'Inspired By' Make-up #3 and a Blog Sale Pondering.

Hey ladies,

You'd think I was allergic to consistency the amount of time I spend not blogging when I say I will. Frankly, I'm willing to explore that as an option for non 'I'm really just a bit crap' excuses.

I have had a right pain in the arse of a week. I'm not going to bang on about it because it could reach novel quantity. Basically, £130 has just disappeared out my bank account. And £54 of that is a hotel (The Ibis in Manchester, Charles Street - name and shame) that's decided that me paying for the hotel once just wasn't enough. Anyway, I've been busy dwelling on/trying to sort out that.

Also I've been mulling over my finances, which I'd say are now at a level of 'pooping myself'. I was thinking about doing a blog sale. Would anyone be interested in that? I've got some unloved Nars and Revlon products. I'm also planning on a foray in to the world of eBay. I'm really worried I won't be able to work it and will end up with an angry person demanding I give them loads of money. Haha.

Anyway, this post WAS supposed to be an Emma Watson 'Inspired By'. Basically, I had all the make-up I used in a pile for almost literally a week ready to be photographed. Friday came and I was going out for my friend's birthday. You may remember me mentioning before my incredible lack of forward preparation when it comes to nights out. Let's just say the neat pile covered most of my floor by the time I'd left, fifteen minutes late. I'd also lost a shoe. Let's not even go there. Naturally upon arriving home slightly tipsy, I just about got away with not breaking anything. To summarise, the make-up never got photo'd. (BAD blogger).

I thought I'd show you the finished look anyway, mainly because I straightened my hair for it and I am not going to waste heat-on-hair. ;)

As we all know Emma (I'm talking about Hermione for those who aren't familiar) has pixie short hair... And beautiful petite features which help her pull it off.

I don't. Big eyebrows, big nose, big lips, big eyes = big hair. Basically I'm not so dedicated that I hacked off my hair. Nu-uh. What I did do to recreate the look is straighten my hair so it was 00's poker straight, then slick back the front and sides with some macadamia oil and hair grips. I originally tied it up as well but also tried it in a side pony tail and down. These were my finished looks:

Hair all scraped back. Let's face it, I couldn't pull off a crop cut!

Hair in visible ponytail.

Hair down. Sexyfine bathroom pic. LOL at me! (The lighting in my bedroom was atrocious, hence the unusual relocation.)

Needless to say I look nothing like Emma, this is just using her make-up as inspiration. I'm not sure about that orangey red on my skin tone. And false eyelashes are just not my friend. Nor is liquid eyeliner. But hey, I gave it a go ;) I'm not an eyelash convert. I think my eyes are perhaps a bit too hooded and they just get lost. And they make me feel like I'm carrying a pair of pigeons on my face. I quite like the Essex lad style parting though. It looks sophisticated without being over the top. Plus I like that she went for full brows, minimal effort for me. ;)

We've come to the end of this giant pile of potatoey latice goodness (waffle ;)). Ta for reading if you have.

My aim is to try a bit of Scar Jo next. If only I could actually transform in to her. Girl crush alert. Which celebrity would you love to transform in to?  I'm going to try my absolute hardest to at least make a list of the make-up I use, but hey - don't hold your breath.

Love Livvy x

An Ode To My Favourite (Retired) Boots

Heya, hope you're all enjoying the drizzly weather ;)

Today I wanted to do a quick post on my favourite boots. They aren't the prettiest, or the most on trend, but they are the best. Comfy, go with everything (in my mind), work the stained look with pride... These boots have reached their twilight. I've set them away to retire, unable to let them go just yet. OTT? Quite possibly. But I've worn these boots practically every day for the best part of a year. Here are the humble beauties:

These basic military(ish) style boots are from River Island. I got them in a sale for about £20 reduced form £60 I think. Bargain! I love them so much more than I thought. As I'm tall and 'curvey' more masculine styles can make me look a bit butch, sexy. Not these though. I could bang on about them for weeks. Honestly. I'm sure everyone has that one faithful item of footwear. What's yours?
They've lived through several muddy fields, torrential rain, a peice of chewing gum has stained them for at least 6 months; but that's what makes them unique. They look loved. Because they are!

Unfortunately, owing to the heel of one of the boots no longer having a close relationship with the actual boot (i.e. a massive hole), they have reached retirement. And though they can no longer be worn, I want to say thank you and farewell to my beloved boots.

;)

Livvy xo

Thighs of Thunder #3 - Yummy Treat (92 Cals)

Hey ladies, hope you're all enjoying the bank holiday.

I've just had a lovely lunch for my Dad's 65th birthday. He chose Nandos. I think he went once about ten years ago and decided it needed a revisit. Not that I minded, that mushroom and halloumi pitta ( I'm a veggie :)) is THE dog's. If only I could have had carrot cake... Sigh.

Having just finished week 7 of the Biggest Loser Online Club, and being 1st 3lb's down, I'm starting to crave a cheeky treat here and there. Not to carrot cake level quite yet, but I've been lusting. So when I was munching on my brekkie the other day, cereal I'd robbed off my brother - shhhh, I had an idea. Pauses for gasps of shock. I came up with the simplest recipe ever to get the 'yum factor' and some additional health benefits. Even for those of you not trying to lose weight, having a few beneficial ingredients in your snacks is a good thing. You can just eat two, right? ;)

This isn't a 'healthy snack', just to warn you. And (needless to say) I'm not a nutritionist. All I'm saying is it doesn't have a scale tipping quantity of calories and it's also got extra protein and fibre as a bonus :)

'Shhhhomebody Choc Me' (Little refernce from The Mask). 92 Calories per cake case.

The three ingredients in these are:

Crunchy peanut butter, Fruit 'n (not 'and' Fibre and some chocolate ;)

The recipe:

1. Melt 25g of chocolate (Dairy Milk if you know what's best, if you prefer Galaxy I'm ashamed, but go ahead ;)). I do it in the microwave on a low heat. If you aren't a pro at this you can do it in a glass bowl over simmering water on the hob. I say this because berfore I was a pro, I did infact melt chocolate and a plastic pot in to our Uni microwave. It did NOT smell good.

2. Add one teaspoon of crunchy peanut butter.

3. Add 25g of Fruit 'n Fibre to the mixture and crush it in with your spoon.
4. Spread mixture evenly in to 3 cake cases (you can double the recipe if you want to make 6 etc. etc.)
5. Lick the spoon and bowl clean (optional).
6. Allow to cool and then place in fridge to set.

And there you have it, a tastey 92 calorie treat. Or if you eat all three it's 276 calories... Don't blame yourself ;) If you're thinking 'Liv you're meant to be eating healthy, why are you making these?' - bore off ;) Haha, no. Basically, I thought as a veggie extra protein is always a win (peanut butter), fibre's good for everyone and chocolate tastes like heaven in my mouth.

Do you like recipe posts? Have they got your tastebuds tingling? Let me know if you make some! They've got a slight Snickers feel about them. If you aren't watching what you eat, add more peanut butter. I bet that tastes good! Ha.

Until next time,

Livvy xo

'Inspired By' Make-Up #2 - Adriana Lima

Hey ladies, hope you're all having a relaxing weekend.

First off let me apologise, I said I'd post this 'tomorrow' about 4 days ago. Oops. Time flies. Anyway, here it is.

I thought for my next 'inspired by' look I'd try my ultimate girl crush, why start small ;) Adriana Lima is a Victoria's Secret model, i.e. the hottest of all hotness. Basically, if someone said I could look however I liked, I'd just show them a pic of her. I chose a sultry, smokey brown eye look because I thought if it looks good it'll be amazing for a night out. I always leave myself about 3 minutes to get ready when I go out, not that I'm disorganised ;), so this post can also work as a 'go to' look for all us ladies who want to look sexyfine without having left any time to think about it. Because we can all look sexyfine, even if we aren't of VS stock. :)

This is the pic I worked from:




Oh to look like this!

As with all scientific experiments, as this clearly is, I thought I'd better show the raw materials I was working with:



An unnecessarily large picture of my face without make-up.

This is to show a) I don't sit around with a face full of make-up all day and to b) make up for the seriously pouty pictures that follow.

The products I used for my transformation were:

 

For the eyes I used Stila Twig (I got it from Cheapsmells.com, it's no longer there but some other Stila shadows are for seriously cheap. I have Illimani and it's beautiful.) and I used Virgin, Half Baked and Smog from the naked palette. Under the eye I used Twig and the golden brown 17 eye pencil which I got in a set.



I used Half Baked all over the lid, Virgin on the inner corner and Twig on the outter V and lightly on the crease. For lips I used Mac's Hue with a coating of the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in shade 02 over the top. Oh my gosh, discovery of the century. We all know you shouldn't do heavy make-up on your eyes and lips, but this gives the perfect combination of sexy and neutral to the lips. I might have used my Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow highlighter in Iced Gold but I can't remember. Lesson to Liv, take pictures of make-up immediately after using it.

Ramble over, here's the finished look:

I've just remembered I also used a tiny bit of black eyeliner pencil. Photo in advance! Other lessons I've learnt are, do my eyebrows before close ups (I also used my elf eyebrow kit, I'm such a failure! Haha), don't let my mascars clump (I need to through away my YSL Faux Cils but I'm in denial) and fix my proper camera so I'm actually in focus ;)

However in terms of the colour combinations I'm really pleased. What are your thoughts on a brown smokey eye and peachy lip? Is there anything better than the classic? I reckon in summer with a tan and beachy hair this look will be 'da bomb'.

Who's your fav celebrity make-up inspiration? Any recommendations for me? All comments are welcome, even if it's just 'sort your eyebrows out Liv' ;) So that's this week's inspitration, me and my plucked eyebrows will see you next weekend (or variations there upon ;)).

Livvy xo





April Empties and a Little Bit Of Liv's Life ;)

Hey gang, hope you're all... asleep actually. It's about12.30am. Lol.

After a rather ridiculous nap at 5pm I've been busy this evening doing another celebrity inspired look, so watch out for that tomorrow. I'd do that post now but I forgot to photograph what make-up I used and I'm now tucked up in bed. Oops.

So I thought I'd do a little waffley post, just some 'get to know me' shananigans. First off I thought I'd show you a quick pic of my 'April Empties'. I decided to jump on the bangwagon because I'm a serial 'never-finish-anything' girl.

Top Left (clockwise) The Body Shop Satsuma Shower Gel (250ml, £4), L'oreal Collagene Extra Volume Mascara (I think it might be discontinued, can't see it at Boots.com - Looks a LOT like L'oreal Volume Million Lashes though), Batiste Dry Shampoo - a hint of colour dark & deep brown (£3.99 from Boots) and Nivea Daily Essential Fragrance Free Facial Cleansing Wipes for all skin types (similar on sale at Superdrug for £1.52 now!)

I'd recommend all these items, bar the Batiste *shudder*, I'm not a fan of that grey-dustlike texture. The shower gel smells like citrus heaven, and used with the accompanying body butter the smell lasts on your skin. I know it's not to everybody's taste to smell like your shower gel, but personally I think if you can smell that someone's had a wash - that can't be a bad thing.

Now to jabber away aimlessly. First off I just wanted to mention that I saw Example and Wretch 32 live in Manchester at the weekend. 3hr train ride away, let's not even go there. They were SO good. I've never seen such a packed, pumped-up crowd.



A genuine ocean of people. Bet it smelt good down there.

I can't imagine them being big in the beauty blogging world, but I just thought I'd mention I thought they were immense (and I'm not all coral pinks and pouty lips ;)).

Aside from make-up, music and film are my two main passions. Anything creative really and I'm there, which leads me to my next rambling point. I've been painting a bit recently (like I said, anything creative - it's just like face make-up, but on canvas. Lol) and it's had a rather heinous side effect on my beauty regime:

I was painting about 12hrs ago and my nails still look like that, several soaps later. Cry with me. ;)

Paint usually does stain my nails, but an incident involving accidental use of oil paint left my finger tips like that for about 6hrs. I'm hoping nail varnish remover is going to get this off. I paint with a sponge and my fingers quite a bit, so I've only got myself to blame. It's ironic really because I apply almost all of my make-up with brushes.

My Mum wants me to paint her something (very specific might I add, and I'm not good with exact) for her birthday. Naturally I've been painting something completely different, because why be practical ;) I thought I'd show you all my work in progress, just for fun:




Still lots to do. I'm really enjoying it actually. It's funny how you can forget how much you love to do something. Guesses as to what it is in the comments. :)

What have you guys used up this month? And what do you like besides make-up? I'm wondering if all beauty obsessives have that creative gene too?
Have a lovely week,

Livvy x

Today's Shopping - Boring Essentials and a Few Naughty Treats.

Hey ladies, I hope you're all smiling :)

Today is the whingiest of days. I'll be brief, get it out my system and then power through. First off my camera is now working, but the SD card reader in my laptop isn't. What a pile of poo. So I've used my phone for pics today. Second I've just had one of those days where you feel a bit pants and you're all clammy and clumsy all day. So pretty. And third I wanted to spend a voucher (and money I don't have) on a hydrating oil at the Clarins counter in my local John Lewis. The curt lady that worked there was just chatting rubbish about 'maybe it's discontinued'. Maybe you should learn what products you're supposed to have on your counter. Aaaaaaaaaaand I'm done ;)

So today I got a couple of sneeky make-up bits I ordered off cheapsmells.co.uk the other week. I'm just going to put it out in the open now that other beauty bloggers/Youtubers enable me like no other. If I see people giving rave reviews/lots of people love something, it's like my hand's reached in to the new Zara bag everyone has (which I think is already breaking because I over-filled it, oops) and suddenly my debit cards in my hand. As if I don't know the number off by heart. Someone get me a therapist! Haha. Anyway, I ended up getting:

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Shade 2 - Apricot Shimmer, £12.50 and YSL Touche Eclat in 1 Luminous Radiance £21.50 (Eeeek).

Let's discuss (or justify to myself). I'm obsessed with getting the perfect pale, pinky/peachy lip. However, I've come to the realisation that my lips are quite dark naturally, so I'm going to investigate 'beigeing them out' with some Viva Glam Gaga 2 and then putting colour on. This does feel nice on the lips, but for the price I was expecting unicorns to jump out my mouth. No such luck. I'll show you my lip drawer in another post if you want, so you can feel my pain of the never-ending-search-for-a-colour-my-lips-probably-won't-go. Ha. My problem is I see something on someone else and hope it'll look the same on me. For example I saw this on Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup.com and it just looked sooo good on her. I definitely have face envy.

I also got Touche Eclat, I'm definitely not explaining what it is. If you don't know, go back under your rock. Or Google it ;) This is THE cult product. I bought it for the pure fact I'm a beauty junkie and I wanted in. I got it in the palest shade because when I researched it it was the pinkiest. Now my skin is definitely very cool toned, but I thought it's be good to counter the blueish tone under my eyes. Then I'm planning to whack my Bobbi Brown creamy concealer over the top and hoping my face will be mistaken for a ripe peach. I'll let you know how that goes.

After the excitment of the post I had to plod along to Boots to get some essentials I've been putting off buying. I just hate spending money on non-fun things. But, needs must so I got:

2 face cloths, 99p each (i.e. the classic flannel) and some Boots own brand Simply Sensitive face wipes - on offer for £1.85, usually £2.79.

Dove Invisible Dry Stick Deodorant, £1.66 reduced from £2.50, TRESemme Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo for Normal to Oily Hair, £4.79 and Colgate Advanced Whitening (Tesco) £1.86

I imagine most of these are self-explanatory. I got the flannels because I read on beautymouth.com, she's a skincare expert extrodinaire, that they're just as good as muslin cloths and you should change the one you're using every day (also apparently the flannel is becoming redundant, save the flannel!). I'm trying to get a good skincare routine going because my skin's so dehydrated. As a general rule I've cut out face wipes, but they're so handy. When I'm away for a weekend I like to take my face products, but let's face it after a few voddy's it's either facewipes or waking up with the rocky mountains on my face. The deodorant's a handy size, the toothpaste was the only choice in our little Tesco beacuse I forgot in Boots, and I thought I'd give this dry shampoo a go because Batiste is eurghh. All I'm saying is, I had the one for dark hair and accidentally sprayed it on my face (don't ask), it looked like I'd rolled in a dust bunny. Ew.

How about you, do you find essential re-stocking a chore? Or do you secretly love any excuse to find yourself in Boots? How do you feel about facewipes? Have you made any disgustingly priced purchases you can share to make me feel better about my own? ;)

Livvy x

Thighs of Thunder #2 - Motivation

Hey ladies, hope you're all ship shape.

I'm already off the schedule I made about a week ago. Mostly because organisation and me don't see eye to eye, but also because I know posts are really boring without pictures... But I can't think what would go with this sort of post. So, I'll be brief.
I'm having the biggest struggle motivating myself to exercise this week. Or to be more specific, I've only exercised once (half-arsedly) this week. Not good. It's just so boring! So I thought I'd do my top 5 pointers for exercise motivation - if only to give myself a kick up the bum:

1. Set realistic goals - Last week I was trying to do too much and this week I feel flat as a pancake because of it. If you can barely walk 3 days after, you've probably overdone it..
2. Be organised - Yup. My favourite word re-occuring again. However much I'm not organised, I know how necessary it is. My plan of action, which I got from the 'toneitupcom' ladies on Youtube, is to set my alarm half an hour early each day and exercise then. That way you can't put it off and you've still got the whole day, because I've also found myself resenting how much time it's taking up.
3. Reverse-chubby-chase -This is just for those actually trying to lose weight. Put up an A4 picture of yourself at your biggest where you exercise (tight clothing/massive pants, the less flattering the better), if that's at home, if not put it on your bedroom door (facing in the bedroom, you don't want your family/flatmates thinking you're fully off your rocker). This way you can pretend you're running/jogging/tap dancing away from your tubby self, whilst actually toning-up a new self :)
4. Don't beat yourself up - If you can't exercise one day, don't panic. Your body needs a day's rest each week, that's when it can re-cover and burn the fat (or something like that). Plus the world isn't going to stop if you have a 'really can't be arsed day'. Just make sure you don't also have a 'going to eat the contents of the fridge' day then too ;) And, if you don't think you can do your usual amount of exercise, do half. Some is better than none.
5. Have something to work towards - Whether it's a bikini body (never in my lifetime, unfortunately) or even just a pair of trousers you can't squeeze your money-maker in to (ding), have something you're looking to achieve. Personally, I'm going on holiday with my gang of ferociously attractive friends in the summer and I don't want to get thrown in the see by a mistaken whale trainer. I'm joking. Ish. Point 4 ;)

What are your motivation tips? Or do you have a clothes/summer goal?
Fell free to comment, it makes me happy :)

Livvy xx


*I'm not a qualified trainer or nutritionist or anything, these are all just my opinions and experiences.