Wedding decor preparations and midnight blue nails

Hi there!

How quickly has this past week gone by?  I can't believe it's already Saturday tomorrow.  We have been busy, as I keep saying this is the busiest time of the year for the theatre.  Asides from enjoying the shows I am mostly looking forward to going home for a three day Christmas break.  At the moment the days consist mostly of hard work in the theatre and the evenings are mostly hot baths and candles (and chocolate).  The dark dreary weather is still a little difficult to get used to.  Adding a bit of brightness with a few choice cosmetics helps in the morning.  I think I just came up with a blog post right there!

Can you sense the greyness in the background?  We spent a few minutes making paper snowflakes (as you do!).  Surprisingly there isn't much snow on the ground.  Unusual for this chilly country.  It was snowing whilst I was walking home from work today though so who knows what I will wake up to tomorrow!

I made our first tissue paper pom pom as a tester for the wedding decor.  I think it turned out quite well!  Definitely planning to make some more although probably when I'm back home as I'm not sure how well these would hold up to transportation!

The dark evenings had me craving some darker colours on my nails.  This is one of my favourite shades, a rich dark midnight blue by China Glaze.  It's quick drying and applies well but I think because I didn't apply a top coat it started to chip after a couple of days.

My fiancé has been making some letters to apply to a photo backdrop for the wedding.  Gold and pink are in our colour scheme.  I think they look pretty cool.

I just love these matte gold sequins.  I'm thinking of using them to tie around the bouquets of flowers.

Are you thinking of making your own photo booth backdrop?  We looked in to hiring one but they were quite expensive and we don't really have the budget for it.  It's exciting to see all the little craft wedding details coming in to reality!  Luckily we have some really good inexpensive fabric stores near to us which helps with the crafting preparations.
Well time to get back to my chocolate!

Till next time :)

Twirlybirdie

Christmas preparations, reading and lipstick

Hello!
I hope you are enjoying December.  Things have been getting Christmassy at home.  Paper snowflakes have been made and the Christmas tree has been put up.  I have even had my first glass of mulled wine and it was delicious.  The only thing that hasn't gotten under way yet is Christmas shopping, but that is normal for me!  I'm definitely someone who leaves it until the last minute!  Not because I don't think about it but because I do think about what to buy for ages!

I've only got two more weeks left at work before I can go home for the Christmas holidays and I can hardly believe it.  Those two weeks are going to be some of the toughest to get through because that's when a lot of performances get crammed in.  The Christmas holidays are the time when people seem to enjoy going to the theatre the most!  Luckily I caught up on a lot of sleep this weekend so I should be prepared!

As I recently finished reading the Great Gatsby I was trying to think of something else to read and this came to mind.  I was going to buy something but then I realised I could be thriftier by reading something I already owned.  I bought this years ago and just could never get in to it but this time I'm going to give it more effort.  The only time I find I can relax and focus my mind on a book is when I'm in the bath and these cold months are definitely the best time for that so maybe I'll finally get in to it!

Speaking of shopping my own stash of goodies I recently wanted to jazz up my make-up look for the weekend and came across and old favourite lipstick I haven't worn in a while.  It's number 36 by Art Deco from the Perfect Colour Range and is such a gorgeous wearable pink.  On the website it's called Pink Thistle.  It's creamy and relatively matte, which everyone seems to be in to at the moment.  It doesn't slide straight off the lips, the pigmentation is very good and the price is affordable.
I like the shade because it's pink and stands out on the lips but isn't so bright that you feel uncomfortable wearing it in the day time.  In my picture it's slightly more glossy looking because I had put it on over a natural but glossier lipstick that just wasn't doing it for me that day.

That gave me a reason not to spend any more money on a new lipstick that day but today I wasn't so well behaved and bought myself a new dark red (it was on sale!).  I got the L'oreal Colour Riche lipstick in the shade Blake's Pure Red.  I will have to take some photos of that soon.
Time for me to get ready for bed!

Till next time :)

Twirlybirdie

November Favourites

Hello!

I hope you are having a good day.  It's already in to December so it's about time I put up my November favourites!

Garnier Fructis Nutri Repair 3 Oils Instant Detangler
My hair is not in the best condition right now.  It needs cutting and seems to get itself tangled in to knots pretty frequently!  When it's really bad just after washing it and towel drying I add quite a hefty amount of this detangling spray.  It definitely makes a difference to getting the knots out!

Lumene Vitamin C Pure Radiance Eye Cream
The bags under my eyes can be pretty bad at this dark, sleepy time of year.  I've never really used an eye cream before, not regularly any way.  I'm pretty sceptical about eye creams and whether they make a difference but for some reason (out of desperation maybe) I've been using this one quite a lot recently.  I don't have much time to analyze my face in the morning but the cream itself does seem to add a certain radiance to the area once applied.  Also a tiny amount seems to go a long way.

The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Reviver
I've written about this a few times now but it's just so useful at this time of year.  I don't know what it does exactly but when the wind is chilly outside it just seems to add a little bit of extra protection from the elements.  My skin feels really nice with a tiny bit of this on and it smells delicious too.

Clinique Travel Exclusive Make-up Set
I've had this travel set for ages but last month I found myself using the eye shadows from it over and over again.  They are probably the nicest eye shadows I own.  There's a gorgeous red-y copper toned shade and a nice medium brown shade that are good for day time wear.  They aren't too stark and look fairly natural with a nice subtle shimmery-ness to them.  The texture of them is really soft and they apply so nicely.  I think this palette is still available at the airport as I remember seeing it in duty free fairly recently.

So that's my favourites from this month.  More skin care than beauty but I guess that's the nature of fighting off the winter freeze!

Till next time :)

Twirlybirdie

Little things: Angels and Hearts

Hello!  It's nearly Friday!  That thought cheers me up.  I am really struggling with the weather lately.  All day long yesterday and today it has been completely overcast.  It's cold outside and gets dark early which makes it a struggle to get any sunlight.  I feel sleepy all day, especially since I've had to stop drinking caffeinated coffee and tea.  I'm surviving on scented candles, hot baths, and (caffeine free) hot drinks.  I recently finished reading The Great Gatsby during my many bathing sessions and am on the look out for something as good to read next.  Any suggestions?

As soon as any sunlight peaks through when we're at home I try to grab my camera and take some pictures in the natural light.  These two cuties were bought by my fiancé as Christmas presents for angel loving family members.

This is the heart shape cutting hole punch we bought to make our heart bunting.  I also used to to punch out a patterned paper heart to put on a home made birthday card.  I think it will be getting used quite a lot!

Reams of home made heart bunting!  Wedding decoration preparations are well and truly under way!

My fiancé's favourite colour is green, in case you couldn't tell.  We went out for our weekend lunch date (sushi as usual) and I really liked the colour of this jumper which I couldn't ever remember him wearing before.

 The trees have lost all their leaves.  So sad!  Since then the branches have even already been snow covered.

I was given this as a Christmas present last year.  You follow the instructions and make a little fabric heart cushion.  There was enough fabric and trimmings to make more than one heart so I made another one this weekend.

The pattern cutting process.  

The finished heart.  Super cute!  I think I might use it as a pin cushion.

Even though I'm a fully grown adult I still can't resist having a chocolate advent calender!  The countdown to Christmas definitely seems to go by quicker than it used to!

Till next time

Twirlybirdie :)

Dark Winter Lips

Hello!
Last week was a busy week for me, ending with our first performance of the Nutcracker on Sunday.  I haven't had much time to sit down and gather my thoughts together.  Something I did manage to do was pick up a dark coloured winter lipstick.
I've been wanting to try the dark lips trend for a while, since around last year, but never gotten around to actually purchasing a lipstick in this dark a shade.  I've worn dark reds in the past that I felt really washed me out so stuck generally to brighter shades of red and pink.  Having seen others pull off the dark, vampy, plum-y lip shades gave me the incentive to give it a go.  I always feel like it would look great with some of the little black dresses I own so now I finally can try the look out!
I was toying with the idea of splashing out on a high end lipstick but decided that it would be more sensible to buy a cheaper version of the lipstick to see if the colour really worked for me or not first.
The lipstick I went for was shade No. 119 Love Temper by Misslyn.  I put it on as soon as we left the shops whilst we sat and had a coffee.  I thought the colour was great and my fiancé agreed.  By the time I got home though I noticed that the lipstick had started to bleed slightly which was disappointing.  I ended up buying a lip liner to try and solve the issue and make the lipstick a little more long lasting.

The lip liner I bought was Bourjois Contour Edition in shade 09 Plum it up.  They were a pretty good match for each other shade wise.  The colour of the lip liner is also pretty on it's own!  It could be good to wear alone if you were looking for a matte finish in this shade  It's a bit dry though with out the lipstick on top so you might want some balm underneath or gloss on the top.

The pigmentation of both these products is good.  I wore them together on a night out and didn't notice the problem with bleeding I had with the lipstick on it's own before.  I did need to re apply the lipstick after having a drink though there was still a good amount of colour there, mainly from the lip liner underneath.  The lipstick is moisturising and glossy.

 The second picture is the lip liner worn on it's own.  I like this colour and will definitely be wearing it out more often.  I made sure I was wearing blusher to stop my face becoming too washed out and a good dose of black liquid eye liner kept my eyes from disappearing against the boldness of the lipstick!

Till next time :)

Twirlybirdie