Birthday Shoes!

I can't believe I haven't shown you these gorgeous shoes! (& my birthday was.. like.. 2 weeks ago!?)

I apologise. : )

Sorry about the awful close-ups, my camera refused to focus!

Aren't they beautiful? They were in the Jane Normal sale (available in gold too) for £20 down from £40. Love them so much, even though I have to admit, they did defeat me on my birthday night out. I never ever take my shoes off, especially not in a club, but I had too. My feet were in so much pain I could hardly walk, let alone dance. Still.. I was wearing them from 6pm - 2am. Not bad I have to say, bit I still think I'll be saving them for nights out where I'm not on my feet for 8 hours!

OOTD - Red Bird

Jumper: Next (old)

Shirt: Primark

Shorts: New Looks

Leggins: Tesco

I wore this outfit for tea with the girls on Thursday. I love this shirt from Primark. I bought it last year for around £6 I think? & the Next jumper I dug out from the back of my wardrobe. It's a really soft material, so snug for layering under a coat in the Winter.

We've got the Horrible Histories show at work this weekend. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I heard lots of screaming going in rehearsals during the week! Lol. : )

My present from my parents finally arrived this week - they bought me a gorgeous white gold ring, with pink & white stones in the shape of a small flower. I absolutely love it, I wore it to the pub & the boys (who are obviously oblivious to this kind of thing) thought I was engaged. Hahahaha, so funny. All the girls just raised their eyebrows & said "Erm, wrong hand boys."

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend girls! : )

Bo's Birthday

Hello lovelies. : )

It was my gorgeous friend Bo's birthday yesterday, she was 19. (makes me feel so old!) We went for a meal & drinks at our local pub - yum yum yum!

Seeing as she now has her presents, this is what I bought her. : )

Her card

Flower necklace

Floral bath towel (she loves her floral, Cath Kidston print!)

All wrapped up!

I don't really want to put where I got these items from & how much they cost because I know she reads my blog sometimes! So if you want to know any details, please e-mail me. :)

Happy birthday again gorgeous!

E.L.F Haul #2

You might remember me doing a previous haul from ELF back at the beginning of the month. I love ELF, I can't stress enough how amazing there products are. So here's what I purchased in my last order. : )

Brushes.

Eyeshadow brush.

Foundation brush.

I haven't used either of these brushes yet, but both my eyeshadow & foundation brushes needed replacing so I thought I'd give these a go. Anybody tried the ELF brushes?

Eyeshadow.

Butter Pecan.

Love this product. The browns blend so well together. Make sure you use an eyelid primer underneath as it is a cream eyeshadow. This will stop the colour creasing through-out the day.

Lipsticks.

Posh.

Charming.

Fantasy.

I think Charming has to be my favourite of these three shades. It's a pinky / red that applies so easily to your lips.

Nail Varnishes.

Obviously this matte one didn't need a swatch as it's a clear varnish.

Matte Finisher.

Smoky Brown.

Sunset.

Lilac.

Party Purple.

Mint Cream.

I'm currently wearing the Mint Cream, it's such a gorgeous colour. I painted it on 4 days previous to this photo being taken & look.. no chipping! I haven't touched it up at all! Amazing. : )

Happy Monday ladies!



Small Haul - Topshop

When Topshop has it's January sale, I literally cry with joy.

You've probably noticed from previous hauls / posts etc I never really buy much from Topshop, except odd pieces of jewellery or sale items. I just find them so expensive & whenever I go into the shop, I never find something I like that much to justify the price. Maybe I'm just stingy..

Anyway, here's a few bits I picked up from the January sales.

 

I know what you're thinking about this necklace. "Cat your name begins with C, not G." You'd be right in saying that. Sadly, there were no C's, so I got a G. As corney & as it is, a G is very similar to a C & as most of you know, my boyfriend's name begins with a G. It seemed cute at the time. ; ) Hahaha.

Hope you're all having a good weekend so far. : )

Update #6 - My Birthday!

Hello lovelies! How are you all?

Just want to say a massive thankyou to Emily, for guest posting on Monday, if you haven't already, make sure you check out her review on the Soap & Glory products she got for Christmas. : )

So, unless you've wondered onto my blog today, you will know that I turned 21 on Monday! I celebrated all weekend which was just amazing. Gordon came down from uni on Friday & we had a gorgeous meal at Cote restaurant in town, then went to pick up Cathy from the station. She stayed with us for the weekend too which was lovely. Saturday, I gathered my friends & headed to the Superbowl in town for two games of bowling! So much fun, even if I am rubbish! We then came back to my house for pre-drinks & cake before heading out to the pub & finally on to a club where we danced the night away. Sunday was spent with family & recovering from the night before & finally Monday (my actual birthday) Gordon went home & I spent the day with Pete at the beach. It was freeeeezing cold but was such a laugh. We nearly got blown away, it was so windy.

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without a couple of pictures.. enjoy. ; )

Myself, Boop, Sarah, Gemma & Cathy's scores

Myself & Gordon at bowling

Pre-drinks & opening presents

Cathy with my balloon everyone signed

<3 (cba to name all of them!)

At the club - the girls!

My birthday cake (Sunday)

Cutting the cake (hungover much!?)

All my cards

I had such an amazing weekend, just want to say a huge thankyou to all my friends, family & my gorgeous boyfriend for everything. : D

Love you alllll!

Guest Posting - Emily

So today is my birthday - I'm 21! 

& I thought it would be perfect to have one of my beautiful best friends guest post for you. You'll probably remember Emily guest posting back in September when I went on holiday to Spain. Please check out her blog, she is amazing. : )

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Hello everyone!

First off, I want to wish my gorgeous friend Cat a very happy 21st birthday! Make sure you all send her lots of birthday wishes :-)

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You might remember me from my last guest post for One Hand in My Pocket. Well, I'm back today to post on a slightly different theme, because it's fun to mix things up a bit, isn't it?!

I went out for lunch with Cat and a couple of our friends recently and of course we discussed our Christmas gifts. I mentioned to Cat that I was given a huge trunk of Soap and Glory products from my uncle, so she suggested I do a little review post for you all!

I've chosen my three favourite products from the collection as you can see, there were loads to choose from!

I had a little gander on the Soap and Glory website as I'd never used any of their products before. There's so much to choose from and all really reasonably priced too! I just love the play on words they use to title each item-it really sets them apart from other (more boring) brands. Most of the products I looked at online consistently got four or five star reviews from users which is great and certainly well-deserved :-)

So, without further ado, I bring you my thoughts on three of my favourite S&G products. Enjoy!

"Face Soap and Clarity" Facial Wash RRP: £6

This is a daily Vitamin C face wash with skin-brightening complex-according to the label! I don't normally use foaming face washes as I tend to prefer 3-in-1 wipes, mainly because they're quicker and easier (and I can often be a bit lazy when it comes to skin care!) But I thought I'd give this one a go :-)

This is honestly a pleasure to use. A small blob is enough to cleanse the entire face and it lathers up well without becoming overly foamy, which is one of the things I can't stand about some face washes. There are tiny beads in the wash that gently exfoliate at the same time as washing, so I feel like I'm getting 2 products for the price of 1 (not that I actually paid for it, but you know what I mean!)

I've used this wash for about two weeks now and I have already noticed a difference in my skin. I've always had fairly normal skin that can occasionally get a bit dry, especially around my nose, but since using "Face Soap and Clarity", my face feels much softer and definitely looks brighter and healthier.
The wash looks and smells gorgeous too; with it's tiny pink exfoliating beads and fruity scent, it's the ultimate girly face product!

And, as it says on the tube, "dictionary be damned, it will do a bang-up job at washing your face!"

"Mist You Madly" Body Spray RRP: £6

I love, love, love this scented body mist! Normally I stick to eau de toilettes rather than mists as the former lasts longer, normally all day, so no re-application is neccessary. That said, despite it not lasting all day, this body spray has such a gorgeous smell that having to re-apply doesn't really matter to me. According to the S&G site, they offer a mini bottle as well as this 250ml, so it's easy enough to pop into your handbag, ready for you when you want to refresh the scent :-)

The scent itself is really lovely-a very pretty, powdery smell with a light touch of musk to it, it not only smells great on the body but left my bedroom smelling yummy as well! Bonus! It gives quite a generous amount of the scent when you spritz it as well, so I imagine it would last a while.

Let's be honest, the real reason I'm in love with this spray is the name. Come on, "Mist You Madly"?! It's so cutesie and fun and at just £6, well worth a buy! When I run out, I'll certainly be buying more :-)

"Sexy Mother Pucker" Lip Gloss RRP: £9

I have to admit, I'm a little bit obsessed with this gloss!

I've never been a lip gloss gal really; I tend to prefer lipsticks. There's literally nothing worse than when the wind blows your hair and it gets stuck to your glossy lips-yuck!!

The "Sexy Mother Pucker" gloss (apart from having a supremely awesome name!) isn't sticky, much to my delight! It's slick and shimmery with a lovely, subtle peachy tone (the shade is called Candy Gloss), but it's certainly not sticky like some glosses I've tried in the past.

Ooh and it tastes yum! There's a scrummy vanilla flavour which I can taste whenever I lick my lips :-) Just remember you can't eat it!

Be warned-there's a surprise in store with this product...one that I wasn't prepared for!

When I put this gloss on for the first time, I discovered that it causes the lips to go delightfully tingly! I'm assuming this is the lip-plumping magic getting to work as it leaves the lips looking fuller and very kissable ;-)

I wasn't expecting the tingle so it was a pleasant surprise, making this gloss extra fun! I'm sorely tempted to sample some of the other shades in this gloss...

I'm giving the "Sexy Mother Pucker" gloss five stars as, so far, I haven't found anything negative! Go Soap and Glory!

I'm not ashamed to confess, I have officially become an S&G convert (see? I'm already abbreviating their name!) The three products I've already tried and tested have been enough to show me just how fab a brand this is! I can't wait to try out the "Calm One, Calm All" bubble bath and the "Clean on Me" shower gel. With names like that, what's not to love?!

I hope I've managed to convert a few of you lovely readers as well, or at least tempted you into trying some of these products out for yourselves. I promise you, you won't regret it!

Thanks for reading everyone and thank you Cat for letting me ramble on your blog ;-) Happy 21st gorgeous!!

Emily xxx

Design And Nonsense

Frontcover - Airkiss Palette

Now you all know I love my lippy & to be honest, I can't imagine going out now without wearing any. I started wearing lipstick everyday early last year & never looked back. I used to just wear it just on nights out & use a trusty lip gloss during the day. How things change.. ; )

 I think the right shade of lipstick can totally complete an outfit even if it's just a casual tea date with the girls. So here's my current favourite palette. : )

This palette was £10 from Boots. It was out before Christmas, so was originally £20, but I bought it in their half price sale. It is the perfect palette for someone who is new to wearing lipstick, as there is such a variety of colours to try, or someone who likes to wear a range of shades, like myself. The palette contains 20 lipsticks, meaning I paid 50p per lipstick & although they are only tiny, you don't need to apply a great amount.

I love the box it came in, so gorgeous. It also has some tips to try at the side, I've labelled them as you can't really read the text in this photo.

1. Try using two different lip colours on the top & bottom lips. This doesn't mean applying a nude & a red! Go for sutle colours that match well together. Think of a colour chart & only go for neighbouring shades.

2. Use a lip liner. As well as 20 lipsticks, you get a lip liner & a lip brush. Use the lip liner to create a guideline for when you apply your lipstick then use the brush to fill in your lips. The liner is great for giving your lips extra definition.

3. Blend colours. Similar to the first tip, use either two or three shades (again imagine the colour wheel) & blend them together, but instead of one colour on each lip, use the darkest shade in the centre of the top & bottom lip & slowly fade out using a lighter shade. The pinks & reds are great for this.

Right, so here is the palette & swatches:

L - R: Cats Nose, Chintz, Blossom, Violaceous, Hyacinth.

L - R: Net Curtain, Peach Puff, Miss Brown, Rhubard, Amaranthine.

L - R: Roseate Tern, Glow Worm, Roseceaous, Charred, Firework.

L - R: Pink Papaya, Arson, Liz Red, Santa, Red Cork.

Swatch of the Nude Lip Liner.

So, what do you think? Have any of you tried any other Frontcover make-up? : )

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This is a scheduled post, mainly because it is FRIDAY & my weekend of celebrations starts today! YAY, I'm soooo excited. Gords should be down this afternoon, then we're out for a meal tonight followed by a night out tomorrow with my friends. It's gonna be awesome. : ) I won't be posting over the weekend, but one of my best girls, Emily, will be guest posting on Monday, so please pop back & check that out. : ) See you when I'm 21!