It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas !

Oh my! With Halloween done and the stores already dressed up in baubles and tinsel, I swear it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I become crazily excited getting Harris' gifts that I almost pass out with pleasure. Just as good is squirreling them away in the dark recesses of my cupboards, then snatching stealthy hours to wrap and set them out for when he wakes on on Christmas morning... it's the best BEST thing ever! 

Added to that, my guilty pleasure: Christmas songs and Chris Rea's husky voice on repeat with Driving Home for Christmas ... .

What's the 1 thing you love most about Christmas? And what's your favourite Christmas song?

Happy Halloween with Darth Vadar

Halloween came to Little Hands Montessori with lots of spooky shenanigans on Friday 31 October.

Harris (Darth Vadar) and his motley crew of vampires, bats, ladybugs, fairies, princesses, skeletons, pirates, Bob the Builder and all manner of ghoulish characters celebrated the occasion with great gusto and lots of sugary sweet tric-a-treating.

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Makeup on the Run - under 3 minutes!!!

How to go from Blah to Bombshell in just 3 minutes, using just 3 drugstore products.

 

It’s 8am and you’ve got to be at work in exactly 30 minutes and instead you’re staring at a tired bare face sorely in need of makeup.
What to do?! EEEEEKKK!

Right! Take a deep breath and stay calm. Help is at hand (I think)

I’m going to let you in on what I do. It’s not perfect by any means and I cheat a bit by doubling up on one of the products but hey, it gets the job done, and all in under 3 minutes!

 STEP 1.

 

Using my Garnier BB Cream (Combination to Oily Skin) in colour - medium

I draw a ‘triangle’ under each eye and BLEND.

Dab a dot on each eyelid and BLEND.

Dab another dot on my upper lip and BLEND.

(I only use BB Cream on my problem areas i.e. undereye circles, eyelid, upper lip)

 STEP 2.

 

Using my Yardley Supermoist Lipstick in Cranberry Crème

I slick some on my lips.

Draw little x’s on the apple of each cheek and BLEND for a natural blush.

 STEP 3.

Using my Loreal Volume Million Lashes Excess Mascara

I liberally coat my lashes. 

 Then just a quick fluff of my hair, and VOILA I’m ready to step out! 

All in under 3 minutes!

If you dont want it then you better TAKE THE RING OFF IT

5 months since my divorce … and I’m still wearing my engagement ring.

The wedding band’s long ago been chucked to some long forgotten drawer. That happened almost two years back when we first separated and honestly I don’t know where it is. About the same time, I moved my engagement ring to my right hand and it’s stayed there. All well and good …

BUT … we’ve been divorced for 5 months and … It’s. Still. There.

And lately I’ve been wondering about that.

Here’s what started all the wondering. A couple of weeks back I got sucked into having a smokey eye done at one of those pop-up makeup kiosks in Cavendish Square. My cheeky makeup artist when surveying her handiwork at the end of my makeover said, ‘baby, hubby gonna luuuurve you tonight!’. Straightaway I said ‘I’m not married, I’m divorced’.

To which my paragon of wisdom, planting her talons on her skinny-ass hips says, “why you still wearing his ring hmm?!” and I sputtered out something along the lines of ‘cos I can, it’s mine and I still think its really pretty.’ Well she fixed me with an eye something awful and pursing her nude glossed lips said “long’s you wearing dat ring baby, you pushin all dem good men away.” And … well … I couldn’t think of a single comeback, so I just laughed it off and quickly got us onto a safer topic.

But see I am still wearing the ring. And for the life of me… I don’t really know why. Do I want him back? No. Do I still love him? No. If there was a chance in hell at a reunion, would I still want to be married to him? Heck no.   

… so what’s the holdup?

How to Highlight & Contour for a sexy sculpted look ♥

Hello me lovelies!

So I thought I'd show you how I highlight and contour in 4 easy - peasy steps for the super sexiest sculpted look!

As you know, I'm no pro. I'm all about easy-peasy. I've made a religion about doing what's easiest for me, takes the least amount of time, and uses the least amount of products (JUST 4 PRODUCTS). So if you like the sound of that, then you're gonna love this!

Let's Get Started!

1 - Foundation: 

I apply it all over my face including my eyelids. I use MAC Matchmaster foundation in NC40. Use whatever you have handy.

2 - Contour:

I suck in my cheeks until I look like a fish, and dipping my finger into a darker shade of foundation, MAC NC50 (use whatever you have as long as its 3 or 4 shades darker than your regular foundation. Bronzer works great too), I follow the shape of my cheekbones, and trace a line from under the apple of my cheek to my ear. I use the same shade to draw 2 thin lines along the sides of my nose to sculpt it, and along my jaw line. And then I BLEND LIKE MAD (seriously blend like mad) until all the dark lines are smoothed away.

3 - Highlight: 

Hahahahaaaaa how funny isn't this pic?! Using my Clinique Airbrush Concealer I draw a triangle from under each eye to the sides of my nose, a long flat triangle between my brows, a thin straight line down the centre of my nose, and another line down the centre of my chin. And then once again I blend, blend, blend.

4 - Blush: 

I like doubling up my favourite Yardley Supermoist Lipstick in Cranberry Creme, as a blush. You can use whichever blush you have. I slick some on my lips, and then draw little x's on the apples of my cheeks and .... yip you guessed it... Blend!

And OHHHHHMYGOD!!!!

CHECK OUT YOUR NEW OUTRAGEOUSLY SEXY CHEEKBONES! 
 

See...  told you it was easy! You could do this with your eyes shut!

Now go out there and wreck havoc, you super sexy sculpted goddess you!

♥♥

Amiena

What does your Makeup Bag say about YOU?

I LOVE Makeup. This is my Makeup Bag. It is filled with life's absolute necessities. And I LOVE it.

I've always had one. A makeup bag I mean...  When we were really young my mum got my sister and I Tinkerbell makeup kits - lipstick, powder, nail varnish and scent. And there began my undoing ... I was ruined. For life. And happily so.

Friends and family noticed and nicknamed me Miss Tinkerbell. So very very apt. They knew then already that it would become the altar at which I worshipped. 

 Life's absolute necessities: Foundation and concealer for sweet unblemished skin, blush to kiss dimpled cheeks,  khol and mascara for languid eyes, red lipstick to accentuate a pretty pout, and delicate scents to leave a lasting impression.

 

To the uninitiated my makeup bag may seem like just another humble makeup bag, but to me it is my saviour. My go-to when I'm bored, sad, excited or tired, the answer to all my questions, my elixir and bestfriend. I know that once I've had a taste of its contents I'll emerge happy, my world set to right and all conquering again.

 

So here's what I got to wondering: What does YOUR makeup bag say about you?  

 

How to get your hair growing FAST - a true story

THIS WORKS and I can personally vouch for it!

See I have super curly hair. So curly I'd call it kinky. And naturally all i ever desired was straight hair. Blah blah blah.... Totally unachievable.

And then one day ... a miracle. One day the world introduced me to a ceramic hair straightener. Oh yearning beating heart. We became instant bestfriends, would allow nothing to part us, travelled the world together and she saw me through  partying days, single days, married days, pregnant days and now back to single days again - Straight hair. Wavy hair. Beach hair. Locks. Volume. Every type of hair and hairstyle that a neurotic ego centric girl could ever desire.

Only ... great hair came with a great price. The intense heat needed to straighten my poor little hairs was simultaneously singeing and stunting the growth of same poor little hairs. Result: A very straight but very thinning head of hair...

All hope seemed lost and I seemed destined to spend the rest of my days hiding beneath a hair piece until another hair revolution occured. This time in the shape of the Brazilian Blowout. A treatment which temporarily straightens my hair by sealing liquid keratin and a preservative solution into my hair shaft with a flat iron. Mine lasts about 4 months.

And here's what's so great about it. I have no need WHATSOVER to use a flat iron for those 4 months. No flat iron = no intense heat which = no singeing or stunting of hair growth.

Result: My hair grew 4 inches in just three months. Added bonus - it grew thicker too. I now have lots and lots of new hair growth and those areas of my scalp which once shone through a sparse foliage have now sprouted healthy hair follicles. In a word - Hair Heaven.

These days I dont have to do much at all with my hair. A quick massage before I shampoo, then a comb through with a wide toothed comb and leave it to dry naturally. Ta daaaaaaa! Perfection. And NO heat.

So if like me you have curly hair but want long straight healthy hair. Get a Brazilian and never use heat on it ever again! Mark my words, your hair'll be so happy it'll start growing and shining like never before.

... and the self obsessed girl lived happily ever after.

The End :)