OOoo Fancy Make Up Review!

Product #1: Girlies, I’m all about finding things I like and sticking with them – well, if they ain’t broke and all that… So I would have to say that the majority of my make up is MAC and when it comes to foundation, I’ve been a MAC select fluid girl for years. I tried other brands but gave up looking when I found this, I thought I’d found my HG foundation [Holy Grail]. Then earlier this year I started to look around, call it a seven year make up itch. Every so often I was convinced I could see a slight tide line below my chin – the horror! – I’m so pale I’ve always struggled with matching colour, and maybe the odd patchy bit on my face after a while. So when the Dior Nude Hydrating Glow Make Up was launched earlier this year, my beady eyes had a new target! I was hovering around the Dior concession of one of the bigger department stores one day and decided to try it out. A bit on my hand to start off with as I’m totally allergic to SA’s coming at me with sponges or brushes, to check out the colour match and texture – both passed with flying colours. And then I made myself wait until I finished my bottle of MAC Select – recession or no recession, it was a long wait, I can tell you!

After the longest time, really, I went back to the Dior counter with a little Muji bottle in order to try it out properly and the nice SA gave me enough to do me for the weekend. Delighted I was. And then even more impressed after it got a going out Friday night trial run! The coverage of this foundation is described as ‘medium’ but I find that even though this is probably true versus stuff like EL Doublewear, the Dior Nude glides on and covers a multitude without needing to be heavy handed about the amount of product. And it really does glide on, the texture is great and it’s definitely hydrating, what with it being 40% water and then it’s also full of vitamins, minerals and trace elements – how could it not be good for you?

Colour match - yes [I'm a 010, the palest shade], Texture – yes, glides on and gives a lovely slightly dewy glow, Staying Power – yes, less frequent touch ups needed compared to the MAC Select, Coverage – yes, I’m happy it evens out my skin tone without looking like theatre make up, Price – no it’s €43!! Or you could just buy it in Sterlingland like I did for £26.50

Product #2: OK, it’s hard to describe, but when I saw this flashy little Dior number, I just had to have it! I genuinely think I was all caught up in the hardship of wanting the Nude foundation and couldn’t stop ogling Dior counters. Anyway. I’m not really a palette girl. I’ve 10’s of eyeshadows but they all tend to be single MAC ones – I’m quite fussy about what colours I put with my pale skin and grey green eyes. I think I may have the entire pink through to purple spectrum and a few navy/blacks thrown in for doing very dark smokey eyes. It’s just that I normally like 1 maybe 2 colours in a palette and it’d be a waste as the others would go untouched.

But now that I have my lovely Dior 5 colours design in ‘navy’, I can honestly say that I heart each colour in it! The white base does what it says on the tin, then the centre colour and the navy in the top left for shading  are what would be my staples. The centre colour is more purple than appears in the pic and as you’d expect, the staying power is great, just blend, blend, blend! The iridescent purple, top right is actually very sparkly! Nice for a little night time highlightling on the brow and in a first for Dior, the darkest colour, bottom right is actually a cream liner, not powder. You get those fiddly little sponges in the compact, ditch those for brushes that work but if you don’t have a good liner, there’s a flat brush included that does actually do the job, just don’t poke your eye out using it! And finally, wear this with an even bigger smile on your face if you can cleverly manage to purchase in Sterling where it’ll set you back £37 as opposed to €55.

You Should Really Turn On The Sound

Really. This is great. And I’m not taking the piss.

Question of the Day

Would burying Michael Jackson contravene Health & Safety regulations regarding synthetic materials getting into the soil? Or if he’s cremated, would he simply melt meaning there’d be no ashes left to scatter?

Guilt

There was a really good drama on TV recently and the story and how it unravelled got me thinking. I was really intrigued by the issues the main character became embroiled in, how it all happened and where it could’ve ended up.

Very wealthy Asian family. Daughter being pushed into an arranged marriage she doesn’t want and she resents her brother’s ‘playboy’ lifestyle outside of the strict family unit. Family chauffeur is in love with the daughter, sees she doesn’t like her now intended husband. The chauffeur first drugs and then plants drugs and incriminating photographs on this guy, he gets caught through a tip off, a criminal record and his reputation is in ruins. The chauffeur tells the daughter he ’saved her’ from an unwanted marriage and wants a ‘reward’. The daughter agrees to sleep with him as a once off. She starts to hate her double life of sneaking off to her nice English boyfriend’s house and playing the dutiful daughter at home. She is intrigued by the chauffeur, his devotion to her and initiates more sex with him. For the first time in he life she feels like she’s making her own decisions.

She starts to lose any control she had when her intended husband turns up demanding to know why she ruined his life, that he knows she had something to do with his downfall. He puts two and two together and realises her chauffeur is starting her motor in more ways than one and obviously this can’t become public knowledge. As she looks on, the chauffeur kills the guy and promises to get rid of the body. Her real boyfriend wants to meet her family, wants to prove he can in fact be a good husband. He impresses her father so much that there’s an announcement that he’s ‘lending’ his now future son in law money and that they’re going into business together. The daughter feels more trapped than ever and tries to lose herself in her clandestine affair with the chauffeur.

When a body turns up and it’s identified as her ex- fiance, she starts to panic – he’d made many allegations against her when alive. The net closes in. The chauffeur loves her so much by now he’s willing to do anything for her. He quite literally loses himself in a crime of passion. He  ’forces himself’ on her, tells her to say he confessed to the earlier murder before he ‘rapes her’ and then he stabs himself. Dying on his lover in a final act of allegiance, to all intents and purpose, it looks like she killed him in self defense, when in fact, it was her faithful devotee that has, most likely saved her reputation. After all, how would a respectable, well educated girl like her ever get involved in drugs and murder?

The drama ends with her on her wedding day to her English boyfriend, the one she supposedly wanted to be with all along, the one that her father now approves of and is in business with. But she doesn’t look happy, she looks trapped, all over again. Trapped by her desire to stay the pampered princess, still trapped by her family, trapped by what she knows and trapped by her lies. If anyone found out what she was an accomplice to, her life as she knows it would end. Her guilty face says it all.

What would you have done? Owned up to knowing the chauffeur had killed your ex fiance? Owned up to having an affair with him? Owned up to wanting to be free to live your own life, even if it can only start after a jail sentence? Owned up to taking advantage of someone else’s desires and using them to protect the privileged yet materialistic lifestyle you had grown accustomed to? Or simply said nothing and lived with these secrets for the rest of your life?

Specs Appeal

I wear glasses because, darn it, I’m short sighted, I need them! I was 9 when my teacher in school noticed I kept leaning over to read whatever the girl beside me was writing down from the blackboard – I’m guessing that I was also leaning over for a bit of a chat, but sure that’d hardly surprise you!

I’ve toyed with the idea of getting my eyes lasered, but I’m just a bit chicken and even though I know lots of people that have had it done, the smell of burning eye bits that has been confirmed to me is more than a little off putting!

I wear my glasses most days, contacts when I’m going out. I’ve never really minded wearing glasses, if I’m honest, and I’ve been told by many a male that I look good in glasses, so that’s hardly a bad thing! I couldn’t wear contacts all day in work, what with being glued to an old pc monitor and all. And the thing is, I’m a lot older now so would I really take anyone that took a pop at my for being a ’speccy 4 eyes’ seriously anymore? He he, I’m laughing to myself as I haven’t even heard that for ages, let alone use it! Much more of a kids in the playground thing.

One person that got more than his fair share off the school bullies is Gok Wan – poor Gok was an overweight, speccy 4 eyes! Now as we all know, Gok has come out of his cocoon to become one of the most stylish and dare I say witty fashion bods around. Good old Gok – it’s been documented how unhappy he was with his weight and how he struggled to fit in – but he’s definitely come full circle and is easily in a position to stick two fingers up to the bullies as he sashays from place to place helping girlies with their wardrobe woes.

Now Gok is also teaming up with Specsavers and anti bullying charity Kidscape to launch the 2009, ‘Irish Spectacle Wearer of the Year’! Are you a trendy Triona that always keeps her specs to hand? A stylish Sinead? A natty Niamh? Or a very attractive Aoife that can’t do without your specs either? Enter the competition! The prizes are truly eye popping with a modelling contract, a photoshoot and a trip to Thailand and much more!

And, the gorgeous Gok will be in Dublin to judge the final! Now, how many times have you seen Gok transform a plain Jane into a fabulous Fiona and think that 5 minutes with him would lead to the biggest transformation since David Banner became The HulkCinderella  met her Fairy Godmother! I’ve often wondered how Gok would approach me, if he got his hands on my wardrobe so to speak! I don’t even know where he’d start [says she that can hear her Mother now saying 'I don't know why you insist on wearing so much black like all the time'].

Would you like a Gok-over’? What do you think he’d reckon to your sense of style. And more importantly, if the tables were turned and you could put Gok on the spot, what would you ask him? Would you ask him which celebrity he fancies, who he think has the best sense of style or who he’s absolutely crying out to restyle? Or, you simply might like to know if he’s a boxers or briefs man. Put your questions to Gok here and you never know, that very question might be posed to Gok by yours truly when’s he’s in town!

Don’t forget the competition! Entries by 30th June, that’s a week’s time

Same goes for your questions to Gok, send them to me at the contact address, glitterseeglitterdo@yahoo.com

Face Value

You’re reading this because I like to write and so I started this blog. Most of it is of a kinda personal nature, other bits and pieces aren’t, they’re maybe news items or beauty product reviews etc. I’ve been very flattered by the amount of people that read this blog and for the many, many comments and I hope you continue to visit here. But and here’s the thing, you and I chat about lots of different things, my opinion, my relaying something that happened, you commenting in reply, it’s quite easy really so let’s stay friends cos I’d love if you kept visiting!

 So, it’s a nice little thing we have going, me and you. It works! I start a conversation, you chip in a few words if you’re so inclined and we wake up tomorrow and do it all again. When you’re not here you have your own life, that I know and that I get. I don’t demand when you visit, I just like when you do! And equally, if I don’t want to talk about something, I don’t, if I want your opinion, I’ll ask and I can happily rely on your support. If I felt like you absolutely needed to know what I’m up to every minute of every day, well, you’d be following me via Twitter. But the thing is, I’m not a Twitterer, I’ve never written a Tweet and I won’t be either. I just don’t see the point. And I don’t follow anyone else’s Tweets either. If I want to know what any of my friends are up to I’ll text or ring them and ask to meet for a drink. And as for following the Twitterings of whatever celebrity, hello? what is all that about – it’s almost like an acceptable form of stalkingand really, really, why would you bother? If you don’t know this person IRL so to speak, why would you want to know that it’s sunny where they are on the other side of the world? Or that they’ve just had great fish & chips? Or indeed anything to do with their bodily functions?

A while ago I succumbedto Facebook, after a number of people asking if I was on it and then a friend that’d moved back to New Zealand saying it’d be the best way [ie cheapest!] to keep in touch, I decided to sign up. I’ve a pic up, just the one, taken a few years ago and it’s more about the signpost in the background rather than being able to recognise me [I'm also wearing sunnies] and I filled in a bit of the profile-y type stuff. I requested to be friends with those that had been asking me to sign up and accepted more friend requests within a few weeks. I don’t find Facebookthe best thing since sliced bread. I find a lot of the ‘What are you doing’ type posts very mundane, cringe inducing and don’t bother clicking into music or group postings that other put up. The odd time I’ll do a quiz one of my ‘friends’ has done and compare results – if I really have nothing better to do. And what is it with people putting so many pix up on their profile? Really?! A few people I’m friends with literally have hundred’s of photos of themselves on view. Hundreds! Talk about vanity… Get over yourselves!!

I did ponder for a bit when I got requests to be friends with the brother of and the cousin of a girl I used to be very good friends with. Then I got a request from her as well.

It’s Friday – Whatcha Gonna do?

Oh Friday! You’re here again! Oh Friday, let me count the ways that I love you! It’s like I can’t wait til you come around and I never want you to go away. Oh, I have such fond memories of you, Friday, and I’ve got some great ones planned in the future.

So, what do you want to do today? It’s your day after all, Friday! Me, I’m just hanging by your coat tails, glad to go with you wherever. I’m fine, I’m great in fact! I know it’ll be good. I know you’ll take me somewhere I like being – we always have a great time when it’s me and you. A drink here, a dance there… some food along the way before another dance and another drink. Darn it! You know how much I love you Friday!

You take me to the edge of heaven, baby!

For the blonde who suggested the band, for the brunette for getting the ‘Friday Feeling’ spot on and for McSmile that guessed the band and the song as soon as I asked him what today’s post should be.

This Isn’t What I Wanted!

On a scale of 1 – 10, this girl must rate about a 134 in terms of how stupid she is. Belgian Kimberley Vlaeminck claims that she only asked tattooist Rousian Toumaniantz to ink 3 stars onto her face, not the 56 she ended up with. She also claims that because she fell asleep during the process, coupled with a breakdown in communication, she now cannot show her face in public and has become nothing more than a circus freak. Toumaniantz claims that she was awake during the process, looked into the mirror several times and actually asked for 56 stars to be tatooted onto her face in the first place!

Things all started to go pear shaped when Vlaeminck arrived home and instead of her Dad and boyfriend waiting eagerly for her to change into the new dress or shoes she bought on her trip into town, they were faced, pardon the pun, with yer wan still in her jeans and t shirt but with a mass of potentially permanent, ugly, black marks over half her face that she choose to put there!Well, you can imagine the Father and boyfriend’s reaction! They hit the roof! And then all kind of allegations that Kimberley must’ve been drugged or hypnotised by the tattooist so that he could act out some kind of revenge rose to the surface – as allegations do.

The upshot of this silly, silly, girls actions is that she’s now got a face like an extra on a Tim Burton movie and is the laughing stock of everyone in the world with an internet connection or the ability to read a newspaper. Who do you believe? The girl who decided to get stars tattooed onto her face and then who let a guy she couldn’t communicate properly with carry out her ‘instructions’ [the conversation with Tourmaniantz was carried out in a mixture of French, her native language and English, of which he also had some words], or the tattooist that thought it reasonable for an 18 year old girl to want 56 black stars tattooed onto her face?

Should Vlaeminck opt for laser tattoo removal, the painful process will cost €10,000, she’s suing Tourmaniantz for that amount and she’ll still be left with permanent deep white scars on her face. Tourmaniantz has now offered to cover half of the cost of the laser treatment and has admitted that he’s got lots of publicity out of this farce. 

I say they’re perfect for one another and that this could be the start of a, eh, erm, beautiful thing – well, have you seen the state of him?

Update:

Vlaeminck has now admitted that she did in fact ask for 56 stars to be tattooed onto her face! She also admits that she lied after her father went beserk and tried to cover up how feckin downright stupid she’d been by partly blaming the tattooist involved. Apparently Tourmaniantz has withdrawn his offer to pay for half the laser removal and has decided to get written consent from all clients in the future.

Why is it only now he’s asking clients to sign something before he destroys their face? There’s a pair fo them in it, I say – she’s obviously very stupid and immature, that goes without saying and a freaky looking thing like him must also be some kind of stupid to not see how unconventional it is to tattoo onto an 18 year old’s face!

 

Been Hair Before

I’ve started swimming again. I use to swim an awful lot but as it’s not like there’s a swimming pool around every corner, it can be hard to get to a pool what with work and play getting in the way! But, things have come full circle and it’s now dead handy for me to swim again a couple of times a week. The problem? That same old problem when it comes to a coiffed look and chlorine? Pool hair. Oh it’s a nightmare. A nightmare! How do I keep my shiny, well conditioned shoulder length coloured hair in tip top form when it’s up against the dreaded chlorine?

Well, one simple, easy to find product is the Boots own brand ‘Sun, Swim & Gym Hydra Spray’. Shake up the 2 layered liquid and spray! I tip my head over to get all the underneath hair as well – lash it on! The UV filter will protect your hair against environmental, salt and chlorine damage. And it’s on offer at the moment, as are all products in this range, 2 for €6 which isn’t bad at all. Good for when you’re on holiers. Note to self, I’ve used the shampoo and conditioner from this range but I felt my hair wasn’t hydrated afterwards and still a bit crunchy or coarse when dry.

‘I’ll get a leave in conditioner!’, I thought. I’ve spent a lot of time and effort getting my naturally dry, tending to frizzy, thick and now coloured hair into shape. A leave in conditioner will be great for that added bit of help afterwards. Now, I don’t wash my hair at the pool, ever, a quick sprint home, a blast of the hairdryer and then lots of TLC the next day before work in my own shower suits me better, thank you very much! So, not knowing exactly where to start as I can’t remember buying a specific leave in conditioner before, I went on to MakeUp Alley to peruse the product reviews. Part of me loves this site for the simply never ending list of products reviewed and part of me hates that every product tends to get quite mixed reviews, so I can be back to where I started and just having to plump for something after a bit of consideration and see how I get on.

I jumped from brand to brand, some got good but still very mixed reviews, some I realised weren’t easily available and some that I knew simply wouldn’t be for my type of hair etc. I then selected reviews for ‘Aveda, leave in conditioner’. Yep, back to the old reliable! There was a product called ‘Elixir’, it sounded great, really good reviews – until I found out that it was discontinued. *Sigh* Then as I was scrolling back up the page I noticed that there was a review that included some info about ‘The New Elixir’ from Aveda themselves! ‘We are happy to inform you that we will be launching a new product called Smooth Infusion Style-Prep Smoother. Compared to Elixir, Smooth Infusion Style-Prep Smoother is a more superior performing product than Elixir – a much more technologically advanced plant-based formula with very strong performance benefits, such as 12 hour humidity defense and heat protection. It also better prepares for smooth styling by creating a smooth new surface.’

And then I realised that I have indeed got this very product! And I love it! Placed as a pre blow dry styling aid that will help your hair when styling, it straightens while nourishing, leaving hair that is more manageable and less frizzy. It is expensive, it’s Aveda after all – €27 for a small looking bottle but I swear, I must’ve used it over 50 times since before Christmas last year and there’s still approx 3/4 of it left! [And you know you'll get it cheaper online] I don’t use this all the time, most of the time though, as it can be quite heavy, even on my thick locks. You only need a tiny, peanut sized amount and then distribute it well. However, for this time of year, I find this is a better product to put into dry hair as it really cuts down on the dreaded ‘humidity factor’ whereby hair can multiple in size tenfold on a warm, heavy day! I find that a little blob of this on dry hair works wonders and so the morning after my swim, or indeed just generally when the weather is a bit hot and sticky, this has been my product of choice all along anyway so I’m not going to bother getting a new leave in conditioner! My little purse that’s straining at the seams is so glad I was doing the right thing all along!

Round ‘em Up

Part of my commute to work now includes walking from one end of O’Connell Street to the other. Thankfully and I mean thankfully, it’s only something I have do maybe 3 or so times a week, depending where I’m coming from and where I’m going to [I'm still 'between' 3 different places but let's not go there again!]. Anyway, I mean thankfully, as O’Connell Street is one of the last places I ever like to be and move along it as swiftly as possible. To put it in not uncertain terms, it’s a kip with scangers and junkies, weirdos and the plainly violent at every turn and I’m not going to apologise for hating the very sight of what’s considered the main street of our Nation’s capital.

I don’t open my bag while walking down O’Connell Street. I don’t use my phone. I step away from people when waiting to cross over the side streets. I hate being at the traffic lights right at the Bridge, there’s often people there acting weird, looking out of it, dressed weirdly, talking away to themselves trying to catch someone else’s eye to annoy them or distract them or pressurise them into handing over money to get away. And don’t get me started on the ‘boardwalk’ where you get groups of people of indeterminable age and sex shouting, scoring drugs and adding to the seediness of the area.

The way a lot of the width of the street is now paved over and tree lined only means that there’s more places for them to appear out from. To lean against while smirking and sleazily following girls as they walk by. I see it in the eyes of many others as they walk towards me, they too are hurrying to the other end of this disgusting street just as much as I am, eyes front and centre, reactions razor sharp though in case you accidentally bump into anyone that would put you in hospital rather than accept your apology. No amount of street cleaning will ever make this part of town anything but dirty and grimy, unsafe and dangerous.

Oh, every city has it’s dodgy areas, that I know and I’ve been in many, many cities. I just hate that O’Connell Street has become a cesspit for the dregs of Dublin life. What must the tourists think? Really! I see so many of them with their maps, trying to find someone that looks approachable to ask for directions, the look on their faces when another pajama zombie runs the wheels of the baby’s buggy over their toes while the tracksuited scumbag she’s with throws a bag of chips at their feet.

One example of a typical bolt down O’Connell Street for me happened last week. I became aware of ‘a gathering’ of some type, just at the corner of Talbot Street, where the Kylemore is. I moved to walk against the shop side of the path, just keeping my head down. People had stopped. I could see that people were trying to figure out what was going on while not engaging any of the ‘people’ involved. It was a whole group of them, maybe 6 or 7, males and females of various ages, a few buggies, low flying hoop earrings and ponytails and the girls had their jewellery on too. They were standing, shouting at one another, taking up most of the pavement, pointing at each other, walking away and then turning back to shout louder. God, they were one ugly bunch of scumbags now that I think of it. I definitely heard words I understand, so they were ’speaking’ some kind of English, but I was only able to get words here and there and it took a few minutes to get past the developing melee. I was just disgusted at the state of them. Acting like animals and looking like ones that hadn’t washed in days at that.

Say what you want, call me a snob. But quite simply, it’s not a crime to want to be able to walk down a main street in a capital city without feeling that you’ve just been through a complete haze of eau de scumbag. The irony being me actually glad to get on a Dublin Bus at the other end isn’t something I’ve forgotten either. I’d happily avoid both but unfortunately it isn’t possible. Excuse me while I go for a shower, the mere thoughts of being on that street in the not too distant future has me coming out in a sweat.