EOTD: Naked

Hello, hola, bonjour. 

So, our lack of posts has been a major downfall for the blog, but we're starting uni again so that means new OOTD's and regular posts (during free time obvs)!

The other night we were bored and started experimenting with the Urban Decay Naked Palette. 

What came out was this merge of gold, grey and black, which looks pretty substantial and wearable. For the black in the outer corner we used MAC Carbon and a glittery black from a Chanel quad. 

The redeye was because I made her my canvas at midnight, nothing else. 

Ciao for now! 

xo

River Island Girls

In the middle of summer, we were both lucky enough to be offered a placement at the River Island Chelsea House Head Office in London. And here we are now, blogging from our department, woven tops, probably the hardest department to work for.

We've been here now for a week and it is nothing of what we expected, little did we know we'd be doing the same work as our mentors. (We thought we'd be running for tea, folding fabric and coutning buttons). We were thrown into the deep end on our first day and were given product samples and Ledgers (the greatest form of admin in the fashion industry) to work on.

We were lucky enough to shadow one of the buyers at a live fit session (with a perfect size 12 model) where potential items sent by suppliers would be put into the range. The buyer stretches, tightens, prods and pokes the model to get the perfect fit and dictates to the garment tech for a new sample to be made, and the cycle starts again.

The buying team at River Island is the don of all in this company. Everyone else supports them! We still have a week left in this fast, cut-throat job, where to rise to the top you HAVE to be the best!

We're alive!!

No, we havn't fallen off the face of the earth, we've just been busy with life! 

But we're back with OOTD/FOTD and hauls! And posts about our internships at River Island HQ!

xox

Erm...

Apologies for the lack of posts or even the lack of activity the past few weeks. Exams have rolled out and summer has rolled in, which means hello sun, sand, sea and sleep - (I say as it's 02:09am Eastern time).

We're both away at the moment in Portugal and Canada, but readily awaiting to share some purchases from sistering countries! Toronto is absolutely amazing city, I'd say one of the worlds best kept secrets which could in fact be on par with NY when it comes to the culture, activities and attractions. 

I leave you with a panoramic view from my friend Alannas apartment overlooking the city, (yes I took this)! 

Haul videos from Europe and North America to follow!

Make-up storage!!!

Ok so Meera and I have been so busy with exams etc and havent managed to write new blogs!

Anyway I recently moved back from uni and found that i now have twice as many clothes, shoes, bags and makeup...looking for a place to put everything is a nightmare! My makeup had been placed in containers in my bed side drawers and its literally ridiculous at how much more i have bought, so i thought thats it something needs to be done! I came across this website called "Muji" through some you-tubers and found some really good storage! They have an American website and a UK one too. I saw these arylic storage boxes which look like glass and are really practical to organise your lipsticks, eyeshadows/ liners and foundation. I purchased the acrylic box- 2 drawers wide which are £10.95 each, and you can fit a lot more in, they also have the arcylic box 2 drawers in narrow too which are £7.95, if you dont have a lot of make-up to store away!

Here's what they look like

I purchased four of the 2 drawers and stacked on on top of the other. I absouletely love them! i can fit all my makeup in the drawers perfectly and sort them accordingly, all eyeshadows in one draw, all lipgloss in another and so on. I have put up some more pictures of how ive organised my makeup so you can get some ideas if your really stuck!!

I also have a lot of brushes which were originally kept in a brush bag, but to be honest i thought it was such an effort to slot them back in its place after i used them, so i decided to get a brush holder! Now i was searching online for a decent sized one which would hold all my brushes in. I did see one from ELF comsetics and was tempted to but two one for fac brushes and another for eye brushes. However, I thought i'd be a bit more creative and find something that i could actually personalise myself, so on my trip to ikea i found in the gardening section two glass rectangle vases and found some black sand to go into them to stick my brushes through!

 

 I found some old beaded bracelets which I cut up and used the beads to decorate the sand with. Not too sure if the vases are on their website but they had a load in Ikea for around £3.00 from what i can remember! 

Thanks to Muji and Ikea my makeup has a storage place and my desk looks tidier! Ha! Anyway Ciao for now girlies!! xoxoxox

ELF Haul!

We've ordered from ELF a countless number of times, yet every time we are always pleasantly surprised at what's inside the box. 

This time we took advantage of Elf's "20% off on orders over £10" that they were promoting over their Facebook Page. 

The first thing we got was the studio Blush Brush for £3.50. It's much smaller than the Mac 129 Blush brush but that's why we like it so much. It fits easily in your hand for application of blush or even bronzer. It picks up just the right amount of product, so you won't be looking like a clown. Kaisha also uses this to apply liquid/cream foundation, and she insists its amazing. The low flat shape of the brush makes the application of foundation smooth and easy. The soft fluffly taklon bristles really buffs in the foundation well, and gives a great flawless, natural finish. 

The Mineral Infused Face Primer at £6.00, was a must for us to get, as we needed an inexpensive alternative to the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. It is developed for oily skin, to reduce the appearance of pores, fine lines etc etc. 

The consistency is almost a dupe for the Smashbox primer, except it is clear. It comes with 14g worth of product, enough to try out and give a full review later on. 

Translucent Matifying Powder. I added this solely for the purpose of keeping it in my bag since I dropped my Mac Blot Powder whilst away on holiday, and didn't have the heart to throw away the product until it was used up. Also, £3.50? Yes please.

(Cue embarrassing photo now)...

Anyway, back to business. This stuff is great for shine control and oily skin. It doesn't cake dry areas of the skin and the "translucent" colour blends well with our skin tones. It comes with 3.8g of product, a exceptionally large mirror and small application sponge (which isn't the best for application, it picks too much up). Yes, you only get a little, but much isn't needed for a few strokes across the t-zone.

The final product is the Warm bronzing powder. For £3.50, its worth a try. From first look, nice warm colours, a play on the Bobbi Brown shimmer brick perhaps and the right amount of shimmer for a healthy glow. The highlighter (lightest shade) looks the same as Mac shell creme colour base when applied, just a matte version. Perhaps the colours used as an eyeshadow could work also, under Mac Indianwood paintpot. 

All these products are part of the Studio Range priced from £3.50 and comes in the Nars-esque packaging. The standard delivery was good and arrived a day after dispatch. Sometimes you think, cheap products = crap quality, but the value is great! 

Elf can be ordered online here, and use the code HALFGLOSS for 50% off the Super Glossy Lip Shines on orders over £10. 

lots of love

Next Model Competition 2011 - Vote for KAISHA!

Everyone, I have entered Kaisha into the Next Model Competition!

Please vote for her!!

xox

Fruity Fashion

So I don't understand why every summer the fashion moguls come out with the craziest trends. 

This summer, fashion has gone bananas. 

Prints this summer are serving up our 5-a-day of fruits and vegetables. 

Stella McCartney presented a theme of fruitful frocks which have walked from the runway into high street stores. I'm not too sure if an awkwardly cut midi dress is ideal, but these finds from our favourite high street stores, however insane they look, are cute! 

River Island have come out with this turquoise pineapple print tie shirt. Yea, the quirky print is cute, who doesn't like a pineapple with sunglasses? 

Box t-shirts are cute and River Island have cleverly played up the preppy footballer style t-shirt with the fruit cocktail print. I think this is the most subtle way to buy into the trend without looking like a 

fruit salad!

This is my favourite top from Pull and Bear. They've cleverly adopted the theme and incorporated it with their usual style of graphic t-shirts. The little tie in the corner is a cute detail! 

Or for those of us who don't have the 'fruit bowls' to pull off something so bold, this is the perfect accessory! Accessorizes Tuti Fruity Charm bracelet.

The mini stone encrusted fruit charms stand out against the gold chain. 

How cute is the little strawberry? 

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15

Everyone is accustomed with the Smashbox range and especially their primers. The Smashbox Photo Finish SPF 15 primer works one: as a primer and two: as a sun protectant. So, you could say this is a 'win' product for spring/summer, as that's the time when most of us lighten up on foundation. 

The primer contains Dermaxyl Complex which reduces the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines (I don't have any wrinkles, so this novelty doen't interest me).

I like the fact that it comes with a pump which is hygienic and also means you can control the amount of product which comes out. A small pea size covers the whole face, so I suppose the 30ml bottle will last a very long time. 

As all primers, you will have to wait a few minutes before actually applying your foundation or you can even wear this bare on the face after applying moisturiser. During the summer, I recommend using this primer under a tinted moisturiser to kick start sun protection. Concealer and liquid foundation go on smoothly and last a whole working day. This primer is one to be used under mineral makeup, even thought some may promote they have SPF in their powders, it doesn't mean a dusting of powder will adequately protect your skin from the sun. 

As far as I know, the only place to purchase Smashbox in the UK  at a store at Debenhams.
You can also get it from QVC, where I ordered mine for around £27, and from Amazon.

Review: 'L'Agent' by Agent Provocateur

L'Agent by Agent Provocateur is a lush, dark, mysterious rosey scent with jasmine and tuberose, woods and amber, incense and musk. The packaging follows the same convention for the Agent Provocateur brand. The soft pink colour that fades into a grey at the bottom. This has to be the most polarising perfume I own; people either love it or hate it. You won't find no loud sweet fruity notes or any greenery in this bottle - probably a reason for why I'm not a big fan of it. 

Review: 'Gaultier 2' by Jean Paul Gaultier

I am a massive fan of fragrances, and for me it's always exciting discovering new and different fragrances. I   was bored of my Lady Million, Dior Cherie and Hypnotic Poison perfumes and needed something new! I came across a boxed Gaultier 2 by Jean Paul Gaultier in my mums draw. This perfume was released way back in 2005. I'm a huge fan of Classique (the bottle shaped like a female body) so I stole this from her. 

Gaultier 2 has heavy vanilla, amber and musk notes that is so unique, meaning it can be used for any occasion. I believe this was aimed at being a unisex fragrance as it isn't so "florally" or too "musky". 

However, saying that, the bottle/packaging is still extremely masculine but it is a very comforting scent, soft and sexy! Intensely modern and sophisticated, especially for a woman to pull off. The only thing I don't buy into is the novelty of the magnetic bottles. I love the smell but I prefer it as a 'winter warmer' type of perfume, something for the cold winter days.