The Cosmetics Kitten's Diary :) --October 14th--

Hi guys! I am thinking of starting a feature on my blog which is a bit more 'lifestyley' than what I normally do. I'll still do reviews, OOTDs etc like normal, but once a week I'm going to do a little diary entry on what I've been up to the past week! We'll see how it goes, but I'd love to do it every Sunday. Through chatting in #bbloggers it seems people love having a nosy at lifestyle posts, so here goes!!

 

The Cosmetics Kitten's Diary

 

What have I been up to this week?

Last weekend was so much fun, on Friday night my boyfriend Scott and I went to my best friend Heather's flat to catch up with her and her boyfriend. It was long overdue! She'd recently adopted two bunnies so I got to meet them....

 

Cute bunnies! 

 

And give lots of love and cuddles to her amazing dog, Cody. Now Cody is a 'clearance puppy'. He may be a Chihuahua, but he thinks he's a cat, is the fluffiest thing ever, and most hysterically, has a tongue that he can't keep in his mouth.

 

 

That tongue is like that ALL THE TIME. He makes me laugh so much.

 

On Saturday night, my aunt and uncle joined us for a murder mystery evening with my parents and Scott. I'm no stranger to murder mystery parties, I've done loads, and blogged about one HERE.

 

 

They're great fun, I thoroughly recommend it!

 

And how was work?

In case you don't know, I'm a teacher. A primary teacher, but right now I'm working in a nursery. Obviously I can't give too much info about that (always the fear of being cyber stalked!!), but sometimes I have to share funny stories! For example:

 

Me: Who's got news?

Boy: Me! I do! I'm going on holiday!!

Me: Lucky you, where are you going?

Boy: Uhm... I think it's 'Blackpool'... No, wait, it's BLUEPOOL!!!

 

I honestly couldn't stop laughing. He was determined he's going to Bluepool. Who knew?

 

I got sent home on Wed with a tummy bug and didn't go in Thurs or Fri so it was a short week, I felt lousy tho!! Feeling better now. :)

 

And how are the cats?

For someone who is a self confessed crazy cat lady, I don't feel I give my cats enough blog time. They are literally my BABIES. This week, Dana has learnt where her treats are, and jumps up onto the kitchen counter, knocks them off, and opens the packet on the floor to eat at her leisure.

 

 

But who can resist that face (and slightly chubby body)??

 

Anything else?

Well, yes. My boyfriend Scott sold his car (he's unemployed - sadface) so he had a bit of money. So yesterday we went into Glasgow to go shopping and have dinner. I got some lovely stuff which I'll share with you in other posts. Here's some pics from our day:

 

MUA Constellations in Scorpio, my new cat hat and kitten mittens, strawberry daiquiris in TGIs, me drinking cocktails, a gorg bag I resisted, Scott and I in TGIs, me at dinner. :)

 

 

Well, what do you think of this feature guys? Too boring? I don't have the most exciting life haha! Would you enjoy reading something like this?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

MUA Nail Constellations.. All of 'em!! =p

As soon as the MUA Nail Constellations were released, I knew I had to have them. Considering one Ciate Nail Caviar is £18, £15 for all five MUA shades was a pretty decent bargain to me. I have never tried this form of nail art before, so I was pretty excited.

 

Just for a disclaimer here, this post is not going to show you the Constellations in their full glory. This post will just show you my first attempt and the process I underwent. Trust me, these babies are really pretty and you can go onto the official MUA blog to see how they look, properly, on gorgeous long nails, not wee stubs like mine.

 

But anyways, my experience...

 

 They really are pretty, and there is SO MUCH in every bottle, these will last you forever. However, there is a LOT of spillage when applying these, so I set up a little 'Constellation Station' - nothing fancy, just a folded piece of paper opened back up, with something underneath each side of the paper to ensure all spillage falls into the middle crease. Ta da! 

Haha, told you it was nothing fancy. Worked a treat tho. The application process is relatively easy, you apply your chosen nail polish base colour and allow it to dry, before painting on a thicker second coat which you'll sprinkle the Constellations on to. I struggled with my first attempt, I was way too cautious and I couldn't get any beads out! Don't be afraid to SHAKE that wee bottle. Beads will come pouring out, but your Constellation Station (ha) will catch them all.

 

I didn't like to press down on the beads to seal them with my finger as some came off, so I pressed my nails down onto all the spilled beads that had collected on my paper. That worked really well. You then remove the top of the bottle and either using the funnel or just the paper you've shaken over, return the extra beads to the bottle. Easy.

 

Just for a simple contrast, I painted one hand with a white base and one hand with a black base. This was my messy attempt (thumb nails are rotten because I was too scared to shake lots of beads out). The left picture is always on the white base and the right picture is of the black base. 

I put Seche Vite on my thumb, index and middle finger, but I kinda wish I hadn't as, as you might be able to see, it kinda spoils the affect. On my other two fingers, I just sealed the tip of my nail with Seche Vite and after a few hours I have had no drop offs.

 

 Left - white base, Right- black base

 

As I said, my nails are too short and my first attempt too cautious and messy for this to show how pretty these actually are. For £3 each, I really recommend them. I love all the colours to be honest, can't wait to try them with different bases!

Natural light (left - white base, right - black base)

 

You can buy thesefor £3 each in your local Superdrug or online HERE.

 

What do you think? Have you tried Caviar nails? Would you try these? Which Constellation is your favourite?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

My Hair Heroes! :)

I don't blog very much about my hair, although it is a massive part of 'me' - I don't feel myself unless I have all my makeup and hair done!

 

In case you didn't know, my hair is pretty much all extensions. I've blogged about them here and here. I probably should look after my hair a little better than I do because of that, but I am always reluctant to splash out on high-end hair products. I recently purchased Philip Kingsley Elasticizer and was not impressed (review here), so I think I'll stick to what I know for now! =p

 

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle 

 I swear by this! I use it instead of a conditioner every time I wash my hair, in conjunction with an Aussie shampoo. I haven't found any real difference between the different 3 Minute Miracles, they are all amaaaazing. Usually they are on special offer, they're £4.99 each but normally on 3 for £10 or similar.

 

They are a lovey design, basically you just squeeze and it comes out the bottom. I think maybe you lose some product at the end with this design but I like it. As soon as I put it on my wet hair it detangles and once I've dried my hair, my hair is SO FREAKIN' SOFT that I can't stop stroking it. And as odd as that looks, it's pretty awesome. BUY it.

 

Tangle Teezer

I know every girl and her blog has reviewed this, so I won't go into detail. I have had this for about 18 months and it's the only brush I use (except when blow drying my hair). It makes my hair incredibly soft, and while I do feel it often brushes over knots rather than through them, it's still my go-to brush. It also is nice for a wee head massage. It's a little steep at £10.99 but worth it.

 

Batiste Dry Shampoo Light & Blonde

 I don't wash my hair very regularly (I know, gross) as blow drying and styling damages my extensions and they take sooo long to dry. So in between washes, I LOVE this Batiste dry shampoo (£3.99, but usually on offer). It's blonde tinted, so not only does it soak up any grease, but it also helps hide my roots! Genius.

 

Babyliss 230 Pro Elegance Straighteners

My old faithful straighteners died before Christmas so I did a lot of research before requesting a new pair! I obviously thought of GHDs initially, but turns out these straighteners were actually more highly rated on Amazon and always gets positive reviews! They are £80 but you can usually get them on offer for like £40.

 

Straight hair!

 

Babyliss Curling Wand

I wear my hair wavy more often than not, and this curling wand is perfect for that. Its conical shape ensures more relaxed, natural waves than a 'ringlet' style. You can still use it different ways though - smaller sections = more defined curls, larger sections = loser curls etc. It's about £25.

Different looks all achieved with this wand

 

So what do you think of my 'hair heroes'? Do you use any of these products? What are your hair heroes?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

GOSH Holographic Nail Polish. :)

I have wanted this nail polish foreeeeever. I missed it when it first came out, so I am SO happy it's been re-released. In case you don't know the background, here's a quick summary: GOSH released the original Holographic polish a few years ago, but there were complaints about the fact it only lasted a few hours before chipping, so it was taken off the market. However, people who didn't care about it's longevity and were more excited about the fact it was HOLOGRAPHIC (omg!) still desperately wanted it and bottles were going on eBay for waaay more than retail price. So, GOSH decided to slightly change the formula, and re-release it as a 'One Night Wear' Special Edition in shade 'Holographic Hero'.

 

I was amaaazed my local Superdrug had it (it's not the best Superdrug in the world), and in fact they had TWO so I snapped them both up at £5.99 each.

 

 

The formulation is strange, it dries pretty much instantly, which I suppose is a must if it's only gonna last one day. In the shade, it looks like a standard silver nail polish - if you're gonna be under dull lighting all day, don't bother putting this on.

 

Still got stumpy nails! :(

 

But as soon as you step into natural sunlight, ta daaaaa!!

 

My pinkie shows it best. :)

 

OMG right?? I cannot stop staring at my nails!!

 

And with the flash (or, I imagine, with bright lighting like in a nightclub or something).Seriously, I love this. Such a sucker for shimmer and glitter!

Again, pinkie shows it best. :)

 

I applied two coats of this on Friday night (one coat is too sheer) and actually by Saturday night I had only a small chip on one nail! By Sunday midday though, it's like my nail polish just gave up and every nail chipped like crazy. So yeah, the 'one night' claim is pretty legit.

 

I have heard of people using the 'sandwhich' technique to maintain the polish for longer - a coat of Holo, a topcoat, Holo again, topcoat and lastly Holo. You can't finish with a topcoat as it ruins the effect.

 

What do you think of this nail polish? Is it worth it to only get one night's use out of it? Would you be interested in a mini-giveaway with my second bottle?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Motel Rocks Outfits. :)

Motel recently offered a 50% off code on anything on their website for 50 minutes only. I bought a dress and a skirt, both at half price! I admit it was my first time shopping at Motel as to be honest their clothes are not really my style, but I can't resist a massive discount like that!

Because I spent over £70 I got free 1st class delivery. They also sent me a little goody bag which was really sweet:

I got a canvas bag, copy of More! magazine, Batiste dry shampoo, nail transfers, a bracelet, a nail polish, a body spray and 10% off my next order. Thanks, Motel!

 

And here's the skirt I got!

The skirt was £28, so I got it for £14.

The top is from Topshop and boots from Primark.

It's a 'lampshade' skirt, it's made of a sturdy material so sticks out quite a bit, I quite like this structured look tho. I also like the design, it's quirky and cute, and I know this skirt might not be for everyone but for £14 I think I'll get decent wear out of it.

 

I also got a dress which I'll show you in another post! :)

 

Has anyone else ever used Motel? Do you like this style of skirt or do you think it's a bit 'out there'??

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

:( - Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Review

I know I'm mega late with this one, but I recently had a £50 voucher for Escentual.com and decided to splash out on a Philip Kingsley Elactisizer. Although I have bonded extensions, I actually don't look after my hair that well haha. I love make up etc, but grudge spending a lot of money on haircare. So this voucher gave me the perfect opportunity! You can see what else I bought with it here.

It comes in a variety of sizes, from 20ml (on sale for £3.10) up to a mahoosive 1litre (on sale at £61.70). There's NO way I could justify the huge sizes, so I settled for 75ml for a sale price of £12.20. I've finished it now, so I can tell you I got 4 full head applications out of that.

 

It's a pre-shampoo treatment, which I'd never heard of. You wet your hair, apply this in sections, cover with a shower cap and then leave it on for 20 mins or so. Then rinse, and shampoo and condition as normal.

 

Now, I use Aussie shampoo and 3-Minute Miracle conditioner every time I wash my hair, and they always leave my hair silky soft. But obviously my hair is fairly damaged from my extensions, so any extra moisture etc is beneficial.

 

I did feel like my hair was nice and soft after using this, but really... not THAT soft. I felt a bigger difference when I used Aussie for the first time. I have to say, I was quite disappointed by this. £12.20 for four treatments that didn't make a huge difference to my hair? Not overly exciting.

 

 

All finished...

 

In summary, if you have really dry or damaged hair that you feel you've tried EVERYTHING to help, then by all means give this a go. But otherwise, save your pennies and get Aussie on a 3 for 2 in Boots. Bargain.

 

Have any of you tried this treatment? Did you have a more exciting experience than me?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥