It's Christmas!

My favourite time of the year is finally upon us.

When we whip out the decorations, light the candles, eat as much chocolate as we possibly can, crack open the champagne and cheeselets & snuggle up to watch endless amounts of christmas films on the tv.
I just thought i'd share with you some of the little christmas details in my house & the gorgeous views we had today (it was perfect christmas weather in my opinion)

I seriously love where i live. The snow & ice has mostly melted as the sun has been shining all day, but there is still a chill in the air. My favourite winter weather & a prettyiful sunset to top it off.

How do you decorate your house for christmas?
♥

Review: Lush Christmas - Snow Fairy

I WILL finish these Christmas reviews before christmas (lol) & then when Lush do their crazy "buy a massive bag of xmas lush stuff for only £20" you will pleased you read these reviews ;)

Snow Fairy is something which produced a massive amount of hype last year, and all year this was probabaly my most anticipated xmas lush product as i wanted to see what the fuss was about. I don't think it's AS amazing as some people made it out to be, but i do love it none the less.
If i've never tried a shower gel in lush before, i buy the smaller bottle just to test. If i like it, i will go back and buy the biggest bottle. I will be doing this with Snow Fairy. :)
The scent is extremely sweet and bubblegummy, something which would probabaly go down better in the summer, but a very nice, girly scent never the less.
It also has small irridescent particles of blue glitter, which makes it look so pretty in the bottle.
It does leave my skin feeling very soft, and the smell lingers all day.
It also lathers well, for all you lather freaks out there. ;)

100g (small) - £2.95
250g (medium) - £5.95
500g (large) - £9.95

♥

When PR is spot on.

This isn't normally something i would write, but as you will see from this post, i felt the need to express my happiness :)

Some PR companies are LOVELY, and others? Well, i have had a handful of companies pushing themselves on me in a very formal way to review their products..& of course, if i don't feel comfortable in the way a company is dealing with it, i won't respond or review.

PR relastionships are important, i feel anyway.
Personally, i can really tell the difference between a company who just wants a mention, or someone who actually believes i will enjoy trying something which could be of interest to me.
The other day, i recieved an email from a guy called Robert who has a business called Zuneta which he runs along with his sister. The email wasn't asking me to check out his website, or to review anything. He simply said he was a fan of my blog, and that in celebration for their first year in business, he would like to share his christmas spirit along with a handful of other bloggers and send out a gift. He was extremely polite and informal & really very friendly. Something that makes a nice change from some other emails i recieve. I guess as he does his own PR, he doesn't need to be pushy, he's simply advertising his business...fair play to him.

This morning, my dad brought up a cute little package for me, along with a christmas card, which was signed by Robert & his sister.I think i found this so lovely, as it's the personal touches which make something that little bit more special.
The gift was wrapped up with a little bow inside lots of tissue paper and inside was an eyeshadow duo.
I've never heard of the brand "Hourglass", but MY GOD, these eyeshadows are amazing, the pigmentation is Nars standard (if not better) & im not just saying that.

It is seriously the cutest little duo ever & i will be buying more from their site. I know that people tend to steer clear of new brands, but personally i love to find something different.
Im sad i didn't discover this a little earlier as they would have made great presents.
I will do a proper review on the shadows once i have played around with them a bit more. & no, i dont feel inclined to do so because they are lovely people, they haven't asked for a review, but these shadows have highly impressed me, as well as their great appraoch to PR.

PR has had some bad coverage in the past few months or so, alot of people being fed up of seeing the same things being reviewed, and i can totally understand this.
but when you get a little family run web company like this, making effort just to introduce themselves and just getting everything right, is really very refreshing.

A great start to my day which i thought i would share with you all & please remember, if a PR company want to be involved with you & your blog or youtube, make sure you feel happy with them. You don't have to accept anything from anyone.

Have a spiffing Friday everyone :)

♥

Hair of the Day - Cheryl Cole Inspired

Who's hair do i envy?
Cheryl Cole's, whether it's all her own or not..i think it looks amazing.
I know i will never have hair that will be as high a standard as hers..but i'll give it a damn good shot...plus..mine is all real baby. ;)

To achieve this voluminous style, i simply backcombed and hairsprayed the roots on the crown and sides of my head then gently combed over the craziness (to take it down a notch)
and using straightners (a flat iron) i turned in any layers towards my face to give it a much softer look.
I really despise mega straight, flat long hair, there has to be some oomph in it, or i will approach you in the street and ruffle it up...consider yourself pre-warned.

♥

Review: Lush Christmas - Jingle Spells

Jingle Spells Bath Bomb is one that Lush describes as a "hangover cure"
I did not have a hangover when i chose to bathe in this...just so you know.
Hmm, what do i say about this?
It's...blah
It's nothing special, and honestly, i HATED being in the bath with tonnes of stars (yeh, there's more inside)
They kept landing on me and itching me or making me flinch (like you would if you thought a spider was crawling on your skin)
When would anybody really choose to bathe with tonnes of little stars? they will just end up going places you dont want them to..like your belly botton on between your toes..jeez people, where did you think i meant. ;)
The scent was nice. It's a very refreshing & comforting smell, which is possibly why it would make a good hangover cure. It smells of Juniperberry.
The best thing about this Bath Ballistic was the fact it turned the water dark purple & left my skin feeling slightly softer.

I won't be purchasing this one again, the stars ruined it for me personally, i thought i'd be able to cope with the few on top...but it came with many a "bun in it's oven".
If you are a ballistic person, and dont mind stars...this might be one to give a sniff because the smell was lovely.

rrp: £2.75

♥

Hair & FOTD

I used my remington spin dryer today (it was half price in Superdrug & i'd been eyeing it for a while, so i bought it)...a scary looking contraption which blowdry's and curls the hair at the same time. I love this thing, it's my new favourite, i just wish i had it in the summer so the "beach" waves would have been more fitting.

I first blowdryed my roots with my head upside down (this is such a vital step, otherwise you end up with masses of frizz on the top of your head..it's not a good look)
I then used Aussie curl definition serum through my damp ends and taking small sections of my hair i blowdryed. There are videos on youtube demonstrating the process, its not that difficult anyway tbh.
Afterwards, i used "Bed Head After Party" through the curls & also using a straightner i defined the wave where my fringe was being stubborn.
Personally, i love it. It's the Mary Kate & Ashley wave i've always had to achieve by letting my hair air dry...which takes FOREVER. So now i can cut down the time using this handy contraption. You can also determine how tight and how loose the curls are by how long you heat the selected pieces of hair. Although it does drop out slowly anyway, unless you use lots of hairspray.


On my face i am wearing...

E Y E S
♥ Too faced shadow insurance
♥ Sunday Best L/E Mac Shadow on inner corner
♥ Star Violet Mac Shadow blended in
♥ Showstopper Mac Shadow in crease
♥ Maybelline Pule Perfection mascara
♥ Chanel eye kohl in "Ambre" (a deep bronze brown)

F A C E
(not that you can really see)
♥ Eve Pearl salmon concealer
♥ Benefit erase paste on top
♥ Bare Escentuals foundation in medium
♥ Bare Escentuals Faux Tan bronzer to contour
♥ Illamasqua Cream Blush in Sob
♥ Benefit Moon Beam to highlight brow bone & cheek bone

L I P S
♥ GOSH Darling Lipstick
♥ Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lipgloss in "half naked"

Hope you like my FOTD.
I really like my hair like this, it's alot more natural looking, and i think it's alot softer and prettier than dead straight hair or perfect curls. I will be wearing my hair like this alot more often
♥

2000 Followers & Blog Contest - CLOSED

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

Oh my goodness.

I have 2000 blog followers.
This is madness i tell thee.
I only started this for a bit of fun & i'm so so greatful so many of you enjoy reading the things i have to say or like looking at my ugly mug once in a while. :)

So, i always said, if i ever reached 2000 blog followers, i would hold a contest..and to be honest, it's a very good time to have it.

I'd been thinking for a while what i could do to involve everyone & to get all your creative juices flowing.
As some of you may know, (or may not), Moulin Rouge is one of my favourite films.
I love the costumes, the glamour and more importantly, all the sparkly bits and diamonds.
So, for this reason..my blog contest is simply called...

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend"

Because, lets put it this way...they are.

Now, i know some of you may be scratching your heads like "seriously Zoe..how i am supposed to create a makeup look around diamonds"
well i'll give you some ideas i had come up with myself...

• You could quite literally just do a vampy Satine-esq look - Go all out with hair, makeup costumes..what ever you fancied.
• Use sequins on your face/around eyes
• Encorporate Diamonte's on eyelashes or around eyes
• Glitter & lots of it..or, if you want to be more subtle, then thats fine :)
• Or, even get geometric with the shaping and cut of diamonds
• Use of the reflective colours in a diamond

These are just a few examples.
I know alot of you will read this and think "oh well i cannot be arsed to do this"
Please don't think that you need to do any of this above, just show me something sparkly & pretty or moulin rouge themed. You dont need to go all out with wigs and dresses but i want to see some creativity. All my A Levels are in Photography, Art & Textiles, so i'd like to see how everyone can produce something different as i am a very creative person myself.

But most importantly, just have fun with it.

The rules are as follows:

• Produce a look based on the title of the contest
• Send me images by E-mail with the subject "Diamonds are a girls best friend" or simply link me to your blogpost in the comments below if you want to publish it for others to see. Include a very brief description of why you chose to do what you did.
• You do not have to do the makeup on yourself if you don't wish to, plaster your friend in glitter instead :)
  
• Contest will end in a months time, so that will be the 1st of January 2010 at midnight GMT (woop)
• Please don't be stingy & get someone else to do it for you, it ruins the fun & is betrayal. haha
  
• I will be judging the contest entries, along with my friends & family

CHANGES

• There will be a first prize for those who live in the UK, and a first prize for those who live overseas & one runner up who can live anywhere in the world. :)
  

That's all you need to know folks.
What better time of the year to get your sparkly makeup out? AND, if you're like me, and you always want to glam yourself up with reams of glitter, but never feel you can as it will be too O.T.T, this gives you the perfect excuse.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED - NO MORE ENTRIES

Get Creative Guys & Dolls
Love you all tonnes
♥