REVIEWSDAY: Divaderme Lash Extender

Brace yourselves: I’m quite into makeup.

I know; shocker, right? My family knows this, obviously, and come this Christmas time I was gently spoilt with all sorts of exciting beauty bits and bobs (haul post coming soon!), and one of them was this: the Divaderme Lash Extender.

Divaderme call it lashes in a bottle, and it’s made up of teensy tiny fibres that you brush onto fresh mascara and then seal in with another layer. It looked super exciting, and also sort of terrifying, and I absolutely couldn’t wait to run away from my family gathering and try it out.

HOT FOR TEACHER: New Year's Eve Make-up and Hair

So we both got insanely busy in December and failed a little in doing any Christmas party festive looks but now we have New Year's Eve to prepare for instead yay!

I feel like this year there has been a particular revolt against the eyes *or* lips rule, with everyone just doing whatever they like, so to celebrate that, and because I think it will carry on into 2015 as well, (for example at the London SS15 catwalk shows!), I thought what better look to do than bold eyes and lips together?!

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS!

                                   

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

It's now been about four wonderful months since we started this blog and, although it's been hard to keep up with it when our day-to-day lives have been busy, we're loving it and loving YOU for reading. We hope you all have amazing, sparkly and excellent Christmases and we'll be back soon with lots of SUPER EXCITING new posts for you to read. 

Much love!

Poppy & Noll xxx

Colour Me Your Colour

A few weeks ago, I wandered starry-eyed into the makeup section of Selfridges and after a dazed and beautiful half-hour, wandered back out again with this Urban Decay eyeliner set.

Coloured eyeliner is something that I’ve largely avoided since the Red Eyeliner Incident of 2005 (I was fourteen. Please don’t judge me.), but since we started this blog I’ve been trying to be a bit more adventurous with my makeup, if just in a desperate attempt to remain interesting. That in mind, and this beautiful, beautiful present to myself in hand, I gave it a go.

REVIEWSDAY: L'Oreal Paris Blake's Pure Red Color Riche Lipstick

I think I might have found the best red lipstick ever. Just saying. I have been dying to try the L'Oreal Paris Collection Exclusive Color Riche Pure Reds (what a mouthful) range for so so long, and I finally got round to swatching them in Superdrug and buying one, and I can't believe I waited so long. I bought Blake's Red, and it is perfect.

I still haven't sorted my office Christmas party outfit (see the dilemma at the end of this post) but at least I now know what makeup I will be wearing, because this lipstick is made for Hollywood glamour. Which is pretty appropriate for something created for/by Blake Lively.

THREEWAY(S) WITH: Topshop Checked Shift Dress

3 ways with: Topshop Checked Shift Dress by savingxfaces on polyvore.com

I got a new job! Super exciting but then came the realisation I have nothing appropriate for the (slightly) smarter office so I accidentally bought all of Topshop. One thing I bought is this lovely green checked shift dress, which I am in love with but is pretty different to what I usually wear so I have been struggling a little with what to wear it with. For some inspiration and virtual shopping without spending money, I hopped off to Polyvore and thought I would bring you along for the ride.

Because I will be wearing this for work, I have done a work outfit, as well as one evening (e.g. Christmas party!) outfit and one weekend (or maybe casual evening) look. I had so much fun doing this, let me know if you like it so I can do more!

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

You can’t be a reader of beauty blogs, or even someone who spends a slightly unhealthy amount of time on Twitter, without having heard of Nars Sheer Glow. It cropped up on my radar a couple of years ago and I wanted it immediately. It was to be my first higher-end foundation purchase, and I just loved it.

HOT FOR TEACHER: Easy Hair Curling (and mini review!)

Prepare yourself for another gushing review, not very well disguised as a tutorial. I saw the Lee Stafford Argan Oil Wave & Nourish Twisted Curling Wand in inthefrow's November favourites video, and bought it instantly, because I had wanted a new curling wand forever and this is super cheap, but to be honest I didn't have the highest expectations precisely because of that. In fact, I love it.

REVIEWSDAY: L'Oréal Superliner Brow Artist

On Sunday night, I went to a wedding reception. It was lovely, and beautiful, and I totally did not tear up at the first dance; shut your face. There may have been a tad too much gin.

The sad consequence of this lovely evening was that on Monday I woke up 20 minutes late and had to fling what I needed into my handbag and do most of my makeup on the train. All would have been well (I am pretty practised at hungover train makeup, because I am a mess), except I forgot to bring any eyebrow products and, being that my eyebrows are a bit of a law unto themselves at the moment, I had to make an emergency trip to Boots. Yes. Emergency.

Enter: L'Oréal Superliner Brow Artist.

Brush With Greatness

One of the things that bothers me most in the world (I mean, after all the important sociopolitical issues and all that) is the sponge-tipped applicators that come with some eyeshadows.

I think they are criminal, and awful, and that they do a disservice to makeup everywhere. Brushes, proper, bristled brushes, will change your life and the way you do eyeshadow FOREVER. I'm pretty sure I'm not being hyperbolic here.

If I've convinced you and not made you feel afraid for my sanity, these are the six brush styles I think you should have in your life.

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: Revlon ColorBurst Balm Stain

First off, apologies for the unhelpful photo, I love it so much that the tube is looking rather worse for wear and the pictures were not coming out brilliantly! 

I was struggling to think of a favourites for ages and then had to go out last night and wanted something super-quick to update my work make-up just a little, and reached for this automatically, and realised that I always do. It is hands down my number one go-to in that situation. It is partly to do with the colour, but also a lot to do with how easy it is to wear because of how well it wears, so definitely a favourite!

Perfume: The Story of an Addict

About five years ago, I played a game of Trivial Pursuit with some friends of mine. We played in teams, and one of the questions put to my team was What is the sense most closely associated with memory?

The answer to that question is smell. I was outvoted by my teammates, and they chose sight, and we lost, and I’m totally not still bitter about it, Luke and Jack, not at all.

Board game injustices aside, that’s why I like perfume so much. I like to smell nice, and I like that different perfumes can change the way I feel. Someone walked past me the other day smelling like Oscar de la Renta and therefore like my granny, which was lovely, and Hugo Boss always makes me think of my mum. I used to be a one-fragrance type of girl (Body Shop vanilla oil, thanks for asking), but I’ve branched out over the years and these are a few of my favourites.

REVIEWSDAY: Sniffy Wiffy Hand Cream

Today, appropriately with it (finally) being December, is in a way our first Christmas post, because although it is a usual Tuesday review, this is definitely something I think would make a great Christmas gift. Having said that, although this is a review of the hand creams that we got to try, this is also a (slightly gushing) post about the brand and their products in general.

We had the lovely opportunity of meeting the couple behind Sniffy Wiffy at a Bloggers Love Hub event, and received hand cream samples to try, so I'll talk about these first but then quickly discuss the brand as a whole a bit too.

THANK GOD IT'S (Monday) FAVOURITES: No7 Instant Radiance Bronzing Highlighter

I love a convenient product. Something I mentioned over and over again in my everyday makeup post (sorry not sorry) is ease of use, especially with products I want to be using in the morning, when I can’t really function before noon. Even then it’s sometimes a struggle.

The No7 Bronzing Highlighter came out this summer (£9.95) along with its little highlighter friend, and I fell in love. It was a summer romance that has carried on into the dead of winter (when anything that will add colour to my ashen zombie face is much appreciated).

BAKING WITH POPPY: Snickerdoodles (A.K.A. Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts)

First off, sorry we have been rather blog-neglectful this week! Carefully both got really busy at the same time and became useless at blogging. We are back now though! Posts today and tomorrow and back to normal from Tuesday, we promise. Super excited for some Christmas posts coming up, there will definitely be some Christmas recipes but for now we have these, which are delicious at any time of the year but actually not un-festive because they are spiced and best with a hot drink => winter.

Snickerdoodles are (apparently) an American thing, but they are basically just oven doughnuts, kind of a cross between a scone and biscuit in texture I think? Scone and biscuit in the English sense, not American (anyone else getting confused?). They're sort of a cakey biscuit. Anyway they are super lovely and super easy and everyone should make them. This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's Snickerdoodle recipe in the incredible book How To Be A Domestic Goddess, which is the book that made me start baking. So blame Nigella if you get fat from these, not me, it's her fault.

REVIEWSDAY: Umberto Giannini Indulgent Beauty Moisture Mask

Here’s a not-so-secret secret: I bloody love a hair mask.

Last week, Pops and I went along to the Bloggers Love Hub in London, which was mad and lovely, and while we were there we got to talk to some wonderful people from Umberto Giannini. After some gentle bullying about the fact that I don’t get my hair cut anywhere near as often as I should, I was actually told that my hair wasn’t as dry as it could be (yay!) and that I should try out their Indulgent Beauty Moisture Mask.

Well, it would be rude not to.

HOT FOR TEACHER: Taylor Swift's Blank Space Video

When she first started out, Taylor Swift’s music was very hit or miss for me – it all got a bit twee for a bit there – but her recent releases have been in my head pretty much constantly for the last few months. Blank Space is a great song, with a great video, very Gatsby, and as soon as I saw those intense closeups of Taylor acting like a crazy person I knew I wanted to recreate the look.

The look of the makeup, not the crazy person. That comes naturally.

FUN FACT: For ages, I misheard a lyric of this song as ‘Got lovely Starbucks lovers; they’ll tell you I’m insane.’

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

Yes I know, yet another skincare favourite, but I just don't seem as loyal to makeup as I am to skin products! I think it's partly because with make-up, it's not so much about the experience and more just the end results, whereas with skincare how it feels is also so important. This stuff feels incredible.

DANCE WITH NOLL: DIY Rhinestoning

Recently, we did our very first tag post, and it had a question on sport, which enabled me to start waffling on about how much I love dancing. Before that, I had somehow managed not to mention it on this blog, even though I can hardly shut up about it in real life (just ask poor Poppy).

I do ballroom and Latin dance, or Dancesport as it’s known competitively, and every so often I’ll be doing posts on bits and bobs related to that. The best thing about dance, though, and particularly dance as it’s going to feature on this blog, is that all the useful stuff I’ve picked up about it is also easily adaptable into everyday situations, even if you’re a non-dancer.

Bearing that in mind, this post is all about adding rhinestones to dancewear – although, of course, you could and should add rhinestones to whatever the hell you want. It’s a bit of a fiddly process but I’ve done it a few times now and hopefully the tricks I’ve picked up will prove useful, whether you’re stoning a Latin shirt for dance or adding the words ‘KISS ME, IT’S CHANNING TATUM’S BIRTHDAY’ to a jumper (both valid pursuits; I swear).

REVIEWSDAY: Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara

I can't decide whether my horrific brow situation makes me more or less qualified to review brow products. On the one hand, why would you take my advice when my eyebrows look so scruffy/wonky/pathetic? On the other hand, any brow product I use really has a tough job on its hands, so any I recommend must be pretty damn amazing. Sadly this is not quite that, but at the same time it's not awful, and I hope it will help me a little bit on my way to Emma Watson eyebrows (the dream). Take that Cara.

WHAT'S IN MY BAG: Poppy

So today I thought I would do a What's in my Bag post! This is mostly because I got a new bag that I love love love and I wanted to show it off. Because the contents of my bag do not always stay the same, I think I may end up doing a few different versions, for different occasions and/or bag sizes - this one is my everyday, work bag. I will do a quick(ish) run through of non-beauty stuff, and then beauty after that, which means I can put off admitting quite how many lip products I keep on me "just in case" until the end.

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: Pixi Glow Tonic

Toners can be a bit of a controversial topic in the beauty world. Some people swear by them, and some people think they’re nonsense. I’m somewhere in the middle - I don’t swear by toners, and some of them definitely are nonsense, but I do swear by this one: Pixi Glow Tonic.

HOT FOR TEACHER: Shimmery Smoky Eye

Now that you (maybe) have all recovered from the Halloween onslaught of tutorials, I thought I might try another one, because now we can all start thinking about Christmas. Yes I said it, sorry not sorry.

I also got my first proper brush set the other day, having previously used an interesting assortment acquired at random from various people, but which did not actually include any eye brushes. I chose the new Real Techniques Nic's Picks, partly because it is a third off at Superdrug atm, but also because it includes the two main things I wanted, a general fluffy eyeshadow brush and an angled crease brush, as well as three whole other brushes!

REVIEWSDAY: Makeup Revolution Girls On Film Palette

Makeup Revolution are having a bit of a moment. I’ve used a few of their products and so far been pretty impressed, but in the run-up to Halloween I was seeing a lot of hype about the Give Them Nightmares palette and so wandered off to have a look. That one, while super gorgeous, is made up mainly of blues and purples, which aren’t colours I’d normally go for, so I fulfilled my ever-constant desire for nude eyeshadows and went for Girls On Film instead. It's named after a Duran Duran song!

It’s an 18-shade palette for the frankly startling price of £6, with 12 shimmer shades and 6 matte. It’s part of their five-palette Salvation range (which includes Give Them Nightmares), which all claim to be highly pigmented. For me, this was true for some shades more than others.

LISTEN WITH MOTHER: Autumn Chill Playlist

Autumn is my favourite season. I know I can’t shut up about that, but there’s something about big jumpers and chunky boots and lattes that gives me the warm fuzzies, and warm fuzzies need an appropriate soundtrack. It’s our first music post!

My music taste is a bit disjointed. It can’t especially decide where it wants to be, so there are a few genres in this playlist, but it’s made up of the kind of songs that slow your heartbeat a little bit – whether because they’re smooth and acoustic or with a bit more of a beat. Wrap up warm, grab some headphones and take a deep breath. 

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: Kerastase Resistance Bain de Force Shampoo

As a heads up, this stuff is pricey. I never thought I would find myself recommending such an expensive shampoo, mostly because I never thought I would find myself buying such an expensive shampoo, but it really is good. To make it a bit better, I am recommending mostly just the shampoo, not the conditioner as well, and also I am recommending this as something to have to use sometimes, but not necessarily every single time you wash your hair. I hope that makes you all not run away immediately.

EVERYDAY FACE: Noll

Now that I am finally calming down after the excitement of Halloween, I thought I’d show you what my makeup looks like on a day-to-day basis, when I’m not being a tiger or Cleopatra or a dolly. This is what I slap on (I mean, apply very carefully with excellent precision) before work or during the day at the weekend, so the look features a lot of easy application and products that last, because I’m super lazy and can’t be bothered with fiddly techniques or touch-ups.

I’ve got this routine down to 15 minutes (I give myself 20 if I’ve managed to get out of bed on time, so, precisely never), which I’m pretty pleased with, and although there are small changes I make if I get bored or depending on what I’m doing or wearing, it basically remains the same every day. I am incredibly adventurous and fascinating.

REVIEWSDAY: Benefit (mini) They're Real! Push-up Liner

I am so excited to finally have this! I have wanted to try it for ages but I am so super picky with eyeliner I thought I would wait for it to come free with ELLE UK before committing to paying £18.50 for it, and to be honest I am glad I waited...

#FIRSTTIME: First Time Tag

We got tagged to do the #First Time tag by the lovely Homelife with Heather so here goes! It is appropriately also our first tag post.

BAKING WITH POPPY: Nutella Banana Bread

First ever recipe post! I think a baking post is pretty suitable for a Sunday, especially a cold, rainy November one. I always knew I wanted to do some baking on the blog, and I always knew this would be my first recipe. This cake is just the best. It is easy peasy and so damn good. I made these two loaves for the office charity cake sale on Friday and they sold out super quickly, which was lovely :)

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: Lush Bubble Bars

Bubble baths are really important.

On a day-to-day basis, showers are a million times faster and more convenient in terms of actually getting clean, but bubble baths are important for the soul. Because my skin is really sensitive, I have to be a bit careful of the products I use, especially in a bath where you’re sitting in them for a long time, but something I can rely on not to irritate and that I reach for again and again is Lush Bubble Bars.

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Wigspiration

Clockwise from top left: The Joker, Oompa Loompa, Lady Gaga, Gothic Lolita

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! 

We are so excited even though our Halloween party is tomorrow, I will basically be spending all of tomorrow getting ready... Anyway today we have a final, bonus Halloween post, but more of an inspiration post rather than detailed tutorial. Basically I have a blue-green bobbed wig, I can't remember why I bought it, but I would really like some more use out of it so I went on a little internet hunt for some costume ideas and actually found quite a few, so I put together this little post of super-quick looks (I did them all one after the other in an hour or two including taking pictures).

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Broken Doll

It’s the end of our Halloween tutorial EXTRAVAGANZA and the day itself is almost upon us, so I might just wet myself with excitement. Let’s all hope not.

This look is my absolute favourite, and I’m pretty sure it’s also the one I’ll be wearing on Halloween itself (or, actually, November 1^st, when we’re off to a party), so it’s dear to my little heart. Horrifying dolls that murder people appear in all sorts of films, most recently in the UK one called Annabelle (look at it RUN), and they are very disturbing and creepy and therefore perfect for this time of year.

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Witch!

I have to admit, I am not entirely sure what this look is. I was planning on doing a Morticia Addams look (there will be a little sneak peak on Friday) but I realised that it was pretty similar to Poison Ivy, just using different colours, so I tried again the next day to make it more dramatic and came up with this. I think I will go for witch, but it has a touch of the zombie about it too.

I apologise for how patchy the skin is - note to self (and all of you guys), use proper face paint (I have heard good things about Snazaroo).

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra

It’s the fourth look in our week of Halloween madness! This time I attempted, wisely or not, to emulate two of the most beautiful ladies the world has ever seen. Both at once. Because I’m super brave.

Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra is a great costume if you want to glam it up this year, and if anyone tries to suggest you’re not scary, sweetly offer to stab them through the stomach. Or star in a lot of major motion pictures while you’re still underage. Or something.

REVIEWSDAY: L'Oréal Paris True Match Touche Magique Concealer

There comes a moment in your life where you just have to step back, look at the world around you and say "I want nothing more than to find the perfect under-eye concealer, and then I will be happy forever."

I'm reasonably confident that's not just me. I love L'Oréal foundations, and their True Match range has been good to me in the past, so I thought I'd give the Touche Magique concealer (£8.19 from Boots) a go too, in the hope that it would match up (see what I did there?). In the end, though, that wasn't quite to be.

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Poison Ivy

I just redid my hair recently and am back to red all over, which basically to me meant that this makeup look was a no-brainer. A lot of you might know Kim Kardashian and Uma Therman's Poison Ivy's, but I am going off the comic (via Google Images shh), which is why I have green lips and not red. 
Just for a little background if people aren't sure who she is, Poison Ivy is from the Batman comics, she is one of his enemies, and she is a super-cool eco-warrior. You may not know but I did Zoology at university, so this is my nod to that!

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Tippi Hedren in The Birds

This is my first Halloween look! How exciting! I will actually be uploading two today so check back this evening for my second one, which I am even more excited by. Anyway onto this one and first things first, I should admit that this is inspired very heavily by Lisa Eldridge's tutorial. But I don't mean I stole the actual techniques in the tutorial, just the idea. I watched hers and then a few months later (i.e. now) remembered it had been a good look and created my own off the film (Hitchcock's The Birds), with a little help from Google Images, without watching her tutorial again or anything. I think that lets me off the hook. I am obsessed with her tutorials though, they are SO good.

STORY TIME: Sali Hughes' Pretty Honest

It's our very first book review! I was very, very excited when I heard about Sali Hughes’ Pretty Honest. I love and adore Sali Hughes, because she always talks about makeup and beauty eloquently and intelligently, and now she’s packed up all that intelligence and eloquence into a lovely pretty pink book to read.

THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Tiger

GUYS, IT’S ALMOST HALLOWEEN. I AM A BIT EXCITED.

We’ve got a whole bunch of pretty, scary (or ‘pretty scary’? I’ll show myself out.) makeup looks to help you out with planning your outfit for the most fun fancy dress night of the year. And this year, it’s even on a FRIDAY.

I’m kicking off our Halloween extravaganza with a classic (and it’s not at all childish, what are you talking about?): an INCREDIBLY FRIGHTENING AND IMPOSING tiger. I mean. Well. It’s a tiger, at least.

REVIEWSDAY: Superdrug Aloe Vera De-Stressing Mask

I have seen a few reviews of the Superdrug own-brand masks floating around the internet recently (notably Miss Budget Beauty and The Sunday Girl) but hey what's an extra one?
I did a huge Halloween look on Sunday (omg I am so excited to show you!) and I had to pop to Superdrug to pick up some extra make-up, but while I was there I thought maybe it would be a good idea to do a mask afterwards to help my skin recover a little, and because for £2.59 why wouldn't you?

One Face One Palette

This is a sort of tutorial/review post today, because I recently discovered the Benefit 10 palette hidden away in a bag of stuff and wanted to do something with it. It contains two eyeshadows, two lips tints and a highlighter-bronzer duo, so I thought it might be interesting to see if it is possible to create a decent look using just what is in the palette, brushes included.

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

This is a first for me in the Favourites feature (fffff) in that it’s a relatively new discovery, but I’m definitely, definitely going to be repurchasing in the future and I love it so much I just couldn’t relegate it to a Reviewsday post.

The Unboxing: Glossybox October 2014

It’s that time of the month again! Glossybox time, or, as my little sister calls it ‘you know, when you get the surprise boxes in the post.’ This month was the Pop Art Collector’s Edition box, and it’s so cute I just want to keep it forever. One of Glossybox’s huge selling points for me is the art on their boxes – they are gorgeous and I keep nail varnishes in them – and the products inside were a pretty nice surprise too.

Winter is Coming

Today I thought I would do an exciting non-beauty post and take a look instead at some of the shoes I will be wearing this winter (or fall, if you're into that kind of thing). This is also a reason for me to feel less bad about having bought yet another pair of shoes after saying I wouldn't buy anymore.

REVIEWSDAY: John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Liquid Shine Illuminating Shampoo

First things first (Iggy Azalea has really ruined that phrase for me), the name of this product is an enormous mouthful. I felt like I had to draw breath after typing the title of this post.I love the John Frieda Brilliant Brunette range – it just feels like luxury to me, even though it’s technically speaking only a mid-range product, and so my hopes were pretty high when I tried this incarnation. 

Who's Got A Match?

Matching lips and nails has been A Thing in beauty since roundabout the twenties (History Lessons With Noll!), and yet, because of my general nervousness with lip colour, it’s not something I’ve ever really played around with. There is an excellent woman at my work who always matches her eyes and lips, or eyes and nails, or all three – sometimes even her cardigans get involved. I think she is fabulous and I love her, so, armed with my extensive collection of eyeshadows and nail varnish and paltry collection of lipsticks (and, eventually, backed up by Poppy’s), I thought I’d give matching a shot too.

THANK GOD IT'S FAVOURITES: Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm

This is my favourite lip balm ever. Tin, tube, I don't care, it's the best.
It is super moisturising, it's not shiny, it's not sticky, and it tingles, what more could you want? This is actually a pretty good rulebook for any kind of moisturiser, for face or body, as well as lips. The only thing I like to be shiny is my hair.

HOT FOR TEACHER: To Infinity & Beyond

Plaits of all shapes and sizes have been part of my hairstyle arsenal since I was very young, generally because of my abject refusal to ever have my hair cut. Once my mother had had enough, I took it upon myself to learn to do as many different ones as I could find, because I was a super exciting child. That said, it felt appropriate to crack out an old favourite for my second ever tutorial.

This one is called the Infinity Plait (or braid if you like), because of the shape you make while plaiting. The end result is not far off from a fishtail plait visually, but it’s a bit more structured and the weave is horizontal as opposed to vertical, so it ends up looking thicker and rounder (rather than flat and smooth like fishtail or normal plaits). It is awesome. Here’s how you do it.