Products of the Month - October

Look! It's me! In a video! Oooh technology!

Why don't you love me?

The last few days have been spent preparing for, and then attending Tash's parent's 25th wedding anniversary, (which took place yesterday at a seriously posh old manor house in Staffordshire), a seriously fabulous affair that involved lots of singing, dancing and generally getting more than a bit drunk. I wore a pink French Connection dress, which I am in LOVE with - I wish I could wear it every day. Might have to post a photo of it at some point - I rarely do outfit posts, but I'll make an exception for this dress, for it is simply beautious. Tash also wore excellent shoes, not sure I've got a photo of them, but I may have to track one down as they were epic.

Anyway, while I'm still recovering from my lovely (drunken) weekend, I thought I'd do a quick review of the Topshop tattoos. I posted about them in May and have finally managed to get my hands on some (they didn't have any in the Liverpool store so I had to buy them online). Actually, the ones I posted about previously are quite different to the ones that are currently available to buy in stores. When I posted back in May, there was maybe four or five different tattoo sheets available to buy; some just contained one large image while others had a few smaller ones. Topshop seems to have improved upon these initial designs, as there is now a pack available that contains three sheets of tattoos with lots and lots of different designs to choose from.

Temporary Tattoos, Topshop, £5

These are quite obviously Chanel-inspired, even moreso than the first batch they brought out, which did feature swallows and chains etc, but were still quite simplistic. These ones, however, are a lot more detailed and pretty, with lots of different 'bracelets' and jewelled charms to customise them with.

I wore two last weekend in London - a flower design on my foot and a bracelet around my wrist, and I was fairly impressed; the designs are very pretty and I especially like the little highlights of white in the 'jewels'.

Floral foot

Charm bracelet

Charm bracelet (other side)

When it comes to applying them, it's just the standard process of holding a damp cloth to the back of the design for about 30 seconds and waiting for it to lift off the backing paper and stick to your skin. Very easy. What was tricky though, and I imagine this would be the case for any other similar tattoos, was applying the bracelet tattoo, as you had to kind of wrap it around your wrist and hold it in place so that it didn't slip. It would probably have been easier if I'd gotten someone to help me, but of course, I never do things sensibly. You can also see, in the first picture of the charm bracelet, just above the star charm, where the two ends of the chain overlap a bit messily - I couldn't quite work out how to get them to line up, but again, I'd imagine if you had someone to help you it would be quite do-able.

Now the pictures above were taken straight after I applied the tattoos, and as you can see, the charm bracelet had already started to split a bit. They don't have great staying-power; don't expect them to last much longer than a day, especially not in the heat; I applied mine on the Friday afternoon and by the Saturday afternoon, the one on my foot had mostly been rubbed away and faded. I wore this swallow design on my wrist for the party yesterday and it seems to have fared a little better;

although, you can see that it's started to fade and the edges are rubbing away a bit.

All in all, while they don't last very long, I do still really like them; I think they're ideal for one-off wear, such as a night out. The designs are lovely, the pack has a really good range of images to choose from and they're only £5 - winner!

I've not changed my mind about permanent tattoos; I'd never get one as I'm certain I would eventually get bored and regret it, but I am a big fan of the whole temporary thing; there's just so many possibilities! Plus, I like the slightly rock and roll vibe they give off (let's be honest here, I'm about as rock and roll as Alvin and the Chipmunks, but just humour me, ok?).

So what do you think? Will you be sporting some Topshop tatts this summer?

Particularly peculiar

I've been a bit rubbish on the blog front of late. The main reason for this is that I'm three weeks into a new job which mainly involves me spending a large amount of time in front of a computer. Sadly, when I get home after a long day at the office (haha I work in an office now, never thought I'd see the day!), the last thing I want to do is spend more time staring at a computer screen. Obviously, for this blog to actually exist, I have to spend SOME time in front of a computer screen as, contrary to popular belief, these things don't write themselves (seriously, they don't, I've had a chat with my laptop about it and he's just not interested) so I'm going to just have to man up and accept the fact that I'm slowly destroying my eyes. So yeah, regular blogging will recommence soon, je promise. I've got so much to write about too! There's a list of ideas and photographs and all sorts!

Anyway, all that nonsense aside, tonight I wanted to talk about something that (for me at least) is a bit exciting. Recently, I've been ALL ABOUT the nail varnish; this started because I've always bitten my nails, ever since I was a VERY little curly girl, but one of the things that would dissuade me a bit from biting them was painting them nicely. So I figured I'd buy lots of colourful nail varnishes in the hope that my prettily painted nails would subdue my bitey bitey urges. It seems to have done the trick and I can officially say I'm a nail biter no more. Hurrah! Even though I've quit the habit, I still keep them painted most of the time, just because I think they look a bit more interesting and because there's SO MANY exciting colours available! I've been wearing an incredibly vibrant shade of light blue all week and, honestly, it really cheers me up to look down and see my lovely blue nails smiling back at me! (they don't literally smile, that would be terrifying.)

I've been using mainly cheap nail varnishes, such as Barry M and Collection 2000 because I like to have a wide range of colours to choose from so it obviously makes more sense to stick to the cheap and cheerful brands. However, on Thursday, my sister got a call from the Chanel counter in the Liverpool branch of John Lewis saying that they'd just got a new batch of Particuliere in. Now, just to clarify, my sister was on a waiting list for Particuliere; Chanel don't phone her up every time they get something new in, we're not that fancy in my family! Now, as you know, as much as I'd like to be, I am NOT the kind of person who would usually spend a silly amount of money on something so frivolous, and in my book, £16 for a bottle of nail varnish is definitely frivolous. However, Particuliere is pretty much the biggest nail varnish this season and has been virtually impossible to get a hold of. So when I heard that Liv was going to buy a bottle, I asked her to see if she could get me one as well. Lo and behold she did!

Have you ever tried to take a photograph of your own hand? It is more difficult than you'd expect.

Now I can imagine some people going "£16 on a bottle of dark baige nail varnish?! Franki, are you completely insane???" and the answer to that question is probably yes. But my reasoning for this is as follows;

• I've just started a new job so can justify treating myself a bit,
• It really is a very lovely, flattering colour and I've wanted it for ages
• If I'd been able to find a similar, cheaper alternative, I would probably have bought that instead, but I've not seen anything that's even vaguely similar.
• It's been selling out like crazy all over the place so it's quite exciting to say I own a product that's so in demand
• It's probably the only Chanel item I'll own for a very long time. Hopefully when I'm rich and successful (doing God only knows what) I'll be able to splash out on Chanel coats and bags and things, but for now, my little bottle of Particuliere will do.

LOOK! The models wore it on the Spring 2010 catwalk! I own something that's been seen on a Chanel catwalk!

I was very tempted to buy a second bottle to sell on eBay, because it's selling for WAY above the RRP, but I didn't get the chance to go into John Lewis when I was in town yesterday, and it's very probably sold out again now. Plus, I don't think Karl Lagerfeld would ever want to be my friend if he knew I was selling his wares on eBay, it just doesn't seem right somehow...

To be perfectly honest, I was expecting a lot for £16 but apart from the lovely colour, there's nothing really special about it. I mean, it's easy to apply and has a really good, smooth finish, but one of my nails chipped after a day and I'm pretty sure I hadn't done anything crazy with my hands. If I'd been playing the guitar or grating cheese or something, I'd accept it, but I'd literally done nothing! Maybe I should have applied a top coat to protect it, but then you think, for £16 it shouldn't really need a top coat, should it? I probably won't be buying any more Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour any time soon, because, let's face it, having fancy nails is great but I'd much rather spend my money on clothes and chocolate, but it is nice to be the owner of something a bit luxurious for once. Saying that though, Nouvelle Vague is really pretty...

Clean as a whistle

In case you hadn't noticed from some of my recent posts, aside from being dangerously obsessed with clothing, I'm also a bit of a beauty junkie. There is never a time when I don't 'need' some kind of cosmetics and every trip into town will generally end up with me wandering around Boots/Superdrug/Lush looking for something wonderful to buy. I've been thinking for a while now that since I spend so much time buying and messing about with makeup and stuff, I should write about some of my favourite products on this here blog. Hopefully people will find them useful, you know, a kind of "I try before you buy" type thing. Except, it only works if you're planning on buying things that I already own/am going to buy anyway. I really don't have the money to do requests. But if you want to send me things, that's fine. Or send money. I'd be ok with that too.

Ultra Bland - "The most thorough of all cleansers" from Lush

While something that proudly claims to be 'ultra bland' may not sound particularly appealing, blandness is actually a very good quality to have in a cleanser; all too often cleansers and facial washes are full of chemicals and perfumes which are harsh on your skin and strip it of its natural oils, but this stuff does no such thing. Appearance-wise; Ultra Bland is a thick, yellowish, oily substance which smells vaguely of peanuts, (NOTE If you have a nut allergy, you probably shouldn't use this as it contains peanut oil. It contains 'fresh iris extract' too so you should also avoid it if you have an issue with irises) so it clearly does differ from the majority of Lush products which are colourful and interesting and smell of joy. However this is their best-selling cleanser and I can absolutely see why; it leaves your skin feeling super clean and soft AND it's incredibly gentle, so you can use it to remove your eye makeup without worrying about going blind in the process.

The directions for use say to rub a small amount all over your face and then remove with damp cotton wool, but I found that the oiliness of it meant that I had to use a lot of cotton wool to remove it all, so instead I've been using a face cloth, which works just as well (just make sure to wash your face cloth regularly - hygiene is important!). What's great about it is that you only need a very small amount to get the job done so it lasts for ages AND, while a lot of Lush products have a use-by date because they contain fresh ingredients, Ultra Bland doesn't expire for over a year (I bought mine just before Christmas and the use-by date isn't until 2011) so you probably won't have to throw half a tub away because it's expired (I quite often do that with the fresh face masks from Lush because I put them in the fridge and then forget about them).

All in all, an excellent product. I can't remember the exact price but I think it was probably around £8, which is pretty reasonable for something that's going to last you a long time and makes your skin feel all soft and delightful.

As with all of their products, there's also the added bonus of knowing that Lush only use organic, vegetarian ingredients and don't test on animals, so you can wash your face safe in the knowledge that you are not only going to have lovely skin, but are probably going to Heaven too. Who said angels had dirty faces?

Product Review - Guerlain Liquid Eyeliner

A few weeks ago I had to buy a new eyeliner as I accidentally left my old faithful Collection 2000 one at my friend Holly's house in London and I wasn't sure when I'd be seeing her next to pick it up. Being an avid fan of sexy 40s-style eyeliner flicks, I knew I couldn't go without them for very long and, since I had some vouchers for John Lewis, I figured I'd be fancy and buy an expensive new one.
I originally went to the Benefit counter but was told, to my amazement, that Benefit don't actually stock a liquid eyeliner, they only do that gel stuff which you apply from a little pot with a brush which comes seperately. Now I'm sure it's a wonderful product but I just couldn't really see the point of buying two seperate items when one would do me just fine. So I went to the Guerlain counter where I was helped by a very friendly lady who showed me the 'Divinora' eyeliner.
The thing with Guerlain makeup is that it just looks SO PRETTY and classy and gorgeous. I use their Terracotta Bronzer religiously and that comes in a dreadfully chic shiny brown compact with kind of engraved stuff on the front. So when the lady showed me the beautious eyeliner in its little glass pot with a luxurious gold handle, I was pretty much sold. (yeah, I'm all about the looks, though fortunately, I've learned never to judge a book by its cover...I judge by how attractive the photo of the author is...) It cost about £17 and I went away a happy bunny, excited to try it out.
Now don't get me wrong, it's a good eyeliner; the colour is a rich, velvety black and the formula itself is quick drying and very long lasting - no crumbling or wearing off as the day goes on. But the brush is so bloody flimsy! It's very long and fine which means you literally have to have the steadiest hand EVER. Now I've been wearing liquid eyeliner for a good few years so I'd safely say I've got the knack for applying it but even I have trouble getting a good, clean, smooth line with this. With the (much cheaper) Collection 2000 one, the brush was short and firm, a bit like a felt tip, so all you needed was one quick stroke across the eyelid and you were done, but with the Guerlain one you have to take time over it and flicks are so difficult to do because of how thin the brush is!
So I'd definitely say that although this product is good, it's only really for those people who are amazing at Operation and those buzzer games you get at the fairground...

Oh, and I saw Holly last week anyway so I got my old eyeliner back, it was an emotional reunion!