My Makeup Heroes: TV edition

Hey gang, so the premise of this post is a very simple one: an ode to the ladies that rock makeup almost as gorgeous as they themselves.

This idea came about through watching an episode of The Good Wife, leading me to the first Makeup Hero of this post: the character of Alicia Florrick, played by the beautiful Julianna Margulies. Let's take a moment to swoon in silence:

To me she is the queen of the smokey eye; nobody wears it better. She looks stunning in a berry, red or brown-toned lip and THOSE. EYEBROWS. Need I say any more?

Next up is an obvious one and the reason why I have been craving red hair for so long: the incomparable Joan Harris/Holloway. I'll be honest and say that I stopped watching Mad Men a good while back, but when I did, I could barely get through an episode without wanting to lie down because Joan was giving me Attractive Person Fever (Jason Mamoa is the worst offender for my serious affliction).

Those beautiful lashes and her legendary lips are what strike you most about our Joany's makeup (let's not get on to her figure in this post), but let's give a shoutout to her luscious skin and rosy cheeks too. Just such a beauty.

Made in Chelsea's Binky is my favourite person ever for about a million reasons but up there among them is her gorgeous, slightly grungy makeup; to be fair, everyone on MIC looks stunning in my view but Binks has the edge in every sense, rocking kohl liner and clumpy lashes in a way I doubt I'll ever suit but wish I could.

Last Week Vlog

Hello again gang, this here is my vlog of the last week I had in France and a jolly lovely one it was too. I hope you enjoy it!

Anna xxx

Diptyque Do Son: My first Diptyque purchase

So this month was my last in la belle France and I took the opportunity to pack in some crafty "Treat Yo Self" style goodbye gifts for yours truly - and how could I possibly leave France without a Diptyque au revoir purchase?

My choice was the lovely Do Son Eau de Parfum and a jolly beautiful one it was - it even came with two teeny testers that I got to choose too!

According to Diptyque, the Do Son scent is tuberose based and their description is a rather delicious one so I thought I'd quote them directly:

Tuberose asserts itself, expressing all its sunny, hazy, creamy, indolent seductiveness. Anyone with blood in their veins will succumb to the irresistible temptation of this insolently seductive white flower. (75ml)

Rather heavenly-sounding isn't it? Scent-wise I am definitely not that mad on the smell of this in the bottle or at the first spritz, but given about ten minutes to chill on the skin it becomes this wonderful, unique, feminine gorgeousness that I have to restrain myself from showering in. It is the only perfume I've ever sprayed on myself before bed, such is my addiction for this lovely stuff.

I haven't heard this scent spoken about much online but when testing these guys out (in Galeries Lafayette, Paris Haussman, for those that are interested) I tried the names that were familiar to me and none of them were for me. The very friendly chap behind the counter suggested this one after I told him I was a floral fan, looking for something young but sophisticated (and that I was a fan of Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle). It really is lovely, lovely stuff, pretty long lasting though I've been spraying it on every hour or so just for the love of it!

Above is the very sweet pouch my choices were sent to me in; I also tried their Infused Facial Water which is definitely a luxe buy at £35 but a very nice treat to try; I also chose their Protective Moisturising Lotion which was also a decadent-to-the-point-of-eye-watering price point at a stonking £44.

They were wonderfully scented but very much out my price range, but getting to choose two samples, albeit miniature, 5 ml ones, was a nice touch. Well done Diptyque, well done.

But back to Do Son: even the back of the bottle is well thought out:

Just fabulous.

So it's a thumbs up from me for Do Son; I wonder what my next Diptyque purchase - hopefully in the very, very distant future - will be... Let me know if you have any recommendations!

You can buy Diptyque's Do Son Eau de Parfum for 75ml at £85.00 from their website here.

Clarisonic Review

Bonsoir gang, I hope you are doing well! In case you missed it, here is my review of my Clarisonic (only a month later than I thought it would be), I hope it is of interest to any of you considering getting one!

Anna xxx

Living for the Weekend: Week One

It's about time I got a weekly post up on here and so this is my first post in a series all about one of my favourite things: the weekend. By the time this guy goes up I'll be in Marseilles (that sounds very exciting) but for today it's a nostalgic look back at last weekend; I do hope you will indulge me.


Saturday

Saturday's face and nails

Mad but delicious French "salad" | A lush fountain! | Testing out some bendy curlers | The finished result :)

The Great British Sewing Bee really is so great | Cookie Porn | Oh God | M Dizzle in the house

Sunday

A tasty breakfast | More Sewing Bee, I was in stitches, ha, ha, ha | Countin' off them days | One splendid lunch though I say so myself

And that concludes the first ever Living for the Weekend, goodbye for now!

March Favourites

In case you missed it you beauties, here are my Marchiest of favourites, I feel free to check 'em out!

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencils: Review and Swatch Fest

Oh man, do I love a bold matte lippy. I know glosses are meant to be the next new trend and we're meant to be downing lipsticks and rocking all things sheer and shiny from here on out, but I am so not ready to embrace the trend yet, especially with the Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencils chillin' in my makeup bag.

Just look at them:

I currently own all the shades I am likely to purchase from the line (I also own one of the Satin Lip Pencils in Yu, which I actually don't think is anything special) so it felt like the perfect time to flex my beauty blogging muscles with a good old fashioned swatch sesh.

I mean, swoon. Love love love. Let's get on to the swatches, then I'll be back to chat you through my thoughts at the end...

Cruella

This one is oft described as a berry red, but for whatever reason on me I looks like a slightly darker, blue based red. Possibly it's my skin tone doing its thing, who knows, but I am still on my quest for the ultimate berry red.

However, this is possibly not necessarily Cruella's fault but rather my own expectations? Who knows.

Damned

My first Velvet Matte purchase and my first Velvet Matte love, Damned is a super flattering and easy to wear berry shade that I imagine would suit most skin tones. This guy, you may be able to tell, is now a little drier than its younger siblings but I still consider it one of my favourites and is joint first for the most worn of the lot. I used it in my Parisian Chic Look and you can check that video out here.

Dragon Girl

Dragon Girl was the one that I originally felt the least enthusiastic about but has recently become my go-to red lip. I've not got any other reds quite like it: it's got a real pinkiness to it that makes it stand out and looks best with a really minimal eye. Love.

Red Square

Orange for wusses is how I would describe Red Square - it's a lovely mix of red and orange that makes it so much more flattering than some of the more catwalk, bold shades that have been hyped up of late. For me it's as orange as I'm willing to go for the moment and will probably be my bold summer lip for this year. If you want to see me using this bad boy, I used it as one of my lip options in my Fresh Faced Spring Makeup look here.

Train Bleu

Oh Train Bleu, Train Bleu, Train Bleu. It's a lot darker even than how it looks here, a real deep deep purple shade that walks the line of chic and gothic incredibly well. This is one that will turn heads for sure and the one that I turned to last winter when I wanted to look über cool without that much effort. I love this guy. If you'd like to see my tutorial using it, you can do so here.

So, on to the review: you may have guessed I am a fan of these guys. At £17.50, they are anything but cheap - but here's some beauty blogger maths: if I were to buy a decent lip pencil and matte lip stick, say from MAC, it would easily cost almost as much of two of these so... you're basically saving money.

Basically.

Amazing logic here gang.

They are long lasting - not particularly moisturising but hey, they don't really dry your lips either - and they are so convenient, so easy to chuck in a handbag and apply on the go.

I think these are a lovely luxurious splurge for those of you that really do love matte lips; but bear in mind they are wasteful little pains thanks to the need to sharpen them.

But I love them. That's what I am trying to say.

I hope you liked this review - are there any shades catching your eye at the mo?