Raising an eyebrow...

...Or lowering them since according to my HD Brow technician, my eyebrows are too high!

Yes I tried HD Brows which I'd been toying with the idea of for some time. It wasn't until, one morning going about my daily mass deletion of Groupon emails, I saw an offer for the procedure for £15. I couldn't resist and snapped it up, then started to panic about letting my brows grow wild and free.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist with my eyebrows and would be completely lost without Benefit's Brow-Zing, but it doesn't have quite the same effect when you're starting to resemble Wolverine. I went to my appointment on Tuesday after having a patch test done on Saturday (apparently the tint is different to standard tint and manages to dye even the fine downey hairs...).
I have to say I wasn't too impressed to be left waiting for half an hour listening to a beautician talk about topping up her electrcity meter. Anyway that aside the lady who did my brows called me in and seemed really nice. She asked what the 'problem' was with my brows which threw me a little. I wasn't aware this treatment was only for people with problem brows? So I quickly thought on the spot and offered that maybe they were a little high. I certainly didn't expect her to respond with, 'Absolutely they are WAY too high, who on earth shaped them for you?' Umm that would be me aged 13!

She then took a ruler and eyebrow pencil to my face and made loads of measurements and drew all over my face. She handed me the mirror to show me just how 'messed up' my eyebrows really were! Well ok I will admit, it was a little shocking. My left eyebrow is a centimetre higher than my right, but I stand by my point that I wouldn't walk around with measurements all over my face so who would ever know? And anyway maybe I like it that way? It's a cheeky raised eyebrow look... just permenantly!

So after she shamed my poor little brows she took to them with the tint, waxing, plucking, threading and finally pencilled them in.
Now, maybe I'm just used to having anorexic brows but I was definitely not prepared for the chubsters she'd drawn on me. She went through where she'd pencilled in and how that was where I needed to grow my brows out, and to avoid plucking there, but I was in shock!

I rushed home (and after taking a comedy photo for my sister) scrubbed off all the pencil and did them just how I like it. I would definitely say though, my brows looked a million times better and the tint did seem to stand out a lot more than standard tint. I have to admit, I'm not sure this was much more than a good shape and tint. Maybe it's because as she said I, 'don't have much to work with' and maybe this is something for someone with no shape to their brows, or quite thick brows?

That aside I do have before and after pics to share and even one of her comedy pencilling (2mm below my brows and in a different shade!)

Before (With Brow-Zing)



Before (Without Brow-Zing)



After, with her crazy pencilling



After, without anything



And finally...
After treatment, with Brow-Zing, just how I like them! :)

In search of Peridot... (Or the next best thing)

Thursday I had a serious case of 'Nail Envy'!
Someone came into work with what could only be Peridot on her nails. Now the fact that I didn't even have to ask her what colour or brand her nail polish was, says something about Peridot... It's definitely unique.

When I first saw swatches I was convinced it was a 'Bogey Green' and definitely not my cup of tea, but then on seeing it in the flesh I have found myself frantically searching for it.
Since this sudden change of tune I have searched high and low and it seems to be sold out... EVERYWHERE and I'm far too stubborn to buy it online and pay P&P.

So I set to work to find a good dupe, which I thought would be fairly difficult given that the colour is so unique.
However, a quick look on Google and I find there is a brilliant dupe by Sephora called "Diving in Malaysia" (pictured below).

It's just a shame there is no Sephora in the UK!

So I suppose that just means that until they get more Peridot in stock I will continue on this lonely dupe hunt.

Smoke and Mirrors

I have to say I just checked out the Zoya Smoke and Mirrors collection and it's making my mouth water.

Linked here.

I think the stand outs for me have to be, Jem and Neeka.

I actually don't have any Zoya polishes in my collection so I feel like this would be a good time to change that.

It would be rude not to!

Giving in to OCD

OCD is an old friend of mine, we go way back. It seems that I'm just always looking for ways to organise things, which doesn't exactly go hand in hand with my love of hoarding.

Coming from a family of hoarders, I learnt from the best but I've decided enough is enough! Now is as good a time as any to start chucking half used, dried up mascara's, shoes that have gone unworn for over a year and some questionable fancy dress outfits lurking under the bed.

Of course the only thing a clear out means is there is now extra space to fill with nice shiny new things.

Must... Fight... Temptation!

One of these new shiny things is something I can't get enough of at the moment. Now I do realise I'm very behind in this but I've only just got round to trying Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish. I think I put it off for so long after a close friend who used to work in skin care gave it a rather lacklustre review. The same cannot however, be said for my skin! My skin LOVES this and so do I. I'm yet to find anything bad to say about it but I absolutely adore the way it has helped my skin in transitioning from sunny(ish) Summer to blustery chilly Autumn. The Eucalyptus essential oils in this cleanser leave a really nice fresh feeling which is personally what I like from a cleanser. The blurb promises the product will "help reveal clean, soft and radiant skin", and I for one can vouch for this.

Another product I've been extremely slow on the uptake with (and so slow I'm almost ashamed to admit this) is Gel Eyeliner. Those that know me will know my love for a strong dark cat eye which almost makes it even more unbelievable that I hadn't tried it. The thing is, I've always been a liquid liner kind of girl and I just couldn't bear to part with it...

However... I decided to bite the bullet and try with a drug store brand, for fear of loathing the product so much I had the guilt of spending a bomb on it hanging over my head. So off I tottered to Boots to pick up the Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner, the only one that sprung to mind since the awkward ad campaign featuring T4's Jameela Jamil *Shudder* Well I suppose if anything it's an advert remembered for it's irritation factor, joining the likes of "Go Compare" and "Comparethemarket.com"!

Cheesy ad aside I fell in love with the gel liner and the old faithful Rimmel liquid liner is now crying in the corner of my make up bag. So all in all two excellent new shiny things to fill all the gaps.