The Body Shop: Beauty Bloggers Bonanza

♥ Hey flowers ♥

On Friday 25th June, a gaggle of beauty bloggers, were summoned to a swanky Mayfair-based hotel, for some roof top schmoozing, cupcake prettifying and general beauty banter.

That's right, it was The Body Shop event which I was pleased as punch to be invited to...

Upon arrival, we were faced with quite a feast of scrumptious morsels, swished down with lots of fizzy stuff! All the ladies from The Body Shop and Headstream were extremely lovely and made us all feel very welcome, were enthusiastic and answered any queries we had throughout the day.

The prelude whilst we waited for everyone to arrive gave us all an ample chance to mingle with scone in hand, and it was a joy to meet many truly precious fellow bloggers. It is so nice to finally unearth the face behind the blog and it was lovely having a chinwag with them all before we were ushered to our seats.

♥ 

The first presentation was regarding their new haircare range, which endeavours to be as eco-friendly as possible, meaning their products do not contain any parabens, silicones or colourants, thus protecting our aquatic life. 

I love Finding Nemo, and the thought of those gorgeous fishies chocking and shrivelling up because of my shampoo is not a nice thought so following this eye opener, I am going to make a more concerted effort to choose this eco-conscious range. 

They are also introducing hair butters (clever spin on the ever-so popular body butters!). They are deep conditioning, intensive hair masks and smell divine! I am particularly excited about these!

Following this, it was time for random fact of the day...!

"Did you know that the average lady consumes 4 lbs worth of lipstick. That is 281 lovely lippies in our lifetime!" ...a little bit icky right?!

This was marvellously demonstrated by this bowlful of gooey jelly!

Jen and myself looked bizarrely delighted about this revelation!!

So the good news is that The Body Shop's Delipscious range of lip products are made from 100% food-grade ingredients, so we can now all pucker up and slap on the lippie until our heart's content, without the fear of ingesting something grotesque!

Next up was a show and tell of their new products that have been added to The Body Shop's  Vitamin C range.

The new additions include:

♥  Facial Radiance Powder Mix

♥  Eye Reviver Duo

♥ Microdermabrasion 

All the products seemed really intriguing, especially the radiance powder mix, which promises an intensified natural radiant look and feel to the skin in just 10 days!

I'll keep you posted...

Finally, Chase Aston, international makeup artist introduced us to the Body Shop's new makeup range entitled Baked to Last. The range consists of 2 bronzers, 2 blushers and 8 individual eyeshadows. Each product is baked on a terracotta disc in Italy, for 48 hours, to intensify the pigmentation and make the product more refined.

The infectiously vivacious Chase Aston demonstrated a few makeup tutorials for us using these new products, from simple easy day looks, to a more striking evening face, with dark blue eyes and berry lips!

The eyeshadows can be used wet or dry, to vary the intensity and finish.  

  

In between the presentations, we were invited to prettify and adorn our very own cupcake!

It was spatulas at dawn as we all marvelled at the colourful icing and squished smarties onto our cakes, in the attempt to make ours the most amazing cupcake ever!

Needless to say...mine and Ling's cupcakes failed aesthetically...!

A handful of the lovely girlies I met proffering their delightful cupcakes!

Michelle, moi, Jen, Sabrina, Ling, Shirley

♥

Finally, we were informed on The Body Shop's latest charity partnership with Ecpat which strives to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse. It is such a worthy cause and next month I will be posting all the details on how you can help get behind this campaign. But for the mean time, you can purchase The Body Shop's Soft Hands Kind Heart Hand Cream for £5, where £3.45 of this goes straight to Ecpat to help with their charity efforts.

Celebrities are literally "putting their hands up" in support of this project, and us mere mortals got the chance to place our hands next to the likes of R-Patz and Naomi Campbell!

This was my humble effort...

Cupcakes, makeup and glitter galore!

I was clearly in my element, ludicrously illustrated by the cheesiest of grins here!

After the posse had dissipated, Ling and I took to the streets of London, for a spot of mooching and meandering, and like moths to a flame, we were drawn to Carnaby Street to pay homage to the MAC Pro store!

Our adoration paid, Ling proposed we had a SNOG!

"Pardon moi Miss Ling?!" 

....A SNOG!

I am now a snog convert! How had I never heard of this heavenly infusion of frozen yogurt and fruity delights! :)

A perfect finale to a grand day out!

Thank you to all involved - it was highly enjoyable and insightful and I really appreciate being invited to attend.

Thanks for reading lovelies...what are your thoughts of the new products hitting The Body Shop?

...and have you ever had a snog??

xxx

Shorts in the City

I have just returned from a fan-dabby day in London Town, where I was fortunate enough to be attending The Body Shop event at the Westbury Hotel in Mayfair. A gaggle of beauty bloggers convene to hear about some of the Body Shop's new products and ventures, whilst swooning over some makeup tutorials from makeup artist Chase Aston and prettifying some cute cupcakes whilst slurping on champers.

I know...I know...but someone's got to do it! :) 

Fully detailed post on the event will be up this weekend, but just wanted to give y'all a sneak peek of my outfit.

Heart leotard - Topshop

High-waisted shorts - River Island

I really enjoy these shorts and adore the military gold detailing at the front!

Gladiator sandals - River Island

Pearls - Topshop

Tan - Xen Tan Dark Lotion!

Models Own - Nude Beige

I thought I would go for quite a sophisticated nail for the day's festivities (puts down the neon pink...!) but I really love this murky colour!

As I was trotting down New Bond Street, I got accosted my this woman bearing an intimidatingly huge camera, and wanted to know if she could feature me on her fashion blog. 

Flattered and feeling slightly awkward, I merrily posed whilst she frenziedly snapped me and made me work the camera - "look left, turn right, chin down....SMILE!" ARGH!

Now running rather late for our Body Shop event engagement, we walked and talked whilst she conducted a mini interview with me! I felt totally out of my comfort zone but she was lovely, and it was a fun, unexpected experience prior to the day's event.

Her blog is here if you want to have a nosey and I will holler when my feature is up!

A Tee for Tapas

♥ Hi di hi ♥

I hope you are all have super duper weekend, despite the lack of sunshine! Mid June? Seriously?? Brrr...I have actual goosebumps as I type this!

Anyhooos...

I trotted out last night for some tapas and sangria-fuelled giggling and merriment, and I thought I would share, with you all, my outfit of the night.

It was just casual drinkies and scoffing, so I didn't get too dolled up, and went for a simple look, with a hint of sparkle!

♥ FOTN ♥ 

* MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC30

* Benefit Boing no.2

* MAC MSF Natural Medium +

* Benefit Dallas

* Benefit Coralista

* MAC Eyebrow pencil - Spiked

* Urban Decay eyeliner in Zero

* Covergirl Lashblast

* I used the grey shadow in the Sleek Bohemian i divine palette in the crease

* YSL Rouge Volupte No.7 Lingerie Pink (this is a beautiful lippie!)

♥ OOTN ♥

* Grey gold chain detail oversized tee - H&M £12.99

All credit for this find goes to my bestie chum Claire. I spied this tee in her recent YT vid and I fell in love with it! So off I merrily skipped to purchase one myself.

I think it looks a lot more special than an H&M piece.

* Black leggings - Topshop £20

* Black leather biker boots with gold detailing - Topshop £95

* Faux Snakeskin Clutch - Accessorize

♥ BOTN ♥ (bling of the night)

* I decided to keep all my bling gold and tarnished, to work well with the gold detailing on the tee. 

Bangles and rings all from Accessorize.

Tweet Twoo!! 

My adorable owl earrings from Topshop!

♥

And voila!

So crumpets, that was my look from last night's escapades!

I would love to hear your musings on my outfit.

 I am really enjoying wearing simple, casual yet key pieces like oversized tees, and then adding interest and accent colours with my jewellery and accessories. Claire talks a lot about this evolving style in her recent video so be sure to go and spy her pretty face, after you've left me some precious comments! :)

Ciao ciao!

xxx 

Rev it up with Revlon

♥ Hey puddings ♥

I always openly declare my love for MAC lippies, and although they do penetrate the majority of my lippie collection, I wanted to share with you two certain beauts that I have been getting a lot of pucker value from lately.

♥

♥ Revlon Moon Drops Lipstick in Blase Apricot #702

♥ Super Lustrous Lipstick in Love That Red #725

I just adore the classic packaging of these lipsticks.

♥ Blase Apricot ♥

I purchased this lipstick in NYC when I was there last month. As far as I believe, and my research can fathom, the Moon Drops lipsticks are currently unavailable in the UK (please correct me if I am wrong) but I was faced with a shelf load of them in the local Walgreens, and this gorgeous coral-ly number jumped straight out at me!

The consistency is so creamy and conditioning, and it has a fabulous lasting power.

I think this is just stunning, and a luscious summer colour to indulge in during these balmy months.

♥

♥ Love that Red ♥

This truly is the 'classic' red lipstick. I think I love it more that any red lippie I possess from MAC. It is a striking colour that make my teeth look super white and it has a glossy finish. The colour is very intense, but I would recommend using a lip brush for application!

I bought this lipstick from my local Superdrug and think it is a fabulous staple addition to anyone's makeup bag. 

These are the only two lippies I own from Revlon but I am definitely going to indulge and experiment with some of their other colours. I am not really excited by their ColourBurst range i have to say, but the Super Lustrous range needs some more investigation I feel!

♥

Have you been puckering any Revlon lippies lately? Let me know any pretty colours you think I might likey!

xxx

Sun-kissed tresses for summer dresses

If you have followed me for a while, you will know ALL about my hair dramas and the trials and tribulations I have encountered! Three months ago I was near raven black and decided the colour was far too harsh for my delicate complexion! 
Soooo...out came the bleach!!

Over the last 3 months or so, I have put my more locks through some intense cleansing, stripping, recolouring and mild orange-ness to achieve the colour I am now!

Lucky for me, my hair is extremely robust and in abundance, so it has coped admirably with all the ill-treated I have exposed it to!

I Have vowed to my exhausted hairdresser (and myself) that I will not be fickle and fluffy, and meddle anymore with my hair for at least...hmmm...6 weeks?! 

But I am truly content with the colour at the moment, and like the little fringey I've got going on. My only wish now would be that it would grow 10 inches or so, and then I'd be a happy bunny.

I will always love dark, glossy locks (and know full well I will return to the dark side one day...) but I think this colour is a perfect sunny compliment for the summery months ahead!

Thoughts and feelings?

Love at first flutter

♥ Hi crumpets ♥

When I was in New York last month, I had an extensive list of drugstore goodies to hoard, but numbero uno on that list was this little gem!

♥ CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Blasting Mascara ♥

♥

I had heard many fabulous things about this little beautie and it seemed rude not to pick one up from the local Walgreens whilst buying chocolate-coated pretzels and epic sized Red Bulls!

♥

And I am pleased to announce that it really does not disappoint. It is an AMAZEballs mascara and I am just kicking myself that I only picked up the one! D'oh!

I love the brush applicator, as it really fans out your lashies, and it is so build-able, you can really achieve some whopping eyelashes!

♥

Voila! And this is just after 2 coats! 

It has fast become my holy grail mascara and I am savouring every last drop until it runs out and then there will be tears...!

♥ I really think it's love... ♥

Have any of you lash lovers tried Covergirl LashBlast Mascara before, and if so...are you with me on the adoration?

Or if not, tell me your "can't live without it" mascara?

Thanks for reading & being precious.

xxx

The O

♥ Hiii sweetums ♥

So as I hinted in my previous post, I have some exciting revelations to share with you all. 

I am positive many of you have heard of Cloud Nine Hair and are aware of their new generation of temperature control hair straighteners.

Well, Robert Powls, the brains behind these beauts has been busy in his laboratory and has 

manifested this wondrous development in heated rollers...

OOOOh my....Welcome to The O!

♥ 

Cue press release spiel... 

"TheO - Out-Of-This-World Technology That Will Take Your Hair To New Heights 

TheO uses unique heat induction technology that takes each roller to a temperature of 130 degrees  – the highest you can achieve within a heated roller - in less than four seconds, giving you the volume that can only be achieved with a roller, in record time. 

Simply pop a roller into the futuristic pod, wait for the beep, and style. And while the roller continues to rise in temperature in your hair, the pod remains completely cool and ready for the next roller.

The rollers, which are available in five sizes, including extra large 60mm, heat from the core out, so they’re hot for the hair, not for the hand.

Using the latest soft grip technology, it also means pins are not required, and you avoid hair breakage and kinks.  The rollers are so lightweight, that you’ll hardly know you’ve got them in, and because there’s an indicator on each roller to let you know when it’s done, they’ll be out again in no time - leaving you with hair that’s out of this world, whenever you want it.

TheO from Cloud Nine uses seven times less power than traditional heated rollers."
♥

 The O will retail at £149.95 and will be available online from next week and also possible to purchase at these selected salons...Daniel Galvin, Nicky Clarke, John Frieda, Errol Douglas, Richard Ward, Jo Hansford, Michael John and Urban Retreat. 

So how did The O and moi meet...

Well myself, and five other lucky ducky bloggers, hot stepped it down Park Lane and waltzed up to The Dorchester Hotel, greeted by a plethora of colourfully dressed concierge and a line up of sexy motors. 

♥

After I had swooned momentarily at the fancy Ferraris and beautiful Bentleys, we made our way, via the fanciest lift I have ever witnessed, to the 8th floor, where we were ushered into a suite decked top to bottom with swanky, gold-trimmed adornments and hanging ornaments.

♥

Witness the prettiness...

We then were introduced formally to The O, and the creator, Robert Powls, who gave us all an insight into the creation of this new product and its magical powers.
♥
We were then lured by the scent of chips and tasty morsels into the neighbouring room, to witness The O in action.

Whilst we munched on delicately created sandwiches, Steve Carr, senior stylist at Jo Hansford Salon demonstrated the art of applying the rollers to the hair.
♥

It was very simple and he invited us all up to give it a whirl. The rollers are warm but not too hot to handle and they are easily secured in the hair on their own or with a diddy grip.
And they do literally take 4 miraculous seconds to heat up so it is tres speedy!!
♥

And voila...!
Gorgeous, bouncy voluminous locks!
♥
Once the demo was over we had the chance to schmooze and chitchat, slurp some more tea and explore the magnificent surroundings...as well as pose for those obligatory cheesy photos...!

Here are all the sweethearts that attended!

From left to right...
♥ Amrita - the6inchstilettos
♥ Louise - getlippie
♥ Fei - peoniesandwaterlilies
♥ Michelle - beautyandtheblog23
♥ Ling - moonbeamstarlight blog & YouTube
♥ Moi!


It was a truly fan dabby day, and I'd like to say thank you to all involved for welcoming us and providing us with a swanky, "hot of the press" peek at this revolutionary product. I think it looks very impressive and I can't wait to get OOOmph-ing the hair and adding some vOOOlume! 
♥
As we were bid farewell, we were kindly plied with these iddy diddy Cloud Nine hair straighteners, ideal for short hairstyles and those troublesome kinky fringes.

♥ Proof of their teeny tiny proportion! ♥


Unfortunately, I don't think these will be any mean match for my monstrous mane, but I have already spied the mother eyeing them up, so maybe she can be the guinea pig and give them a whirl!
♥
I am a self confessed, heated-roller virgin so I'd love to know your thoughts on them.
Do you use them and would you consider investing in The O, considering the quickness and simplicity of the process, and the results you can achieve?

Thanks as ever for reading and leaving me your precious comments...means a lot and makes me grin like a mad thing! :)
xxx