So I thought I'd start something a bit new on Makeup Savvy, something a bit more personal and something that would give me an excuse to take more photos plus ramble about things that are in the press and everyday life etc!
1. As it was recently my birthday I decided to get a new bag, no real reason other than I fancied one. So I went for the Fiorelli Wimbledon Medium Shoulder bag in Khaki (here). When it arrived it wasn't love at first sight as I'd hoped. It was sadly smaller than I'd normally go for but I really hate having to return things so I'm going to try and get used to it and the fact it reminds me of a grandma's purse with 7 different compartments in it! But I do love the quality of the bag and the shade so I shall see.
2. I also bought some lovely 70's sunglasses from Ashley Madekwe (she plays Bambi in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl). She has such an amazing sense of style (which is the reason for me lusting after some hot pink jeans right now) and also has a fashion blog over at Ring My Bell.
3. For completing Lip balm cold turkey without cheating (even though it wasn't as successful as hoped) I treated myself to Impassioned from Mac which even though a very bright lipstick from the Amplified family it is much more versatile that I imagined. It looks really good on it's own of course, under a nude lipstick for a more softer pink lip, just dabbed on as a stain or used on the cheeks as a very summery long lasting blush. All in all more than pleased about getting this.
4. I have still yet to review my first GlossyBox as I really wanted to see other people's reactions to it and also decide what I genuinely thought about the products/samples that I received. I think there are some definite good and bad points to the beauty subscription (which I will mention in the upcoming review) but I have to say I do love the box that the samples came in. Which is now storing all the brands of nail polish that I reach for.
5. I also picked up another bag from Tesco this time which is very similar in style to the Alexander Wang Coco Duffel bag in dove gray (seen here). It was such a bargain at £9 down from £18 that I didn't hesitate in getting it. I'm quite tempted to say I like it more than the Fiorelli bag as it's just simple with details in all the right places. Just a really great everyday bag!
6. Around two weeks ago now I very kindly sent the fairly new Benefit Finding Mr. Bright kit by an online beauty shop which had actually spent the time reading my blog and in particular about how I felt that eBay was swamped with fake Benefit products and also how I had been wanting the kit since it was released. So it was more than refreshing to hear from them! The packaging I'm tempted to say is the nicest I've seen from Benefit and I've really been using all the products almost daily since I received it. I will of course be reviewing the set at a later date but so far I love Girl meets Pearl and Posietint. But as I'm loving GmP so much, Highbeam now doesn't seem as great (I've been using it for the last few years) and sadly the Erase Paste in medium is too dark for me.
7. This week I harvested the first lot of the new potatoes I have been growing - or first earlies as they are called. So we now have around 60 new potatoes which taste so good and creamy! This is the first real year me and my boyfriend have taken full advantage of the huge allotment we have (it's at the back of our actual garden so we use it as a second garden). We are now growing potatoes, red onions,tomatoes, spring onions, carrots, green beans, baby corn, sweetcorn and strawberries (which I grow every year)! It's all pretty new to me but it really is easy and just so rewarding. Next year I really hope to grow more specialist veg like little gem lettuce, peppers, pak choi for stir fries and more fruit! You really just can't believe the difference in taste when you grow your own.
8. Also lately with being more tanned/using fake tan I have been obsessed with body scrubs more so than usual! I'm absolutely in love with The Breakfast Scrub by S&G but I'm sadly hating one I thought I would love - Boots Extract Mango Sugar Scrub. It leaves just a nasty sticky residue on the skin that you have to scrub off to remove before getting out of the shower... and I had such high hopes for it.
Hairdresser James Brown in the press for all the wrong reasons (source) - Finally James Brown has been outed for being the egotistical pig that I'm pretty sure a lot of us secretly thought he was. His antics really didn't surprise me or that he played the 'too much to drink' card. But as I said on Twitter... A drunken mind speaks a sober heart. It will definitely be interesting to see how this affects his haircare line in Boots and also his TV programme.
MAC & Beauty Bloggers unite? (source) - I was tempted to write a full post on this but I've decided my opinions with be like many other bloggers I'm sure. I am definitely in the 'It's a huge marketing ploy' camp, I'd be tempted to feel otherwise if it was any other company but MAC. But I feel after the Rodarte collection controversy last year which highlighted the volumes on passionate influential beauty bloggers that existed to MAC and actually how annoyed we all where, they knew they needed to do something! So I 100% see this as MAC trying to get back 'on side' and also grabbing onto the coat tails of some very well respected beauty bloggers. Though I'm not denying how great it is too see beauty bloggers being valued enough to create actually shades. I think the collection being only online in the US & Canada for 43 days says it all really.
Naomi C in race row with Cadbury's Bliss chocolate ad (source) - Now I'm going to say I don't see racism in the advert at all, I mean why would Cadbury's be racist or want to be seen as racist! But I can see how people could see it as being of a racist nature as they are literally comparing Naomi Campbell to a chocolate bar. Though if you removed the colour of the chocolate here it is in pretty bad taste still... using Naomi's name and the diamonds just isn't needed for advert trying to sell chocolate and really isn't that humorous.
At the end of the day Cadbury definitely picked on the wrong diva here as Naomi has made a pretty big song and dance about the advert, resulting in it being pulled.
Hope you all enjoyed the post!
