Ah

Ah hello Monday, my old adversary...

I really wish I was still in bed. Think I may be coming down with some form of germy thing. Have felt too run down to get to the gym, and spent all Saturday nodding off... Sunday I was rudely awoken by our neighbours shouting at each other at about 5am... I swear we live in a building full of maniacs, shouting and banging and making weird noises all night!

Been thinking about animals this weekend actually... We have an elderly family member making plans to leave us a house when they pass away, so thats been on my mind. Once I have the space I'd like to help some disadvantaged animals have a better life... I'd love to adopt a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.. The boyf grew up with a Staff and they are such sweet and dopey dogs who get such a bad rap due to idiotic owners. I do forsee myself working full time for the rest of my natural years, but maybe if the Mother-In-Law was happy to dog sit...

Also, I think we could manage another two cats maybe. I'd love to be able to take older cats, or cats who need extra care as I think I have the patience needed, but I don't think it would be fair with my other two cats. During the Summertime, our local cat shelter becomes overwhelmed with kittens so maybe I could take in another two...

Finally, the thing I think I'd get most satisfaction from, battery chickens. You can get great garden sized chicken coops these days, and I'd love to take in some ex-battery hens, and give them an enjoyable life. I just hate to think of the awful conditions the poor little creatures live in, and  I'd feel much better if I knew I'd done something to make even just a few chicken's lives better.

I know I'm gonna end up as one of those mad old ladies with loads of animals but I just hate that humans abuse these poor animals who can't speak out for themselves and have no control of their own destinies. With my two kitties, I read every cat magazine going to make sure I'm doing the absolute best for them and I'd do the same for any other animal I owned... It's what they deserve.

Got my new Zatchels bag! It's so pretty, really eye-catching and sturdily made! It's a vivid metallic blue with white stars printed on, and it's an ideal size too. I can fit my big purse (it's just bulky, not stuffed with £50 notes or anything!), my smallish make-up bag, keys, Moleskine diary and Ipod in there fine... Only problem is my headphones, but I can always use them to keep my neck warm! Can't wait to flaunt it about a bit, and I'm gonna have ample opportunity this month! I've got so much in my diary..

Got a gig on Monday at a gallery my friend runs, which promises to be good... I reccomend you check out their website, some interesting things coming up...

Then on the Wednesday we are off to see an artist called Amon Tobin, who is touring an amazing audiovisual show, with him DJing inside a huge structure of cubes with images projected on it. I've seen it once before but it's very full-on and overwhelming so it's worth another go, just to fully appreciate it. It ought to be a good night out, and Amon Tobin is an amazing artist, I love the way he fuses art and music.

Then we get a rest on the Thursday, to recover from the trauma of getting the night bus home (always seems to be full of drunk Australians and people who have no obvious reason for being out so late). On the Friday we're at a free gig at Topman Oxford St, as a charity called CALM is launching a London helpline. CALM are aiming to help young men with depression, so it's a very good cause and a friend of ours is a big supporter. Ought be be a great gig too, amazing line up with Rob Da Bank, Zane Lowe and Eddy Temple Morris...

So I'll be painfully exhausted by the end of the week, but on the bright side, I won't have the ususal backache due to my sensible satchel! Plus, the buckles take a bit of manipulation so I won't be getting my purse lifted either! Score!

Starting to think about Christmas shopping now too. As my close family is all over 21 years old, no-one ever wants or needs anything they can't buy for themselves. I usually just get people Lush gift boxes. They're quite pretty and smell nice, and it's a little luxury that people may not buy for themselves. The boyfriend is a challenge too, as he's always with me! Luckily I can always sneak to Westfield on my way home from work and grab him a few little bits...

New eyeliner *Squee!*

I probably own more eyeliners than most.... In fact, I have a myriad of different colours, brands and formulas rattling about in my eye make up bag, from various fads, hair colours and donations from my Mother!

I've always used pencil as I've not trusted myself with liquid, and I always thought it made my eyes look tiny and raisin-ish, but it just doesn't last well on my greasy eyelids (mmm, sexy!). The best I ever used was Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide On Pencil. It's so easy to use, with no drag along the lid and lasts pretty well. The only problem I found is that once it goes blunt (which is fairly fast as it's a soft pencil) you can never sharpen it as well as it was initially.

Then, in a rockabilly fad of mine, I decided to give liquid liner another go. After a bit of trial and error, I got the knack of doing it without giving myself gerbil-eyes, and realised it lasts so much longer on me than pencil! The trick is to get the thickness ratio spot on. If it's too thick all along the eye: gerbil-eyes. If it's too thin: gerbil-eyes. If it gets thick to close to the tear duct: mega gerbily, prawn-eyes even!
I settled on using Bourjois Clubbing Eyeliner.The brush is nice and long and thin and it lasts really well, generally no fading throughout the average day, and it lives up to it's claim of surviving a night clubbing too!

But, despite the success with liquid, I've fancied trying gel liner for a while, mainly because I read thats what Daisy Lowe uses and she's my ultimate liner-crush!
I've got an order in for an Avon metallic black gel liner for the party season, but I thought I'd better pick up a sensible black too...
I decided to try Maybelline Lasting Drama Eyeliner, as I'd read some good reviews on other sites. When I got it home, I checked out the little brush it comes with, and was a bit worried that it would be to thick and awkward to use. I applied it in the morning, and actually, the brush is great! You only need the tiniest dab of the gel onto the brush and it goes a long way. I initially thought the pot was very small and wouldn't last long, but having seen how little you need, it's pretty economical actually..
I actually prefer the gel to the liquid, as it comes out a very intense black, and I find it easier to get it right down to the lashline, and build up a nice chunky line. It lasts amazingly, and I even absent mindedly rubbed my eye yesterday night and it barely smudged, just looked a little more 'lived-in'.

Anyway, I think I'm converted! Can't wait to get my metallic Avon one to try out! Also just got a message saying my lovely new Zatchels bag has arrived to can't wait to parade that!

And, as a last thought, how beautiful does Rooney Mara look here??? I've not seen the film but I think she looks pretty badass in her Girl With The Dragon Tattoo costume, and she has a stunning figure. This dress just looks so ethereal with her pale skin and black hair.

Ah I'm such a lapsed blog-writer at the moment! I've been cracking on with my work and trying to keep my home halfway decent, and I've just felt so exhausted. Not to mention the fact that my flat doesn't have heating so I've been so cold in the evenings I dont want to move. Even my littlest cat has taken to crawling inside my kigu for warmth!

After spending a day at work perving on those gorgeous Zatchel bags, I went home and joined their Facebook group, and saw they had a competition on. I liked the status, and they said a name would be picked at random the next day. And I won! So unexpected! I feel like a bit of a fraud actually, considering I only discovered the brand the day before, but still, can't complain! I've wanted a nice leather bag to keep all my crap dry over the winter, and it's a blue starry pattern so it'll bring a bit of glitz to my usual jeans-and-parka winter outfit!

I've always held stars as my 'lucky' shape, since I was 10 years old if memory serves! It's a long story, but here's the speedy version: It was my Step-Sister's birthday and we were going round someone's house for a barbeque, and I'd made her a little clay flower (as you do when you're 10...). A family friend's son was there, who she fell head over heels in 13yr-old-girl-love with, and after that started saying that the flower was her lucky shape because she'd met this guy...
Now, I then decided I needed a lucky shape too, so I put 20p in one of those machines that pop out plastic jewellery, and a star ring came out, so I decided to adopt that as my lucky shape.
It's lead to a series of coincidences with stars cropping up in odd places, and my boyfriend's first word was 'star'!
I have 3 stars tattooed up my hip, which I kinda keep quiet about because I know star tattoos are such a cliche amongst girls my age, but I'd wanted it for years and I'd never deny myself something I want because of other people's opinions. Plus no tattoo is unique really, thousands of people have skulls, swallows, Bettie Page... but it's stars that get a bad rep...

Anyway, I'm well aware my star tattoo isn't the best done tatt in the world, but I love it. It reminds me of being 18 years old, and happy, excited about the rest of my life opening up in front of me. I had it done on my birthday, and went to meet my family afterwards, and I loved sitting there as a tattooed person, with my little secret making me smile.

Anyway, better get on with some actual work...

Here's my thought for the day: Always enter competitions! I've won a private shopping session in Uni Qlo (with a goody bag!), a free Lush goody bag, and now a fancy handbag, just from entering free competitions! Someone's always got to win!

God, not posted anything in days. Guess I've not been up to anything because it's cold and horrid out! Even Halloween was just a trip to the pub in my cat kigu (which I'll have to post pics of cos it's HILARIOUS!) and then just slumping around in said kigu like a fat, lazy cat!

My kitten has been ill recently, so that's been a chunk out of my purse... Poor kitten had been doing little bits of wee on the carpet, and I'd been assuming it was because my other cat had made it stinky, so I was changing the litter really regularly, spending a fortune, and she was still peeing on the floor!
It's only when I noticed her licking her bits a lot that I realised she could have a urinary tract infection, so we went off to the vets. She's now on antibiotics and hopefully getting better, just so glad I spotted it before she got really ill...
Oh and BTW, and cat owners who struggle getting cats to take pills,Webbox Lick-e-Lix are a saviour! Tried giving Loki her pill in cheese and ham with no luck, but tried crushing one into a little bowl of Lick-e-Lix and she nommed it all up straight away!

Apart from that, life's been dull! Just read the new Elle magazine though, and am inspired to shop!

I've wanted a little satchel for a while, as I want a cross-body bag to alleviate my dodgy back, plus they're cute and I wanna be able to fill it with crap and magazines!

Zatchel do really cute satchels with patterns like Union Jacks, polka dot, metallic and animal print. I like that they put an unusual twist on a classic shape. Think I'll go for the pewter metallic one, it's lovely!
They also do cute little evening bags, so I may treat myself to a nice black one!

Also just discovered Bjorg jewellery, aaargh it's lovely! I dont usually wear jewellery but recently I've quite enjoyed buying and wearing new pieces. I usually only wear cheap stuff, but now I'm a bit older (and less likely to drunkenly break things..) I'd like to buy some more expensive, better made pieces, maybe stuff to pass onto my kids!

 

Garnier BB Cream

So I had only vaguely heard of BB cream until recently. I'd read about how it's very big in Asia, but as my skin was always quite bad, I never really wanted any foundation that gave extra moisture.  BB (blemish balm) cream was originally designed for women who've had skin peels, to protect the skin until it's fully healed, but women, especially in Japan and Korea, picked up on it and started using it for cosmetic reasons.

Now I'm a bit older, the spot situation has kinda sorted itself out and I've started thinking about future-proofing my skin. Normally I use Lush's Jackie Oates Colour Supplement, mixed with SPF 50 moisturiser, or in the winter, Lush's Enzymion moisturiser.

When BB cream started making an appearance in this country, I thought it would be a good thing to try. One of my favorite higher-end brands, Illamasqua, released their Skin Bases bb cream, and I really wanted to try that, but due to the cost, I thought I'd maybe experiment with a cheaper brand first. The cheapest one on the market seemed to be by Garnier, and they're known as a good brand so I had it in my mind to try.

I hadn't got round to buying it, but I got a sample sachet in a magazine, so tried it out yesterday morning. It actually feels very nice and smooth going on. My skin is quite dry and sore from the weather at the moment, and it did sting ever so slightly putting it on but it was nowhere near unbearable. It made my skin feel lovely and smooth and even. It actually did feel a little bit drying, which was odd for something called 'balm' but maybe it's just because my skin was sore anyway.

I was all set to give it an all-day trial, but when I looked in the bathroom mirror, which has better lighting, my face was bright orange! Unfortunatly the Garnier BB only comes in dark, medium and light, and the light is, well, not all that light! In fact, I think it would have matched my olive-skinned boyfriends skin tone more than mine! Such a shame because I would have liked to have given it a proper try-out. Limiting the colour range like that just cuts out so many potential customers who don't have the exact same skin tone.

This is why I'm probably going to try the Illamasqua Skin Base now. They do everything in a range of colours from the purest white to the darkest black, so everyone is covered! I assume I could probably blag a sample or something before I pay out for it...

Black Cat Awareness Day!

Today it's Black Cat Awareness Day, so hopefully animal shelters across the country will be making an effort to try and make prospective cat-parents consider adopting a black cat.

For some reason, black cats seem to be the ones left in shelters for longer, perhaps due to superstition or just because they don't catch people's eyes as much. It's so sad because they are obviously just as loving and friendly as any other cat.

I've grown up with black cats all my life, and have two currently, Ninja and Loki. I initially chose a black cat because I wear mostly black so their fur wouldn't show up on my clothes! But they are just so gorgeous, I love the way their eyes seem to glow out of the darkness when they're hiding... Plus me and the boyfriend take great joy in mocking each other when the 'cat' we've been talking to for hours turns out to be a pile of black clothes on the floor!