Your eyes, but sexier! With Benefit World Famous Neutrals

If you’re like me and have every Naked palette known to man, you’ve probably been wearing various shades of nude/brown/grey on your eyes every darn day for the past two years.

So when Benefit brought out their World Famous Neutral's Eyenessa's sexiest nudes ever* palette using beautiful purple shades, I knew I had to try it.

Inside what looks like a little book are four powder shadows, two cream shadows and a leaflet of tips and tricks.

I do love a good set of instructions, so I followed the daytime tips.

Using the champagne shimmer cream shadow – bikini-tini (how cute is this name!) – as a base is a great idea as it gives your powder shadows something to cling to.

Used my Tan in a Can here, looking super bronzed!

Beautiful lilac smokey eye using Benefit's World's Sexiest Neutrals.

Swatchy swatchy.

As I was going for a night out, I used holy smokes! – the grey cream shadow – as a liner to give a bit more definition. I tightlined the upper waterline with a Bourjois felt tip liner and used Avon Supershock Gel liner in Flash (a pearlised pink) on my lower waterline.

This was a really lovely change for me and I think lilac and purple tones suit lots of eye colours, especially brown and hazel eyes.

The World Famous Neutrals do come in two other colourways though: glamorous nudes (gold and peach tones) and easiest nudes (bronze and pinks).

I haven’t used Benefit eyeshadows all that much previously, but I enjoyed using these. The colour payoff wasn’t outstanding, but they were soft, and easy to blend and build.

The bikini-tini is also a pretty good dupe for Chanel’s Emerveille Illusion d’Ombre. The Chanel eyeshadows cost £25 a pop, whereas this whole palette is £23.50 so IMO it’s worth shelling out for.

Have you used any of the other Benefit Neutral palettes?  What do you think of lilac shadows?

Salon Confidential extensions - fake hair don’t care

So last month I shared this photo on my instagram:

Fake hair, don't care.

I got lots of really good feedback about these gorgeous extensions that I was trying out.

When I think extensions immediately my mind turns to WAG, chav, Essex – all not very nice connotations.

But then I think of how extensions would make my thin hair very thick and give me lots more body.

When I was offered the chance to try Salon Confidence* clip-in extensions I cast caution to the wind and went for it.

Inside this little box lie 12 pieces of synthetic hair.  I opted for Volume Wave but there is also Silky Straight and Bouncy Curl.

The 18-inch pieces of hair come in 15 different shades from black to cherry red through blonde, and although I was worried about matching the extensions to my own highlighted mop, it really wasn’t a problem.

I chose golden blonde and it’s a great match to my own hair because there are a few different colours within each weft.

The instructions inside the pack show you exactly where to place each piece of hair.

This is completely foolproof, even for hair novices like me.

Depending on the size of the piece, each weft comes with two or three clips that snap in and out of my own hair easily.

Clips at the top of the extensions.

Because I have really fine hair, I used a thick mousse when blowdrying – such as Lee Stafford Double Blow Dry – and then back-combed a little before placing in each weft.

So this is what my hair normally looks like:

Roughly blow dried.  Emphasis on rough.

And after using the Salon Confidential clip-in hair extension

That pink tinge to my hair is thanks to a Holi colour party.

I wore these to a friend’s engagement party and SO many people said how nice my hair was.  They were really surprised when I told them that those curls were not my own.

The extensions aren’t an awful lot longer than my real hair, so it wasn’t immediately obvious that I was wearing fake locks.

What these do add is thickness to my wispy ends and I am RUBBISH at doing hair, so I would never have got all these gorgeous flicks and turns without a lot of stress and getting a bit sweaty.

And even after a few cokes, these were really easy to remove.  As they’re synthetic there’s very little upkeep needed – brush them out a few times, but mostly I just parcel them up nicely and put them back in their box for next time.

I will add I didn’t use all of the pieces of hair, simply because my own is so thin I was worried about the clips showing through at the back.

But they still looked gorgeous – and are a complete bargain.

Things I would do differently

• I would blow dry my hair smooth.  These extensions are so silky and beautiful, and my own silly hair was being fluffy.  I wish I’d given my own locks a run over with the GHDs before putting the extensions in.

• I would not go to Holi and get my hair semi-permanently dyed pink/blue/green in the colour party. 

These 12 wefts of 18” hair are just £45 and are availableonline here.  I remember looking at half heads in Dublin last year and those being more than double the price.

If you’re pondering extensions but don’t want to spend lots of money on them, these Salon Confidential ones are definitely worth exploring.  

It’s really changed my perception of extensions, and my next project is to try putting my hair up with them.

Have you ever tried extensions?  

BBL Loves NI: Cocktail master class at the Fitzwilliam

April apparently comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, although for BBL, it’s been all lion.

It was a packed oul month that’s seen me travel from Belfast to Newry where I tried on massive diamonds for Style City (read more here) and then back to Belfast where I tried my hand at a spot of bartending.

I’m always a fan of a good cocktail (emphasis on good here, too much fruit juice and sugar syrup does not a happy BBL make) and - lucky me - I learned how to make them all by myself at a cocktail masterclass at the Fitzwilliam Hotel in Belfast.

Greg teaching one group how to make something tasty; pre-cocktail prep.

From the French martini to a mojito, two learned mixologists showed us the ropes of making a mean cocktail. Or three... Or four.

Pro French martini vs my (well sampled) effort; mojito; smoked whiskey sour; star anise.

We were greeted with sparkling wine and canapés and had an absolute blast with the bartenders, who were more than willing to have a good chat with us about cocktails and life in Belfast.

The total highlight of the night for me was discovering the smoked whiskey sour, which I’d had a few years ago in London, and I’d never been able to find a good version of it at home. But ding-ding! The Fitz came good!



With Victoria from The Mirror, Fitz mixologist Greg, lovely Lindy from Smarts, and Jeff of Belfast Times.
I’d like to also add that cocktail shaking is an excellent upper arm workout, so it’s completely your weight-bearing exercise for the day ;)

These master classes are all the rage with hen parties, but it’s also a really lovely way to spend an evening, or afternoon and I’m going to rope in a few friends and try this all over again.

So for the rest of the month... here’s my month in pics!

First row: Happy Holi at Custom House Sq, Belfast; Holi dancers; before the colour party; after.

Second row: neon tees; celebrating my chum's first post-baby night on the tiles; and again, lusting over Rimmel Apocalips.

Third row: photobooth banter at the launch of Bushmills Irish Honey; hanging out at the Oh Yeah centre; cocktails at the Merchant; with my Clarks gals; Spelling Bee at the Mac.

Fourth row: post-Bushmills photobooth; Terri Hooley introducing Good Vibrations at the Strand cinema.

It's been an amazing month, really hoping May can live up to it!

Lidl hand cream and other bargains

Yesterday I had a quick scoot round a few shops and came home with some economical purchases I thought I’d share.
 

L-R Cien SOS hand cream concentrate, Blistex Intensive moisturiser, Gliss Colour Shine Tonic. 

Underneath is a lip stain in Forever Freesia from NYC. It’s not new, I just remembered I had it and love the colour.

The Blistex and Gliss shine spray are things I ALWAYS have – they’re the products I start to get a bit panicky over running out.

I tend to have a tube of the lip balm in every handbag, and the one that lives beside my bed is almost done so it was time to restock.  It’s a great thick conditioner for sad lips and mouth breathers, and it’s cheap so this is an all round good egg.

I posted a while ago about picking up Gliss shine spray in Poundland, and I’m raging to report that I can’t find it in any pound shops.  I paid £3.49 for this in Superdrug.  I have no idea why it’s disappeared, but I’m not amused.  Fingers crossed it will reappear somewhere priced at £1.

 

The Lidl book (stop pretending you don’t love reading this on a Sunday) says Cien SOS hand cream concentrate is every bit as good as Neutrogena, but at less than half the price.

So off I traipsed to the German everything-market where I shelled out £1.25 for 75ml of this.  It’s a really thick balm that absorbs really quickly.

It doesn’t leave my hands feeling greasy or slimy and although I haven’t done the print test yet, I don’t think it’s something that’s going to leave my hands covered in newspaper print.

Once again, it will live beside my bed.  I put it on last night going to bed and it felt like a barrier protecting my hands, but also making any sad rough bits disappear. 

I’m converted!

 

I’ve blogged about the NYC Smooch Proof 16H lip stain beforehere but just a quick note to say I’ve fallen in love with the colour again.

Forever Freesia is a lovely purple/pink and it stays on REALLY well.  Yesterday, I put it on before I went to the gym and I worked out, washed my hair and had dinner and it was STILL on. 

 

And it’s £3.99.

Because it’s a stain, if your lips are a bit raggedy it’s not going to look so nice, so my advice is to prep using the Blistex at night and then colour in with the lipstain. 

Have you any favourite cut price products?

Fake Tan Friday: Tan in a Can review

Now that spring is (allegedly) here, the thought of putting away my thick black tights is giving me the fear.

I’m always on the lookout for a good tan and my latest choice is Tan in a Can* - which does exactly what it says on the tin (can).

It’s an aerosol filled with fake tan that gives an immediate colour thanks to its nifty guide shade, and develops into a deeper tan.

This is about as close to a spray tan in your own home as you’re going to get, and I recommend having someone on hand to do your back.

Because it’s a mist of fake tan it is a bit mess and it’s best to apply this while standing somewhere that wipes clean, like the shower or (as I did) the garage.

Before and after using Tan in a Can.

There is a knack to applying Tan in a Can and these are my tips:

Exfoliate REALLY WELL before using it as that will give the tan an even base to grip to.

Do not shake the aerosol, which goes against the grain a bit, but you don’t need to.

Spray a good 10 inches from your skin, and make gentle, sweeping circle movements.

Don’t panic.  The first time I used Tan in a Can, I sprayed too close and went over the same bits a few times, and it started to run and I was quite stressed BUT I woke up with lovely, even, deep tan.

I think this is quite foolproof to be honest. 

The tan itself doesn’t contain alcohol and has lots of vitamin E, so isn’t drying to your skin.  It lasts really well so you will need to give yourself a scrub to remove it.

It’s a very natural colour, and although it was quite dark for my pasty face, it’s not unlike the shade I would go if I lived in the sunshine 24/7.

You can use this on your face, but for someone with oily skin I wouldn’t recommend that.  If you’ve got dry/normal skin work away, this will look lovely on your face.

Tan in a Can is made by Glotan and is £21.99 for 200ml at glotan.co.uk – it’s really worth a try and I would use it again for sure.