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Sunday 25 November 2012

I'm doing YouTube!! (omg!)

EeEEEEeee!! So I've uploaded my first YouTube video. I was wanting to do it for ages, but I was too scared and didn't really have the equipment. My boyfriend surprised me with a wee tripod and shutter release remote control for my iphone, so I had no excuse haha! So here goes....
 


 
Yes, the screenshot it awful.
 
What do you think? Should I do more YouTube videos?? I'm nervous haha!
Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥
The Cosmetics Kitten

Saturday 24 November 2012

Event: Paul's Hair and Beauty World :)

So I mentioned in my previous post that I went to two events within 48 hours, the first was Neal's Yard Remedies (posted about this event here) and the second was for Paul's Hair and Beauty World, which I'll tell you about here! :)
On Saturday morning, I made my way to the official opening of Paul's Hair and Beauty World on Queen's Street Glasgow. It's a 2000 square foot store specialising in mainly extensions, but also some hair and skin products, and Sleek makeup. The Sleek stand is very well stocked, they had several Rose Gold blushes which is usually sold out everywhere!

 
I met Lori and her friend there (click her name for her blog) and we enjoyed the cocktails and looking at all the different hair available. The staff were trying to convince me to get a weave haha - I have to say I'm tempted!!
Melanie Mason from X Factor opened the store and we posed for pics.
 
Yes, I look like an idiot...
It was fun! Paul's Hair and Beauty Boutique have branches all over the UK and you can also shop online at their well-stocked website here. I got a wee goody bag from them too:


I got some bizarre bits like a pen and a bulldog clip (?!) but also some Batiste, Sleek products and Palmer's. The Hairbond Moulder was quite exciting, I don't use product like gel/wax in my hair but my boyfriend does and he's tried it and gives it a thumbs up!
Thanks guys! :)
 
What do you think about stores like this? Have you ever bought extensions from a high street store?
Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥
The Cosmetics Kitten

Event: Neal's Yard Remedies

Beauty Blogger events in Glasgow are like buses - you wait for ages for one and then two happen within 48 hours of each other with another two lined up in the next few weeks! I went to Neal's Yard Remedies on Thursday 15th, and Paul's Hair and Beauty World on Saturday 17th. I'm going to do a separate post for Paul's event (click here for it) so here's the low down on Neal's Yard Remedies Event!

I was invited to an informal evening to be introduced to this brand and have a general look around their store. The staff were so friendly and informative, and I learnt a lot about a brand I had previously little knowledge of. It was a lovely little evening!

NYR are, in a nutshell, an organic skincare and aromatherapy company that specialises in all-over holistic wellbeing. They don't test on animals and use only natural ingredients. What makes them different, to me, is that they offer almost a 'prescription service' - if you go in with a skin/hair/body woe, they can sort you out with a specific product or range of products. They also do therapies such as massages, so you can destress in store! Which is very cool.


I met up with Paula, Lisa and Laura there (click their names to check their blogs) and we enjoyed they prosecco and cheeses (maybe a bit too much haha) and had a general good catch up. We were also all treated to a taster massage - which was very relaxing. :)

Right now NYR is a little out of my budget, but it's definitely a place I'd go to for a special skincare treat. They've also introduced a range of organic cosmetics, which is right up my street! They have a really interested history and there's actually a lot more branches than I realised! You can also shop online here.
 
They were so generous with their goodybag:
 
I got a full size Wild Rose Beauty Balm which is an award winning nourishing, exfoliating and cleansing balm (compete with muslin cloth). I can't wait to give this a try! I also received Organic Facial Wipes and two pieces from their new cosmetics range - Mineral Eye Shadow in Silver Birch and an Organic Lip Gloss in Goji Berry.

Top photos: natural light // Bottom photos: with flash
 
 
How amazing?! I don't really have a silver eyeshadow so will be making good use of this, and the ladies in store mentioned it also works really well applied wet. The lipgloss looks gorg - little iridescent flecks of pink and gold are in it and it's really nourishing! Thanks, guys! :)
 
 
Have you ever tried any NYR products? Do you like reading about events?
Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥
The Cosmetics Kitten

Sunday 18 November 2012

London Trip! (& Harry Potter Studio Tour) :)

Can't believe how long I've been meaning to do this post for! Well I went to London in the middle of October sooo... like a month haha! Well here it is. :)

My sister and one of my best friends live in London, so I always have a base to stay at should I want a wee break away. My boyfriend Scott has NEVER been to London, so when he came in to a bit of money, we decided to go down for a few days and do some visiting!

We travelled down on a Megabus (he didn't come in to THAT much money haha) and the 9-10 hour drive actually wasn't too bad! There was wifi and plugs so we were sorted. I got into my jammies and slept a lot of the way! We stayed at my friend's flat that night, we just went out for dinner and drinks. :)

On the Friday we went to Harry Potter Studio Tour - EEeeEEeee! OMG, I was so close to tears at some points, I'm a massive Harry Potter fan and it was just amazing!! I'm gonna post some pics from it below under a link in case people are planning on going and don't want any spoilers. =p

On Saturday, my sister took us on a guided tour of all the tourist spots for Scott. At night, Scott and I went to Carnaby Street for dinner and out for drinks in Soho. On Sunday, my sister showed us her local area, Kensington & Chelsea.

My sister and I in Trafalgar Square // Scott and I // Scott and I at Buckingham Palace
 
Night out// Soho // St Christopher's Place // Carnaby Street
 
Sloane Square // South Kensington // My sister's street

We had a great time!! If you want to see some of my Harry Potter Studio Tour photos, click below!

Sunday 11 November 2012

Mini Lush Haul! :)


I am suuuuuch a bad beauty blogger - I'm gonna have to admit that I don't regularly shop at Lush. I KNOW, right?! =p
 
I do like Lush, but to be honest I'd rather spend my hard earned pennies on makeup etc. I don't actually go for a huge amounts of baths, so Lush never really crosses my mind. I also find the staff a little overbearing. But, at Christmas time, I do like to go in and treat myself. So here's the goodies I got:
 
 
Obviously I got Snow Fairy because it's a MUST at Christmas. I know most people know what this is, but in case you've been living under a rock, it's a candyfloss/bubblegum/all things sweet scented shower gel, with little bits of glitter in. It is very sweet, which I don't usually go for, but I've never met anyone who doesn't like this scent! I bought the small size for £3.50.
 
 
 
I also got three baths bomb style products. The labels (and my photo taking skills apparently) are a bit rotten, but here's a wee pic:
 
Sunnyside, So White and Magic Wand.
 
Sunnyside - £3.65
I can't WAIT to try this. It's a glittery gold bubble bar that turns your water into 'liquid gold'. It's also got moisturising oils in it. I can't really smell a huge scent off it right now, but when it's melting it will release citrusy scents like yummy orange.
 
So White - £3.20
A white bath bomb that is heavily scented of apple. I left it in my room and the next day I walked in my whole room smelt beautifully of apple - such a fresh, unusual scent! Apparently when using this, you throw it against the side of the bath and the white shell cracks open to turn your water pink & bubbly - I'm exciiited!!
 
Magic Wand - £4.95
This is basically Snow Fairy in a bubble bar. I love the design of it, you can swish it in the water a few times to make it all pink and bubbly, and then you can reuse it over and over. Like Snow Fairy, it smells of candy floss and pear drops.
 
I don't know what I'm most excited to use! I think Lush might be winning me over - I can't wait to go for baths now and just chill out with my coloured, scented water. :) And, of course, Lush is against animal testing which is a huge bonus!!
 
What do you think of my Lush goodies? Have you got any favourites you recommend I try?
Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥
The Cosmetics Kitten

Thursday 8 November 2012

120 Shade Eyeshadow Palette

Hey guys! :)

I was recently sent an eyeshadow palette by BeautyStore4U - I know, kind of random, I don't usually go for more obscure brands. However, since I changed to cruelty free I'm always on the look out for new animal friendly makeup. This brand promises to be cruelty free and the site stocks Coastal Scents which I've never tried but have heard good things about.

Also, I'm a bit dull when it comes to eye make up. I LOVE eye make up, but I swear by my Naked palettes. The only colour I ever use is when I feel like being a bit different and use my Stila Beach Palette (reviewed here). So when I saw the look of this palette, I thought maybe I should be a bit daring and try some colours!

Yup, there's 120 colours! Amazing! They fold into the flat packed box but you need to take one side out and sit it on top of the other to fit. BeautyStore4U have told me that although the box is plain black right now, it will have the logo on it shortly.

Some of the colours are veeeery similar to each other, but there are just so many to choose from. There are pinks/purples, blues/greens, yellow/oranges and neutrals.



The eyeshadows are made of natural mineral oils and there are a mix of both shimmery and matte shades.The quality of shades varies - some are well pigmented, whereas others hardly produced any colour at all. Here are a few quick looks I created:

(sorry for the blur in this one - I was tired by this point haha!)

Lamely enough, I actually like the neutral colour look the best haha! You can kind of see in some of the non-flash photos where there isn't as good pigmentation. I'd say in real life, the colours are somewhere between the flash and non-flash results.

In all, I'd say if you're looking for a cruelty free palette with a large variety of bright colours, this is great value. 120 colours!! Not always great pigmentation but sleek and light and nice to have if you ever feel like a more daring look! :)

This palette is available from their website here for £12.95 with free postage within the UK. You can also use the discount code THECOSMETICSKITTEN to get 10% off - yay! Alternatively, you can get it from Amazon here (currently out of stock).

 
Do you ever experiment with brighter eye colours? Do you like palettes with a huge number of shades?
Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥
The Cosmetics Kitten
 
This product was sent to me free of charge for review consideration. My views are not affected by this in any way and are still 100% honest.

Sunday 4 November 2012

The Cosmetics Kitten's Diary :) --November 4th--


Heeeey guys! Time for my lifestyle post. I was obviously planning on doing this every week, but life is so hectic that I'm just going to try do it as regularly as I can. :)
 

What have I been up to this week?

I have been sooo tired this week. I think now the clocks have gone back, it gets dark so early and my body just wants to go to sleep! I hate this time of year, when I literally don't see sunlight because it's dark when I go in work and dark when I come out. Meh.
 
Weekend before last I went to London to visit my sister and my best friend, who both live there. I took my boyfriend Scott (his first time in London!) and we had a great time! I'll do a wee post on that soon.
 

Us at Buckingham Palace. :)
 
I also caught up with the girls this weekend, we're all teachers and sometimes it's hard to find time to meet up, so I'm glad we sorted something out!
 
 
I also finally got rid of my old extensions last weekend! I had my old set in for six months and although my hair was still ok quality, my own hair had grown in too much at the roots so it was time to replace them! It took six and a half hours to take my old set out, colour my hair and put my new set in. Phew!!
 
old hair / my own hair (yes, all of it...) / new hair
 

And how was work?

Work was actually mostly fun this week. We had an all-day Hallowe'en party on Wednesday, which I scrabbled about for a last min costume for. None of my regular Hallowe'en outfits were particularly... appropriate haha. So I wore my cat onesie and went as a cat! =p
 
 
Easy haha.
 
 

And how are the cats?

My wee cat Pippa was not very well at all, she had an abscess on her wee bum. :( She's 14 and we worry about her, and she had to get a buster collar on. She was SO down and we thought she was maybe giving up. :( But after two weeks on antibiotics, she's making a good recovery!! :)
 
 
 

Anything else?

My watch broke so I'm hoping to get a new one for Christmas, looking for some suggestions of brands/styles?? This is the one I'm kind of drawn to just now, it's a Michael Kors. I'm looking for a big-ish face and maybe a wee bit of bling haha. Not too expensive tho!!
 
 
 
I'm also doing the Photo a Day Challenge on Instagram - if you fancy seeing what I'm up to, you can follow me on there - I'm CosmeticsKitten. :)
 
 
 
Hope you've had a good week! Remember to give me any suggestions of watches if you can think of any. Have you been up to anything exciting??
Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥
The Cosmetics Kitten

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