The Chronicles of trying to be more woman - Episode 21 - EXPOSED

For anyone who has come across this blog due to the word "exposed" or due to the promise of baring my flesh.... PERVERT. For the rest of you who understand my sense of humour, this article will show my terrible skin stripped bare for you all to see.

Recently my skin has been truly horrendous due to multiple allergic reactions, some unexplained and some sadly caused by my own hand. By my own hand you ask? Well recently after using some of my usual make up staples I came up in a terrible rashy breakout. Had my make up gone off? No. New skin care? No. I regret to inform you reader that it was because i was using a sponge which had been used multiple times without cleaning. Anyway sponge thrown and brushes now cleaned on with this article.

How do i rid myself of the after affects of a natural unexplained allergic reaction and one I triggered myself? Let me begin with the canvas i have to work with.... my bare naked flesh:

As you can see other than my naturally unholy bright rosy cheeks, i am currently adorned with some rather nasty blemishes due to the hives which came to visit.

As my recent allergic reactions show, I have fairly sensitive skin. This means perfumed products are often off limits to me, but you'd be surprised how many other products which claim to be "natural" are far from.

Currently to rid myself of these bountiful blemishes I'm using a combination of products. From high street, to luxury, to prescription. Lets begin my routine:

Body Shop; Tea Tree skin clearing foaming cleanser £6.00: Short product name ay? I always love a strong smell such as tea tree. It just smells medicinal and clean! It tingles which i hope means its working....

Cowshed; Chamomile Refreshing Toner £17: This also has a strong fragrance to it, however i do not find this pleasant. Its a little bit too old fashioned and flowery scent for my tastes. It does however seem to be doing the job of keeping my skin clear.

MSD; Elocon ointment (prescription only): Primarily i have this ointment to treat my psoriasis but this also is used for when i have allergic reactions which can be frequent, especially in the winter.   I've been using this cream very sparingly for a few days. As its a steroid cream Its important to use sparingly as not only does the steroid's absorb through the skin, it can also thin your skin. This does however conveniently also clear the blemishes fairly quickly. BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS, use as your doctor tells you.

So far the above combination is working. Only time will tell how affective this is.

I hope you have enjoyed my return to my blog. Sorry if you only came looking for naked pictures. I tricked you on purpose.

If you have any suggestions for future articles, please let me know.

Peace out ☮🕊

Life - Who doesn't love a freebie?

At work over the last year we've had some great freebies which is a great office perk. Looking in papers these days there are always people out there working out how to feed a family of four for £1 per head per day or most recently, families affording Christmas at rock bottom prices. I've always been a bargain hunter and Christmas is when I am in my element but people always ask me, where am i getting these bargains and how do i find them? The answer; by putting in a lot of effort.


Lets begin with the cheapest of cheaps... freebies.

My work place use a company called Gems At Work. Sign up your office today to get freebies. All they ask for in return is a review of the products sent over for their market research.

Here is one of the recent freebies we had:

Recently in the office we had another freebie at the same time as the above by chance as a someone on our customer service team won a competition as per the below:

For my own freebies I've recently been applying through Magic Freebies. This site is a little "hit and miss" but I've found a lot of the money saver articles suggest this site. Mainly I apply for samples this way but even with samples I receive only 40% of what I apply for.

Onto bargains. I am a bargain queen if I do say so myself. I hate to pay full price for anything and have become so used to paying low prices that faced with full priced items I dispair at the full price ticket.

My favourite site for the last year has been everything5pound. This wonderful site sells everything for £5 (shocker right). A lot of thier product are previous seasons branded items. From here I've bought ASOS, h&m, new look , cameo rose, topshop and many other brands we know and love for as I've said before £5. It is hit and miss so you could end up with something cheap looking as well as cheap costing. I've now got colleagues hooked on this site and j hope you become hooked too.

Everyone knows about Primark of course but as we all know this is another hit or miss store..often I have asked colleague "where did you get that" they tell me primark and I'm astonished. How do people find these gems? I've had a few which i was really pleased with but generally i usually leave with something i like but not love.

Believe it or not even places like Poundland and Aldi are upping thier homeware game currently and there are some great bargain finds in places like these if youre willing to take the time to look.



Lastly we have Discounts and Voucher codes.

I would do no shopping if not for discounts and voucher codes. For any big purchase my first port of call is Quidco. This website offers discounts and most importantly cash back on purchases. Some of these cashbacks are minuscule but its still more than nothing. This site also gives you the ability to sign up a card and for instore purchases at certain stores you will still get cashback when using this nominated card. I've made on average £70 a year on this site for the last three years.

For most discount codes, especially those for fast food i simply google search the store/restaurant "voucher codes". This usually brings up a plethera of sites to choose from. Two of my favourites are Voucher codes and Hot deals UK. These are hit and miss as a number of codes will be out of date but also these codes are provided by outside sources and are often unreliable.

Currently with my beauty boxes i am searching for a number of codes online but also using my one stop source of information on beauty boxes Which beauty box UK.On this site you will find not only reviews about the latest beauty boxes but also some discount codes. Its been really helpful.



The above are not the only options as occasionally I've been known to even barter in store (especially furniture stores) but this is a rough guide to how i do get bargains.

Well that's all i have for you on this.

Peace Out ☮䷊🕊

The chronicles of "trying to be more woman" - Episode 16 - i don't do fancy dress but i did fancy up my face

Folks it's that Halloween time of year (not actually Halloween yet) which calls for parties, which in turn calls for fancy dress of course. I'm invited to two parties this year (well three but the third is held AFTER Halloween and its my brothers party so I don't count it). My work do and my friend's house party so this episode of trying to be more woman will include two versions of my fancied up face with different products (that's the plan). Lucky you!!!!

First party was the office do. Held immediately after work in our office cafe (basically our office kitchen eating area.) Both nights out my look is goth devil. I chose this look as I need practice with my smoky eye and I already have flashing horns from when I was 13. Job done.

So here is how I looked for the office people....

The following is an end of the night shot so lighting is darker and the makeup has worn off a little in places (eyeliner and eyeshadow mainly).....

What you can't see is what I'm wearing (oooo sounds kinky...SPOILERS it's not)... Well I'm wearing an off shoulder black and white skater dress which is mainly white with black bows from ASOS. The bottoms are half pvc wonders from sofabulous (a brand within littlewoods) which I've teamed with a primark over sized thick knit cardigan. In my usual bargain ways the dress and bottoms were from ebay (LOVE searching new with tags) and the cardi was of course bargain price in primarni! The Bottom especially were a great find as it turns out Littlewoods have a clearance account on Ebay. Check it out along with all these other retailers with clearance accounts:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Littlewoods-Clearance 

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/OfficeShoes 

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/veryclearance  

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Trespass-Outlet 

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/thesuperdrystore?clk_rvr_id=1349026516353&rmvSB=true

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/boohoo-outlet?clk_rvr_id=1348836892763&rmvSB=true

Onto trying to be more woman... how did i get my face looking this way.... check out the below:

 

I went with a double team red lipstick: The base lipstick is from Bourjois called Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick which goes on as a gloss and mattes out. The lip gloss is from Elle and is an oldie of mine (most labelling has rubbed off over time.) I bring this out every Halloween as it gives a bloody sheen which is perfect for the occasion.

The mascara is an old fave which I've reviewed in a prior blog..here. The Gosh foundation and Primark (foundation stick) highlighter I've also already reviewed....here and here. 

The eyeliner is another Bourjois item but this was entirely new to me. It's unique in its shape and therefore application but I actually found this made it easier to apply. I got this really cheap in my local (Maidstone) TJ Hughes and would really suggest for others to give it a go.

The newest items in my arsenal for this look was the ModelCo contour stick. It looks an odd colour but let me reassure you that this blended beautifully and really finished my look. I got this in my first ever birchbox (which you can see the full review for here) and couldn't have been happier to have discovered it.

Then we have the Mac 8 colour eyeshadow palette. I used only one lighter base colour for this look.

Lastly i used Collection 2000 eyeshadow pencil. This didn't sharpen well and was very crumbly. This could be due to the age but either way this was the first and last time i will be using this.

Second party and second look is similar with a few changes:

For starters this picture is care of a bestie of mine Ruth. Check out her instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/ruthiomac_88/ . Sorry folks but I didn't take a before so as you can see my eyeliner is already bleeding out but this is the best pic i could get. Lighting at my friends was very dark, mainly lit but UV bulbs (as pictured below) hence my fluorescent bra showing through.... my bad.

The bestie loves a sugar skull so her and her hubby went all out on the decorations. Was awesome with dry ice and the works!!!

The make up bag for this night was :

As you can see there are a number of repeats from the day before. I am also missing a key piece from the above which I will still include in the breakdown:

MAC Russian Red Matte lipstick. This isn't pictured but its a great base as it stays on all night. Tried tested and almost all gone.

Too faced better than sex mascara. This was a newbie from my first ever glossybox (review to follow). When i got this mascara my work colleague (check out her blog http://riettezemakeupchapette.blogspot.co.uk/ ) was really excited. For good reason. I find this coats my lashes to thier fullest extent making them look fuller and darker than they have ever been!

Another newbie to the list which differed from the night before was the Fearne Eyeshadow base. No longer available in store but this really helped the eyeshadow stick.

I once again used the MAC eyeshadow palette, but this time i used two other colours. These seemed to work a lot better than the powder pencil combo from the night before.

All the rest was the same.


That's all i have to share for now. Hope you have enjoyed this blog and if you have please read on and check out my other blogs.

Peace out! 🕊☮

The Chronicles of "Trying to be more woman" - Episode 15 - Latest in beauty with my latest in beauty box

I've been watching the Latest in Beauty website since my last delivery, adamant that I'd choose wisely this time keeping reviews, variety and product size in mind. I feel happy with my choices this month. My box is brimming with delights, each which excite me and none of which i felt even a tinge of disappointment with. Well without delay let me introduce you to this months box of delights:

As you can see I chose the following 9 items with my "Beauty Guru" subscription:

1. Burts Bees - Tinted lip balm in rose

2. Murad - AHA/BHA Exfoliating cleaner - really excited about this and am just waiting until I'm through my current cleanser before i give this a go

3. Natracare - Regular Tampons - guess why i wanted these and what I'll be using them for.....

4. Eisenberg Paris - Moistourising smoothing serum
5. Lord & Berry - Matte crayon lipstick in Chic - tried this out and I'm not entirely sure the colour suits me. Will try it out in front of my gal pals to see what they think
6. Nanogen - Root boost thickening hair treatment spray - no hair, do care 😭

7. Feather & Down - Sweet dreams pillow spray - intend to have the Mr try this. He used to suffer from insomnia and although he sleeps better it still takes him a while to drop off to sleep

8. Wellwoman - Wellwoman energy in Lime - never taken vitamins before let alone berocca type stuff. First time for everything

9. Cetaphil - Gentle skin cleanser, Moistourising cream, Moistourising lotion - why wouldn't i try this? Three products in one selection! YAY









Another yay in this box was A FREEBIE (as pictured on the right). I have tweeted Latest in Beauty my joy at the freebie and now i shall tell you blog reading folk. YAY i love a freebie!!!! Will give this a go and review another time.




 












Lastly i was impressed with two small things included in the box this week. Two things which they may not have intended to impress by, but none the less did impress little old me. Firstly...there was instructions on how to use one (well three) of my products and also a voucher for money off another product should i wish to purchase full size later. This is a small gesture but something i really appreciate.

So folks. That's all i have to say on these for now. To see individual reviews you will have to read future blogs (oh yeah; plugging my own blog) as and when i use the products.


Peace out 🕊☮

The Chronicles of "trying to be more woman" - Episode 14 - Whats new? Whats used?

Quite a bit of newness this week, some empties and also a return to a product which I've already reviewed.

Lets start with goodbyes with some empties:

Tesco - Coconut & Almond Milk Shampoo
A golden oldie for me. I've mentioned before but i have a sensitive scalp and often my scalp has reactions. On top of that with my super fine and soft hair, if a shampoo leaves too much of a residue then often my head is left a greasy mess. At 80p I'll be getting this again and again.


The body shop - Tea Tree Cleansing Toner
 I've reviewed this before but I got this from The Ashford Retail Outlet for a steal. I've been using this after my cleanser and its really helped to clear up my recent break out (sounds very prison break when in reality i mean SPOTS). I will be getting this again to be sure.


Avon - Sweet Vanilla Bubble Bath
Sold out on their site but you can purchase other festive shaped bubble baths so take a look if you want. I wouldn't suggest it as i have mentioned here, and here. To reiterate my prior post this smelled great in the bottle but didn't smell at all outside of the bottle.



Ok enough of the old, in with the new:

Balanceme - Pure Skin Face Wash
This is my favourite newbie of the week. I got this in my Birchbox this month and i am impressed. I'll start with the best part. It rubs on and washes off quickly and leaves my skin feeling great. I must go on again about sensitive skin but its my blog, so deal with it! This does not irritate my skin at all and leaves me feeling glorious. Now the bad bit. Looks and feels like spunk! Sorry to those who ma be insulted by me bringing up bodily fluids but that's the case. The smell is also kind of chemical for a product which claims to be 99% natural? Regards less of smell, look and texture I am loving this product!

Aldi - Mighty Shampoo
Another product which admittedly i have tried before but well worth a revisit. This moisturises better than my tesco usual but without leaving a residue which will grease up my hair. This smells delicious too which is always great for a shampoo. People don't be put off by store brands. Aldi especially are upping their game and playing against the big boys. So far there isn't a product of theirs i haven't been impressed by.

Rituals - Ritual of Sakura
My colleague seemed excited when i got this in my Tilli box however i wasn't that impressed. The smell is quite old fashioned and not a scent i like. The texture is odd. This is a gel which foams... but not that foamy sometimes and sometimes too foamy. There's no balance. I basically used the whole canister in two washes which is ridiculous.

No.4 - Lumiere D'hiver Super Comb Prep & Protect
What this incredibly long name is meant to tell us is spray which makes it easy to comb (or brush) and protects from heat (should you choose to dry your hair). I air dry my hair so protect i do not need. With my thin, fine hair it does get tangled and does need help. This spray does work to help with my issue HOWEVER it does no more than my Aldi brand. Aldi version is much cheaper so i really wouldn't buy this again nor would i recommend this.






Lastly my other half has asked me to revisit my review on a new product he tried out last week (and is still using). I shall call this sections "He has an opinion on everything":

 The other half wanted to again reiterate that he liked the scent ALOT however he has found a design floor in this bottle. He claims that its incredibly hard to get the wash out the bottle which is frustrating for him as he really does like this product. Pity its so expensive.....



That's all folks. No more new, old, empties or revisits.


Hope you have enjoyed this article and if you have suggestions please do let me know.


Peace out ☮🕊

Thr chronicles of "trying to be more woman" - Episode 13 - Feeling sorry for myself

I was feeling a little under the weather this week and as always was feeling very sorry for myself. My first go to for any pain or illness is sleep. Well unfortunately being a working day my mind wasn't willing to cooperate with that. I woke up at 5.50 and I was up for the day. Still I got to rest even if I wasnt sleeping.

I'd have loved to get some household chores done but I really wasn't feeling up to it. So as many of us do, I set up camp on the sofa under my faux fur blanket and switched on Netflix. 

Anyway Ive got distracted from the main point. As I felt a little better in the afternoon and as noted already my skin is really horrendous at the moment I thought now was as good a time as any to do a face mask. The mask I went with was the Primark Deep cleansing blueberry bubble mask. It was my first time using s primark mask and a first using a bubble mask but at 80p I wasn't worried if it was useless. 

Application - the liquid comes out as a viscous fluid with a creamy looking consistency (yes, it looks like spunk)

Smell - with blueberry in the title name of the products , I was expecting something fruity. It wasn't. It wasn't a very pleasant smell for me but that could be me being ill as I've lost some sense of taste

Consistency when on face - once on, the foam starts up pretty quickly. It did feel a bit uncomfortable and itchy while I was waiting.....

Removal and after effects - washing off was easy enough however it was sticking to my flannel and really wouldn't wash out. After my skin felt a tad sticky... But no more cleansed...

Would I recommend this? Yes. It's a cheap buy to try out a bubbling face mask. Did it do much for me? No, but again didn't expect much for 80p.

If you like this, please visit my older blog on other mask's i've tried :)

Well that's all I have for you on this one. Hope you enjoyed!!!!

The chronicles of "trying to be more woman" - Episode 12 - damn you blemish stick

So folks in this not so special Tuesday me and my colleague decided to jazz up an ordinary day by renaming today Neon Tuesday. It isn't to become a national day I'm afraid but for a few in our finance team at work we are rocking the bright neon today.

Since today is a little different I wanted to put an effort into my face so what happens yesterday.... Mount Etna decides to mould itself to my face.

Sod's law, I know..I bought a blemish stick from Avon a little while back so this was an opportunity to give it a whirl... well..... Meh. It doesn't want to stick to my face and like most blemish sticks it's entirely the wrong colour for my face. So rather than conceal I'm left with a large paler lump on my face..... Yay. I tried and at least this has tea-tree in it so perhaps it's helping a little. Its currently only £2.50 so if you're tempted, now's the time to give it a go. I won't go on about my bad experience with Avon again, but here's my blog about them if you're interested.

The rest of my face I'm overall pleased with. This morning I tried a the technic primer (bought from fragrance direct for £1.75) out for the first time and then used the simple light moisturiser (i reviewed this on my recent blog so please refer back for more details). I feel the combo has made a difference as a base for the makeup and am pretty pleased. The Revlon gloss is a subtle touch to my bold look (yay neon Tuesday). I tried the Primark bronzer stick again today but this time along with the W7 liquid highlighter. The bronzer is probably too dark for me but runs in well but the highlighter... It's nice and glittery but other than that I feel it does little else. I'm also wearing my gosh foundation which I have mentioned in previous blogs and my L'Oreal eye pencil and Maybelline mascara.

Onto my fashion choices (picture care of itsshradha which the tag line #betterthanitsshradha comes from)..... Bold and beautiful i say. I am a pink Princess and proud today. I got this jumper for FREE from www.everything5pound.com when using a voucher code. I hated it when I first ordered it online and when it arrived but when I tried it on..... love at first sight. The jeans (sold out already) are also from everything5pound with a simple h&m black cami. I finished the look off with my office leather bright pink beauties which I had re-heeled yesterday. I love that these beauties are back in action so expect to see more of them. The socks were another recent purchase from ASOS, all topped off with my only accessory today which is my fitbit!

Well that's all I have on this neon Tuesday. I hope you all enjoyed and please do read my other posts for more makeup newbie reviews and fashion tips (maybe I'm not the best to take tips from).

Peace out ☮️️

Fashion Edit - trying to build on my wardrobe

As if I really need to, but i'd like to expand my wardrobe selection (even further). Currently i'm on the hunt for a smarter but quirkier look.

I've been searching the online sites for a shirt dress, jumper, legging combo. Something that all together I could smarten up with a handbag and heels; or dress down with dr martens/trainers and a back pack.

Here's the best of what I consider was a bad bunch in the shirt dress department:

Green and blue tartan £18 from Boohoo.com
Multi stripe (middle/top) £16 from Matalan
Red and black check £22 from Boohoo.com
Red and white stripe (Bottom left) £20 from Forever 21
Denim dress £18 from Matalan
Blue and white stripe tent dress £58, French connection c/o Asos


Truly I struggled to find a dress i'd like as I wanted a fairly plain shape, in my size which would cover my bum (i'm 5"7 with a big bum). My favourite of the above would be between three; The french connection number, forever 21 deck chair chic and the school kilt tartan in the top left.



I'm also after a funky pair of jeggings/jeans. Below are my wish list currently:

From left to right

Black leggings lace up front £20 from boohoo
Grey "puppy tooth" legging £4.99 from Select Fashion  
Ripped jeans with patches £9.99 from Select Fashion 
Denim stirrup jeggings £7.50 from ASOS 
Leather look, lace up side legging £25 from boohoo 
Grey and white patterned leggings £4.99 from Select Fashion 
Two tone Jeggings £14 from ASOS - I actually bought these last week. They also come in tall and petite and come in all sizes from 8 to 28!


I'm sure some people will check out some of my choices and think "she doesn't usually dress so out there/funky". That is all my own fault:
1. I don't have the money to buy everything I want
2. I am my own biggest hater and hate myself in everything I wear (I know im not alone in this self doubt and let me tell you, my other half hates how much I hate on myself)
3. I don't really want to be centre of attention - some of these are a bit more out there and I don't really want to draw attention to myself


Oh well. On with the show. I LOVE Dr Martens, and what better to wear them with than pinafores/dungarees:

 From left to right again...

Different shades of denim dungarees £17.50 Boohoo
Snoopy print dungaree dress £29.99 Pull&bear
Blue ditsy print dungaree dress £5.99 Select Fashion
Black formal style pinafore dress £5 Everything£5
Red cord dungaree dress £39 Topshop
Light denim dungaree dress £32 Topshop
Dark denim with faded knees £30 Boohoo




Now this is all fine and dandy but heading into AW17 really I should add some knitwear to the mix. Below are my Knits that I want and perhaps will buy:

From left to right for the last time
Grey sweatshirt jumper dress £30 Missguided 
Pink oversized jumper £25 Boohoo 
Green oversized jumper £18 Boohoo 
Blue "cute by crazy" sweatshirt £9.99 Select Fashion 
Woven black jumper with chiffor inserts £9.99 Select Fashion 




To some these may not be staples but to me they are. I'd love all of the above but i'd settle on at least 2 from each picture if I could. Oh well. Maybe when I win the lottery.

I hope you have enjoyed this fashion edition. Let me know if you want me to do a specific article on any styles/seasons in the comments section.

Peace out 🕊☮

The chronicles of "trying to be more woman" - Episode 5, A date on the beach

After 6 years together me and the other half don't do "date nights" so often these days. Our date nights generally will be a trip to the theatre and dinner, or cinema and dinner, or dinner and trip to the local pub. You can see there is a trend with our dates. To break away from the norm' my other half asked me to think of something different. I was thinking that I wanted to do something he'd really like. You see, my other half is a gamer and doesn't overly enjoy leaving the house. His idea of spending time together is spending our time indoors sharing a nice meal with a bottle of wine (or port) between us. Whenever he does plan a venture out of the house its usually for my pleasure. As sweet as this is it feels a little unfair on him. My ideal date is a trip to somewhere where I can pet an animal, followed by shopping, followed by a meal and then maybe a couple of drinks in front of a film when we get home. You can tell I truly am a gal of simple tastes.  When I put my mind to thinking of dates for the Mr I was a little stumped. He likes the cinema, but there are no films he'd like to see at the moment. He likes the theatre but tickets are expensive and when you include his train ticket it gets a little out of our current budget. There is a game Expo this weekend in Birmingham which we have discussed attending before but the Saturday tickets were already sold out and on the Sunday there wasn't as much on.... This left me with one choice which suits us both... a day by the sea. The Ol British classic:

 Why do us Brits like the seaside so much? Well personally for me its the combination of three main things....The salty sea air, arcades and Fish and Chips (although I don't eat fish, the chips by the coast are always Superior for some reason). For me and the Mr we enjoyed a day of walking on the front, popping in and out of Arcade winning numerous toys and trinkets out of 2p machines and finishing our day in a fish and chippy. For us, it was a perfect day out, enjoying our selves and making the most having time alone together.









Back to the point of this article however... Of course for such a rare occasion I wanted to make an effort for the Mr. To do so I made sure I put real effort into the presentation of my face. He is a fan of my lipsticks since previously to learning my new skills (as few as they are) that's more or less all I'd wear on a night out. I love colour and my lipsticks are my statement style on my face. Below are the items I used and the outcome of these products used on my face:

I had to go fairly heavy with the foundation this time as since the wedding makeup application (The foundation used for my besties wedding by the makeup artist was not only the wrong colour, yellow but also applied as thick as you'd apply plaster to your wall and then the moisture mask on top of this, which i blogged about previously -refer back to http://torrancestips.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/the-chronicles-of-trying-to-be-more.html for more info) I've had a bit of a mini breakout leaving me blotchy and spotty. MASS COVERAGE was most definitely required. Eye makeup wise, I am wearing eye shadow however due to my poor photo skills and my heavy brow its not like you can see this in this picture. Lips.... stand out obviously. That is my style and I suit most colours, but especially dark ones. Below I have listed all the products used as well as a bit of a close up of the bag and products for your inspection. Enjoy:

Make up bag: This was a birthday gift from my Jojo. I think it's from Floozie By French Frost but don't hold me to that...

W7 Bronzer Fever: This is my second time using this bronzer. I like that it has a little sparkle but I'm not wow-ed by this. It does the job. Just a warning, W7 website is really annoying as a first time user. I had three pop-ups, one which took me back to the homepage when I was so close to what I wanted. They are however incredibly affordable and have a VEGAN🍃 range. I am loving these cosmetics companies who are making an effort to appeal to all audiences. I may even get some of these products for my sister-in-law for Birthday/Christmas (yes I plan ahead this early)

Maybelline Brush: I have no idea what kind of brush this is so no point in guessing. I've had this brush since I was 14 years old. It was a freebie when I attended "Capital Xmas concert", back when Craig David had just brought out "Whats your flava" so doubt this is available anymore.

MaX Factor X Eye Luminizer: I'm not sure if I am using this correctly but I have found using this around my eyes is gentler than using a heavy foundation, but does a great job at brightening my dark circles and has a slightly polyfilla affect on some the lines I'm gaining (ugh; old age). This my be a product which has come to the end of its life however since it was a struggle to find a reputable site for the link on this one.

GOSH X-Ceptional foundation: Another budget products which I really liked. I was "12 Natural" and this was a really good match to my normal skin tone. It did a fab job of covering my blemishes and didn't dry out by the end of the day. I've only ever seen this for sale in Superdrug and at the small price of £7.99, what's the harm in giving it a go?

MAC In extreme dimension 3D black lash: This teeny tiny sample came with my recent birthday present from my MR. Fitting that I should try it out for the first time on our date night. As mentioned before, the Mr likes me in a lipstick and so every birthday/Christmas he purchases me a new MAC lipstick. Lucky gal I know. This was one of the freebie samples which came with his last order. I really liked the brush however at a steep £19.50 I'm not sure its worth it.... PLUS I was recently informed that these folks still test on animals. I'm not sure whether I will be purchasing their products in the future now unless they change their cruel ways.

Magical Halo Matte long lasting lipgloss: I fell in love with MAC matte some time ago care of a colleague who recommended it (by recommended, I complimented her and still do EVERYTIME she wears it and finally asked her what make it was). I love that Matte's generally have a long lasting finish as well as looking so glamorous and luxurious. This particular matte, goes on glossy and dries Matte. When I say dry, I mean to say it drains the moisture from your lips like soil which hasn't had a drop of moisture in months. Alone it isn't really a great finish. I top it up with a gloss and like the final affect. With a small price tag of £3.99 however no one can really complain. My colour was "10".


L'OREAL Color Riche eye colour pencil: This applies really quick and easy. You can get various effects by blending and using additional colours however for this date I decided on this colour (10. Sugar Vanilla) on its own. I like the simple colour however although it applies easily and stays put, but the end of the day this did look a little cracked and crunchy. Good for a night out, but not really all day. Another super cheap and cheerful however at £3.98.


Natural Collection Clear lip gloss: weirdly I cannot find the clear version of the gloss on boots website however I have had this gloss for at least 10 years so perhaps its no longer produced in clear. This a clear gloss however over the years of use and blending with other lipsticks its not entirely clear these days. Good ol classic and still cheap and cheerful.



Overall I was happy with how my face looked from morning til night. The other half prefers the red lipsticks (what man doesn't) however he did like this colour. He isn't sure about "dribble lips" (Gloss) but he did like that I looked natural (other than the lips).

As for Hastings.... it hasn't much changed from way back when, when my parents used to take me to the front for the amusements and rides. It has a really good antiques vibe in the backstreets with lots of quirky shops. I particularly loved some of the store/pub/restaurant fronts... I've pictured two below which I particularly liked.

Super cute right?



Style wise I went with a simple light denim dress with a huge oversized gridded jumper, leggings and most importantly I brought the Dr Martens back out of summer hibernation! Oh yeah I do love my Docs. They always take a little while to wear in, but after a month of solid wearing they remain the most comfy boots until they die...

That's all I have to say for this article. I hope you enjoyed and if you did please let me know in the comment and follow :)

Peace out ☮

The Chronicles of trying to be more woman - Episode 3, masked mayhem

So I'm trying to be more woman I am learning one must attempt to take care of oneself. One of the ways to do this is using masks and such (or so I am told).

Pre besties wedding the bride-to-be decided she wanted to use a face mask. It was her first time as well as mine which is a bold move thinking of it since it was the night before the wedding and we could have had a horrendous reaction. Luckily for us... we didn't. She chose a brand which I'm usually OK with (i have pretty sensitive skin) and which she too is OK with. The other three bridesmaids have used masks of various brands in the past and knew they could use this. One of the bridesmaids was also vegan so we chose a brand, animal and skin friendly. So here goes blog audience.....

At what I think is a fairly hefty price tag of £16.00 this Himalayan Charcoal mask was my first attempt at woman-ing up with a mask. We used the below body shop Facial Mask Brush to apply the mask as we were advised to by the store assistant.... we didn't pay for the brush however as the bride bought another mask for later use which mean the brush was FREE. In the pot the mask looked like dried lava. It wasn't particularly something you would usually choose to lather onto your face.

Regardless, it applied nicely with the brush. So well in fact that i would suggest to others to purchase the brush to along with the mask. The first bridesmaid to put DID NOT read the instructions and ended up with sore runny eyes. THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS TEA TREE. It is therefore advised that you leave generous rings around the eyes to avoid discomfort. Heed this advice. The rest of us did and like the general feel of the mask whilst on. It gives a cooling, tingling sensation. Some found it a little burn-y on their blemishes but not too uncomfortable. To remove you must ruin a flannel (or three in our case). Using hot water and a flannel, massage and remove in circular movements. Its an exfoliant too see..... Or as i felt.... SCRAPING OFF MY WHOLE FACE. Me and one other were left looking a little red and blotchy after the mask however my skin felt FANTASTIC. The next morning the blotchyness was entirely gone and my skin felt soft and clean! I will be buying this and using it again. I will also try to convince my man fella to use it too. Below is my face looking muddy and beautiful:

As you can see this doesn't apply on too thickly actually. You can also see the massive tea tree leaves which are very apparent. I should point out that the Pyjama's were a primark special care of the lovely bride herself as a last gift to us bridesmaids. She's lovely isn't she? Below this I've include a picture of the PJ's and a link to Primark's website if you care to take a look....

£10.00 https://m.primark.com/en/products/category/women,nightwear

After the wedding i was dehydrated.... I'm not sure why? It wasn't like i drank that much.....

Regardless not only was i thirsty but my skin was also dry and greasy all at the same time. It needed lotion and deep cleansing all at once. Not only this but after dancing all night I had blisters and super sore feet. I decided this would be a perfect time to try and woman and do womanly things in a womanly way, so i could recover....womanly like. I had got a free paper face mask with my order from Latest In Beauty, and a foot thing which I picked up months ago in the pound shop. On a lazy Sunday midday i decided... NOW was the time to try these things out.

A colleague at work (who also has a beauty blog which you should all check out http://riettezemakeupchapette.blogspot.co.uk/ ) recognised the make Maskorea and said it should be pretty good. WELL.... it gave me spots. To use it was sticky and unpleasant though at least easy. 

Step 1.... use cleanser in pouch labelled 1. 

Step 2.... open mask and apply to now cleansed and DRY face. Step 3.... after the specified time, remove mask and apply lotion from ouch labelled 3. This lotion is to be left on face all night. 

Well i woke up with some pretty bad spots after this. Maybe my skin didn't need a drink as much as i thought it did?

The foot thing wasn't half bad. Its simply a plastic bad with some fabric saturated in lotion. Pop feet in for the specified time. Remove from bag, chuck bag and let feet dry. Feet smelt glorious and it was a nice little lotion but with no lasting affects. At least it didn't give my feet spots.....

Below is a picture of me using said Maskorea mask.... enjoy:

p.s YES those are unicorn and rainbow PJ's.... AND WHAT?!?!?!!

That concludes this episode of trying to be more woman. I do actually feel more woman for using a mask. Its a silly little thing but you see and hear of it in movies and i always thought "women don't really do that"... turns out they do.... Can i join woman-dom yet?

Well I am most certainly #trying.

Peace out ☮

Fashion edit - "The first step is admitting you have a problem" PART 1

Sunday hangovers is the perfect reason to put together a STUPIDLY large blog. This may take me a while to write but why not since I have nothing better to do. So dishwasher and washing machine on.... Chores can wait til tomorrow... 

Let me tell you a story.... A shoe story. My friends and family know that I like shoes. I like shoes like Kanye likes Kanye.... I have a serious problem. I haven't counted my shoes in years because that would be like admitting to myself that the problem is real. I won't count today either but what I will do is take pictures and tell stories behind my shoes (not all shoes have a story thank goodness or I'd be writing this for years). Please do not count the shoes for me...... I don't need to validate my problem with a number....

 

So here we go. In no particular order I shall present the shoes and provide some stories.... Enjoy.....

 Slip on mules bought in the sales recently from River Island. No longer available in this colour but you can still get them in black......

Bought for the recent wedding I attended which i did blog about... please follow link for more wedding blog funsies. These primark (primarni) wonders were super cheap and so pretty. Shame they gave me huge blisters up my ankles but otherwise really comfy. Bought recently so may still be available in store?

I CANNOT WAIT to wear these in the winter. I got these from https://www.everything5pounds.com/en/ for you guessed it.... £5! These are no longer available so... SUCKS TO BE YOU!

Standard boring leather black work shoes both left and right... i can say no more.

These wonderful things were bought for my besties hen do. Her theme was gym chic so glittery wedge trainers seemed a must. I got them from https://www.everything5pounds.com/en/ and again these are no longer available. There are alternate glitter trainers available on there however so if you are a fan I'd urge you to check them out. As for these babies.... to the bin they go. There were not as comfortable as you'd expect and the wedge was squidgy and doesn't hold its shape.....

OOOO arty shot.....

Just jellies....... Nothing special. One paint covered from DIY and the other SUPER CHEAP from Amazon (I will not include the links to these as I wouldn't buy them again myself and nor would I recommend others to get these).

Another pair of wedding shoes for another stint as a bridesmaid this year. Again to read more on weddings visit my blog page http://torrancestips.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Wedding. Funny story on this is I've worn these the once for the wedding and when I went to put them on again today the strap BROKE. I will be contacting New Look today to complain!

Oh how i love a faux fur shoe. These pompom wonders are ASOS but i actually bought them "new with tags" off EBAY. I don't think these are available on ASOS anymore so again... SUCKS TO BE YOU. I'd really recommend anyone with a shoe addiction to become well acquainted with EBAY. Its a great and affordable way to feed your addiction and "new with tags" means you're getting a unworn product. BE AWARE... some items are listed as "new with tags" but in the description may say things like "worn once to a party". Avoid or report these adverts/sales. This is false advertisement and should not be tolerated in my books.

Worn once, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the look of my Kickers. Shame the rip my ankles to shreds 😪. I bought these lovelies full price so even if I never wear them again, I will NEVER throw these!!!!

Large black knee high boots. Not worn these for a while as my calves got too big for them. I plan to wear them all winter.... or until I walk through them...

OH these beauts. I got these when I was sweet 16. Back then I had my corner shop job and these babies were bought in a sale with a whole weeks salary. For me that was a big spend of £35. Real beige suede from a TKMAXX sale 12 years ago (don't calculate my age please), you'd be working miracles to find these again. I used to wear these all the time until a friend of mine threw up on them. I had them dry cleaned but it besmirched them forever in my mind. Don't think i will ever throw these regardless. Ah.... memories.......

Karrimor hiking boots and primark sandals.

 Ha ha ha ha ha. So; I took up running for a year. As with most my hobbies, once I decide to invest money in an accessory for the hobby I give up. Here's a classic example. These cheap looking, barely there running shoes set my parents back £123 back in the day and were used 5 whole times! They look so grubby as they have been gathering dust for about 3 years in amongst my other shoes. I enjoy running (once I claw back a stamina) so will keep and use these. Vibram 5 finger running shoes are still available if you're interested https://www.vibrams.co.uk/collections/womens-vibram-fivefingers.

More work shoes. One pair (left) unworn from https://www.everything5pounds.com/en/ and the other which have been worn from http://www.marksandspencer.com. These aren't available from either site anymore but do check out Marks's current range of leopard print shoes. They have some shoe game going on!!!

What can I say about these? Sexy? Sleek? I was and still am in love with these Leather high heeled wonders. Bought in Office in a sale I've worn these once and both times ended with crippled toes. Regardless I still have huge love for these sexy shoes and wish I could woman up more and wear these more often. Would also help if I was three inches shorter so I wouldn't tower above everyone whenever I wear these....





                                                                            
  

Welcome to part of the show and tell i love the most. Now for the Vivienne Westwoods. For my birthday one year my other half splashed out on these. Sadly they live in a carrier bag as I used the special box they came in to pass my Guinea Pig onto the Vets for cremation when he died (well he couldn't go in just any box, could he).
I have worn these once and the pain was terrible but I shall wear them again one day. There's a repeating theme with that phrase. I love them but I don't wear them but I will again...... hmmmmmm

TOPSHOP shoesies bought from https://www.ebay.co.uk/

Another present but this one worn MANY times. These were (years ago) from New look. They are almost a whole size too big so I have to pad out the ends and pop in insoles but... WORTH IT. They are super comfy for a night out even with the height of the heel. Black goes with everything so WIN.

BAM! Statement boot. Biker style boot from Dorothy Perkins about 6 years ago. Once again bought in a sale but worn MANY MANY TIMES. Although a tall stiletto heel, these a surprisingly comfortable and offer really good ankle support (something I appreciate as I get older).

Pink and Proud. These leather lovelies from Office were bought... you guessed it... in a sale. If memory serves me well these were under £10 in a boxing day sale some 5-10 years ago. I've replace the heel many times and need to again. Easy comfy and STATEMENT!

So this is some of my collection. I'm not sure how much of the collection this makes up but I'm going to say 1/3. I love all my shoes. I have thrown out two pairs this week meaning I need to begin sorting through again to find a new pair of "regular" everyday shoes to wear.

Terribly, this experience of playing with my shoes today has inspired me to find more. It really shouldn't as this is half the stock under my spare bed, not taking into consideration the stash under my desk at work, the stash in my cupboard in my bedroom and the stash by the front door. Hell I even have spare shoes at my mums and my other half's mums.... oh and those three pairs in my car ..... and those by the back door.... This may be less than a third of my collection.......

Want to see more? Well you best tune in (or sign up to my emailer below) to be kept in the loop. Til next time...... PEACE OUT