Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year & A Belated Merry Christmas!

Hello lovelies, 

I am very sorry for not posting over the past few weeks. Christmas has been rather busy and I was working throughout as well, but I have today off and so thought I would blog!

Did you all have a nice Christmas? 

Mine this year was lovely as I went home with the fiance over both days and visited family and was quite relaxing. I got some gorgeous presents, my fiance got my a lovely amythyst necklace which is vintage looking but also modern! My parents got me the Cath Kidston sewing box with some books and lots of bits and pieces. My sister got me the Naked 2 pallet and other bits and bobs. I will get around to taking some pictures I promise. 

For now I have popped in some quick i-phone pics... apologies about the quality.


Cute nail varnish set by 17 


Lots of lippy's, and a pretty Cath mirror!


So what are your plans for New Year?

Whatever you do hope you have a great one, and i'll write again next week, promise!

Lauren 
xxx


Monday 12 November 2012

I am still here I promise!

Phew what a hectic few weeks I've had! Sorry I haven't posted in ages but I am back on it now. Firstly I got a job yay, a very proper job as a secretary in a bank! I'm so glad to be earning proper money again, finally feels like I can afford Christmas!

I'm sad that I have to leave the shop behind for a while and concentrate on the online side of the business, which I am hoping to do along side my proper job :-) I shall let you know how it all goes after they decide to keep me on permanently or not.

Secondly, I have moved house. My father in law is building us a new house, so in the meantime I'm living with the in laws in an old Georgian semi. It's quite nice but trying to make it my own, ill try to get some pictures up soon.

Finally my grandma hasn't been very well lately so any spare time I've had I've been visiting my mum and nan.

So all in all its been a busy couple of weeks, money has been tight but getting better, and will do some more product reviews soon.

Are you looking forward to Christmas this year? I know I am, I'll be so glad to have a break and relax with the family. I have started Christmas shopping and are going for more vintage and homemade bits this year.

Speak soon lovelies
Lauren xxx

Friday 19 October 2012

My week + Mini Superdrug Haul

Hey lovelies,

How has everyone been this week? 

It's been a bit of a mad week this week for me. Monday was spent packing up more bits for the house move next week. Tuesday and Wednesday I have been in the shop, but have been so so quiet due I think to the weather mainly so been looking up new bloggers, jobs and interviews galore! 

Yesterday I went to a job interview (fingers crossed people) and decided that as it was a particularly difficult interview I would treat myself to a mini Superdrug haul to cheer myself up. It's not all doom and gloom looking for work!

So here you go.......




In my haul was:
Rimmel Kate Lipstick Matt shade 107 £5.49 (I couldn't find a link for this)
Superdrug were doing the Eyeliner free with the other two so this total was = £16.48!!

I haven't used MUA before, but I have heard tonnes of people raving about it so thought id give it a go. I've been looking for a reasonable brow palette for a while now and this one looks great and reasonable. I'll do a review next week if I get a chance. I have also been looking for "the perfect" wine coloured lipstick for ages, and came across these from Kate Moss. I am reallly excited to try this out tonight for a meal out as it is a matt finish and I don't do gloss very well!

As I said I have been looking for jobs this week and moving/packing stuff for the big house move next week with the in-laws. We are downsizing for 6 months whilst the new house is being built and so that will be very interesting. I will hopefully do some posts next week but i'll have to see how I am doing for time. Looking forward though to a new job/working from home, new home and Halloween. As they say things always come 3 at once and I certainly have had that over the past few weeks. It is quite exciting though but will be requiring a very large drink come this time next week!

Tonight I am really excited as I am meeting up with an old friend and her boyfriend for dinner, I haven't seen her for ages as she moved away for work to Qatar, she is an air hostess. Tomorrow I am working, then seeing my famo tomorrow night, which will be a nice relax, then going to a wedding fair on Sunday :)

What are your plans this weekend? Whatever you do I hope you have a great one.

Lauren 

xxxx




I've Been Nominated for a Liebster Award!

 The lovely Rebecca from Rebecca Recommends has nominated me for a Liebster award and I'm really chuffed, thank you Rebecca, I really appreciate it!

Liebster is German for 'Dearest' which is lovely and the award is for new bloggers with less than 200 followers, as a sign of appreciation and as an encouragement to keep on going!

To accept the award, I had to write down 11 facts about myself and answer 11 questions from Rebecca.

You then pass it on - I've also nominated 5 of my fellow bloggers and asked them some questions below :-)

11 Facts about me

I'm 5"2.
My fiancĂ©s nickname is Rocky. 



I have an English Bull Terrior called Dexter at my in-laws and a ginger cat called Leo at my parents. Look how handsome he is...


I left Uni after the first year to start working, and I still get asked why I did that to this day.
I have size 3 feet.
I love walking outdoors.


I love Marmite.
I hate spiders.
My middle name is Emma.
I consider myself to be sensitive and am quite psychic.
I love a haunted building.




11 Questions from Rebecca:


1. What are your top 3 dreams in life?

  • To have 2 or 3 healthy children.
  • To run a successful vintage business from home.
  • To find fulfilment and happiness in the small things.
2. What are your top 3 fears?

  • Falling down from a really big height.
  • Waking up with spiders on my face.
  • Losing my fiancĂ©.
3. What is your favourite film?

Closer

4. Favorite Autumn recipe?

Spiced pumpkin and butter-nut squash soup.



5.What's at the top of your Christmas list this year?

Cath Kidston sewing box.

6. Favourite book?

Pride and Prejudice.

7. What did you want to be when you were 7?

A school teacher.

8.What inspired you to start your blog?

I wanted a place for all my vintage inspiration, a place to show people how I incorporate vintage stuff into my life and a place to show beauty bits and pieces.

9.What are you proud of?

Deciding to leave a very well paid job, but that I wasn't happy in (and took me 2 and half hours each way to get to work) to start my vintage business, be at home a bit more to enjoy life a bit more. No regrets!

10. What makes you laugh?

My fiancĂ© makes me laugh every day. I know its cheesy but its true!

11. What are you going to dress as for Halloween?

I have no Halloween plans yet! But if I do ill be a vamp!


My Nominations for the Award Are:




These girls all have great blogs, and give me inspiration for vintage posts, make-up and home so check them out! xxx


My 11 Questions to these Bloggers are:

  1. Where was your favourite holiday as a child?
  2. What is your favourite meal?
  3. What is your favourite cocktail?
  4. What scares you? 
  5. What are you doing for Halloween? 
  6. What is your goal for 2013?
  7. Who is your inspiration? 
  8. What makes you laugh? 
  9. What makes you cry?
  10. What inspires you in your blog? 
  11. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would  you go?


Hope you enjoyed the facts about me and well done to those passing this on!

Lauren xxx


Monday 15 October 2012

Autumn Nails

Hey Guys, 

Did you all have a good weekend? 

Saturday night we went out for a yummy Chinese, and I decided to do a autumn inspired nail polish. Nothing too fancy (and I apologise for the bad bad photos, light is just terrible at the moment). First I did two coats of Revlon 570 "Vixen" (£6.49 but Boots are currently offering 3 for 2) followed by one coat of Natural Collection "Black Cherry" then a top coat, Sally Hansen No chip Topcoat

The Revlon polish is a lovely autumn colour, in a great berry shade and you can never go wrong with Revlon colours I think, although I recommend leaving it a good 10 minutes in between coats. The Natural Collection polish isn't particularly great on its own but I teamed it with this Revlon colour as over the top I think it works really well. I have serious OCD about doing two coats of colour, but you could probably get away with doing one of each and then applying the top coat. So what do you think... nothing too fancy but I like it :-)


The Revlon colour is very dark but on the nails comes out a nice berry colour.


They have a nice sheen to them and a slight shimmery colour, as aposed to the Revlon on its own which is a flat colour. I always apply top coat for longevity as I am heavy handed with the cleaning but I hope this lasts all week! Ill let you know.

Hope you have a great week girlies.

Lauren 

xxx






Friday 12 October 2012

Friday Fancies and Some Vintage Buttons

Hey Girlies,

To cheer everyone up I thought I would bring you a "Friday Fancies" post and an update on a few bits and pieces. Today I went for an interview at a lovely tea room near where I live and I really hope I get it so that I can earn some pennies whilst my business is taking off. Wish me luck!

It has been a bit of a strange week, the shop has been majorly quiet so I have been looking around for things to keep me busy, blogging, fairs etc and I am very excited to be at the Rhodes Centre Vintage Event in Bishops Stortford in two weeks time. It looks to be a great event with lots of stalls, make-up and a vintage themed fashion show so hope to see some of you along if you can make it.

I have been packing the house stuff together as well in the evenings and me and Rocky have been doing an insane work out programme to get a bit fit by the end of the year. Apart from that nothing much else to report this week. This weekend we are chilling and tonight I am going to a psychic demonstration evening. As you know by now I am a "trainee" medium and I love any psychic/mediumship events as well as vintage events. I really was born in the wrong era. These events aren't mean't to be scary, the medium will demonstrate the evidence of an afterlife and will give messages to those in the audience. I am a 100% believer that this works due to how spirit speak to me. I love it! Have you ever been to one of these? 

So first on my list of Friday Fancies is vintage buttons....

I bought a few the other day on Ebay and added them to my collection. What do you think?


 The tin already had a few in from my original collection. I recently added them to this biscuit tin from M&S. As you can see the original buttons were all dark and black colours so I wanted to add some new brighter colours in.





These pictures are a selection of a few from the bag. They said there was a 100 buttons in there but I am not too sure, still I couldn't be bothered to count them.
I really like some of the coloured ones and the golden big knot button especially.




I have added them into my collection and the tin is nearly half full :-) I am thinking of lots of ways to add buttons to boring dresses and other Christmassy ideas, if you have any ideas do let me know!


Second on my list of Friday Fancies are a pair of new boots. I struggle every year with boots as my calves are obviously bigger than regular people (I don't even have big calves). Here are a selection that I'd love...

These boots from Oasis are £68. I love that they look warm, have a slight heel and also have a vintage feel to them, I need brown boots as I already have black ones!

These from Clarks are right up my street, vintage looking with a small heel - £69.99





These ones from Pull and Bear are only £39.99 which I think is quite good. I do like Pull and Bear, there isn't one close to me though so may have to go down to London for the day!



Next on the list of Friday Fancies is a dark vampy lipstick as seen here by a Blogger I am loving at the moment Thrift Thick 

1. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in Black Cherry - £7.49 (but Boots are offering 3 for 2)


2. MAC Marylin Monroe Lipstick in Charmed I'm Sure - £15.50. Pricey but worth it.

3. Chanel Rouge Allure in Imitable - £25 Debenhams. A real splurge, probably for Christmas list.



Apart from that I really want to go out for an epic walk this weekend, just to get away from it all and cross off one of my Autumn to do list items. What with the house move it has been a bit stressful so a nice walk will do us well. I love to get outside as it is a real stress reliever and I find it helps me connect to nature.


So what do you have planned this weekend? 

Whatever you do, have a great one!

Lauren 

xxxx






Thursday 11 October 2012

October Glossybox Review and the end of

Dear Readers,

Well lots of people have been saying over the past few weeks on various blogs that Glossybox seems to have gone down hill and that is also my opinion too a little bit so this is my last Glossybox review as I have cancelled my subscription however not to sound completely doom and gloom I am on the look out for another similar type scheme so watch this space :-)



This months Glossybox for me had some Rodial facial products, Vichy moisturiser, Balance Me eye cream, Lady Gaga sample and a tiny bottle of Moroccan Oil treatment.


1. Lady Gaga Perfume. This is actually quite surprising this perfume  it's quite fruity smelling and has a unusual black colour liquid which when you spray comes out clear. I must admit the fragrance has grown on me but I wont be rushing out to buy it.


2. Rodial facial products. I haven't actually used these yet. I'm sure one of them is anti-wrinkle, great thanks Glossybox...


3 + 4. These two products are actually great! The Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream (RRP £20) is really good. I do think that it is a little pricey but I have used various eye creams before and this one is great as it doesn't sting and actually works on my eye area. Would recommend this product but not 100% yet sure whether I'll re purchase it purely on the price.
The facial moisturiser from Vichy is also a very good product. It too I think is a little pricey but it is from their new range of (anti ageing, cough cough Glossybox) and can be found here. It is a good moisturiser as it has hardly any scent and you only need a little bit which goes a long way.



5. Last but not least was this very tiny bottle of Moroccan Oil treatment for hair which even my camera can't focus on. I haven't used this yet.

*sigh* and it was going so well Glossybox. Oh well, I will be on the look out for a similar boxed company products for the future.

Have you had your October Glossybox or other similar company this month? How are your subscriptions going?

Lauren 
xxxx 

How To... Shampoo and Overnight Set Curl Hair

Hey lovelies, 

Today I wanted to write about how I shampoo and set my hair to get the true vintage look in the main photo on my blog and lots of other photos of me on my blog. 

I have naturally curly hair and so the curl does take really well but this works extremely well for dead straight hair people and lasts way longer than any hair tong will ever achieve. I promise.

I know you might be thinking, why would she want to curl her hair anyway then, well with a shampoo and set as you will see below the curl is more of an authentic vintage look in my opinion and is very versatile in what you can do with it. 

I learned a lot of my tips and tricks off You Tube videos and also this lovely blog from Retro Chick and with a little bit of practise (and winging it) I managed to get the look about right so here is how I do it.

Sorry about some of the rubbish pictures, lighting in my bedroom at night is always "mood" lighting as we use electricity saver bulbs, and the flash on my camera is really un flattering. 

Here are the bits and pieces you will need, along with a glass of wine for fun and about 30-45 minutes.

 Some medium sized foam rollers, I got mine for £1 in Savers, a rat tail comb, wide toothed comb, some pins and in the gold bottle I have setting lotion in which I got from Superdrug here. I put the setting lotion in the gold bottle as it is easier to use from a squirty bottle rather than the bottle it comes in. 

1) Yaaay scary picture of me out the shower, you lucky things. (p.s. no idea why I am cupping my boob)
I brush my hair through with the wide tooth comb and do not put any products on. Depending on your hair you may wish to put something on here but I don't as I feel it gives a better curl. This is on roughly towel dried hair.


2) Using the rat tail comb, part your hair. I always part mine a dramatic side parting to give the vintage effect. 


3) Scary eyes, I then spray lots of the setting lotion all over my hair. It is a bit of a granny smell but hey that all adds to the effect I think. Be careful not to get this in your eyes as it stings, from previous experience.


4) I start to use the foam rollers from the front of my head. The top two on the big side of the part are rolled front ways i.e. the hair sits on top of the roller, which ultimately will end up in the fridge/quiff. I do the same for the two side rolls. All of the other rollers I roll away from my face. I do this as my hair is naturally curly so I don't need as much volume.
I can usually get 5 rolls down the parting, then two rows of two either side. My hair is quite fine so you may need more.


5) Now this isn't enough rollers to cover my whole head, plus I am still not used to sleeping in them so the back of my hair I do pin curls. There are hundreds of Youtube videos on how to do these, I am really not that precise and is the part that I really wing so I will demonstrate below.


6) I get about a one inch piece of hair, I don't comb it at all or section it properly (my arms are aching by now) and I use my fingers as if they are the roller then I take the curl off and carry on curling it to my head, then use two pins to secure.



7) As you can see I am really not that precise at all.
I then spritz some more setting lotion on and then blow-dry it slightly all the way over just with the warm and slow option just to get rid of some of the moisture. Then I go bub-byes :-)


And here I am in the morning, with make-up on.



8) In the morning I would give yourself another good half an hour so you don't get stressed too much with this. If all fails, just pin it up which I do very often. So I usually start with the back pin curls as It's slightly easier than having all the front hair to then move to get the back ones out. As I do it I gently tease some of the crispyness out and smell the odour Granny :-) Till I look Like this...


Next I just want to rave about this brush from Kent which I use to brush out the set. This brush is amazing, I use it all the time for either straight looks, or curly looks and it adds shine and I never feel it breaks the hair at all. It has boar bristles in the brush which sounds yuk but let me tell you, you have not used a decent brush until you have used one of these. It is an investment piece at about £8.50 I think, I got it from Boots but I keep it clean and none of the bristles fall out and none of the little studs come off. Its amazing and you should by it now! Plus its lasted me ages, and Made In Britain!!! Ok moving on.



9) So using my super amazing Kent brush I start to brush. This can be a little bit scary but be patient. The brush does all the hard work for you, adding loads of shine and smoothness.


I start to form some curls, and mould the fringe, this hasn't actually got any pins in at all.
When I am happy I do start to pin, and this is the look I went for today.


10) For the back parts of my hair I curl them all under, using my hands to form a bun sort of shape, then pin.



11) For the quiff I also curl under and pin at the front of my face.


12) And here you go the finished look, I also added this pretty pin from Primark (bought ages ago) to add a little something. Then use Elnett hairspray which I buy tonnes of from Savers to keep it in place.



At the end of the day when I am ready for bed, I brush it through again and fall asleep. The next day it is a little easier to manage and I can do much more styles with it. Overall the set will last about 4 days with a bit of clever brushing. 

So I hope this was helpful, let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them. Again I apologise for some of the rubbishy pictures.

Have you ever tried to set your hair? How did it go?

Lauren xxx