Hi, my name is Briony

I've spotted this on a few blogs and thought I'd get involved. This was pinched from the fabulous Nicola.

 

Never in my life have I been: sky diving!

 

The one person who can drive me nuts is: My mother. Not all the time, but she has her moments!

 

High school: was fair to middling. I definitely made up for it at uni though!

 

When I’m nervous: I fidget and feel sick

 

The last song I listened to was: The Razor - Head Automatica

 

If I were to get married right now my best man/maid of honour: my bestie

 

My hair is: bleached

 

When I was 5: I spent my school holidays in France, skiing in winter and playing on the beach in summer.

 

Last Christmas: was great, I love Christmas.

 

I should be..: working

 

The happiest recent event was: a lazy Sunday with the girls, filled with roast dinner, wine and gossip.

 

By this time next year: I will be free of my horrible Professional Development Loan

 

There’s this girl I know that: has the sunniest disposition in the world and never fails to cheer me up

 

I like you when: you comment - a nice comment never fails to make me smile

 

The world could do without: ignorance

 

Most recent thing I’ve bought myself: another LBD

 

Most recent thing someone else bought me: A Hello Kitty Easter egg

 

My middle name is: Louise

 

The animals I would like to see flying besides birds are: Pandas

 

Once, at a bar: I drank the place out of Jack Daniels. I can't remember much else……

 

Last night I was: At spinning class

 

There’s this guy I know who: knows me inside out and outside in.

 

Tomorrow I am: going to eat curry, drink too much and probably fall over - not necessarily in that order.

 

Tonight I am: going to visit the Mr's newborn baby nephew

 

My birthday is: August 25th

 

Review: Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation

I’ve been using Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse as my daytime foundation for almost as long as I can remember but recently I’ve been considering a change as my skin has been feeling a little dry. Unfortunately dry skin and Dream Matte Mousse is a bit of a recipe for disaster as it seems to enhance the dryness and make my skin look flaky and generally awful!

I picked this up in Tesco while I was browsing the make up section during a break from doing the food shopping (I hate food shopping with a passion so little breaks are a must). I considered Dream Satin (another foundation I have meant to try but never got round to) but this leapt out at me because the packaging had the magic word “hydrating” on it. I think I paid somewhere around the £5 mark and it was on offer at £2 off.

I usually use ‘Cameo’ in Dream Matte Mousse but the shade range wasn’t so wide in this foundation so I went for the lightest on offer which was ‘Light Porcelain’ which was a pretty good match for my Cullen-esque winter pallor.

The first thing I did was throw away the sponge applicator which came with the product in favour of my trusty MAC 187 (which incidentally is my absolute favourite brush for foundation application). The product itself melts immediately on contact with the skin to a silky liquid consistency making application and blending a doddle, which is great when I’m in a rush in the morning! All I need is a quick sweep of MSF Natural on my T zone (which is sometimes prone to being a little shiny) and my base is done. I find that the product has great staying power however if you have oily skin you may want to give it a miss as the hydrating effect would probably mean that it slides straight off your face.

This product has been great for my dry skin great during the winter and I will definitely repurchase for the colder moths, however I think in summer when my skin is less dry I’ll stick to my trusty Dream Matte Mousse.

xxx

Rating and Slating 25/03/2010

Rating

• Sunny days - its not exactly scorching, but the sunshine we've had this last week has definitely lifted my mood
• Looking forward to a fun packed weekend - one of my besties is coming up for the weekend and we've made lots of exciting plans including going to play in the snow at Xscape on Saturday - yay!
• True Blood – I held off watching season 2 online but I’m loving it on FX HD! Alexander Skarsgard in HD = doubly delicious!

(it had to be done!)

Slating

• Car Insurance - turns out my insurance has shot up since getting my new wheels, which means even less cash to splurge on fun things :(
• Running out of reading material – now I’ve finished the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries I’m all out of books. Think a trip to Waterstones on payday is required!

xxx

Review: Max Factor Lash Extension Effect Mascara

OK, I'll hold my hands up: My name is Briony and I am a mascara junkie. I just can't help myself, I must have about 12 mascaras on the go at any given time. Everytime I walk into Boots/Superdrug/Debenhams/Sainsburys I have an overwhelming urge to pick up a new mascara because I'm fickle like that. As you may be aware, my all time favourite is Lancome L'Extreme but I still have a strange compulsion to try any and every mascara available. Maybe I'm still searching for 'the one'! I suffer from a severe case of stumpy-lash-itis so I have a bit of a predeliction to grap anything that promises length, so when I was lucky enough to get a tube of Max Factor Lash Extension Effect mascara at the Aussie Event in January I was chuffed to say the least.

 

I held off trying this out for a month or so as I was in the process of whittling down the mascaras I already had on the go, but I've now been using the product for about 3 weeks and thought I'd do a quick review on it.

The brush is a rubber affair with tiny little bristles, which is fine for me - I don’t really have a preference either way when it comes to brushes, in my view if it works, it works, whether the brush is a traditional one or high tech one makes no odds at all to me! The only grumble I have is that the brush isn't purple as in the promotional pics - though that's fairly irrelevant given that the brush is usually coated in mascara!

 

The mascara itself gives me great natural looking length without clumps, but the down side is that it gives no volume at all. I haven't experienced any flaking but find it easy enough to shift at the end of the day. I don't mind the defined seperated look during the day, but I prefer my lashes with volume AND length of an evening (greedy? maybe.)

 

I'm not sure I'd repurchase this as I think there are other mascaras which are cheaper and do more or less the same job, but all in all it is a decent mascara for the price and it does what it sets out to fairly well.

 

xxx

My Baby

The wait is over...... its finally here and I can safely say its love ♥ ♥ ♥

xxx

Sunshine Blog Award

What better way to return to the blogosphere than with a blog award?? Thank you to the lovely Charley for nominating me for the Sunshine Award.

The rules:
Post the award on your blog.
Pass the award on to 12 bloggers.
Link the nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blogs.
Share the love and link the person who gave it to you.

I'm sure that most of you have already received this award so I'd like to nominate all of my fabulous followers! Well, they do say rules are made to be broken don't they?!

xxx

As you might be aware, this LOLcat has been me for the past couple of months, but my internet access has FINALLY been restored!

 

In between catching up with salacious celebrity gossip, LOLcats and despairing at the sight of my bank account I will be posting my little heart out so expect a sudden influx of posts (maybe with my belated 100 follower giveaway somewhere in the middle!)

 

xxx

OUCH!!!

WARNING: This is probably not the most glamorous post you're ever going to read, but I need to share.

I'm one of those people who NEVER get ill, or spots (not that ill and spots are anything like similar, but you catch my drift). I'm one of those annoyingly healthy people who laughs in the face of sniffles and pimples. Today, however all that has changed. I'm the (not so proud) owner of a stye. And it hurts. Muchos.

I'm not entirely sure what a stye is, why I have one, or indeed why is hurts so bloody much when I blink, all I know is its on my waterline and has prevented me wearing eye makeup/contact lenses. Oh, and did I mention it hurts?!

Following a quick Google search I'm not much the wiser, apparently they come on when you're tired/stressed (check and check) and to get rid of it you rub the little blighter with a gold ring (the last bit sounds a lot like an old wives tale to me!). I thought better of taking a photo as there are much nicer things to look at such as new MAC collections, but if anyone has any tips/miracle cures/hokey witch doctor remedies to get rid of it PLEASE let me know!!

Ta muchly :)

xxx
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Happy Belated Birthday...

...To my blog!

I can't believe that my blog is one year old already!!

Thank you to all my lovely followers, and here's to another year!

xxx
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Review: Lee Stafford Matt Fat Powder

I recently picked up this little pot of wonderfulness when shopping for products to give my newly-layered hair a bit of oomph, and I thought I'd do a quick review on it. 

When I bought this Boots were having one of their 3 for 2 on professional haircare promotions, but I believe that it usually retails for £8.99. The packaging resembles a salt shaker and is the standard hot pink Lee Stafford fare that we all know and love.

The blurb promises to give you volumised film star hair but I personally think that this product offers so much more! Not only does it deliver the promised volume, which is something that I previously only got through the use of rollers and LOTS of backcombing (which obviously isn't ideal) but it also does the job of a dry shampoo and mattifying product to boot. Plus, it smells absolutely divine! 

Magic fairy dust may be high praise indeed, but I can honestly say that this product fits the description… I have no idea how it works but all you have to do is sprinkle a small amount of product onto your roots, rub the powder into your roots, jujj up your hair a bit and your good to go!  I find that the product lasts well throughout the day but if I'm going out anywhere straight from work I tend to sprinkle a bit more product on, ruffle my hair up and I'm good to go. 

xxx

NOTD 02/03/2010 - and a little moan!

Today's NOTD is Elizabeth Street by Nails Inc which is a pretty pinky peach colour. I fancied something a bit more neutral and as soon as I spotted this in Debenhams I had to have it.

Now I love the idea of Nails Inc polishes (the colours are lovely and the names are quirky) but I personally find that they chip almost instantly. I've tried all manner of base coats and top coats, from Nails Inc to OPI and everything in between but nothing seems to work. Normally I wouldn't mind but when I'm paying over £10 for a polish I want it to last more than 24 hours! This time I've learnt my lesson and I'm sticking to China Glaze and my beloved Collection 2000 Hot Looks.

Does anyone else have any products that they just can't get on with or is it just me?!

xxx