Get Those Summer Feet!

Hi My Beauties,

Summer is (hopefully) on its way and time to break out those filp flops and sandals, If you are anything like me and suffer with dry skin this time of year can be a right pain. I am gonna give you some tips that I follow to reduce the dryness on my feet and keep them as soft as I can.

1. Have a lovely bath or foot spa, I always opt for a bubble bath my current favourite is Imperial Leather Jasmine Spa (£1.59) I soak in the bath with some tunes for at least 30 minutes.

2. Once out of the bath I use a ped egg (£9.99) all over the bottoms of my feet where i get the most dry, I always use the ped egg whilst my feet are still wet as this aids with the dry skin coming off.


3. I cover my feet with a thick layer of Ahava Dermud Intensive foot cream* (£18.00) or Scholl Dry Skin Instant Recovery Cream (£4.99) (Full review coming soon) all over my feet and then put on some thick socks.

4. I leave the socks on over night so that my feet absorb the cream leaving them lovely and soft.

5. I choose a nail polish and make my nails look pretty, in my case the skin around the nails gets made pretty too cause I'm awful at painting nails. I am currently sporting Illamasqua Scorch (£14.50)

5. To keep my feet soft and free from dryness I apply a thin coat of the favoured foot cream all over my feet daily.

There you have it my 5 steps to soft and silky feet which takes no time at all and its a great way to pamper yourself :)

If you have any other tips leave them in the comments as I am sure we would all love to hear them

Disclaimer: I am a member of Bzzagent.co.uk and they supplied me with the Scholl foot cream  to try, anyone can become a Bzzagent and get the opportunity to try out new products check out their website for more info :)

Halloween FOTD Series - Two Faced

Products used:

Snazzaroo Facepaint in White, Black and Red
Myface Cosmetics Foundation in Fair 03
Benefit 10 used to contour and highlight
Benefit Dandelion
Benefit BADgal Liner
Sugarpill Bulletproof
Sugarpill Goldilux
Hi Brow 24 Hour Brow Powder
Illamasqua Precission Ink in Abyss
Catrice Mascara (more details to follow)
Lets Go Lashes (more details to follow)

EOTD - Poisoned Pastels

Products used:

elf Eyelid Primer

Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge (Fundamental Palette) used as Highlight

Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Bedaub (Fundamental Palette) used all over the lid

Sugarpill Poison Plum Eyeshadow used in the crease and outer corner

Illamasqua Precision Ink Liner in Abyss

Illamasqua Masquara in Raven

elf Cream Eyeliner used on water line

Hi Brow by La La 24hr Brow Powder in  Dark Brown used lightly on Brows

Images really don't do this look justice I really need to get a new camera and I should point out that unless I post a look on Instagram I don't retouch any of my pictures.

A Note From Co-founder of Illamasqua

Yesterday I got the following lovely email from Co-founder of Illamasqua Julian Knapson and I wanted to share it with you all because the ethics behind this amazing company are truly outstanding and long may they continue to run this way!

A thank you from the founder of Illamasqua  In the world of make-up, mass marketing does all the talking. So why am I taking the trouble to write you this personal letter? It’s because Illamasqua is a brand that, I believe, is as much yours as it is mine. And you deserve to know more about the business you helped build.  Illamasqua is unlike any other big beauty brand that has ever been created. We’re proud that our approach to business is almost Victorian in its thinking. In only three short years we have created a brand new fashion icon, but with good old-fashioned values of fairness, strong principles and a hard work ethic. We’ve built a global brand, but with the commitment and pureness of a family-business.  In the beginning we were faced with a choice. We could invest all our money in creating a great product, or spend the majority of our money on marketing and a fraction on product. Without any hesitation we chose to invest everything into our product. We did this for two reasons.  1. We wanted to create a premium product that would be bought and bought again (A poor product only sells once). 2. We identified, before anyone else, that by embracing the community of bloggers and by making our brand and ourselves accessible through social media channels, we could establish a genuinely strong relationship with our customers that was far more effective than any multi million pound ad campaign.  This decision to reject convention is still, I believe, one of our most fundamental. This is what makes us different from the other shallow beauty brands. It’s also what makes you different from other beauty customers – because when you bought Illamasqua, you did so without it being sold to you. You ignored the make-up industry’s billions. Rejected their multi-million pound advertising campaigns and dominance of the beauty halls. Turned away from their glitzy advertisements and celebrity endorsements deals. You judged the product for yourself. You bought it because you believed in it. And you spread the good word of Illamasqua.  Today, many industry commentators hail us as the fastest growing British cosmetics brand in years. This is all because you blogged, tweeted, emailed and evangelised. It’s thanks to you that we can refuse to be like everybody else. We refuse to pay for celebrity endorsements - preferring people to wear our products because they want to, not because they’re paid to. It’s a brave stand to take in an industry where celebrity deals are the norm. But we’ve never done anything normal, and it’s a decision that has paid off. Especially when celebrities who have deals with other brands choose to wear our products instead.  We also refuse to allow our retailers to overlook our more creative colours by only stocking our best sellers. We refuse to use animal hair in our brushes even though it affects the levels of stock we are able to produce, and as such affects our earnings. But we refuse to abandon our principles, even when they cost us money. And we refuse to play the industry’s games, the best example of which is to tell women of a certain age that their time of colourful self-expression is over - that now they must choose to use ‘age-fighting’ products and beige, matt make-up.  To us, hiding your age is like hiding your true identity, and we find it as deplorable as the unthinkable idea of telling you, our customers what to look like. So it won’t come as a surprise when I tell you that our latest campaign features older models. Why? Because Illamasqua is not just make-up for the skin. It’s make-up for a mind-set.  The reason why we can make such stands is because of our independence. Unlike 99% of cosmetics brands, we are not owned by the big beauty cartels. So we see our selves as the ‘David’ to their ‘Goliath’. We expose the industry’s shameful tactics and throw them right back in their face.  We’re proud of what we have created – the make-up, and a whole new book of rules. And you should be proud too – your part in Illamasqua’s success and our continued challenge to the beauty cartels is vital. What we’ve achieved together is unprecedented in this industry. Before Illamasqua, to launch a successful beauty brand you needed either 100 million pounds or 25 years to establish yourself. It also helps to be French. We had none of these things. But what we did have was the best product on the market and an understanding of how to speak to you, our consumer and, most importantly, how to listen. So please continue to spread our story, because it’s your story too. This letter isn’t asking you to part with your friend’s email addresses. Just tell someone about our journey. Over a drink. At dinner. On your way to work. Thank you for being part of our journey so far, and walking this road with us. Thank you, for being Illamasqua. I’ll be writing to you again soon. In the meantime, if you have anything you’d like to talk to me about you can. Drop me a line at Juliank@illamasqua.com. Or follow me on twitter at @JulianKynaston Sincerely yours,

JMK

Founder and Joint MD, Illamasqua

EOTD - Over The Rainbow

Products used from right to left:

Sugarpill Tako

Sugarpill Love +

Sugarpill Flamepoint

Sugarpill Buttercupcake and Yaby Candypop

Yaby Club Green

Yaby Tropical Dream

Sugarpill Poison Plum

Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow All over the lid as a base

Illamasqua Precission Ink in Abyss

Illamasqua Masquara in Raven

Rimmel Brow Pencil

MAC Khol Pencil in Smolder 

FOTD - Let The Flames Begin

Face:

Bare Esentuals Original SPF15 Foundation* in Fair used lightly over cheeks and to conceal my nasty breakout around my mouth and chin.

YSL Touche Eclait No 1

Smashbox Fusion Eyes and Cheek Palette - Peach Colour Used on the cheeks as a blush, the Bronze as a contour and the champange as a highlighter.

Eyes:

ELF Eyelid Primer in Pearl

MAC Khol Pencil in Smolder as a Base

Sugarpill Bulletproof and Flamepoint Pressed Shadows

MAC Vanilla used as Highlight

Lets Go Lashes in Flirt*

Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow used lightly on the brows

Illamasqua Masquara in Raven 

ELF Black Cream Liner in Black on Water line

Lips:

MUD lipstick in Mudslide lightly patted onto lips 

YSL Touche Eclait No 1 lightly applied and blended over the top

Loreal Studio Secrets Lip Pencil in 022 Pink lightly applied all over the lip and blended with my finger. 
* items marked with an asterisk are PR samples

Instagram makes everything look stunning :)

 

FOTD - Rock Chick

Products Used:

Face -

Sephora Tinted Moisturiser in 20 Medium Peach

YSL Touche Eclait No 1

Catrice Cosmetics Greenwich Blush from The London Collection Palette

MUD Rose Beige as a Contour

Eyes - 

ELF Black Cream Eyeliner

MAC Vanilla Eyeshadow

Sugarpill Eyeshadow in Poison Plum

Sugarpill ChromaLust Loose Eyeshadow in Stella and Hysteric

Illamasqua Masquara in Raven

Lips - 

Loreal Studio Secrets Lip Pencil in 022 Pink

Loreal Studio Secrets Lip Gloss in 410

Illamasqua Naked Strangers Collection

For those of you not already aware Illamasqua launched their new nail varnish's from the upcoming Naked Strangers Collection on 23rd exclusively to their online registered customers.

I personally am very excited about this new mini collection as the colours are perfect for summer.

The collection includes:

Nail Varnish (£13.50)

Monogamous - creamy flesh pink

Faithful - coppered metal

Swinger - glistening platinum gold

Lipglosses (£13.00)

Intense Lipgloss in Stranger - platinum gold

Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy - nude pink brown

Blushers (£16.50)

Powder Blusher in Naked Rose - neutral beige brown

Cream Blusher in Zygomatic - naked pink brown

The full collection is due to hit stores on 31st May

The Birthday Treat - The Used Meet and Greet and Illamasqua Haul

I meant to post this sometime ago but, it had to go on the back burner as the last few weeks have been incredibly busy with Hospital appointments and what not.

As a lot of you know the week following my birthday I was lucky enough to go to a meet and greet with one of my favourite bands The Used. My sister and I ventured to London on the cold and wet Saturday; we started off at Illamasqua's flagship store in London.

The visit to Illamasqua was a last minute thing because as some of you are aware I had treated myself to some items for my birthday but the delivery company they use, My Hermes, delivered my parcel to the wrong address twice! I was desperate for the items I had ordered and even though I had to miss out on my industry discount I wanted the items too badly.

I brought the following items: Fundamental Palette, Precision Ink in Abyss, Masquara in Raven, Medium Pencil in Paddle, Nail Varnish in Scorn and Scorch and finally Cream Pigment in Hollow. This haul hurt my wallet extensively and seeing as at that point I had paid twice for it you can imagine what my bank balance looked like afterwards, it was so worth it though because all of the items that I have actually played with are amazing. I am yet to use the Fundamental Palette or swatch the colours so I will do another post probably later today with swatches.

Posing in our new Ves

Once my bank card was well and truly broken we headed over to Kingston's Hippodrome to see The Used; I have to admit Sarah and I were like little girls as this is a band we have followed for a few years and the first time seeing them live. We queued in the rain for what felt like forever but once the line started moving it really started moving. 

Once inside we spied the merch stall (and the very hot merch guy ha-ha) and got ourselves the vest that appears in the Merch Haul post. We both changed into our new merch as this is something we always do when we get stuff at gigs and then the waiting began.

 We were lucky enough to get a great spot at the side of the stage so we really were close to the action. Quinn and Bert arrived onstage and played a short acoustic set which truly was amazing, that man’s voice sounds no different live than on the CD itself.

I like to tell myself he is pointing at me ha ha

The set finished and we were told to make our way to the back area of the venue, Sarah and I have never moved so fast because we really didn’t like the thought of being number 699 and 700, we managed to get in line about 50 people back and then we waited and waited and waited some more.

About 30 minutes passed and then the line started moving, I personally was shaking and very excited and then finally came the moment to meet Jepher, Quinn, Dan and Bert. I had been trying to think of what I was going to say to them but nothing unique came into my head. When I reached the table I was greeted by Jepher and all I could say was thank you for the most amazing birthday present to which he replied "Oh Happy Birthday Sweetie", I rambled something about being old so he asked how old I was and when I told him his reply was "Ahhh that’s not old I turned 80 recently" with a huge grin on his face. I missed out on talking to Quinn because Jepher carried on but I would not change it.

Sarah's head and then from R-L: Jepher, Quinn, Dan and Bert

 We were rushed through Quinn and Dan to get to Mr McCracken himself now I was really shaking, we had been told no pictures with the guys although, we had seen a few people ask and be allowed so we thought we would ask but, Bert’s manager said no. Bert was so lovely about it and looked genuinely upset that he couldn’t and said "if you are coming to the gig tomorrow come see us after and I will make sure you get your picture" we told him we weren’t and he looked really sad and all he could say was sorry. If I am honest I don’t care about the photo I got to meet them and that’s something I may never get the chance to do again.

So, that ends the most amazing weekend and birthday in a long time, it will take some beating I can tell you. I hope you enjoyed reading my rambled post and if you haven’t already check out The Used’s new album Vulnerable you won’t be disappointed.

Ems xo

FOTD - Ruby Rockets The Pin Up Girl

 Please allow me to introduce you to Ruby Rockets my Pin Up Alter Ego! 

I love playing Pin Up I don't do it enough, last night I knew I needed to do an FOTD for you guys as it has been a while. I had nothing in mind when I started this just happened and I love it and I hope you guys do too. It is honestly the easiest look and anyone can achieve it!

!

 

Face:

Sephora Tinted Moisturiser - Medium 26 Peach (this is nearly gone sniff sniff)

YSL Touche Eclait No.1

Smashbox Fusion Eyes and Cheek Palette - Pink Colour Used on the cheek as a blush, Bronze as a contour and the champange as a highlighter.

Yaby Loose Setting Powder

Eyes:

Rimmel Brow Pencil

ELF shadow primer

MAC Vanilla

Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow

Yaby Eyeshadow in ES347 Pottery

Illamasqua Precission Ink in Abyss

Illamasqua Masquara in Raven

Lips:

Catrice Cosmetics Welcome To Las Vegas Limited Edition Duo

I have had a few people ask how to get the eye look so I may do a video. If this is something you would like to see then let me know :)

Ems xo

Illamasqua Human Fundamentalism

As we all know the new Illamasqua SS12 Human Fundamentalism Collection is now available across all Illamasqua stores in the UK and the Illamasqua website.

The promo images and videos showcase the brilliant bright colours that have been used to create this collection. What Illamasqua say about this collection "Human Fundamentalism is an explosion of your alter ego. It's becoming who you are and not who you are told to be, because beauty isn't conformity, but the fundamental human desire to express your inner self on the outside"

That statement alone really draws me in because I know what its like to conform to what you think you should do/say/wear and I think everyone, customers or non customers, should pay attention to that statement because it doesnt just apply to beauty, it applies to everyday life! Be who you are not who people tell you to be!

With that I will leave you with their inspiring images and video.

Illamasqua's Updated Site - Make Up Shopping Will Never Be The Same!

I took a strole over to the Illamasqua site today to find a beautiful new Home page

The Home page is crisp and showcase's the amazing artistry that is behind the brand!

As I delved further into the new site I came across their new feature Moving Swatch. The Moving Swatch feature is only available on the Lips and Pigment section but I hope it will be rolled out across the entire site.

The new feature shows a model putting on the lipstick or swatching the pigment onto their hands to give you a real life view of what the colour looks like.

This new function could quite possibly change the way we shop for cosmetics online because we will no longer need to travel to the store to check that the colour is what we are looking for as, its right in front of us.

Lets hope that other online beauty stores take note!

Ems

Fantastic Beauty deals on BuyaPower

I personally love BuyaPowa I have purchased a few things from there A Touche Eclait and a Benefit Palette. Their service is amazing and everything that arrives is always beautifully wrapped and each item I have ordered has been delievered within 2 working days.

So, the next few weeks see some amazing Beauty deals from BuyPowa these have all been chosen by fellow Beauty Bloggers

Already Live Co-buys:

Urban Decay 15 Year Anniversary Eyeshadow:

• Asphyxia   (pinky iridescent purple)
• Baked   (bronze)
• Binge   (deep metallic blue)
• Bourbon   (medium brown with sparkle)
• Corrupt   (dark metallic brown with silver glitter)
• Electric   (bright blue)
• Midnight Cowboy   (beige sparkle)
• Mildew   (deep mossy green)
• Perversion   (blackest carbon black)
• Ransom   (bright purple)
• Rockstar   (deep reddish purple)
• Stash   (mossy gold-green)
• Stray Dog   (shimmering taupe brown)
• Uzi   (sparkling gunmetal gray)
• Zero   (black) 

Illamasqua Cream Blusher - Promise:

• Bold blue-toned pink
• Gives a lovely flush of baby pink to the cheeks
• Brightens up the skin without any shimmer
• Highlight your cheekbones
• Shape your face
• Build and blend with fingers or a brush
• Use over foundation for impact or under for a captivating glow

St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse:

• 120ml
• Super-lightweight
• Easy-to-apply
• Ultra-even all-over tan
• Dries in just 60 seconds
• Infused with conditioning aloe vera

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Polish - Paradoxal:

• 13ml high gloss, quick drying nail polish
• Beautiful dusky mauve with a visible purple shimmer
• Ergonomically designed bottle for ease of application

 

Upcoming Co-Buys

Shu Uemura False Eyelashes 07 Smoky Layers

NARS Gina Blush

YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick - Peach Passion #13

Illamasqua Pigments Trio - Ore, Furore, Android

Estee Lauder Crystal Baby Lipstick

Too Faced Natural Radiance Face Palette 

They're Real! Mascara By Benefit

Benefit The POREfessional Primer

Smashbox Softbox Nude Eye Palette

Benefit Watts Up! Highlighter 

Benefit Coralista Blush

Benefit Confessions Of A Concealaholic Kit

Neal's Yard Eye & Lip Serum

Clinique Dramatically Different Lotion

Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation - 20 Watts

Jemma Kidd Essentials Palette

Golden Silk Camelia Oil

Macadamia Travel Set

NARS Pago Pago Lipstick

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Pre-Shampoo Treatment

MAC 'Five Minute Face' Set

Origins Out Of Trouble 10 Minute Mask

Clinique Dramatically Different Lotion 

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine - Chance

Clinique RepairWear Laser Focus Serum 30

MeMeMe Summer Chic Mini Nail Collection 

M.A.C Cremeblend Blush So Sweet So Easy

YSL Ombres 5 Lumieres No.13

Estee Lauder Stay In Place Shadowcreme - Mochachino

Retinol Eye Gel 

MAC Eyeshadow Bundle - For Everyday Eyes 

MAC Woodwinked Eyeshadow

MAC Frankly Scarlet Blush

By Terry Lip Expert (Crazy Nude)

Pixi Succulent Lip Twin - Pink Peony

Estée Lauder Resilience Lift Face & Neck Creme

Givenchy Mister Radiant Made-To-Measure Glow

 You can find all upcoming Co-buy information here: http://www.buyapowa.com/cobuys