The Balm Stainiac in Prom Queen: Review

Here is another new product I bought to try in the sales.  I haven't used a lip stain in ages as I've been trying to make myself wear my lipsticks more often.  My lips are naturally really pale and normally I wouldn't wear a lipstick to work so I've been wanting to find something that will add just a little bit of natural colour.

I saw the Stainiac lip and cheek stains in the sale here and decided that the shade 'Prom Queen' would look the most natural on my lips.

I really like this product.  It's very natural looking on my lips but I think it can be built up if you want a brighter stain.  I wear just a small amount on my lips to work and don't feel over done like I would do with lipstick.  I'm glad I bought this product and wish I had got another shade to try when they were on offer!

I think you can see the colour looks really natural in these photos.

I bought a two faced Glamour to go palette yesterday which I'm looking forward to testing out and reviewing soon!

Till next time! :)

Twirlybirdie

Clinique blusher review: Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Pink Love

Hello!

Are you having a lovely weekend?  It was pretty grey and cold here in the early part of the day but now it's sunny and gorgeous!  I've decided to write some posts about some make-up products that I've been enjoying lately.  This one is about a Clinique blusher that I've been using called Pink Love.

This blusher was given to me by my very glamorous grandmother.  I never usually wear blusher, especially powder blusher which for some reason has always struck me as old fashioned.  As a ballet dancer I tend to be exercising and going rosy plenty enough with out needing any extra help!  I decided to give this a go as it looks so pretty and the colour was so very me with it's bright pinkness and gold flecks.

I really like this blusher.  I don't need to use much to create a natural looking flush as the colour is so bright.  It's a quick and easy way to brighten up my face when I put it on in the morning.

I'm glad I decided to try this out.  I love the compact too and it's useful mirror on the inside!

Do you use blusher or have a favourite shade at the moment?

Till next time,

Twirlybirdie :)

Cath Kidston glasses case

Hello!  I hope your week is going well.  I wanted to show you some pictures of this great new glasses case I bought in the summer sale at Cath Kidston.

I had had the same case since I was 15 years old when I got my first pair of glasses.  I had even lost the cleaning cloth for it a while back and the case was looking pretty ragged so it was time for a change!

I often think replacing things like this that have a case already is a waste of money but I'm really glad I bought this.  It's really pretty and came with a cleaning cloth so it's good to have one of those again!

Till next time

Twirlybirde :)

Mondays are pretty little dress days

Hello, I hope you have had a great start to the week.

Sat here in my kitchen the sun is streaming in through the window which is always nice.  I've managed to convince myself to try to start drinking green tea again and I'm impressed with how well I've been doing with it.  I actually don't mind the taste as much as I used to.  I think I've got the hang of making it now so that it doesn't taste too bitter.

Wth that my health kick is well under-way as I try to shape up for the performing season starting in October.

On Monday it was a warm day which I decided I had to make the most of before the hard long winter begins.  So I wore this cute little tea dress by A-wear which my boyfriend bought for me as a surprise off of Asos.  He does know my style finally after four years!

I bought this bag in May.  It's quite useful as it has lots of pockets which means I'm not always loosing my things in my bag.  It is a bit heavier than my cute little Cath Kidston one though!

I dyed my hair this weekend with L'oreal Casting Cream Gloss hair dye in Spicy Chocolate or Chocolate Chilli depending on which country you're in!  It's shade 544.  I'm really pleased with it as it's quite subtle.  My hair was a bit redder before and now it's a slightly darker brown red.  I hope it lasts a little while as the last time I dyed my hair a brown shade it faded faster than when I dye my hair red.

Sadly it isn't actually summer any more so I brought this cardigan out with me to keep warm.  I bought it this weekend from a shop called Springfield which I'd never been to before! They have some cute things, this cardigan was only 15 euros in the sale.

So that's my outfit post for today.  I hope you have a great Tuesday!

Twirlybirdie :)

Sundays are for Baking

Hello!  Did you have a good Sunday?

It was a really lovely day here.  We went to some shops out of town to try to get some things for our kitchen.  I had so many things to carry home though that I wisely didn't take my camera there with me.  The morning and evening I spent baking!

I had been waiting all week to make these biscuits which I've made a couple of times before.  They feel slightly healthier than normal cookies because of the oats (though I'm sure the butter and sugar more than make up for them!).  Either way they're delicious.

You can find the recipe here at the BBC Good Food website.  Hurry as the recipe is only going to be up until September 30th!

Before baking....

...and after!  They only take 10 minutes in the oven.  Quick to make and quickly gone in to my stomach too!

In the evening I decided that I wanted to use up the ripe bananas we had in our kitchen so I found a quick and easy recipe for banana bread!

 I bought a new loaf tin specially for it.  It worked really well!  It was one of those fancy new rubber variates.  I was impressed with it, it was really easy to use.

It is another good food recipe, this one here. 

I love the good food website, there are so many recipes up there!  I cooked the banana bread a little bit longer than stated in the recipe as I read the comments below the recipe and that's what most of them said to do.  The smell whilst it was cooking was delicious!  It tasted yummy too.

So it was quite a productive Sunday.  I hope my Monday will be equally as productive though I feel like I need to recover from eating too many biscuits and cakes!  Is Sunday a good baking day for you too?

I need to pop out to the shops now, I really want to go and find a blender so I can make my own smoothies.

till next time

Twirlybirdie :)

Polka Dot Socks

Hey there!

How's your week going?  I'm so excited it's nearly the weekend.  I have to work on Saturday until 1pm but I am free as a bird after that :)

I was lounging on the sofa the other day and I noticed that both my boyfriend and I were wearing dotty socks.

His are Paul Smith socks that I got him for his birthday, mine are H&M!

We both love dots, here's another example of things we own that are almost the same print!

This is my dotty dressing gown and below is his dotty shirt!

Clearly we are meant to be ;)  I also have a polka dot Cath Kidston handbag.  Polka Dots are such a cute print that makes any item seem out of the ordinary and fun.  What about you?  Are you more in to dots or stripes?  Or maybe a cute flower print!?

till next time

Twirlybirdie :)

An Early Start for a Sunday...with coffee, ducks and lipstick

Hello!

I hope you guys had a good weekend.  I took my camera out for a walk with me on Sunday.  It was a special day here, celebrating the beginning of a new school year.  It was quite busy in the cafe we went to because of this but we were so exhausted from work we had gone to bed quite early on Saturday night. This meant that we got out much earlier than usual for a Sunday, so I didn't mind sitting around waiting for our coffee to arrive.

I'm having a bit of an internal fight at the moment about whether or not I should try to stop drinking coffee.  Is caffeine really that bad for you?  At the moment though I'm only having one a day so I don't think that's so bad.  They don't really serve decaf over here as standard yet which would probably solve my problem as it's the taste and smell I love more than the effect.

I really love nice kitchen ware.  This is a cute milk jug they had at the cafe.

We went for a walk along the river which is where I caught sight of this duck dunking itself in the water, so cute!

A well worn looking bridge.

There are loads of pretty looking flower baskets out at the moment.  I think it's to compensate for the harsh and long winter we have.  I love seeing a blue sky too!

I wore a dress I've had for ages.  It was a present from my Mum.  It's by Henry Holland for Debenhams and has this really cute pattern on it.

It's a really wearable day dress.  Easy to throw on and look pretty.

I don't wear lipstick very often so I like to try to make myself wear it at the weekends.  I wore my favourite Art Deco lipstick in shade 36.  I love the matte creamy texture of this lipstick.  It's richly pigmented and fairly long lasting, although I do still have to re-apply it after eating or drinking.

It's a pretty wearable pink.  Not too bright but still pretty.

I wear these pink Accessorize earrings all the time.  I got them last summer and I seem to remember that they were a really good price!

When we got home it rained and rained so heavily.  I spent the evening sorting out the kitchen and making cupcakes.  When the weather changes and the nights get darker and longer it inspires me to bake.  I suppose because it makes home feel more cosy.  I definitely want to try and keep baking and experimenting in my new much more decent sized kitchen!

The evening is drawing in once more and it's another cloudy one.  I hope you enjoyed this peak in to my day.  I'll be ending mine drinking decaf tea in my kitchen and maybe catching up on some episodes of my favourite programmes.

I'd love you to follow me on here or click on the bloglovin' button in the sidebar to follow me on there!

Till next time

Twirlybirdie :)

Today I wore... Topshop and New Look

Hello!

I hope you guys are having a nice weekend.  This is an outfit I actually wore on Friday to go to work in.  I bought this dress in the summer sales at Topshop.  It was a great buy at 20 quid and I got lots of compliments on it at work.

The photo isn't great quality so I'll try and take a better picture of it with my Canon camera at home.

I wore it with my New Look shoes which are leather and were just 10 quid in the sale!

You can see the pattern on the dress a bit clearer here.  So pretty!

Here's a closer picture of the shoes.  They are a great height for everyday wear and pretty too!

I'm hoping to make some cupcakes later today, maybe I will surprise my boyfriend with them,

till next time

Twirlybirdie :)