YSL Electric Chic Autumn Collection.

With September hot on our heels, its time to look ahead at what’s hot for Autumn/ Winter 2013. Electric Chic by YSL hit the high street at the beginning of August kindly giving us plenty of time to get stocked up for the winter! Taking its inspiration from city life, the collection is infused with metallic’s, bright’s and dull hues of grey. 

This stunning Autumn collection makes all us English Rose girls wish we had Pocahontas locks and beautifully bronzed skin. The dark, fruity lip colours, the warm grey polish and the metallic eye palette will empower your look.

Bang on trend, this mythical collection will make lips pop, eyes glitter and gleam and nails appear like talons. Just in time for Halloween, why not go the whole hog and create an outrageous, catwalk inspired look to really get those Dracula’s interested!

The two lipsticks in this collection are breathtaking, giving a silky, cream finish; the colours are rich, full bodied and smell exactly like the fruits they resemble.

  

No 50 in Nocturnal Plum is a gorgeous, gloomy plum with a moisturized sheen. Rich and dark, this bold, dark lip look is bang on trend for A/W this year. The colour in No 51, Vibrant Vermillion is a vibrant tomato red. A stunning orange red with a hint of burnished gold. If you're a blue eyed beauty, apply this colour on the lip to make your eyes pop like jewels.

The City Drive Palette in 'Classy' takes inspiration from luster rich materials throughout the city. Champagne, Marble, Concrete and Steel make a delicate yet sumptuous palette.

The lightest colour, Champagne would work perfectly for those with fair skin tones as an all over base shimmer on the eye, as well as a highlighter for cheekbones, inner corners, cupids bow and brow bone for all skin types. The dull brown next door to Champagne if perfect for creating a beautifully soft smokey eye for Autumn, which teamed with the Nocturnal Plum would look stunning.

The golden brown could be used on fairer skin tones all over the lid for a warm, spiced apple glow, or for the smokey eye lovers, this could be blended through the crease to help blend seamlessly from dark to light. Finally, the steel grey is vibrant with a fine glitter sparkling throughout. This could be pushed on top of the lighter colours or used in the inner corners to accentuate.

My final pick from this collection is this gorgeously understated nail varnish in 39 Beige Gallery. Mirroring the current interiors trend for beige, the nail colour is quietly sophisticated. This polish is highly versatile and would work well in the office, teamed with a bejewelled gown or with a smart casual blazer look to hit the shops!

Overall, Electric Chich looks set to line the handbags of many city girls around the world. Its bold bright lip colours and warm shimmering eye palette gives every girl the oppertunity to create a look tailored to their skin tone. Now, i just need to win the lottery so i can go out and buy all of these amzing products!! 

Illamasqua 'Sacred Hour' Collection.

In true style, the new ‘Sacred Hour’ Collection from Illamasqua is beautifully mythical and playfully sinister, inspired by the enchanting hours of dusk and dawn.

Enriching the current trend in beauty of mystery, magic and superstition, Illamasqua have created a collection to rival similar products now available on the counters of Dior and Chanel.

The ‘Sacred Hour’ collection is gloriously rich, exuding a sense of the super natural, most successfully in the Nail Polish’s. ‘Hemlock’ and ‘Facet’ represent dusk and dawn perfectly. Both colours include an opalescent finish adding to the magic of the polish and magnifying the luster of the pigment within. ‘Hemlock’ is a luxurious charcoal tone, scattered with shimmering flecks of bronze and gold. This polish is like painting the most beautifully clear nights sky, infused with magical star dust onto your nails. This nail polish really is mesmerizing, perfect for a romantic dinner or a winter ball.

The second colour ‘Facet’ is equally dazzling and would be perfect for a winter wonderland wedding. The pale, pearl grey, with a peony pink warmth dancing throughout creates a delightfully soft yet striking polish.

The centre piece of the collection is the ‘Perfection’ palette for the eyes. A rich quad of water resistant cream shadows which produce a shimmering finish. The colours are perfectly pigmented allowing you to blend and build to your hearts desire, whether you want a soft ethereal finish or a more dramatic look.

To adorn the cheeks, Illamasqua have included two cream blushers. ‘Sleek’ is a gorgeously delicate, apricot peach tone, great for English Rose skin types. ‘Peaked’ is a lovely, aged damson pink, evoking feelings of long summer nights spent sipping damson gin and cloudy lemonade.

The deliciously dark ‘Feather’ lashes will intensify the look and give the eyes great definition. These hand made false lashes bring to mind thoughts of the supernatural as they lengthen natural lashes beyond belief whilst looking wispy and delicate.

To complete the look, why not finish with a bold lip to contrast against the light metallic eye. Illamasqua have created a creamy textured, opaque finish lipstick in a deep, charming cerise colour named ‘Shard’. With a slight stain, this lip colour will last all night.

My New Favourite Room.

Jenky and I moved into a new house at the end of April and it feels like we have been here for ages already! As soon as we had the keys we began a mission to whip this little house into shape and we are very nearly there! The latest room to be transformed was the dining room and i LOVE it. Seeing as we both did creative degrees, we're really keen to keep on trend and style each room individually.

The dining room is quite a small room providing a through route from the kithen to the living room and therefore any ideas we had needed to allow for this contant movement in and out. We have a beautiful diding table that we acquired from my parents which i have grown up with. I love this and feel like a bit of them are here every time i sit down to eat which is lovely as they live a few hours away.

We had two chairs and two stools but wanted a few more so we could have people over to eat. So we asked around and got two lovely old wooden chairs from jenky's auntie which we swiftly sanded down and painted and they look so on trend and just stunning! Its amazing what a lick of paint can do!

We went for a zesty colour scheme too with our feature wall painted 'Luscious Lime'. It ties in with the Orla Keily wallpaper we've just put in the living room and so creates a continuity throughout the house. The curtains are beautifully transluscent giving an extra hint of colour whilst still allowing the light through from the conservatory. Now im dying to go out and buy some lovely citrus coloured vases and maybe a plant or table for in the corner! I love styling interiors, it's never ending but i love it.

High End Beauty Haul!

At the beginning of the month i had my Tonsils removed. Good riddance i say, but they didnt go without a fight! I was out for a good two weeks and i definately would have gone insane without my amazing Mum who came and stayed with us and my handsome man! Love you!!

So, when i finally felt back to normal i decided to treat myself a little bit! During the two weeks recovery, i completely neglected my skin. It was dry, rosy in places and needed a good boost. Having watched a lot of daytime tv i was interested to try the Liz Earle products, as seen on QVC! They really sold it to me and after some further research of my own i ordered a really sweet little 'try me' kit which included sample sizes of the Cleanse and Polish, Skin Boosting Tonic and Moisturiser. Even after the first use of the trio of products my skin felt and looked considerably better.

Two weeks later and im completely addicted. I have naturally dry skin and these products have rejuvinated my skin like never before. I have a new glow and my skin feels healthy and toned. I would really recommend the Liz Earle Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise trio to anyone with a similar skin type.

Seeing as i absoloutely LOVE the products, i repurchased in full size and as if i didnt love Liz enough, shes sent me another cleanse and polish and a fantastic full size complimentary Sheer Skin Tint. Im in heaven!

Alongside my new found love for all things Liz Earle, i also found a complete bargain in savers! The new St. Tropez Self Tan Milk certainly looks the part in terms of its minimalist packaging but im yet to try it to see how it looks on my skin. Im quite pale in complexion and have sensative skin and when researching with those two issues in mind, this porduct seemed to come up trumps! Cant wait to try it out!

The last two products im going to talk about are high street rather than high end but ive heard good things about Sleek products from youtube sensations Pixiewoo, Tanya Burr and Zoella so i decided to see for myself. 

When i went into superdrug, i was only looking for the contour kit, but i came out with a blusher aswell! Oops... The contour kit really is amazing. I love to excentuate my cheekbones and have been doing so with the Sugarbomb blusher from Benenfit which has some lovely bronze undertones perfect for the summer. With winter coming up though i wanted something without too much shimmer that would look natural and light. I could have used Hoola by Benefit but i find this too dark on my fair complexion so this contour kit in 'light' was the perfect choice. The contour itself is very similar to Laguna from Nars and is really lovely to blend. The highlighter is great too as it has an irredescent property which illuminates the skin without being too noticeable. This product is a revelation to me and was under £10. 

The blusher is beautifully pigmented which is fantastic- theres nothing worse than a wishy washy blusher, however you do need to be careful with how much you apply. I bought 'Pomegranate 923' which is a lovely plummy cerise colour. In hindsight, a coral tone would have suited my skin tone better but each blusher is under £4 so i can afford to experiement!

Ive got my eye on a few things which i want to try next:

1. More Sleek blushers - their palette in Lace looks lovely and their eye palettes.

2. Real techniques Expert Face Brush. Ive got a few of the other brushes by Sm Chapman and ive heard great things about this brush.

3. i-White - Teeth Whitening Strips. These have had great reviews on youtube and i would love a safe, reliable kit to lighten my teeth slightly. NOT Rylan style!

Malham Show 2013

I havent blogged for an absoloute age but i couldnt resist writing about Malham Show. I have been to agricultural shows since i was in a pushchair and i absoloutely love them! The great outdoors, crafts, local providers, young farmers and the livestock judging is fascinating. This year, instead of being a spectator, i took part and entered three categories. 1 A Handmade Object, 2 A Cuchion Cover and 3 Hand made Wedding Favour. I spent three days crafting and produced three pieces i am so pleased with. Getting back into sewing and being creative in general had spurred me on to keep it up!!

I have since given the cushion cover i made to my Mum as it was handstitched with 'Malham' on the front (not much use to me as i live in Beverley!) I'll have to get a photo of that soon! But here is my handmade piece- im going to make lots more and make a wall hanging arrangement or bunting!

This hand made piece was purely for the show, sadly it didnt win any prizes but i love it and i want to continue to make things for our new home! I love the colour combination, the pom poms and the hand stitching.