If you please....(with MAC Tan pigment eyes)

One of my favourite lipsticks at the moment is 'If you please' from 17 Cosmetics. It's a bright pink shade from their Supreme Shine collection and only costs about £4.99 from Boots!

It's such a fun bold pink colour that you can apply lightly or build it up for a more intense look...

When I wear this lippy I like pairing it with one of my holy grail MAC pigments in Tan. 

You can read my post about how to use and apply MAC Pigments here: link!Tan is a muted pinky brown bronze colour that really seems to make my blue eyes pop!

When I wear this shade people often comment on how bright my eyes look that day :)Products used on eyes:

Estée Lauder Double Wear Shadow Crème in Buttercream (base)

MAC Tan pigment (all over lid and lower lash line)

Estée Lauder Pure Color Eyeliner in Blackened Black  (tight lined the waterline; top & bottom)

Incredilash Mascara by 2True Cosmetics

From the 17 Supreme Shine Lipstick range I have both 'If you please' and 'Hot stuff'. I think the packaging of these lipsticks is really nice; they look very high end for only a few pennies!

If You Please (left) and Hot Stuff (right)

Hot stuff is a stunning hot red shade! It's rich, highly pigmented and slides on smoothly leaving your lips with a lovely shine but not sticky or glossy. 

There are 13 shades in the Supreme Shine Lipstick range and for £4.99 I think they are great value for money. You can find them online here or at your local Boots store.

PureTan's light tanning range for a natural tan!

With summer on its way (well technically it should be here by now but let’s not get into the finer details of this (miserable) weather in London at the moment)…..I admit that I am definitely a girl that relies on a bit of ‘help’ to get myself looking more summer ready.

Living in the UK, there is a fine line between a nice and healthy summery glow and looking out of place 'oompa loompa' tanned. I like using the darker tanning mouses or lotions when it's the mids of summer or am going away somewhere hot but during the normal (average) weeks in summer I prefer a more natural light looking tan. Most of the time I use a gradual tanning daily moisturiser every few days to achieve that look. However recently I came across a new brand that offered a great light tanning range so I decided to give this go.

PureTan is a popular Australian brand loved by Miranda Kerr, the Minogue sisters and many other Aussie girls that prefer to fake it than burn in the strong Australian sun. PureTan provides light and dark tanning mouses and lotions that don't have that biscuity or coconut scent but actually smell more like a high-end body moisturiser!

Pure Bronze Light Instant Tanning Lotion -  £32.00

The Light Tanning Lotion is great for the fairer skinned amongst us for a nice buildable natural looking colour. The lotion has a slight shimmer to it and and moisturizes too,  leaving your skin feeling soft without any oily residue. I love that it has a super fast activating formula which means you can shower within an hour of applying, giving you speedy professional finish tanned skin.

Pure Bronze Light Instant Tanning Foam - £32.00

The The Pure Bronze Light Tanning Foam has an air-whipped moisturising formula that is super easy to apply (especially using a tanning mitt - link). This works more like a gradual tanner, but the natural colour forms quickly for a long-lasting sunless tan that is fast drying & streak-free.

Out of the two I probably prefer the mouse because I find this gives me a smoother and slightly faster natural finish. Overall I was really pleased with the results by the PureTan light tanning range. I think it's perfect for anyone that has quite a pale complexion because it is subtle enough not to look fake. So if you are quite fair skinned and have been too scared to try fake tanning in the past because of the dreaded orange look, I'd say give this a go :)

The full Pure Tan product range is available online at Cult Beauty now. 

Treasure hunting at Les Puces Saint-Ouen in Paris!

Salut mes amis!! I am back in (rainy and cold) London after a lovely four day long weekend in the city of lights. I had the most amazing time spending time with my friend, exploring the city, eating delicious food, drinking champagne, unleashing the inner kid in me at Disneyland and of course shopping up a storm! Being away is always fun but have to say it is good to be home sweet home again. 

My journey home yesterday wasn't as smooth as I'd liked though because I had the biggest WOOPS moment ever!! So here I am at Gare Du Nord in Paris queuing up to catch the 3.15pm Eurostar train back to London with my luggage and maybe a couple of additional shopping bags in hand hehe. To get to passport control you have to scan your ticket but every time mine kept coming up with a big red cross. Slightly frustrated and annoyed I went find one of their staff so they could 'fix' my printed ticket to ensure I could get on my train home. Anyway....the lady ended up taking my ticket away and came back 5 minutes later explaining to me that the ticket I had for the 3.15pm train was actually for the day before?! O...M....G.....I couldn't believe I had somehow booked my return train for the wrong day. It's so out of character for me because I am normally so super efficient haha. But yes as you can imagine, I felt like a right idiot :(

I ended up having to buy a brand new (and pretty expensive, I might add) ticket to still get me home that same day which was an annoying waste of money but you know what, the weekend was so brilliant that there's no way I am going to let this (silly) mistake I've made ruin my lovely memories of the weekend!! 

One of the things I did in Paris was visiting the city's most famous flea market. On Sunday afternoon we made our way to the north edge of Paris to hunt for treasures at 'Les Puces de Saint-Ouen' 

These markets have a very long history because they have been around since 1885 and it is the largest antique market in the world, receiving between 120,000 to 180,000 visitors each weekend.

Le Marché Aux Puces Saint-Ouen is massive. It extends over seven hectares and contains more than 2000 shops! To get to the markets we took the metro to Porte de Clinagncourt and from there you walk to the markets. On the way to the actual markets there are lots of busy street shops and people selling cheap (aka fake) clothes, shoes, watches and bags etc! Note; these are not the real Les Puces de Saint-Ouen; they are inside hidding in little side alleys after you get through the crowded streets. The actual flea markets are very calm and more for collectors and antique dealers from all over the world.

Want to come treasure hunting and exploring with me?

Loved this big table!

Seeing these really made me want to get an antique mannequin dress form for my room!

Loved all the keys.....

How amazing are these coloured pump bottles and that antique clock?

Beautiful prints!

Jewellery, jewellery and more jewellery everywhere!

From Paris with love....a huge selection of old postcards....

I wish my french was better so I could have read some of the stories on them.

Imagine the secrets and romance stories that could be written in these old cards? :)

How super duper cute is this dog? Unfortunately he wasn't for sale.....

I just loved browsing all the little streets looking at antiques and other used goods. It's a great place to get inspiration for fashion or home/interior design ideas. The markets are open every Saturday and Sunday and also part of the day on Monday. For more information on Le Marché Aux Puces Saint-Ouen visit their website www.marcheauxpuces-saintouen.com

Did I buy anything at the markets? Slightly inspired by the Tiffancy & Co key pendants, I ended up buying myself one of the antique keys! Who knows what it unlocks or who it once belonged to....I suppose I will never find out! But I can't wait to get a nice chain for this and wear it as a necklace :)

Me, on the day, as a happy flea market shopper :)

Things nicely brings me to today's hump day message! I can't believe it is Wednesday already.
Only a short week at work for me, yay!
More posts on Paris to follow but for now...

Happy Hump Day everyone :) xoxo

Paris is always a good idea

Audrey Hepburn once said "Paris is always a good idea".....

...and I personally totally agree with that!

This weekend the Queen of Great Britain celebrates being on the throne for 60 years and she was so kind to give us TWO days off to help her celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. Thanks Elizabeth!! :)

However instead of staying in the UK for the festivities I decided to make the most of having a four day weekend by spending the weekend with a friend of mine in one of the best cities in the world! 

Paris is one of my favourite cities and I can't wait to soak up the music, love, lights, macaroons, fashion, cheese, parks, paintings, bridges, restaurants, croissants, wine and the list goes on....

Paris is full of inspiration so I can't wait to take lots of photos and have a fun time!

Au revoir, mes amies...see you when I get back :) xoxo