How Much Does My Party Face Cost?

Hi girlies! No Friday's Letters today! Instead I have a tag for you, which I'm sure you have all seen! However, I'm doing the tag for my going out face, which means using more products and therefore it being a even scarier amount of money!! Hehe! So I do vary from time to time as to what make up I use obviously, but here was me on a night out a couple of weeks ago! Although can I just add I took this photo before I put my mascara on for some strange reason!

And here are the 12 products I used to get this look!

Primer: Benefit The Porefessional - £23.50

Foundation: No 7 Intelligent Colour - £15.50 (Review here)

Concealer: Garnier Anti Dark Circles - £4.99

Blusher: Sleek Blush in Rose Gold - £4.29

Bronzer: GOSH Bronzer - £8.19

Highlighter: Benefit Sun Beam - £18.50 (Review here)

Eyebrows: Benefit Instant Brow Pencil - £14.00

Eye Primer: Benefit Lemon Aid - £16.50

Eye Shadow: Stila In the Garden Palette - £25.00 (Review here)

Mascara: Maybelline Colossal One By One Volume Express - £8.49

Lip Stain: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous - £5.99 (Review here)

Lip Gloss: Accessorize Diamond Sparkle Lip Gloss in Temptation - £3.45

Total: £148.40

Ok so that is not too bad at all!! Although I have to admit that I usually use a lot more high end items than this, so I am quite pleased with that amount! I would usually use a Benefit blusher and a lip tint and then also usually a YSL lip gloss! So if I had used those on this look then I would have been up at the £200's! What do you think of this amount? I am quite pleased it never cost as much as I thought it would!! Have you done this tag for a night time look? Let me know!!

Love, Jen x

My Beauty Sins!

Hi girlies!!

Today I'm writing about my beauty sins!!! Eeek! But I'm sure we all have a few!! I saw this idea over on Rivosoave, which is the blog of lovely Rachael and is a blog I adore! Click here to see her post! Ok so onto my sins! 

Picking/Scratching My Skin

Ok so you all know by now about my Eczema! This completely terrorises my skin! When I scratch I basically rip my skin to shreds and its not nice and it not good!! Honestly I do not know how my skin can just keep healing itself from all my scratching and consequently picking at the scabs! Horrible, I know! It is just so hard to stop and I think knowing how much I am ageing my skin doing this makes it worse! I can't even enjoy the scratch if you get me! At the moment my arms get it the worst, then my neck and tummy are getting it pretty bad too! I think this is probably the worst beauty sin in the world, as you cause so much damage, but it is so hard to stop it! I just wish my skin was like this!!!

Not Removing My Make Up Before Bed

To be honest this is an old sin, but a pretty bad one. As I don't wear make up everyday, this usually applied to special occasions or nights out! This is obviously the worst time to not remove your make up too, as there is a lot of make up on your face!! However since I have bought my This works 5in1 Water Cleanser (review here) it is just so easy to quickly get it all off before I curl up into bed! So I guess this beauty sin has been solved!!

Not Washing My Make Up Brushes

I am so so so bad at this! I just have no time at all!! I know it is just super bad, because there will be so much bacteria in them. Also can I just add I don't own that many brushes either and I really really really want some of the Real Technique's brushes for my Christmas (Robert pay attention!!)! These ones please!! If I get these then I promise I will look after them and wash them regularly!! 

Not Drinking Enough Water

Yup this is bad, bad, bad!!! Is there not a way to make water (just plain water) actually taste nice?!? I mean I just cannot drink tap water, so I always try to buy bottled water. I feel as if I am doing a lot better than what I was. I just know that it is still not enough!! It would be a good day if I actually drank one litre of water! Especially as I have dry skin, water would be extremely good for it, but no I just can't get my brain into thinking "ooo water, more water please!!". Believe me I would like this very much! It would also be a step in the right direction as to getting my skin to look like the top picture!!! Hehe!

Rehydrate my skin!!

No Skin Care Routine

I do think the only reason I don't have one is because of the Eczema (again! I know..), but seriously I am totally scared as to what to use on my skin! I am terrified to change any cream I use just in case my skin gets worse! I would love to be normal and have to cleanse, tone and moisturise and all that jazz, but I just can't do it! I do cleanse my skin every second day or to take off make up, with my This Works cleanser and obviously I moisturise A LOT, but this is with my doctors prescribed moisturisers. That is probably the reason that you will not see a lot of skincare posts or reviews of products, because I am way to terrified to try them!! I bet any money that my skin's age would be probably twice my own because of this, which is again such a super scary thought! I'm going to look like I'm 50 when I'm 25!!! Ahhhhh!

all photos above courtesy of weheartit.com

Not Exercising Enough

Is this a beauty sin? I'm not sure, but any way I am including it! I don't exercise enough, I am lucky enough to have one pretty fast metabolism, which I think is starting to slow down, so I need to get exercising quick stat! I also drive everywhere which doesn't help, but I love driving my car around and to be honest I don't really have anywhere near me that I could walk too! So it is hard trying to get into exercising when one you don't like it and when 2 at the moment you don't necessarily need too!! I would love to start horse riding again ( I have ridden my whole life, but stopped about a year ago), but then this costs at least £20 a week where I stay, so that is pretty expensive, sadly! I should probably start going to the gym, but I would really hate going there and getting out of breath really quickly and also I cannot stand being sweaty!! This makes me want to scratch my skin like crazy and it is such a horrid feeling, that if I did start to scratch I would not be able to stop!! Haha, I don't even own a pair of trainers!!! So yea has anyone got any suggestions of easing into exercising again?

Cheeky photo Robert took when I was riding my Aunt's horse, Beau, a couple of years ago! Hehe! I miss riding so much!!

Do you girls have any beauty sins that you have to confess?! I bet they are not as bad as mine!! Let me know!

Love, Jen x

Funnies!!!

Hi girls! 

I decided that I want to laugh today! So here are some funnies to make you have a giggle too! Enjoy!

Also if you are a cat owner then you will love (and I mean LOVE) Simon's Cat, which is a cartoon created by Simon Toefield and it is hilarious!! Here are some little drawings of his! Check out the videos on Youtube if you want lots of giggles!

Teehee!! Simon's Cat always makes me smile! It is totally how my cats act!! You can find Simon's website here! Hope these funnies made you smile today! 

Love, Jen x

No7 Intelligent Colour Foundation Review

Hi Girls! I have got a review for you today!

I have been using No7's Intelligent Colour Foundation on and off for years now. There is something about it that just keeps making me come back to it! I thought it was about time I reviewed it for you!

What No7 says:

"Ever so clever colour...Take away the guess work with a foundation that adjusts to match the colour of your skin for a sheer, natural finish."

"No7 Intelligent Colour Foundation is velvety soft, easily blended and so amazingly light you'll forget it's even there. With SPF 6 and vitamins A and E to protect and care for your skin, without blocking your pores."

No wonder I have been using it for years!! I really recommend this foundation! If you are looking for something that is light on the skin then this is for you! You do not feel it at all once it is on! I am always worrying about what I put on my face, because of the dry skin I get from my eczema, as I do not want to put something really heavy on that cakes all the dry skin up (lovely I know!), but honestly, I have no worries about this! As it is so light it does not affect dryness at all. 

I would say this is a liquid foundation, but as you are applying it it turns into a more mousse like consistency, which obviously again adds to the lightness of the foundation itself. I would say though that if you are looking for a full coverage, then this probably isn't for you. The coverage of this foundation is as suspected quite sheer. It can be built up to become light to medium coverage if desired though. Although there is a reason that this foundation is sheer and this is the intelligent part! Look at the product below on my hand and remember this is the "liight" colour choice...

Yea I know what you guys are thinking!! Why on earth is she putting that on her face?!?! Haha, do not fear this is a clever foundation! From the photo you can also see the more mousse like consistency I was talking about! This foundation somehow adjusts to my skin tone, so that I do not look like I have a mud face mask on my face!! You can see the photo below that half of the swatch is slightly blended in to show you the foundation at its work!

For a while I did actually use the "medium" colour option and it still worked well on my complexion! Oh and there is only three options for this, light, medium and dark. I think that that does kind of prove that this foundation is magic!! As No7 is not scared to just put three colour options out there, as most people would think that it wouldn't match them! I can guarantee that it will! I don't know how it is able to do what it does, but it works and it actually for me does cover up any imperfections that my skin has, but I don't think that I have a lot of blemishes on my skin, so that is maybe why. Also I might add, that when I use this foundation I only use an under eye concealer, as there is no need for it anywhere else! 

Ok so I will use the photo below as an example as to how great this product is! The left hand side of my face (the side where you can see the pink of my t-shirt) has got the foundation lightly applied to it and the right hand side has nothing except primer. I may also add that the only make up I have on in this photo is eye brow pencil and primer and then obviously the half with the foundation on it!

I guess the only way you can see that I am actually wearing foundation is due to the slight redness of my skin just under my nose and on my chin on the opposite side of my face. I told you that you girls should definitely not be put off by the colour that comes out of the tube! It blends into your skin amazingly and hides any discolouration that shouldn't be there along with it! I feel that when I have put it on slightly heavier that I still get the lightness of applying it, but also a flawless finish with a fresh tone to my skin! I guess when I first put it on my face, I feel as if it hasn't done anything to my skin, but I think it just takes a couple of minutes for the effects to kick in! 

I think this light coverage is great for any skin type too! Obviously I have told you girls it is great for dry skin and not drying it out any more, but also I do not see why it wouldn't be good for combination or even oily skin! I use this all the time and even on nights out, where I am in a really hot hot club and it doesn't move from my face! I obviously do use a good primer though! So this is a must for oily skin! I couldn't recommend this highly enough girls! Let me know if any of you have tried this foundation or in fact any of the other No7 foundations! You can get the Intelligent Colour Foundation at Boots for £15.50!

Love, Jen x

I'm Still A MAC Virgin!!

Hi girls!! 

Yea the title says it all!! After reading blogs for 9 months and having one of my own for 5 months, I still have not got one MAC product! This is not good! MAC could not possible have a bigger hype surrounding it! Seriously all you bloggers, just adore MAC, big time! I really want to know what all this hype is about and I want to know if I am going to love MAC just as much as you girls!! 

However this cherry could be popped oh so easily! The shopping centre, just down the road from me now has a MAC counter in Debenhams!!! Eeeek! This is very good news! However on not so good news, I am on a spending ban, so the likelihood of actually getting my hands on a Mac product until Christmas, is very slim! It has been open for nearly one month now and I went into Debenhams and had a quick peek, as I didn't have much time to look! So to control my MAC urges, I am going to do a wishlist of what I would buy, if I could! So without further a do here is what I would buy from MAC!

One of the things I am most looking forward to is this bad boy:

Yup the Pro palette! I want to start filling one up now! Although at £10 per eye shadow I think that will take me a long long time! But what does it matter for now, this is a wishlist, in my wishes money is no option! So I will show you what colours would definitely be filling this up!

Oh please all be mine one day!! My favourites are probably Tilt, Amber Lights and Jest! I think all these colours are so versatile and a lot of different looks could be made with them all!

Ok so next up would definitely be Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle! What a hype this has got and no wonder! Swoon.....

Then obviously if money was no option then I would have a blush Pro Palette filled too.... Hehe! I love this game!

Ok so now onto the lipsticks...Eeep!

Ok so I controlled myself there... a bit! Now I'm going to choose 3 lipglasses and that's it!!! I chose a Dazzleglass, a Plushglass and a tinted lipglass.

I will not even start on the brushes! I have heard and read so much about them! Although I think at the moment I would probably rather have the Real Techniques brushes, as they are a good quality for a lot cheaper than the MAC ones!! Obviously the wish list could go on and on, but I would be content with those!! Haha! Hopefully I will be getting a voucher for MAC for my Christmas (do they do those?!?!) and I can then lose my MAC virginity at last! Yay! Goodness knows how much all that would cost!! A very scary amount of money!! Haha, but that's a wishlist for you! Do you think I have missed anything out? Or is there any product you would recommend to me? Please let me know!

Love, Jen x

Sunday Song!

Hi girls!!

So I have come up with a little idea, which is called Sunday Song! Basically on Sundays, I will put a video of the song that I'm really loving at the moment to share it to all of you girls! You can tell me what you think of it and if you like it! What I would love you girls to do is also do a little post showing your favourite song of the week and we can then get to know other songs that we may not have heard before! Thus expanding our musical knowledge! Yay! I really love music, so this is an idea I have been harbouring for a while now! Hopefully you girls will want to take part too and leave you responses in the comments! 

Ok so for this week, my favourite song of the moment is a song called Wonderful by Angel. I really love the melodies and then the different beats throughout the song! I really get lost in this song when I listen to it! So yea at the moment I think this is definitely my favourite song to hear on the radio!

So yea, I wonder if the tattoos on his face are real?! Sore much!? Hehe Hope you like this song as much as I do! Feel free to join in, just leave me a little link in the comments, then we can all go and have a look! Just put that little logo at the top on your post along with a link to my blog, so everyone can find out what its all about! Also if you don't want to do a post then leave  a comment telling us what your song of the moment is! I really hope you girls like this idea! Thank you in advance if you take part!

Love, Jen x

Spending Ban Update! #1

Hi girls!!

So as I'm one month into my 6 month spending ban, I thought I would let you all know how I'm doing!! If you want to see where this all started from then click here to see my rules and the reason behind the ban etc!

Well for this month, I would have done very well if it wasn't for the Olympics!!! Man oh man, that was a lot of money spent and probably most on getting there! Who knew fish and chips would cost £8.50 and a bottle of Diet Coke would cost £2.30!!!! Yea a lot of money was spent on juice!!! It wasn't very good in that respect, because it wasn't as if you could bring your own juice in either!! Although you could get free water from fountains, but then who would wait in a humongous queue for water?! So yea the Olympics, I think completely swiped a huge amount of money from both me and Robert. So in that respect, this month didn't go to well in the whole saving money front. I will say though when we weren't at the Olympics, I haven't spent as much as I used to! I feel as if I followed all the rules that I created for myself last month, the only things I have bought have been my Gilly Hicks clothes, which were allowed as I was on holiday, and then uniform for the shop I work in, which is also allowed! 

The only thing that I still need to cut out on is food. I still feel as if Robert and I are spending a lot of money on food, and this is proving to be a very hard habit to beat!!! We eat out all the time and it's not very good for us health wise or money wise!! We are bad!!! We do like takeaways and goodness knows how I stay so slim!! SO this is the only thing that needs sorting! Then I will be able to save much better! Petrol isn't really that big an issue for me as my car is very fuel efficient and I usually only have to fill the tank every two weeks, which is good! I don't mind paying for my car either as it means so much to me to be able to drive when ever and where ever I want.

Also, I have a great secret as to how I keep track on all my spending! My Lilly Pulitzer planner has been helping me huge amounts!! I like to put under every day just how much I have spent so I can then add up how much I have spent that week! Its a great thing to have a diary and to keep track of everything! I have found this extremely helpful and it also makes me more cautious of what I have bought, as I would rather be writing in as small a figure as possible per day! So I am very pleased to have it! If you want to have a wee look at my review on my planner then click here!

I have also been able to put money into my bank account, which has meant saving more too, as we keep a big jar of change in my house that when its full, I'm allowed to keep  the money! SO this has been a bonus for me this month! But it does take a long time counting it out into the little bags in order to take it to the bank! Although this is a very small amount of time to pay in regards as to what your getting out of it!! So I usually enjoy doing it, while watching tv! I hope the jar fills up again quickly!! Hehe!

Is anyone else doing a ban on there spending?! Let me know how you are getting along! I know next month there will be much more savings going on!! Thanks for reading!

Love, Jen x

Friday's Letters #10

Hi girls!! Friday again! How on earth do these weeks go so fast!!? Seriously!! As you all know, everyone should take part in this awesome link up by Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds! 

Dear Desperate Housewives, I am almost finished season 5 and I am so enjoying watching it!!! Does anyone remember Dave?! Trying to kill Kathryn and MJ?! Uhuh well I'm almost there, I'm at the episode when Edie crashes her car and gets electrocuted! Oh what a nice street to live on was Wysteria Lane! Haha, oh but I cannot wait to see the set when I go to Universal Studios in LA!! Dear Robert, how funny was that Tomato Sauce incident on Monday?! Haha! When we were eating dinner and I was trying to put the sauce on my plate, but because the bottle was so full it was only coming out a drip at a time and then you said "oh I can do it!". Well when I said to you do not squeeze it hard as it will explode out of the bottle, why did you not listen to me?! Haha, because obviously two seconds later that's just what happens!!! The tomato sauce goes all over the table, all over his glass, all over me (!!!) and all up the wall!! It was hilarious!! Also funny, because you hate tomato sauce and you had to excuse yourself from the table after cleaning it all up because you had to wash your hands as it was all over them!! Hehe, oh it was so funny! I'm glad we can laugh about it! Dear Tomato Sauce Bottle on Monday, haha! That was such a funny trick you played on Robert, I did tell him it would happen, but he never listened!! Hehe! Dear Sleep, I have been having very strange sleeping patterns at the moment!! I don't like waking up in the middle of the night and them am not able to fall back asleep!! Why do you do this to me and why on earth do I wake up in the first place?! You make me tired in the mornings and that is not good! So behave!! Hehe! Dear Shop, I really am looking forward to getting new uniform, but I really wish you made it cheaper for us workers to buy your clothes, because you are very expensive!!! Please put staff discount back to 75% instead of only 50%, because there is a big difference in price!! Thank you! I will buy a lot more when you change this back!!Dear Readers, thank you for reading my humble little blog! Don't forget to follow, cause then I will love you forever!! Hehe! Thanks :D

Love, Jen x

Benefit Sun Beam Review

Hi girls!

Today I have a review for you! Benefit's Sun Beam highlighter! I bought this back in January, but it only came out in the UK in May, I think. I was cheeky and just had to have it when I saw it on sale in Sephora when I was in Hawaii of all places! 

What Benefit say:

"This golden bronze highlighter gives you a natural, sunkissed radiance. Dot & blend over makeup on to cheek & brow bones for a bronzed glow that complements all skintones. It’s liquid sunshine in a bottle!

What do I think? I love it! It is quite pricey at £18.50, but I am so glad I bought this highlighter! It just gives such a warm radiant glow, that I don't think you would get with paler highlighters (as this is molten gold in colour). I haven't tried either of Benefit's other famous highlighters (High Beam or Moon Beam), but probably will at some point! For now this is definitely my go to highlighter for parties, a night out or special occasions!

The consistency of it is a little bit thicker than a liquid concealer, so it is really easy to work with and blend. One thing is that you should not be scared off by the colour. I'm pale and yet is still works well for me! As you can see from the swatch below , one half has not been blended and the other half has been lightly blended out on my hand, which shows you just how glowing the product is! 

Ok, so now for a how to! Its super easy to use, with the applicator brush just dab a small amount onto the top of your cheekbones and using your ring finger dab upwards towards your hairline making sure you have completely blended out the product. Then on your brow bone using a very small amount apply right under you brow and blend it down right along the bone. It's dead easy! In the next two pictures the only make up I'm wearing is Sun Beam and I also filled in my brows with a brow pencil!

In the photo above you can really see the golden glow it has given me, right at the points where you want to be highlighted!! Also in the photo below, I was on a night out and it is a great photo to show how it looks when I have all my make up done! You can really see the difference it makes on my brow bone and along my cheekbone! I think this product is amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a sun kissed glow!!

Has anyone else tried Sun Beam? What did you think of it? Or have you tried those other highlighters of Benefit, would you recommend them as highly? Let me know!

Love, Jen x

Robert Tells All!!!

My 100th post means a special occasion!!

I actually cannot believe that I have wrote so much on my blog! it seems like only yesterday I started it off!! Crazy!!! So I have got a special post for you!! I asked Robert if he wanted to do a post where he told you girls some more about me that you didn't already know and he said yes (well maybe he was like hmmm, I'm not sure.... and then he said fine ok then!)! Hehe! So just to let you all know Robert always reads every posts, which I really love! Its nice to know that he wants to read about me and what I type on here, as well as all his football and sporty things he reads on the internet!! Ok so without further ado I shall pass you over to my lovely Boyfriend, Robert, who by the way knows me better than anybody!!

I have been asked (well maybe told!) to write a post for Jens blog on the theme of 7 things her followers do not know about her. This has proved quite difficult as for about the last 5 months she has given a blow by blow account of her thoughts, likes and dislikes on this blog. So here goes my attempt to educate you all some more on all things Jen! hope it’s not too poor of an effort or I will never hear the end of it!! Haha!

1. Jen is an aggressive driver and ends up shouting at other motorists from the safety of her car if they get in her way or are being bad drivers! She also drives way too fast and if she was a car then she would definitely be  Lightning McQueen from the Disney Cars film!

2. Jen is a Mcaddict (haha!!) to McDonalds to the extent that I think the highlight of our trip to the Olympic Park for her was getting to eat at the world’s largest one, while mine was to see the Olympic Stadium!! I also think this is a comfort blanket for her when we are away from home, as we always must seek a McDonalds out,  which is not so bad as it keeps the cost of holidays down and I am quite a fussy eater too!!

3. Jen has never cooked me my dinner... We have been going out for nearly four years!!! Although she does like to try and pass off cereal or toast as dinner, but I'm sorry that doesn't count! However I have been treated to breakfast in bed a few times on a Sunday when I don’t need to get up early!

4. Jen has a tweety pie cuddly toy that lives on the bed side table, that she has had since she was a baby!! She took it everywhere as a kid and lets just say that it has had better days!

5. Jen has lead a bit of a sheltered life and is sometimes amazed by the dishonesty of people.  When she started working in her shop in 2009, she realised that shop lifting was a real problem and has come across a good handful of crazies coming in and trying to steal stuff, which probably came as a real shock to her! For the same reason, she also really loves watching  police documentaries, such as Coppers or Police Interceptors, to see some of the crazy people the police have to deal with! Her reactions to these shows are quite amusing!

6. Jen has an obsession with bags!! It’s her favourite thing to buy and to me its kind of her trade mark to always have a big bag with her. She gets upset when I say she's obsessed with them but I only say it because its true!! Also when she does buy a bag, it tends to be quite an expensive one! For example in January she bought one from Fossil, which was £100 (!!!) and then not to mention her many Paul's Boutiques bags, which are not cheap let me tell you! Here are Jen's collection of Paul's Boutique bags!

7. It takes between 2 and 3 hours normally for Jen to get through the process of having a shower. As she has bad skin, it starts from when she basically has to work up the courage to take her shower and then has to put on all her cream after it, followed by waiting fro the cream to dry before she can face up to putting on her clothes and then eventually drying her hair! This means that she really can use the line "I am washing my hair tonight" as an excuse to not wanting to go out!!

I hope you enjoyed finding out a little more about Jen! Thanks for reading, 

Robert

It's Jen again! I just want to say a big thank you to Robert for writing my 100th post! Yay! Well done! So girls what did you think? Did you like this post!? I thought it was a fun way to share more about me through the eyes of Robert! If anyone else does a post like this, then let me know, because I think these kinds of posts are interesting and really funny!!

Love, Jen x