Friday 29 April 2011

Inspiretty #85

Well it had to be something Royal wedding related today and how about a funny one...me in the McQueen wedding dress or at least my Stardoll medoll! I think it's so cute that they managed to make a replica outfit already, heehee!

A Right Royal Affair

You won't have heard much about the Royal Wedding from me. It's not that I don't like the Royals or William and Kate in particular, it's just been absolute overkill with tacky TV shows, films, adverts, merchandise, anything you could think of is wedding geared. The final straw came when my anti-virus program asked me to say "I do" to a 'royal wedding' deal! Oh jeez!
It's been manic in the UK and more so at home because this is where the couple first met. My sister works in the town and has had reporters and film crews from around the world in her shop almost every day for the past few weeks just because William shopped there a couple of times!! It's just been crazy. Anyway, I was more interested in what the Beckhams would be wearing rather than Kate-although having just seen her McQueen lace gown (very Grace Kelly), it is gorgeous!
Above, her sister Pippa also in McQueen-not the best photo, but she looks stunning on TV, the dress has buttons running down the back and looks fabulous. Victoria wore her own design (obvi), navy with Daffodile Louboutin platforms and a stunning Philip Treacy hat (a favourite of many of the guests). I thought she looked simple and stunning.
Another gorgeous look was Tara Palmer Tomkinson, not always famed for her good fashion choices. In bright almost cobalt blue, it was very bold and again just stunning.
I also thought Beatrice and Eugenie looked sweet-I like to see what they're wearing as they appear to be two of the more fashion conscious Royals. The images again don't really do them justice.

Thursday 28 April 2011

Inspiretty #84

My fabby new shoes that arrived today, meet the Irregular Choice 'Trixxie'. I loved the print and unusual heel shape when these first came out but they quickly sold out of my size. I was lucky enough to win them on eBay this week and they're even more lovely in the flesh than I expected. Is the heart shape created by the heels a nod to the Royal Wedding tomorrow? Ha ha, not likely, I'm sick fed up of hearing about it!

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Inspiretty #83

Christian Dior or in particular this collection is no stranger to Inspiretty, I've featured a couple of dresses before. I adore the array of colours in this photo as well as the designs themselves. The dizzying, majestic extravagance of it all just amazes me.

Swatches: MAC Cremesheen Glass

I spent yesterday afternoon sorting through my MAC lip collection (the 'before' above). I have all my MAC lipsticks and glosses stored in a shallow box and I love that they are all in one place and I can easily see and select the colours I need. I've just been throwing in my new purchases lately so needed to properly sort them out and also I lost Pink Friday lipstick (gasp) and was praying it was somewhere in the box (thankfully it had fallen behind the box)! I realise I'm nearing the back of the box very rapidly which worries me as I really don't want to have to find another storage place for them all. I've always, always wanted to swatch every single MAC lip product I own (although I know it's a massive task) and so I started with some of the glosses yesterday.
First, I'm looking at Cremesheen Glass which MAC describes as:
"A lip finish that fuses the creamy, sheen-filled nature of Cremesheen Lipstick with the shine of M∙A∙C Lipglass. Soft, comfortable, non-sticky. Use as a top layer to its namesake Lipstick or on its own." Do MAC mean the cremesheen lipsticks and glosses have the same names? Because they don't! Anyway, priced £16 each for a (ridiculously) tiny 2.7g/2.4ml (those long bottles are deceiving), the gloss has a doefoot sponge/wand applicator. I do find the glosses very smooth and creamy and any glitter is micro-shimmer infused throughout rather than larger chunks like in Dazzleglass for example. the bottles are round and longer than the standard lipglass and 'glass' rather than plastic.
Fashion Whim, Fashion Scoop, Boy Bait and Partial To Pink are all permanent shades. Ever So Rich and You've Got It must have been limited edition colours-I mostly buy from the special collections so it's easy to lose track of what's available and what isn't, but certainly these shades are not on the MAC site now. In all of these images the glosses are shown in the same order as the swatches, ESR, FS, PTP, FW, BB and YGI.
Ever So Rich-is a pale milky lilac pink with no shimmer. Swatched it's brighter and leans more towards pink.
Fashion Scoop-described by MAC as 'clear pink', it's a warm pale peachy pink with silver shimmer (remember it's tiny). When swatched the shimmer is incredibly pretty and the colour is slightly deeper than in the tube.
Partial To Pink-'light peach pink', is as MAC describes it, although it's darker than Fashion Scoop. The glitter appears to be gold. It swatches a much brighter, hot coral.
Fashion Whim-'light beige' is a pale beige nude, the shimmer seems even smaller in this and when swatched it's much more orangey toned.
Boy Bait-'light nude' is a slightly darker beige nude again with incredibly small shimmer. It swatches a very deep peach.
You've Got It-is taupe with green shimmer although when swatched it's more brown than taupe.

So do you fancy trying any of these colours or how many Cremesheen Glass glosses do you own? The lipsticks are definitely coming last (there's around 100 I reckon), but which MAC gloss would you like to see next?

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Preview: Vivienne Westwood/Melissa AW11

I'm so excited because the Vivienne Westwood Anglomania & Melissa AW11 shoes are available for pre-order from Hervia now! Yipee! Expected delivery is July and here's all the details.
First up we have the gorgeous Lady Dragon Pom Pom! Yep a freakin' rubber pom pom like my Touche Kouche from Office. Ahhhh! My favourite colour is definitely the peppermint , just awesome! Other colours from top are black, blush and smoke, priced £120.
The bootie is back in plain black £90.
A new style are these cameo flats, £84, the cameo detail is quite delightful, in either vanilla, dove, blush or smoke.
Check out the glittering amazingness of the Lady Dragon hearts this season! All styles feature a metallic heart and the bronze glitter pair are probably my favourite because of the sheer sparkle overload! You can also get pearl with a red heart, red on red or black on black, £120 each.
Another brand new style and pretty fabulous I might add, are the Skyscraper, which has the much loved curved lines of Vivienne Westwood courts. These styles come in flocked fabric and are pretty undetectable as "jelly shoes". I'm not totally convinced of the colours (aside from the black), but I'm sure if they prove popular enough they'll be revamped another season. Black, red or camel £128.
Finally, remember the pirate buckle heels new last season? Well they've been combined with the Ultragirl flats for these swashbuckling beauts! In nautical shades of red, navy or cream, £84. Think you'll be buying any? I certainly want to try the Skyscraper and am lusting after a pair of Lady Dragons with pom poms!

Inspiretty #82

I always feel so uplifted after looking through photos of Nicki Minaj, she's such a bubbly, cute little thing and the colours, oh, always such bright and happy colours! Turquoise and pink together is probably one of my favourite if not the favourite colour combo of mine-just gorgeous!

Monday 25 April 2011

Comparison Swatches: MAC Subculture Lip Pencil

I mentioned my MAC Subculture lip pencil was very similar to others in my collection and here's the evidence. These lip liners are your darker than nude, but not quite dark brown shades. Here's how they compare to Subculture.
*No7 Perfect Lips Liner in 20 Nude is the lightest of the bunch, although I think this was an older version (I can't find a new one-I have tonnes but they are hiding!), it's more of a peachy terracotta.
*Pout Lip Pencil in 32A is now discontinued but it's lighter than MAC and more orangey.
*17 Perfect Pout Lip Liner in In The Buff (again this is an old version-the newer one would be Buff I reckon), it's a duller more brown version than MAC.
*Urban Decay Lip Pencil in Midnight Cowboy is the darkest here along the same shade as 17.
*Estee Lauder Auto Pencil For lips in 21 Fig is much pinker than MAC.
*Hard Candy Get Personal Lip Pencil in LMAO : ) is more orangey brown.

Inspiretty #81

I wasn't 100% sold on the latest Miu Miu collection, however these images of the footwear still make me go weak at the knees! A collective shoe shot always does that!

Saturday 23 April 2011

Comparison Swatches: MAC Plushglass v Too Faced Glamour Gloss

As I said yesterday, I realised which gloss MAC Plushglass reminded me of in my collection, it is of course Too Faced Glamour Gloss (can't believe it took a week for me to figure that out). I love TF GG and have raved about them since I first got them and because Plushglass is so similar, it's obvious I would fall for it's charms too! Both glosses smell exactly the same (like cookie dough or something) and have a glassy sheen, sheer-ish colours and a refreshing, cooling tingling feel on the lips which I adore. The differences other than the packaging (TF has a gorgeous jewel on the lid) are that TF is brush on, MAC has a doefoot applicator. MAC retails for £16 for 4.2ml and surprisingly TF is smaller (although it looks larger) at 3.6ml and costs £15 (the prices have gone up loads on TF lately).
I own three TF Glamour Glosses; from back Sex Pot, Pillow Talk and First Time. My most recent was SP and I nearly didn't buy it because the tester colour looked really bright purple (I think the warm lights had changed all the colours), but you have to remember that they are quite sheer and in reality this gives a lovely colour to the lips-I'm so glad I got it instead of the pale peach I was going for. Unfortunately, I don't know if it's just my Boots, but there are only very few colours to choose from in the UK and honestly I'd buy tonnes more if only we'd get them over here!
Then all my babies together; for more Plushglass swatches see yesterdays post, colours are from back, Ample Pink, Girl ♥ Boy, Sex Pot, Pillow Talk, Bubble Tea, First Time and Wildly Lush.
Considering First Time and Wildly Lush look so alike in the tube, they swatch completely differently. WL is much lighter, goldy and with shimmer, First Time is more peachy in comparison. Pillow Talk and Bubble Tea are also quite alike, PT just has more colour to it and is a little darker. I think at the end of the day it just comes down to preference as to whether you choose MAC or Too Faced, both versions absolutely get the thumbs up from me-will certainly be buying more of both.

Friday 22 April 2011

Inspiretty #80

I finally realised what my Plushglass glosses from MAC smell and feel like, Too Faced Glamour Gloss, the other love of my life!! I've got some gorgeous swatches and comparisons of my little collection coming over the weekend, but here's a little taster. Oooh, gorgeous!

MAC Haul & Swatches

I mentioned that I purchased some more MAC items in order to receive the free mascara they were offering when their website relaunched. I bought a couple of Plushglass glosses from the main line because I'd fallen in love with the one I purchased earlier from Quite Cute. I also got another lip pencil and a lipstick. When my order arrived (so much quicker than Debenhams fyi) I didn't get the mascara. I was calling MAC every name under the sun, considering I'd just spent over £50 on things I didn't need and I had placed so much hope on the rare chance of getting something free from MAC!

I emailed them and never heard back (they still advertised the offer on their site even although it had expired 3 days earlier which irked me even more). Then I got a package through the post one day with my complimentary mascara, so all was forgiven. You redeemed yourself MAC! In the email I'd asked if they still had plenty badges left because I really wanted them for my sister (yet another free offer) and thought I could always order yet another Plushglass from QC to qualify (seeing as I'd already bought everything I wanted from QC and you can't pass up freebies from MAC don't you know!) but of course having not heard back I didn't want to risk having to complain again. Then I realised when you added any QC item, the badges automatically showed up in your basket, so I ordered yet again! Here's all my goodies....
The free Haught & Naughty Mascara (haven't tried it yet), definitely one of the fanciest mascara tubes I've ever owned!
The beautiful Honeylove (matte) lipstick from the permanent line. I happened to have Viva Glam Gaga 2 close to hand so compared them, surprisingly Honeylove was much pinker.
I was a little disappointed with the lipliner. Subculture looks to be your standard brownish nude, like No7 Nude etc and I already have loads like it, I was hoping for something a little more unique and not quite so dark. My search to replace Test Pattern (TP) continues! I've photographed and swatched my other 2 liners, TP and Naked Liner that I bought in the last haul.
(the lipsticks are mislabelled below-sorry)
Two Plushglass glosses-both permanent colours; Wildly Lush is at the front and Ample Pink at the back.
The separate order; Girl ♥ Boy Plushglass from Quite Cute along with the free pins. Really pretty colours and my sis loves them!
All my plushies together! From the front, Wildly Lush, Bubble Tea (Quite Cute), Ample Pink and Girl ♥ Boy (Quite cute). Cannot rave enough about these!
They have a gorgeous glassy, gloss finish.