Make-up Storage Update: Muji

Since moving homes again in October I've been fairly satisfied with how well a majority of our belongings have fitted together in the new house. My make-up storage on the other hand, was bothering me somewhat. I had been using a cheap, old tatty plastic set of drawers I got from asda about 5 years ago and each morning scrabbling through the bleakness was not giving me much of a sparkly feeling. 

Here are some photos of what my dressing table looked like before and how my make-up was stored

Overview

Palettes and some make-up bags 

Radio, Nail Varnish and Hair styling 

Tatty drawers

Base Products 

Blush, Bronzers & Highlighters

Eyes

Lips

Empties, Spares & Some tools 

  As you can see, my previous set-up was practical but not very pretty. After trawling various beauty blogs to figure out which storage solution would work best for me, I settled on buying 4 of the large muji 2 drawers for stacking. 

The units were just over £10 each and were delivered from the Muji UK website in under a week. I was so excited when they arrived! These units have little rubber tracks which allow for secure stacking without scratching the units below. 

 

After fiddling around a little, this is what I came up with - excuse the reflections of me in my pjs! 

There's still a little more switching, adding and general froofing to be done before I will be completely happy. The lighting in that corner of the room is AWFUL no matter what the weather, and thanks to some spot lights in the roof I have a lot of trouble with shadows appearing in peculiar places. Eventually I want to have the dresser clear of the clutter so I could maybe pop an office-type lamp there to help the lighting issue and stop make-up application from being such a guessing game!

I've kept the ugly drawers for now and filled them with my nail polish collection which was in the little wicker basket. That now houses my Mac and Ingot palettes which wouldn't fit in the Muji. 

I chose the large 2 drawers as I preferred the individual draw to be deeper. For point of reference this size can snuggly fit a bottle of Nars sheer glow or 2 of the naked palettes stacked on-top of each other. 

I also need to figure out an alternative to storing brushes as the yankee jar i'm using at the moment isn't wide enough and the Zoeva eye set are having to reside in their pouch for now! 

Hope this might be helpful if people are searching for storage alternatives like I was. If anyone has any bright ideas which might give my dresser a bit more sparkle please let me know!

Take care

Steph 

xxx

MAC Objects of Affection

Please prepare yourself for a bit of a picture heavy post - I'm a little late to the party raving about this product but I wanted to swatch some of these gorgeous pigments from the MAC Objects of Affection collection. 

 I got 2 of the pigment and glitter sets before Christmas (I think around early November time) and found them to be my most reached for eye products over the festive season. 

First of course is the eye-catching packaging that houses the miniature pigment pots - the chic black tin case is hardwearing and the glittery lid is so eye-catching. 

The Pink & Rose pigment and glitter collection contains 4 shimmers ranging from the palest champagne to burgundy plus the unique glitter.  

L-R Whisper Pink, Tan, Rose, Reining Riches glitter, Heritage Rouge

The Gold & Beige pigment and glitter set houses some more day-to-day shades and contains a matte shade for those times where a pearl or shimmer finish is just not required (What? When might that be??). 

L-R Lithe, English Gilt, Pretty it up, Gold glitter, Deep Brown 

I'll be the first to throw my hands up and admit pigments scare the living daylights out of me but once I mastered removing those funny little plugs, applying and blending the pigments is dreamy and fairly mess-free. I make sure I use a good amount of primer or cream shadow and find fallout can be controlled with a quick flick of a fluffy brush.

 Mac advise not to wear the glitter around the eyes so I suppose they could be used to amp up a nail design? I'm not sure, they're a bit OTT for me and even when passing through the party season I didn't manage to find a use for them.

The sets cost around £25 and considering i've yet to finish a full-sized pigment, I thought it was perfectly reasonable price to pay for the glitzy addition to my dressing table. 

If anybody has any recommendations for the glitters please point me in the right direction!

Take care

Steph

xxx

2015 Goals

Hi Lovelies, Happy New Year!

So much happened in my life in 2014 and it really was a great year. Now, I wasn't planning on creating hundreds of new years resolutions to make me richer or fitter because to be frank, I don't stick to them and find myself quite disappointed when I've spent my last fiver on a McDonalds. 

With that being said there is definitely room for improvement! 

1) Learn to cook - Since moving out (again) and making my own little home with Chris this last year, I feel it should be fitting of me to learn how to cook. I admire people who can take a pile of fresh ingredients and create a lovely meal from them. The best I can manage is fajitas or spaghetti. This year I aim to master at least 1 new recipe a month. 

2) Keep Learning -  I really wanted one of my goals to be: become creative. As much as I would love to turn super-crafty and create lots of lovely home-made goodies to give to my nearest and dearest, it just isn't going to happen. I have the imagination of a newt and the dexterity of a 4 year old. All the women in my family are the crafty kind but I just haven't managed to adopt that ability. Instead I want to expand my knowledge and keep learning! 2014 was a great year for my career and I can foresee things plateauing if i'm not careful. Therefore, whether it be work related, blogging orientated or maybe a practical skill, I want to take positive steps to ensure I document my learning experiences so I can look back and be proud of my efforts. 

3) Go Exploring - I'm quite a creature of habit and as a result often find my choices being quite repetitive. To avoid any ruts and to make sure I get the best out of my year, I want to try lots of new things. This include seeking out the opportunity to visit new places, choosing a different restaurants or maybe just picking a different genre of book. Generally just saying yes more often!

4) Drink more water - typical. 

5) Try harder with blogging. I enjoy reading other blogs so much and attempted in 2014 to set up Bella Mode. I have so much to learn to get the best out of blogging and I really want to give it a shot. Any tips would be gratefully received. 

I also don't think it would harm me to become more organised, take better care of my nails, and utilise my gym membership more often (guilty). 

There we have it, nothing too ground breaking, but a few goals I want to start working on in 2015. I Hope everyone had a lovely festive period and is now feeling wonderfully refreshed and motivated for this next year!

Take care

Steph

xxx

Fudge Paintbox: Whiter Shade of Pale

Hi Guys!

I'm sure many of you will know that having highlighted hair can be troublesome to maintain. Firstly comes the trauma of bleach followed by weeks of intensive and nourishing treatments to get your locks silky smooth, only to find that you wake up one morning to 2 inches of regrowth. Urgh. 

Over the past 2 years I have noticed another problem which is oh-so common amongst blondes... Brassy tones. Yeah sure, not the most dramatic thing to get stressed over, but when you find you're parting with close to £100 every 8 weeks, you want to ensure the colour you love is going to last! 

In the past I have been a firm believer in silver/purple shampoos, and you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar I will have a bottle of Lee Stafford in the bathroom. However more recently I've been finding my trusty favourite is just not a good enough match for the atmosphere/pollution/whatever it is tainting my highlights. 

My search for help led me to this little bad-boy in a bottle... 

RRP £8.39

Whiter Shade of Pale by Fudge can be mixed with their vibrant paintbox shades to create a softer, pastel colour or used on pre-lightened hair to neutralise yellow tones. 

So armed with my mother's assistance I gave it a whirl. The first step is shampooing your hair then you apply the toner to wet hair (ouch at the memory of combing out un-conditioned hair). The 150ml bottle was enough to cover all my hair once and I have a bit left over to go over the more troublesome areas at a later date. For reference I would say I've got mid-length thin hair - but there is ALOT of it. Wrapped up in cling film(!) I waited the 30 mins as instructed before toddling off to rinse it out. 

Before

After

As you can see overall the hair is lighter & some of the chunkier brassy sections towards the roots have gone cooler, however the ends are still quite yellow. I don't mind it so much though as I think it adds dimension. It's also left my hair quite glossy and feeling rather soft which is a bonus.

Maybe in a couple of weeks I will give it another bash using up whats left on the tips! 

Has anybody got any advice on maintaining blonde hair?

Take care 

Steph

xxx

Book Club - The Girl With All The Gifts

Hello Hello!

 A little late to the party as usual, Apologies!

Now, a while back the lovely Frankie from Fashion Dough took to twitter to ask if there were any bloggers who would like to be involved in a book club. Reading is right up my street so it was a big yes please! from me. 

The first book which was chosen is definitely something I wouldn't of picked for my weekend getaway but, oh my, how glad I am that I was given the chance to branch out a bit! 

The girl with all the gifts - M.R. Carey 

" Original, Thrilling and powerful"

"A Great read that takes hold of you and doesn't let go"

Scary, tense and fast-paced...but with a heart-warming tenderness"

It's difficult to say too much about the plot without totally giving the story away but the book revolves around a few key characters who are living amongst a zombie apocalypse. I'm quite partial to a good zombie movie or series - The Walking Dead, World War Z - you get the gist, but I hadn't read anything with a zombie plot before. 

The mysterious summary doesn't give the game up either so when I began reading, I was non the wiser for a few chapters. 

I won't go into the story line incase you are the type of person who doesn't like spoilers (You've already had quite a big one!) however, if you would like to know you can find a bit more of a synopsis at Fashion Dough, Cuteek, or Saloca in Wonderland. 

What appealed to me was how M.R. Carey managed to focus on the changing relationships of the main characters without losing all the gore and destruction which you would normally expect from a zombie thriller. In my opinion this made the plot more intriguing. 

I think this book would appeal to both genders - Chris was requesting regular updates as he was interested in how the adventure was unfolding, while I was more absorbed with how the characters were changing towards each other.

To conclude: I would recommend this book to a friend. I found it had me gripped and I was desperate to see how it would unfold. Don't let the Z-word put you off like it probably would of me, the plot has more dimensions than simply a group of people trying to not get eaten! 

I'm really looking forward to get cracking on the next book - The Abomination by Jonathan Holt. In fact while the tail end of hurricane Bertha is expected over the West-Midlands, I can't think of a better time to start. *Ignoring all the acupuncture textbooks starting at me*

Take Care 

Steph 

xxx

Bobbi Brown - Shimmer Brick 'Bronze'

Can we just take a moment to admire this beauty...

Bronze Shimmer Brick £32.50

I picked this up when returning back from my summer holiday in Tunisia last month and have been using it everyday since. The shimmery little compact contains 4 shades of bronze with a bar of highlighter. 

Due to the shimmer it isn't suitable for contouring, so I have been dusting the 5 shades over the top of my cheek bones after applying my 'stay by me' blush by mac. The top bar is perfect for highlighting underneath groomed eyebrows. The versatility of this product is something I love, as the bars could be applied as eyeshadows when used separately to get a lovely bronze smokey look. The subtle glitter isn't overpowering and provides a summery fresh glow. 

Mini Face Blender Brush

I paid a little extra to get the compact with a mini face blender brush by Bobbi Brown which is so soft. It compliments the bronzing brick perfectly, creating a soft blend of colour in all the right places.  I haven't experienced any shedding of the brush - but I don't know that 5 weeks is sufficient use to comment on that aspect. 

I have found the staying power to depend on what base I've applied onto - a wash of bronze is still present after a hard days graft on the days I needed a little extra coverage and used something like Chanel Vitalumiere in the mornings. On the days where I can get away with just a light BB cream I have found that the colour isn't really visible when returning from work, but a majority of my make-up has melted off by then anyway!

Swatch - 1 swipe not blended 

Due to its fragile nature I don't think I would dream of putting this in my handbag for retouches. I even packed it with cotton wool inside when taking away for a weekend break recently (Maybe a bit OTT but there we go). It comes in the famous chic black packaging with a large mirror which is always helpful.

 I am naturally a very pale person but have been wearing a tan since returning to England - I could envisage this being a little dark for my natural skintone. I think for that reason I may be tempted to purchase the Rose Shimmer Brick in anticipation for Winter months where my gruelling tanning regime can be overlooked. 

This brick has won an array of awards over the past couple of years and I can certainly see why. I really love using this Shimmer Brick and it has definitely encouraged me to explore the different colours. If anyone has any recommendations for a fairer skin let me know!

Take Care

 Steph

xxx

Summer Apricot Wishlist

 Hello Everybody!

I thought I would share some of the bits I've been lusting after for the Summer months. I wanted to share my style a little bit as I love to read other posts similar. 

I ALWAYS have a wish list as long as both my arms so I could potentially end up bankrupting myself before long!

Firstly, I chose this Bobbi Brown Nectar Shimmer Brick. I recently purchased the Bronzing Brick and have fallen in love. I plan to write my opinion on it soon but the fact this is always sold out (sob sob moan moan) speaks volumes really! I think the Nectar powder would create a perfect coral shade for Summer. 

Next up is this strappy pleat cami from Topshop. This looks like it would be easy to dress up or wear casually when the sun eventually decides to rear itself for longer than a day!

I've chosen to include the Charlotte Tilbury life changing lash curlers. I'm quite blessed in the eyelash department and don't always require curlers but I find them helpful when attempting to fake a 'great nights sleep' look. I love Charlotte Tilbury, she is so beautiful and uses make-up to accentuate features rather than cover up and fake a look which I think is a lovely philosophy! I also enjoy watching her work - she's got a great energy. Anyway these curlers are £18 and available here.

Next up - a Summer staple these high waisted denim shorts. Not much explanation required, perfect for casual sunny days 

As a lipstick/gloss/glass/product-in-general junkie I've included Bobbi Brown High Shimmer Lip Gloss to my wish list. I LOVE the non-sticky formula and am currently drooling over the shades Candlelight, Bellini, and Citrus.

I'm dreaming here basically but we can all dream right! Between saving for a mortgage and paying rent I can't imagine I shall end up owning this Mulberry Bayswater double zip tote anytime soon but I have popped it in there... just in case!

 I have definitely gravitated towards coral/nectar/apricot shades this Summer. I need to be careful I don't end up looking like a tangerine disco ball! 

Take care

Steph 

x