's not to say I don't have my eye on a few additions... You can never have enough brushes, right?

You can visit Sigma's site here

Miss BB

Remember When It Was Warm?

I am very fortunate to love by a beautiful man-made lake (walking distance) and I thought I'd share these pictures I found from the summertime. Much as I love winter because it brings Christmas, when it's cold outside it's nice to remember.. it's not always shiver-temperature in England! Oh and although these are from two different days and Lee does appear to be wearing the same outfit... I'd like to reassure you he does own more than those clothes lol...

MissBB

Lucky

*What I'm Wearing*

Vest - Primark

Cardigan - Primark

Leggings - Topshop

Boots - Faith

Bag - Biba

Silver Ring - Pandora

Nail polish - Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle

As part of the fashion challenge tag I had to find a lucky item of clothing or accessory. I don't really have a lucky outfit or anything however I do consider this handbag to be pretty lucky given the awesome deal I got on it. I paid just £97.50 which was half price at the time and now it's gone UP to £245!

You can see my post about the bag when I first bought it here

Miss BB

Gloss & Glitter

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I've really rediscovered my love for red lips this Christmas so it seemed only right that I wear them in my Holiday tutorial this year. For my eyes I used a similar technique as I do everyday.. I define just above my crease in an attempt to widen my eyes, classic winged liner and a slick of festive glitter...

What I used for this look...

MAC Paint Pots in Morning Frost and Chilled On Ice

Urban Decay Shadows in Last Call and Smog

2True Easyglide Khol Eyeliner in Black

Rimmel Exhaggerate Liquid Liner in Black

MUA Glitter Eyleliner in 4 (gold)

Loreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara

Daniel Sandler Baby Jet Mascara

MAC Sheertone Blush in Plum Foolery

Urban Decay 24/7 Lip Pencil in Gash

17 Ultimate Volume Lipgloss in Very Berry

To see how I did it watch the video tutorial below...

Miss BB

1 Week To Go!

Here's a festive video catch up for you all...

VLOGMAS!

And not forgetting the Holiday Tag!

To follow my daily vlogmas videos go check out my vlog channel

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Miss BB

Fashion Challenge

I saw this on StyleSoCoy recently and have decided I'm going to go for it! I love the concept and now I am so close to fitting in to my pre-baby wardrobe it seemed a good time to give it a whirl. I'm going to try and post one of the below over the next 30 days (not necessarily in this order). I know when I did OOTD for The whole month of September it made me use more of what I had in my closet .. this will no doubt have the same effect. It's a great way to rediscover some old favourites that have slipped off your radar.

1.     Your closet.

2.     Your favourite shirt.

3.     A piece of clothing or jewellery that was a gift

4.     A shirt that you haven’t worn yet.

5.     Your favourite pair of jeans.

6.     A pair of pants that aren’t jeans.

7.     A cute outfit of yours.

8.     Your most expensive article of clothing.

9.     A cute dress/ skirt.

10. An outfit you wore on a special day.

11. A piece of jewellery that a Grandparent gave you.

12. A piece of jewellery that everyone complements you on.

13. An outfit you wish you had.

14. Cute socks.

15. Your newest purchase.

16. You and someone wearing matching clothes.

17. An article of clothing that you made or altered.

18. A piece of jewellery that you made.

19. All your earrings, rings, necklaces and/or bracelets. 

20. Your jewellery box.

21. Something that you only wear around the house.

22. Something you only wear in the summer.

23. An article of clothing/ accessory that you consider lucky.

24. Your favourite pair of shoes.

25. Shoes you love but hardly wear.

26. A mismatched outfit that you’d never wear (go wild: earrings, belts, crazy skirts etc.).

27. A hat.

28. An outfit you are ashamed to say you wore.

29. Something that is your favourite brand.

30. Something from your favourite store

I tag you all to try it! If you're going to, leave me a link so I can follow you and don't forget to 

follow StyleSoCoy too to follow her Fashion Challenge!

Miss BB

NOTD - Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle

First off.. loving this! I know not everyone was overly enamoured of their December Glossybox but no matter what i got I think this would have won me over. I love me some glitter at Christmas time and having purchased from this brand before I was aware it's NOT CHEAP! I love the special glitter shades from Deborah Lippmann but I've only tried one polish from the brand previously and it chipped so quickly it really put me off trying any others. I have to say though..  after trying this one I'm already chomping at the bit to add to my collection. I've had it on my nails for a couple of days and it's showing very little sign of wear. I already knew that it would look fabulous but if it chips an hour after I've applied it I'm not interested. Glossybox absolutely got it right for me this month. They've made a customer of me where I'd written DL off as a bad job. This is going to be an expensive habit!

The polish is luxuriously dark and festive cranberry shade with an overload of raspberry glitter. I can't think of anything more fitting for the Holidays.

A full sized polish is 15ml and a mini is approx 9ml (I had to do some fl oz - ml calculations as I couldn't find a volume online on any UK site) I think that's a really nice size. For something like this that you wouldn't wear every day the mini size is ideal! FYI The polish on the right is 'Waking Up In Vegas' and the yellow colour shakes out.. it settles like that when it's left to sit.

Have you tried anything from Deborah Lippmann?

Miss BB

Soap&Glory for a STEAL!

I'm not going to bore you with too many words.. all you need to know is that the S&G "Big Splendour" Gift Set is now just £25 for 10 FULL SIZE products!

That's just £2.50 EACH!!! How can you afford not to buy this?

Thanks to my adorable munchkin I was up super early so I bagged one for me and one for my giveaway but you need to act fast as these baby's will be advertised on TV from today as Boots star gift of the week and at better than half price (originally £60) they will FLY off the shelves. 

Get yours here

The offer runs until 22nd December

*FYI : this is not a sponsored post - how could I not share the S&G love?*

Miss BB

Wedding Dress Stress

I feel like we've been planning to get married FOREVER! 

*You can read all about it here*

But now it's actually approaching the dress stress is mounting and all of the options I've collected over the past 18 months all seem unsuitable. I need help! These are the six dresses I have.. do we have a winner or do I need to cross my fingers for a fab find in the January sales?

You can find all the dress/shoe info in my post here

I'm getting excited now as in a few weeks we will be able to give our notice to marry so we can do it whenever.. Once I have the dress locked down it will be on to my hair and makeup which will hopefully be much less frustrating.

Any suggestions are welcome (in fact they're encouraged)

Miss BB

December Glossybox

I was getting UBER impatient for my December Glossybox to arrive so when it did today I literally jumped for joy (you can see that in my Vlogmas Day 11 when it's up here). I'm sure this is not the first review post you're reading so I didn't want to overload you with packaging pictures you'd seen everywhere already but I will say the glossy red box and snow white "paper sizzle" was a really nice, festive touch. But that's not what you're here for.. you want to see what I got...

Rituals Foaming Shower Gel (full size)

RRP £6.50

I've never tried anything from Rituals before but have heard of the brand. I love anything that makes me feel extra pampered in the bath or shower so was pleased to find this in my box and it smells lovely.

Blink + Go Hi Def Mascara (full size)

RRP £14.99

Promises sexy, flake free lashes in a waterproof formula. I was disappointed with this only because I mascaras generally don't impress me. I have rubbish lashes to work with so don't usually get a great effect but for a glossy box product this is a good one. Also.. saw some people got eyeshadow/blush duo which I would have preferred - should NEVER look at what other have got - serves me right!

Cargo Classic Lipgloss (sample size)

RRP £10.00

Again Cargo is a brand I've heard of but never tried as it's at the drugstore but what I consider to be high priced for that market. I like the colour and the formula isn't sticky which is always my first check but I don't think I would repurchase. Great handbag/travel gloss though.

MeMeMe Seventh Heaven (sample size)

RRP £15.00

Funnily enough I was considering purchasing this just the other day but it was online and I really wanted to see it in person before shelling out £15 so I'm really pleased to have received this makeup base.

Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle (sample size)

RRP £16.00

First of all... AWESOME! This is what I'd consider to be a generous sample size. That's what Glossybox is all about, right? "luxury samples". I do have one Deborah Lippmann polish, "waking up in vegas". The formula of that is a dream to apply but it chips super fast so although the glitter shades have had me lusting after them for some time they are expensive if they're not going to last 24 hours. This for me is my favourite item from this months box (more on that at the end)

Deborah Lippmann - The Stripper To Go (sample size)

RRP £14.00 for 6 sachets

No matter how amazing this is there's no way in the world I'd repurchase as £14.00 for 6 sachets but I am interested to see whether it's any more effective at removing glitter polishes as that's what Deborah Lippmann specialises in. Will be saving this to remove Razzle Dazzle.

**********

So as I said.. more on the polish. I thought it deserved some better pictures to really showcase the colour. It's so festive.. like Santa in a bottle. I will absolutely be wearing this on Christmas Eve. It's a really beautiful plumy, pinky red.. You can expect swatches a plenty when I get this bad boy on my nails!

For The much-hyped Christmas Edition GB did good, dontcha think? I've had a little nosey in to some others and I must say I think Emma from milkteef.com got my favourite combination of products I've seen thus far but tis not the season to be coveting thy neighbours glossybox so I shall be happy with my lot.

So go on then... what did you get in your box this month?

Miss BB