Teeny tiny toiletries

Greetings my small band of followers. I am happily reunited with my laptop after almost three days as I have been experiencing that most exciting rite of passage:  a country house hotel mini break. Despite my advancing years, I have never been on such a trip before. If I holiday in this country, it tends to be in a tent with my best mate. Holidays with the other half have usually been abroad in some sort of 'budget' accommodation, so this was a real treat involving Champagne, a creaky antique wardrobe and the sort of overabundant eating that may now be turning my liver to foie gras.

Anyway, one of the things I love about being away from home is travel toiletries. I have amassed a big collection of these by various means. Some were samples and gifts with purchase from cosmetic counters and online beauty companies. A lot are also due to my need to buy ridiculously uneconomical small bottles of stuff from Boots and Superdrug because awww, they're cute.

Lush locks

I long for thick, lustrous locks. Unfortunately, I have an abundance of fine hair which does a lot of strange things. It has its own natural wave which can be coaxed to a full on curl, but sometimes chooses not to. Likewise, it can be coaxed to a shiny straightness, but sometimes chooses not to. I think you get the idea.

I've never really done much with it, due to its changeable behaviour. I tend to keep it shoulder length, with a half fringe as I also have a cowlick. This way I can tie it back occasionally but mostly I just - ahem - wash and go.

I have to wash it every day becaue it's so fine it looks greasy quickly. I have to wash it each morning because even if I go to bed with a beautifully clean, silky barnet I wake up looking like the lovechild of Tim Burton and Don King.

Jingle jangle jewellery

I love accessories almost as much as make-up. I love a bit of extra colour, texture and/or sparkle about my person and I find it cheering. I like the differences accessorising can make to one item of clothing and I also find it's a fairly cost effective way of buying into new trends if you like them. 

Rouge Bunny Rouge Seas of Illumination highlighters

When I first read about Rouge Bunny Rouge products, I was captivated by the names of the products. Lipglosses called Sweet Excesses and Gleaming Temptations, loose pigments called Fire Drops and eye shadows named for birds such as Delicate Hummingbird and Abyssinian Catbird. I decided I did not want to try any of the products as I couldn't bear it if they did not live up to their magical names. Oh, and I did look at the prices and mentally shriek 'how much?!'

Now, I am not at all shy of spending my cash on quality products. Whether it's a Chanel foundation or a Rimmel mascara, it's results I'm after. In my experience, there are great products to be found in both Superdrug and Selfridges and I'd never ignore either of those options. At the same time, if a new range launches and everything costs twice as much as I'd normally expect to pay, I will research it as thoroughly as I can before waving bye bye to my hard earned de Niros.

GOSH Irresistible Intensity mascara

Whilst perusing the aisles of my local Superdrug this afternoon, I noticed a display of new mascara from GOSH. I love mascara and I only ever buy drugstore brands.There's no way I'm dropping £20 on something from Chanel or Estee Lauder when I'll need to bin it in three months. I am a big fan of Rimmel Sexy Curves. I like buildable mascaras and my eyelashes don't have much natural curl, so I also prefer a mascara to lock the work of my Shu lash curler in place.

Blue flash

I don't wear much make-up at the weekends. Despite my love for it, I prefer my weekend routine to be quite different to that of the week. This means no alarms, no hair dryer, a decent breakfast and no faffing with foundation and blending.

Yesterday's crisp air and blue sky inspired me to wear my new H&M Breton stripe top and try the bright blue pearl paint in my Yaby palette. I defined my brows, washed a silvery grey across my lid and into the crease and then used an angled brush to draw a rough line of the bright blue shade along my lashline. Precision was jettisoned in favour of speed, but I was happy with the final look.


I dotted MAC Select Moisture Cover concealer where needed, dusted E.L.F Complexion Perfection powder over my face and finished with a hint of Bobbi Brown blusher in sandwash pink and a slick of Lipstick Queen 15 minutes of fame gloss (a random colour from 'The Nudes' Christmas gift set).

It took all of ten minutes to do, lasted well and withstood a visit to the supermarket, a trip round TK Maxx and a few afternoon drinks with my bezzie. Poi-fict!

Strange and beautiful

I am one of those people for whom olfactory memories are hugely sentimental. The smell of nutmeg takes me back to the comfort of Saturdays at my nan's house, watching the football results and eating an egg custard tart. Creosote is the buzzing whine of distant lawnmowers and the drowzy heat of our back garden as my brother and I splashed in our paddling pool.

When I first read Perfume by Patrick Suskind, I was overwhelmed by it. I wanted to read and re-read it, to sink myself into its pages. I was drawn to the hideous, murderous Jean-Baptiste Grenouille because his search for the perfect fragrance was so pure, the descriptions so evocative. I loved the idea of having his amazing sense of smell and the skill to create such riot-causingly delicious scents.

Some people will say their favourite smell is cut grass or baking bread, fresh coffee or the top of a baby's head. I like all of those but my favourite smells are rich, loamy earth, rain on hot rocks, wet plaster and the damp sediment of a cave. I cannot get enough of them, they have such a depth and freshness to me.

Fr-eye-day

A hilarious play on words there, I think you'll agree...

It seemed even more difficult than usual to drag my bones from my bed this morning. Then despite a lovely shower using Villainess products (more about them coming up in another post), I still felt sluggish and could muster no enthusiasm for getting ready for work. I wasn't sure what to do regarding make-up and then I decided to use my new Yaby palette for inspiration.

Yaby and OCC - first impressions

There are a number of brands not readily available in the UK that I have developed an urge to try. Possibly some of that is the psychological effect of thinking you can't have something so you want it even more. Certainly a lot is to do with following blogs, usually based in the US, where I can read reviews and see photos of certain products in action.

When I first went to New York, I took with me a little black notebook into which I'd transferred the details of recommended places to eat, things to do and the addresses of all the branches of Sephora and Ricky's in Manhattan. I also developed an obsession with Duane Reade and CVS pharmacies and lugged home a huge amount of beauty products.

As soon as I hear a friend is NY bound, I will hopefully press small pieces of paper into their hands, detailing products I would like them to bring back for me if they are able  - bottles of Mattesse or OPI for Sephora nail polish, Kat von D palettes from Sephora, Fresh Supernova mascara and false lashes from Ricky's.

Amazing Face

I harbour desires to be a make-up artist and have done a few bits and bobs in my spare time. I've done wedding make-up for a few friends, glitzy evening looks, tutorials on every day natural looks and even a specially tailored lesson for some young girls just getting into make-up.

This is the lovely Sarah:

 

 I did Sarah's wedding make-up a few years ago and she must have liked it because for her last birthday, she asked if I would do her make-up again and show her how to do a daytime look and then a smokey look for going out in the evening.

Club inspiration - FOTD

Like a lot of people interested in make-up, I am a huge fan of Pixiwoo's make-up tutorials and get a real thrill each time one shows up in my subscriptions. These talented make-up artist sisters have shown me quick looks for every day, glitzy looks for a night out, recreated screen siren and celebrity looks and pushed the envelope with some edgier or more flamboyant faces. I can't recommend them enough.

After watching a video the other day on using MAC's Club eyeshadow, I decided to try it this morning as a quick way to get made up before work.

Valentine's love

When it comes to matters of the heart, I am steadfast and true, a fact Mr Glamoured is (I hope!) pleased about. However, when it comes to make-up, clothes, jewellery and other personal embellishments, I am a fickle pickle. Perhaps I am a marketer's dream, though I usually research purchases and like to think of myself as discerning. I just like to acquire new things as I get bored easily and so enjoy the variety.

So, for Valentine's day I thought I'd show you some recent entries into my affections...

Optimus Primer and FOTD

After Thursday's woefully shiny face of the (end of the) day, I decided on Friday to A) remember to photograph it in the morning and B) remember to use a primer to see if it made any difference.

While I was at uni, I had a job at home during the holidays at a Harvester-style pub down the road. I did waitressing and bar work but my favourite was in the kitchen. To my mind chef's whites are one of the few ways you can practically wear pajamas to your place of work. It was a hot and steamy atmosphere, but unfortunately not because the rest of the kitchen staff looked like George Clooney. It was more to do with the massive steak griddle, the humungous pots of veg on the stoves and the halogen heat lamps at the pass. I really enjoyed it, but I spent most of the time looking like a sweaty tomato.

At least I had a good excuse. Nowadays when I come home from my catering-free work environment, I still seem to look like I've been slinging Surf 'n' Turfs all day and my make-up has slid off. The eyes are usually okay, thanks to Urban Decay's Primer Potion, but the cheeks, chin and forehead tell a different story.

They're only noodles, Michael

Though I've set this blog up with the intention of writing about make-up and beauty in the main, I'm also going to write some other bits and bobs. I like to hold court on a wide range of topics, so where better to indulge myself than here?

Let's kick off then with something that combines my love of 80s film and vampires...

Bright night

I had a night out with a friend a couple of weeks ago and I'd recently received an order I'd placed for some Stars Makeup Haven eyeshadows. I wanted to try out some of the bright colours and see how well they showed up on my lids, as well as test blendability.

I've heard a lot about SMH and when I found I could buy them for just £3.25 each, I thought I'd give them a go. I'll do a fuller post on them at some point, but here's a pic of the look I did that night.

I know I look grumpy, but my face just seems to do that when I concentrate!

Shine on - FOTD

Ooops, I fully intended to take a photo of my make-up this morning, but time somehow got away from me. Unfortunately, this means a photo at the end of a long day, after nearly 12 hours of wear. Not the best first impression on my clean new blog, but I have to start somewhere.

Today, I went for a neutral look:

I've cropped the photo to remove some of the glare from my unpowdered forehead, but I'm afraid it's still in its full glory on my nose.

Slap happy - intro

Welcome to Glamoured, my new place to chunter on about face paints. I  love make-up. I love buying it, wearing it, putting it on other people, becoming a personal shopper for it, watching YouTube tutorials, hauls and reviews about it and reading other people's blogs about it. I like lots of other things too, but make-up has been my 'thing' since I was about four and I discovered my mum's Constance Carroll roll-on lipglosses in her make-up collection (a black vanity case which she kept under the bed).

I used to watch my mum put her make-up on for work or when she was going out in the evening. This was in the 1980s, so her rollerball lipglosss, blue and/or green shimmer eyeshadow and stripes of blusher were often accompanied by a glamorous boilersuit (oxymoron?) or sequinned boob tube, plaited leather headband and scarily high stilettos. It may not have been classic, but I was head-over-heels for it.

Then when I stayed with my nan and grandad in the summer holidays, my nan would let me sort through her make-up, lotions and potions. I remember a solid, heavy, powder compact of blue enamel and gold metal. Its contents were beautifully perfumed and buttery-smooth to the touch. A bottle of blue setting lotion, a coral lipstick and always a bottle of Oil of Ulay (the name change was still years away). She would let me 'zhuzsh' her up and would also indulge my hobby of concocting face creams and perfume out of cold cream, cucumbers, water and rose petals. She was a gem.

Fast forward to 2010 and my make-up love is as strong as ever. This has serious ramifications for my bank balance, but what can I say - it's my thing.

I intend to use this space to write about products I like, looks I like, maybe post some pictures of willing victims who'll let me at them with my brush roll and who knows what else.