Birthday Merch Haul

My Godbrother, Sister and her Boyfriend Matt brought me two shirts from Sideshow Familia, My tattooist Mike's Clothing Line and then I treated myself to a very rude vest when I went to see The Used on Saturday. If you are easily offended please dont look at the final image.

Familia Shirt - Excuse the unironed shirt!

 The Familia Shirt can be purchased as a standard Tee £20 like the one above or a vest £15 and they come in both black and white.

The Amazing Bettie Vest - I spy Make-up on the neck naughty me!

Bettie in more detail

 Like the Familia Shirt the Bettie vest come in both black and white and is available as a standard Tee as well. Tee £20 Vest £15

The Used Shirt

The Used Don't Give a F*ck about Sh*t can be purchased on their UK tour dates for £20 or at their store for $29.99

The Dirty Thirties Have Commenced!

As some of you may know it was my 30th on 19th April which plays a little part in the complete lack of posting. I spent the actual day with my Best Friend George and got reasonably drunk. I got some amazing presents including clothes, money, make-up (of course), amazing Tarina Tarantino earrings and a fabulous Wonder Woman mug.

Amazing earrings that I cannot wear as my sister forgot I have tunnels!

Amazing Wonder Woman mug from Ruby and James... We all know my fellow geek James chose this HA!

My amazing shirt from Sideshow Familia, I will post a better picture in my Merch Haul Post.

So, the birthday night in with George involved bottles of rose and pint glasses, I totally blame George haha. We spent the night eating pizza, taking millions of pictures and random videos, of which you lovely people will not be seeing as they involve me singing to myself!

Friday was a chill day, luckily I didn't feel too bad just really tired and i needed to conserve my energy for my party on the Saturday.

Saturday was an amazing evening, even though a lot of people pulled out at the last minute, the most important people where with me and I had a date too so not all bad. We started at my favourite pub in Brighton, The Fountain head where manager Kathryn, had reserved us a few tables and then the drinking commenced. We then moved onto The Haunt, my favourite dancing spot as on a Saturday night its always 80's night. Myself George and my date Dave were the last ones standing getting home at 5.30am.... I know, I know, dirty stop out, but I had such an amazing time and got a birthday kiss so I cant moan really can i? Although, unfortunately, we wont be seeing each other again as much as I would have liked too.

I then hibernated for the week, feeling quite sorry for myself but then Saturday 28th arrived and what a day that was, but you can read more about that in a separate post a little later on, for now i will leave you with some birthday snaps.

How the actual birthday started

What happens after a few too many!

George took advantage and took bum pictures whilst i crawled into the kitchen Haha

George and I ready to party

My gorgeous bestie George ready to party his ass off.

Still sober!

The Sister and the Godbrother

Not so sober!

George, Dave and Dave's Friend Simon

Darcy the nutter

Dave, Me (really not sober now!) Darcy and George

Dave attempting to eat my sister

Lizard Tongue Girl, Her super powers are to lick people with her incredible tongue haha

Ems xo

Lush's Animal Testing Campaign

Did Lush take it too far? or do you think they should be applauded for this in your face spectacle?

Ems xo

Review: My Top Three Highend Make-up Removers

Dermalogica Ultra Calming Cleanser £25.50

I have been using this product for years. It's a fairly thick gel, that manages to remove even the most stubborn mascara. It leaves the skin feeling extremely soft and supple, with actually no need to apply moisturiser.

What dermalogica say: "An extremely gentle cleansing gel/cream that can either be rinsed off or gently removed with tissue or The Sponge Cloth. Helps combat skin sensitivity caused by exposure to pollution, harsh climate, irritating cosmetic products and other environmental influences. Contains no artificial fragrance or color."

I love this product even more because it is great for my eczema, doesn't create an itchy flair up and certainly doesn't clog the pores. I tend to use this product as a gel with a cotton pad with no rinsing afterwards.

Living Nature Gental Makeup Remover £12.75*

I spent 10 days using this product and it really does do what it says on the bottle. Its oil free, fragrance free and extremely gentle, especially around the eye area. It removed the thickest layer of mascara effortlessly.

What Living Nature say:

"Gentle Makeup Remover is a highly effective but extra-gentle cleanser to instantly soften and remove makeup. It’s non-drying and skin-calming formulation is a soothing infusion of cleansing Kumerahou, hydrating Harakeke Flax Gel, and nourishing Active Manuka Honey. Eyebright and Witchhazel extracts are natural anti-inflammatories and skin conditioners, to soothe the skin.

Ideal for the delicate eye area, Gentle Makeup Remover is fragrance and allergen free, making it suitable for sensitive skin.

To use: Apply to warm damp cotton pad and gently wipe away all traces of makeup.

For all skin types, especially sensitive skin."

Yet again, this product doesn't cause an eczema flair up and doesn't make my skin more dry, unlike a lot of removers which strip the natural oils from the skin.

Arbonne Eye Makeup Remover £13*

Now, this product is specific for the eyes, however I did find it gentle enough to use all over the face. I used this product for a full 10 days, mostly on just the eye area, but I did want to experiment to see if it was ok on the other areas of the face.

Arbonne don't say very much about their product only that its, "Oil-free formula gently removes stubborn eye makeup while conditioning and moisturizing eyelids and lashes." Personally that statement is enough, because this product is super amazing. 

You need the smallest amount to remove eye makeup and it melts mascara off like butter. This product does have a very slight alcohol smell but not in the slightest overpowering. I had to literally sit and really sniff my hand to see if it smelt. 

When using this product on other areas of the face it was again gentle enough not to cause my skin to flair up.

* denotes pr sample. All views are my own.

And The Winner Is......

Thank you so much to everyone that entered the double liptar giveaway! 

I am pleased to announce that Gaby won and this was determined by Random.org

Congratulations Gaby I have emailed you for your address details :)

Ems xo

Giveaway: Less Than 24 Hours Left To Enter

Confused at how I am nearly 30!

Well its less than 24 hours until I turn 30 and one of you lucky readers wins two amazing Liptars! If you haven't already entered this is your last chance to do so.

Entries will only be accepted until 00.01 GMT so get entering here.

Ems xo

Reminiscing: IMATS 2011 and Pursebuzz Interview

After a brief chat with the lovely Elessa AKA Pursebuzz on twitter this weekend I have been looking through the pictures from working with The Make-up Artist Boutique at IMATS 2011. I had forgotten the interview Elessa did with me and looking back now I am fabulously cringetastic (I hate being on film)

I thought I would share some of the pictures from that amazing time and the cringe worthy interview with the amazing Elessa.

I appear at 8 mins 51 seconds and looking back now you can really see how much weight I have lost since then, I also love that I am reppin' my Linkin Park Shirt which is now huge :(

With the lovely Elessa

With the amazing Mary-Jane and Deborah AKA Dvoradivine

One of my icons Mr Kevin James Bennett

OCC's Katie Pellegrino

With Deb again

Finally the Legend that is David Klasfeld

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane :)

Ems xo

Off Topic - Internet Dating: Yay or Nay?

A few months ago I decided to plunge into the world of Internet dating because seriously dating is a pain in the bum! You cant meet a nice guy in a pub or club these days it just doesn't happen (oh dear I sound old) I joined Plenty of Fish initially for a laugh but its turned into a full time job in itself!

I am not blowing my own trumpet because a lot of the emails I get are from weirdos or people that I am just not interested in dating but, in the last week I have counted that I have actually replied to more than 200 emails! 

Can you really find a nice decent guy? So far only one that I would have dated unfortunately he turned out to be a player, yes there are lots of them too!

Is it worth the time and effort? In my case possibly because meeting guys here is hard, like I said you just don't meet a guy that's wanting to form a relationship in a club or a pub.

My family are actually very supportive my mum does say she cant see how I have had to resort to doing it but that's because Mum is bias and thinks her daughters are the most beautiful things to walk the planet! Mum wake up its not true!!

I kind of wanted to post about this because there does seem to still be a big issue with Internet dating, people still think its weird and unsafe. There are weirdos on there but on the whole I have encountered really nice guys but most of them live miles away.

At this current moment I think all that I could get out of it is a few more friends, but I still have hope I wont be single for much longer because its getting boring to be honest and I would like kids one day!

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my middle of the night/early morning lack of sleep random post! What do you think about Internet dating? Would you do it?

Ems xo

The New Givency Very Irrésistible Ad Campaign

Finally the stunning Liv Tyler follows in Daddy's footsteps for the release of Very Irrésistible Givenchy Electric Rose. In the new ad Liv performs part of the INXS classic I Need you Tonight, the performance and style of the campaign being extrememly rock chick but not losing the beauty of the orignal Givenchy ads that we know and love.

Viral video by ebuzzing

What do you think? Ems xo

Review: Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

Is Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Worth All The Hype? Hell Yes!

What Liz Earle say about one of their best selling and award winning cleanser:

We only make one cleanser because this formulation is the ultimate in concentrated yet gentle cleansing power and works on every age and skin type.

Our plant based cleanser has a two-phase action, phase one is the cleansing. Free from mineral oil, it has a rich and creamy texture and swiftly removes all traces of face and eye make up, even stubborn mascara.

Phase two is the polishing. Polish off the cream using the pure muslin cloth to gently dislodge dead skin cells and help reveal clean, soft and radiant skin.

Naturally active ingredients include eucalyptus and cocoa butter for smoother, clearer skin.

As many of you already know I have awful dryness on my skin so, finding a product that helps keep that at bay is a chore for me to be honest. I have been using a conventional exfoliator for some time but it never completely eliminated the dryness, and that's where this baby comes in. 

The cleanser is a rather luxurious thick cream that smells divine (we know I love a great smelling product) On my first application I used two pumps which was way too much, you only need one! You massage the cream all over the face including your eyes and then take to your face with the muslin cloth, heated with hand hot water. The muslin cloth really does polish the face, removing all traces of dirt and left behind make-up.

I wasn't really expecting instant results as I am always a little sceptical with skincare however, instant results is just what I got. My skin was so smooth no traces of dryness or flakiness but instead radiant, smooth as a baby's bottom skin. 

I have since used this product everyday in the morning for 10 days applying my favourite moisturiser after and I have to say I am completely in love! It will be very, very hard to beat this product.

You can purchase this product on the Liz Earle website where the prices range from £5.50 to £35.25. The £5.50 is a trial set and comes with 1 muslin cloth and a 30ml tube so, its great for those wanting to try it without having to purchase the bigger sets although, I am pretty sure once you do try it you will be going back for more!

Have you tired it? let me know what you think

Ems xo

pr sample all views my own

Pai Skincare Giveaway!

You will remember recently I reviewed Pai Skincare's Geranium and Thistle Moisturiser well Pai are currently doing a Giveaway with each order.

If you head over to their site and fill your basket with the goodies you fancy and enter the code "SPRINGSKIN" (closing date not mentioned) at checkout then you will receive a mini Comfrey & Calendula Body Creams with your order.

What Pai say about their Comfrey & Calendula Body Cream:

An intensely hydrating and therapeutic cream formulated for sensitive or allergy-prone skin.
The anti-inflammatory properties of calendula and the healing powers of comfrey soothe and regenerate aggravated and dehydrated skin.
Additional plant oils and butters replenish lost moisture while the essential fatty acids in echium help to promote skin suppleness.
Free from alcohol, artificial fragrance, synthetic preservatives and petrochemicals.

If the body cream is as yummy as the moisturiser then you are in for a treat. 

Remember to drop me a comment telling me what your views are on their products as I would love to hear.

Ems xo

Follower Giveaway 10 days Left!

As most of you are aware I am running a Giveaway sponsored by The Make-up Artist Boutique where the lucky winner will win Digitalis and Pretty Boy Liptar's from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.

You have 10 days left to enter so if you haven't already head over to the original post to see how you can enter.

The Giveaway closes at Midnight GMT on 19th April and the winner will be announced on 20th April.

Good Luck

Ems xo

FOTD - Sultry Summer Glow

The last few days I have felt really summery so I warmed up my skin slightly for a look thats perfect for a summer evening out. When you are as pale as I am there is a fine line between slight tan and Orange I think it worked out just right!

Products used:

Face:

OCC Primer

Sephora Tinted Moisturiser - Medium 26 Peach

Yaby Concealer CC011 Burdock

YSL Touche Eclait No.1

MAC Glimmershimmer in Sweet and Shy

Smashbox Fusion Eyes and Cheek Palette - All cheek colours used

Yaby Loose Setting Powder 

Eyes:

Benefit Smokin eyes palette - All colours used including Brow wax

Smashbox HyperLash Mascara in Blackout*

Loreal Studio Secrets liner - Black 590

Lips:

MacTinted Lip Moisturiser in Strobeblossom 

* items marked with an asterisk are PR samples