Friday 26 September 2008

Changes to MAC delivery

I'm very pleased to tell you about some changes to the MAC delivery options. The standard delivery price has dropped from £4 to a reasonable £2.95 and all orders over £50 will automatically qualify for free standard shipping (wow, think how much money I could've saved over the years!). You can also pick named day delivery for £4.95, next-day delivery is £6.50 (orders placed before 12 noon) and £8 for next-morning. Saturday delivery is also available for £10.50.

Monday 22 September 2008

Red Carpet @ The Emmys

It was the Emmy awards last night. So here's a little look at who caught my on the red-carpet.

Christina Applegate said on her red-carpet look "I'm wearing a pretty dress and lipstick, which is something I haven't done for two months". As many know she has recently battled breast cancer and has (very bravely) done so under the scrutiny of the public eye. This was her first big appearance since and she looked fantastic. The icy blue and gold one-shouldered dress, huge colourful earrings, blood red lipstick, dark nails, pink ring (love it) and slightly severe hair shouldn't work, but somehow Christina looks gloriously glam and comfortable in this outfit. I think it's her confidence in liking what she is wearing that comes through. Definitely one of the stars of the night.

No, no, no Jennifer Love Hewitt, what were you thinking? What happened to the cute personality and vintage style you do so well in Ghost Whisperer? This is like a flashback to the 90's when Sarah Michelle Gellar and JLH (the girls of the moment) wore slightly dodgy outfits, with even dodgier hair. This is like a wedding dress gone wrong, with strange frayed edges. She has a great figure, so why hide it in this gown? And her hair is a mess, seriously, awful.

There was a mixed reaction to host Heidi Klum in her Armani Prive outfit. I'm pretty undecided myself, although I admit I'm leaning more towards liking it. I think the beautiful pewter shade is subtle enough to stop this fussy layered gown and cape from being 'too much'. Heidi always opts for the most beautiful accessories too, check out the size of that ring and butterfly earrings!


I think America Ferrera is just lovely, her sweet inner Betty just seems to shine through, even when she's out of character. She somehow manages to pull of this awkward length dress, that could've looked like a puffy bin-bag on someone else. I like her lace court shoes and I know pointy toes are coming back in fashion, but I'm not overly keen on that shape and don't think they look right with this style of dress. She wore a beautiful necklace and carried a very simple (but cute) satin clutch perfectly accessorized with short dark nails.

Similarily, Eva Longoria Parker wore (waaay too) pointed silver courts with her beaded mini-dress. I think strappy sandals or peep-toes would've looked a lot better. Overall I think her look was a little harsh. The black eyeshadow, snakeskin clutch and then the dress with the beading, fringing, ombre, bow etc etc was just too much for her little frame and although I didn't hate it (lets face it, she'd look great in a bin-liner), it just didn't work for me.
Marcia Cross without a doubt wore my favourite outfit. This is the type of fairytale glamour I love. The nude coloured dress worked with her porcelain skin as it was a dirty, slightly darker tone. The floral detail and cinched in waist were adorable and the sandals were spot-on for this look. Marcia also wore dark nails (definitely the theme at the Emmys) and her sparkly ring and clutch looked great.

(images celebutopia)

No7 Haul Pics

Did I tell you about the lovely new Autumn range of cosmetics at No7? Well, I ended up buying the Dramatic Eyes Palette and Lip & Cheek Tint Pencil in Vamp. The palette comes in a faux leather, snakeskin style purple compact, with large mirror in the lid. The eyeshadow is of fabulous quality, definitely the best No7 palette I've ever had. The colours are velvety soft and so pigmented, they are really rich shades as you can see from the image below.

The lip pencil comes in 3 colours, the gold was very sheer, the red turned pink on me, so I settled for the purple one. The purple box is in the same style as the eye palette and the pencil itself has a purple snakeskin print on it, there is also a sharpener included in the box. I swatched the pencil to show you, it comes out quite brownish on the skin. I expected it to be more of a stain, but it's very light. I think it would be too greasy for use on the cheeks, but it's nice on the lips, although it needs frequent touching up and would maybe benefit from a balm underneath.

Thursday 11 September 2008

20% off at Faith

Receive 20% off at Faith online with the code COSLUVSHOES08, visit 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty for more great offers. Offer valid until 12th October.

Office do handbags

Keeping on the shoe/bag theme. Office have started a little range of handbags. I really like this vintage looking metal bag (£30). I used to own a similar style, which was actually supposed to hold pot pourri but I thought that was a terrible waste and used it as a tiny bag instead. It probably wouldn't hold much, but hey it looks pretty. I also like this kitsch patent lip number (£15).

Irregular Choice Bags

Lately, I've noticed a lot of fashion mags claiming you shouldn't ever match your handbag to your footwear. I must say most of the time I don't (I tend to like to clash them on purpose), however I have no problem with matching, especially if they look like this.

I would quite honestly sell my soul for these Irregular Choice sets. The floral Abigail's Party boots have really grown on me. I already own the pink/blue striped ones and they are extremely flattering and comfortable too. I wasn't sure about the clashing orange and purple colour choice initially, but seeing them in person, they are really quite cute. I adore the bag though, with the little bow on the front and now feel it's urgent I buy them both!

Who couldn't like these pretty teddy court shoes? The cortesan style is an old faithful from IC and I own a few pairs, they make your feet look tiny! The clutch is absolutely adorable. The little frill, the flying teddy with bunny ears brooch, just perfect. I think if IC made clutches like these for every pair of shoes, I'd be more broke than I am already. You can buy all these styles at Schuh (online and instore), bags cost £29.99 and the floral boots £64.99, teddy courts £59.99. There's also a matching clutch for the fruity cortesan style, although I'm not so keen on them.

Free Next Day Delivery at ASOS

Purchase boots with any order at ASOS today between 12pm-2pm and receive free next day delivery with that order. Just enter the code BOOTS in the discount box.

Wednesday 10 September 2008

Free No7 Eye Palette

Look out for the new Extreme Length mascara by No7 at Boots (£11.50). It claims to give long fluttering lashes without clumping and comes with a free smokey eye palette (shown above) just now. There are also new Limited Edition All Over Face Powder (below, £10.50) and Lip Gloss (bottom, £6.50) with a portion of proceeds from each sale going to Breast Cancer Care.

Thursday 4 September 2008

Cult of Cherry Haul

Cult of Cherry and Overrich from MAC have both launched today. I'm usually very organised with a list of what I'd like from each collection, but this time I just decided as I went along.

Overrich is a range of pigments, so I passed on these. Karlasugar rates them very highly though and apparently their quality in comparison to the usual pigments is excellent.

From CoC, I quite liked the Shadowy Lady eyeshadow quad, but I'm cutting down on buying eyeshadow as I just don't use them enough. I did order some lipsticks, Creme Cerise (sheer yellow taupe), Lightly Ripe (sheer mid-tone pink), both Lustre which I try to avoid for lack of colour, but the swatches seem to show them as quite pigmented. I also got the unusual O (intense purplish red with metallic golden shimmer), a frost lipstick. I tend to buy just nudes from MAC, so I'll see how I get on with these. The darker Mattene lipsticks I decided against. They look great for autumn, but I already own quite a few dark lipsticks and when you don't use them everyday it isn't worth buying more.

I also had to pick up the luscious looking Jampacked lipglass (sheer grape wth multi dimensional pearl) which really does look like homemade jam. Cherry Blossom (sheer light pink with multi dimensional pearl) is gorgeous but only for those who don't already own Fafi Sugar Trance. They are almost identical, so unless you need a backup, I wouldn't buy expecting a huge difference. I also got Liqueur (neutral brownish mauve with multi dimensional pearl), which I'm hoping comes out more mauve than brown.

There's also gorgeous nail polishes in super cute shades which did tempt me and two blushes too. This is my first order since Cool Heat, so I picked up Talent Pool and Smoke & Diamonds eyeshadows too from Starflash. Remember I was to-ing and fro-ing over which to buy when they came out? Talent Pool was definitely my fave and I'd forgotten to tell you about SD, which I think may be undupe-able kind of like Mothbrown. The others I decided I could dupe. I also qualified for free shipping, as I was spending over £50 (no code needed). I'm not sure how long this offer will last.

Tuesday 2 September 2008

National Glamour Week

It's Glamour magazine 'National Glamour Week' starting today. As usual there are lots of exciting offers, so here's a rundown of where you can save (please note some offers may require purchasing the magazine (September issue, Keira Knightley on cover), others can be used online).

20% off at Wallis (Tuesday 2nd), instore using magazine voucher or online at wallis.co.uk using code WLGLAM

20% off at Dorothy Perkins (Wednesday 3rd), instore using mag voucher or online at dorothyperkins.com/glamour

20% off at Warehouse (Thursday 4th), instore using mag voucher or online at warehouse.co.uk with code GLAMOUR08

20% off at Oasis (Friday 5th) instore using mag voucher or online at Oasis-stores.com with code GLAMOUR08

20% off at ASOS (Mon 1st-Sun 7th), visit asos.com and enter code ASOSGLAMOUR

20% off at Office (Mon 1st-Sun 7th), instore only with magazine voucher

20% off at The Body Shop (Mon 1st-Sun 7th) instore with mag voucher or online at thebodyshop.co.uk using code DHAD000157

There are also offers using the magazine vouchers for 2 for 1 on main courses at Strada, a free cocktail at The Living Room, and 25% off haircuts at essensuals.