Tuesday Tips: Halloween DIY Ideas!

EEK! It's Halloween tomorrow! Have you guys got fun plans? I'm working then going for dinner straight after but think I'm going to do a more subtle version of my below video tutorial from last year for that 'casually dead' look... 

Here's a bunch of other cool DIY Halloween Ideas from the blogosphere...

Katie from Katie's Beauty Blog did this amazing skull tutorial for Company Magazine - check it out on her blog or in this month's Company, obvz!

More skulls, this time in the form of Ella Masters' pretty mexican skull nails! She's done a fab tutorial over on her blog if all out Halloween make up ain't your bag...

Dexter inspired bloody cupcakes, anyone? Created by Sarah from A Million Dresses! 

Pimp your pumpkin the classy way... Who needs knives when you have rhinestones? 

Lily Pebbles and Gem from Gem's Maquillage did a frankly AWESOME tutorial for their corpse bride look! 

Any excuse for cat nail art! Black cats are totes Halloweeny right?

I love how Kavita went ALL OUT with her skeleton look. Halloween is about looking creepy/scary/gross, not slutty (although I am seemingly the only girl in Canterbury with this opinion...)

More cupcake creepy/cuteness from Zoe from The London Lipgloss! Aww :)

Hope you've gotten a bit of inspiration from my little roundup post, and if you already celebrated at the weekend - SORRY for being fashionably late - bookmark it for next year ;)

xo

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

I've passed the half way point of my week off work today and spent it lunching with my pal Charlotte and lazing about the house (and trying to tidy...)

I resurrected some old classics when I got dressed today. My eBay cat t-shirt (similar here) and my ye olde faux fur coat from H&M! Worn with my acid wash New Look jeans and new Sarenza* shoesies. 

These suede t-bar shoes from Mellow Yellow at Sarenza* really remind me of the kind of shoes I used to wear when I was little, with the cute heart-shaped cut outs! The gummy heels mean they are super comfy - always a plus in my book. I've worn them loads in the short time I've had them! 

Now I just need to find some grown up versions of the shoes with the key that changed the image on the sole for my nostalgia-footwear-fest to be complete! Anyone else remember those?! 

Hair update (because you're clearly on the edge of your seat): I gave my fringe a trim today to make the sides look longer. It's starting to look ever so slightly more like a short bob rather than an outgrown crop now! Hoping to grow it just a few inches more and then I think I'll be happy with it. 

The growing-out period hasn't been nearly as awkward as I was expecting! If I'd have known it'd be this easy, I'd have done it yonks ago! 

xo

The BEST foundation EVER: Max Factor Face Finity All Day Flawless

I got this foundation at a beauty sale at work recently and it has officially changed my life. 

Before finding Max Factor All Day Flawless, I was in this horrid routine of using a too-light Illamasqua Skin Base teamed with a too-dark MAC powder on top to mattify and counteract the lightness. Hello midday cakey-face and constant retouching. 

This stuff claims to be 3-in1 - a primer, concealer and foundation. Those kind of claims usually annoy me (isn't that the elongated way of saying 'longwear full coverage'?) but whatevs, I'm letting this product off the hook. 

I am pale but have really red and blotchy skin tone. Horrid stuff. You'll see when you scroll down. But this stuff has got the world fooled. Sophie, the Beauty Director at Company sits at close range and deems my complexion perfect, and the fashion stylist Emma said I have "the skin of an angel" the other day! Admittedly she sits a bit further away. 

The bottle is pump activated and one pump is plenty for the whole face. I use shade Ivory 40 (For reference I'm NC15 in Mac and Shell with Estée Lauder - although that shade has just been discontinued!)

Consistency: A lightweight creamy texture - super-easy to blend and a little goes a long way! 

PREPARE FOR THE HORROR of the before shot... red and oily! Nom nom! 

After: Redness and oil begone! Matte (but still ever-so-slightly dewy) with fully covered imperfections. No need for any powder (which is ideal because I'm almost out of my MAC stuff!) I just applied this with my finger, but usually I use my ELF powder brush. 

It lasts ages, but I touch my face quite a lot so do tend to touch up towards the end of the day if I can be arsed. 

This £11.99 high street foundation has replaced the £45 high end face routine before it and I am not looking back! 

Have you tried Max Factor All Day Flawless? What did you think? 

And if you've found your holy grail foundation elsewhere, feel free to share it in the comments! I love knowing the best ones out there!  

x

Dress Down Friday

Here's what I wore to work yesterday on my last day in the office before my week off (aka. now!)

Comfy was key...

(Skirt - New Look, Tee - Forever 21, Glasses - c/o Specsavers)

Must dash as I'm off to Liverpool in a moment! Going with Alex and his family to do some Beatles superfan activities! We're all Beatles mad. Going to John Lennon's actual house - eee! 

Then I will be in a state of utter laziness after Monday when we return, so expect lots of blogging from my inevitably PJ-clad self!

Have you guys got fun plans for the weekend? 

Any of you Liverpool folks got any recommendations for nice places for lunch/dinner? Been getting lots of fab ideas from Twitter followers, so if you've tweeted ideas to me - thank you!

xo

Photo Diary #2

Recently I have been: 

Drinking my favourite cider and watching X Factor (anyone else hooked for another year despite their very best efforts?)

Judging Alex on his ridiculous amount of T-shirts. 57 t-shirts to a box?! Oh and there are two more of these - filled with almost solely Morrissey and The Smiths shirts. He's a tee fiend.

Bumping into a duck on the high street. It just casually sauntered into a shop! But then got a bit stressed out about being on the crowded high street which was a bit sad. I hope it found its way back to its chums in the river :( 

 I wore my Luella t-shirt for the first time in ages the other day. It made me so happy. Might have to wear this to work on Halloween given the kinda gross nature of it. #bringbackluella

 I've been having serious desk tidiness issues...

 Last weekend Alex and I went to Whistable for the day. We HAD to go to the yummy doughnut place on the beach. Rude not to. As agreed by Anthony Worrall Thompson (see sign below!)

I picked up these chunky heeled loafer boots in a charity shop for £3.50. They are actually really nice on! 

 Pre-work snuggles with Roxy. It's our daily ritual.

 I wrote a little piece about Brass Eye for the latest Company mag! The feature was about the Channel 4 shows that changed out lives (the channel is celebrating some kind of anniversary right now... Can't remember which!) If you haven't watched this show and you aren't easily offended, you should Youtube it pronto!

I've been loving the amazing American candy sent to me by @nickohlaa!

 I had a major tidy of my beauty products and finally threw out a bunch of cute packaging I was hoarding. Bye bye, cute old Eyeko! Miss you!

Now off for a day of fun on at Badger's Hill Farm with Nicki! 

Hope you've had a fun weekend so far :) 

x

Workwear. 5.10.12

Here's what I wore to work today. I can't say this was my best work, style-wise, as I've been in the Autumn adjustment phase, where suddenly getting out of bed while its dark outside feels impossible, let alone actually getting dressed/functioning. Anyone else getting this lately? 

But hey, here it is. A fabulously composed photo taken by one of my work chums on one of our Office Style Blog excursions! Soho's dinky alleys beat my weedy garden as locations go!

Dress - c/o Mink Pink, Jacket - H&M, Boots - c/o Sarenza, Glasses - Specsavers

Have had a mega fun but tiring week and am looking forward to a weekend of mooching round Whitstable with Alex (didn't get to go in the end last weekend!) and a spot of car boot shopping with Sophie, Company's go-to make up artist who just so happens to be an East Kent girl! 

Hope you have a fun weekend planned?

Blog ya later! 

xo