Tips and tricks for make up on the move

As I have admitted a few times I am routinely found doing my make up on the train in the mornings. This morning I realised that since I started taking the train my make up routine has changed as I have adapted to my vanity on the move.

I have decided to share my tips for doing your make up on the train, bus or car even, as long as your not driving!

1) Pick your seat wisely, you need a window seat but try to avoid the sun as the glare can be a pain.

2) If possible try and find a spot thats not too busy, elbowing someone as you do your mascara is not great commutting etiquette.

3) You will need a good size mirror, one that can fit in a make up bag but big enough to see your whole face.

4) Use travel brushes, I love my retractable powder brush from Prescriptives. Its soft and a reasonable size but I can also cover it so it doesn't make a mess in my make up bag.

5) Use make up that doesn't make a mess. I love my Mineralized Skin Finish natural from Mac but it goes everywhere.

6) On the same note cream eyeshadows such as the Mac Paint Pots are much easier to apply on the move.

7) Doing your make up on the train requires a lot more products than a normal touch up kit. Samples and travel size products can cut down on the bulk.

8) Learn the stops on your journey, try to avoid holding an eyeliner to your eye at the exact moment the train or bus jolts to a halt!

9) You will make mistakes, particular if the bus or train makes an unexpected jolt. Keep some wipes handy.

10) Finally keep it simple, remember you will only have one hand as you'll need to hold your mirror. A train or bus is not the place to attempt artistic eyeliner!

Are you a fellow make up on the go kinda girl? Do you have any further tips or tricks? xx

My new make-up storage tower

Heylo! Long time, no speak. I must first start with a profuse apology for my lack of posts over the last month. I have been working insane hours.

Alas, I managed a few free hours on Sunday afternoon and decided to reorganise my make-up storage. Ta-dah... what do you think?

The unit is from Ikea and cost about £15, I can't find this on their website anymore but I'm sure you could find something similar if you so desired. It used to be my stationary storage but I bought a new desk. It has 3 deep drawers and is on wheels, great for wheeling to wherever I'm getting ready.

I bought the purple wooden tray from a Christmassy craft fayre at Bluewater last year for less than a fiver. The brush pots are from Muji and my sponges are in a giant Friends coffee mug from the Warner Bros store many moons ago.

The drawers are really sturdy and can keep loads in. My palettes all fit in but, then again I don't have any particularly large ones.

I love findings lots of random storage containers. I have some from Muji, some gift boxes and even a couple of takeaway containers.

This is my favourite drawer - its my stash drawer. This is where I keep all my unopened products from Christmas gift sets, beauty boxes and random sale/offer purchases. Whenever I need something new or fancy treating myself to a new product I'm going to look through this drawer rather than spending more money!

How do you store your make-up? Let me know if you would like a more detailed insight into my make-up station?

Keep well! Xx

Lush - what good customer service you have!

I often find that people will moan like crazy when something goes wrong but people very rarely praise a good experience, so I thought I would do just that. So here goes my merry little tale...

My boyfriend and I went to Lush after Christmas to purchase some gift sets while they were half price. I decided to grab the Very Berry gift set...

However, when I got home I was disappointed to find that the Strawberry Feels massage bar was missing. As I wasn't planning to go back to the shops for quite some time I emailed customer services at Lush.

They took a couple of days to respond but this was understandable as it was Christmas and I was still impressed with the speed they answered my mail.

They offered me two choices: either I could return the set to them in the mail and they would send a replacement or I could select a massage bar of my choice (as they no longer make the Strawberry Feels bar) which they would send to me.

I picked a different massage bar as I was being lazy and couldn't be bothered to go to the post office. Plus I wanted to get on and use some of the other yummy treats in the box.

My package arrived just 2 days later and even better with two surprise gifts included!! I went with the "Hottie" massage bar, they threw in "The Olive Branch" shower gel and "Honey I washed the kids" soap.

I just thought it was worth telling you all how quickly and actively the lovely customer service team dealt with my issue and how nice it was of them to throw in a couple of extra freebies!

I love shopping at lush anyway but now I think I might venture into using their website given the excellent service it apparently provides.

Have you ever had any customer service you wanted to rave about?

Hope you're having a good weekend! Xx

My new LK Bennett Bag

So I am finally getting round to showing you some of my exciting new year sales finds. My favourite item is my new handbag!! :-)

I had been saving for the new year sales this year with the intention that I wanted to purchase a higher end handbag this year. So without further ado ...tah dah....

This is the LK Bennet Annina Bag in Teal.

I actually bought this in the outlet store at Gunwharf Quays outlet centre. It was the only one in the store, as its still current season because it had one stud missing off the bottom. 

I was a bit disappointed by this but it was the reason it was in the store in the first place. However, I mentioned it to the lovely lady behind the counter and she offered me a extra 10% of the price...the outlet price not the retail price!

This bag is currently on sale on their website for £245, I paid £130.50 (it was £145 as the outlet price). Good huh!? The bargain hunter inside of me was popping the champagne hehe!

As an extra plus the lady who sold it to me (who was really nice) found me a dustbag to keep it in, which is unusual as they do not normally sell the bags at outlet stores with dustbags.

I love this bag it fits loads in but is not too big. The leather is gorgeously soft and the hardware is a beautiful silver which is elegantly chunky and sturdy.

What was your favourite new year purchase?

Hope you are all well xx

New Year, Post Number One 2012

So now I am starting to feel recovered from my awful hangover, I have started thinking about my new year's resolutions. Why we feel the need to always start the year feeling awful after a night of drinking I do not know!

I thought about putting in a general NYE picture in but then thought this was fairly apt. I saw this last week and would totally recommend it as a cute movie for a lazy cold evening! Picture from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598822/

Anyhoo, I have decided to take two approaches to new year resolutions and plans. Firstly, I have a very short list of resolutions:

• Reply to my texts when they actually arrive (I'm rubbish at responding to people)
• Be more organised with my time
• Read one book per month on my new Kindle (thanks Mum and Dad)

I have decided not to put "lose weight" on my list because I always do and never have, so instead I have made eating healthy and exercise a continuous thing, not just a new year resolution.

My second approach is naming 12 things to accomplish in the year, one for each month. My boyfriend and I have two lists; one contains 12 things we want to do on our house this year and the other lists 12 random things we want to do this year such as go to the beach, run the equivalent of a marathan in a month or watch a movie from each decade since the 1940s. We haven't managed to come up with 12 yet, its actualy really hard to do so we're gonna fill in the rest later :-)

I'm really excited about new year this year, full of high expectations and dreams of happiness. 2011 was not the best of years and I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store.

Hope you all had a lovely night last night. What are your new year's resolutions?

Happy New Year Xx

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm aware I haven't posted anything in a while so I thought I would just share a few pictures of my Christmas with you guys...

My entry for a charity bake off!

Homemade mincemeat - I "accidently" put too much brandy in but it made the mince pies taste good!

My tree on Christmas morning with our presents ready to go!

Some of my lovely presents, the printed purple in the background is a beautiful scarf my lovely boyfriend gave to me :-)

And finally a quick sneak peak at my sale shopping ... haul post coming soon!

 Hope you all had a lovely christmas and are looking forward to New Year. My boyfriend and I are going to a friend's house to celebrate. What are you doing for New Year?

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2012 everyone! Xx

My Christmassy Day

Quite a picture heavy post today. Last Sunday we had our Christmassy Day and I thought I would share some photos with you.

This is the day, normally in the first weekend of December where we go out and buy our Christmas tree, decorate the flat, cook christmassy treats that need to sit for a few weeks, curl up on the sofa, eat mince pies and write our Christmas cards next to our new tree! It really is the best day ever, so festive and really gets me in the Christmassy spirit.

Lots of Christmassy food ingredients... perhaps I will post some of my recipes

The one month of the year my Boyfriend can't moan about fairy lights! So pretty!

My Harrods Christmas Decorations - if you get the chance you should visit the Harrods Christmas Department its amazing!

I love my Christmas Snowglobe from Harrods, it sits pride of place on my coffee table at Christmas

Ta-dah! Our tree! This year we bought a tree from a Christmas Tree Farm near us. We paid £20 for this 4ft tree, no more than we paid last year at the garden centre, but this tree is sooo much nicer! A lovely dark green colour!

And to top it all off ... a butterfly of course!

I bought our cards at Next this year, some gorgeous options and with 3 for 2 on cards & wrapping paper quite good value!

 How do you prepare for Christmas? What is your favourite thing about the festive season?

Hope you're all having a good weekend and enjoying pre-Christmas fun! Xx