Motel Rocks

I saw this Motel Rocks leopard print body pop up several times on lookbook.nu and fell a little bit in love.  I prefer darker leopard print, and am a massive fan of a sweetheart neckline.  Then it came up in the sale on asos.com for just £10.00 and it was in my size.  I took it as a sign.  And I love it. 

I'm not 100% sure what to wear it with...so far I have only rocked it out with my skinny indigo Mango jeans and a thin belt.  Am thinking of trying it with my black maxi skirt at some point. 

One problem with it (probably made worse by my nonexistent boobs) is that it is a little bit too short in the body.  When I move around it tends to start to fall down and reveal my bra (classy).  But I bought some tiny black safety pins and pin it to my bra now.  It keeps it in place perfectly but does make toilet trips interesting and lengthy....

www.motelrocks.com/shop do a lot of funky prints, and good body con products.  I'd definitely say it is worth a look...they also have a cool blog as well.  I'm already lusting after their new range of playsuits.

Eyeliner brushes

My only issue with the gel eyeliners is with the brushes.  The Bobbi Brown brush is quite expensive, although you can often get them on ebay for £5-£8ish.  Only problem with this is you need to know what a genuine one looks like so you can weed out the fakes. 

 When I went into Boots, I found a lot of the brushes advertised as ‘eyeliner brushes’ were actually way too thick or not tapered enough.

 So to prevent you searching around too much, my recommendations are....

1.       Bobbi Brown fine eyeliner brush.  The original and probably the best.  Thick but tapered, it gives you good control whilst producing a strong line. As I said, try ebay.

2.       Boots No.7 fine eyeliner brush.  The best of the high street.  Nice and tapered but does tend to splay quicker than others.  You’ll need to make sure you clean this one after use, as it won’t respond to bad treatment as well as the Bobbi Brown one.

3.       Mister Mascara eyeliner brush.  This one is slightly different in style (see photo).  It is slanted (like an italic pen) which sometimes makes it easier to get an even line.  It is thin enough that you can load the brush with gel and then use the long slanted edge to run the line along your eye.  Because the edge is long, you cover a lot more ground a lot quicker.  Then use the tip to neaten up any areas that need it.

4.       Maybelline gel eyeliner brush.  This is the brush that comes with the gel eyeliner.  For a ‘free’ brush it isn’t bad.  I did find it to split and splay quite quickly but it is a good starting point.  I don't have one of these any more so cannot post a photo, but the brush tip is very similar to the No.7 brush.

God bless the Children's Department

I am a massive fan of the new leather sleeved parka jackets that are around at the moment.  Zara pioneered the look in their Summer 2012 collection but they flew off the shelves and can only now be found on ebay for prices in excess of £100.

Topshop and Primark have brought the design out in their Autumn/Winter '12 collections at £65 and £25 respectively.  Much excitement.

I bought the Topshop version in a petite size 4 and it fitted terribly. The sleeves were nice and fitted but the main body of the coat was huge and just puffed out making me look 10x the size I actually am.

Now I recognise the look is meant to be grungy and baggy but in my opinion you can get flattering baggy and unflattering baggy.  This was definitely the latter.

So then I tried Primark's offering in a size 6.  Again too big.  But!  If the Primark option fits you, I'd definitely say to go for that over the Topshop one. The difference in quality certainly doesn't equate to £40.

So..I'd almost given up on my leather sleeve-parka dream.  But I was having a nosey around New Look today and they do it in their children's department!  You literally can't tell the difference.  So one age 10-11 purchase later and my leather-sleeve-parka obsession has been satisfied.  I'll post a photo at some point so you can see how similar it is.  If, like me, you're petite and you still want a bit of 'fitted' to your grungy/baggy look, I'd definitely recommend it .

Eye Define

Due to having very small eyes, the backbone of my make-up collection is undoubtedly my mascara and eyeliner combo.  Most make-up pro's tend to advise against dark eyeliner on small eyes, seeing as it makes the eye look 'closed up' and smaller.  I've tried all the alternatives such as the white eyeliner in the waterline of the eye, or applying the eyeliner below the waterline to 'widen' my eye, but I always come back to my fail-safe..liquid eyeliner along the top lid, pencil kohl eyeliner in the waterline and lashings of black mascara.  My attitude is, if they are small, they might as well be well-defined!

I never got on well with the high-street style liquid eyeliners. My eyes are sensitive and I found the majority of these tended to either sting (resulting in eye watering, never ideal) or take ages to dry (resulting in eyeliner imprint-age on my upper lid).  I know people who swear by the Collection 2000 / Rimmel type liquid eyeliners, but I just couldn't get on with them.  I found them hard to control and difficult to get an even line.

I used the felt tip pen style eyeliner for a while and was a big fan of L'Oreal's Superliner.  But for the price (and being a student at the time) I found it frustrating how quickly the pen dried out.  They were easier to control and gave a more quick-drying line, but they barely lasted a month.

So after seeing them touted on various make-up blogs, I graduated to the gel eyeliner pots.  I got a Bobbi Brown one as Christmas present.  It was in "Caviar" because the Bobbi Brown make-up lady told my sister that black would have been too harsh on my blue eye/blonde hair complexion.  I'll be honest, I railed at this at first.  Harking back to my love of dark definition on my eyes, and coupled with my hatred of brown mascara, I was dubious.  I hold my hands up...the colour is gorgeous.  Probably because it is a high-end range which means the eyeliner still packs a punch despite not being a true black.  The caviar is apparently a "deep black brown" but to be honest I think it gives the illusion of being black still, although somewhat softer. 

But I'll be honest...and here is where I will probably fly against popular opinion...I've found a better alternative to the Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner.  I found the BB one to be very soft. Ideal for application purposes, but I did find it to smudge around my eye quite a bit, which in my opinon went against the 'long-wear' promise.  Yes it stayed on, but not necessarily where I put it!  On a whim one day I thought I'd try the Maybelline alternative, and I haven't looked back since.  I've had my Maybelline pot for well over 7 months and barely made a dent in it despite using it everyday.  I find it is a thicker and harder gel, but I find this easier to control and its staying power is second to none.  At less then half the price of the Bobbi Brown one, I'd definitely recommend it.  I do keep coming back to the Bobbi Brown one, but my ethos has always been that if you can find something just as good for half the price, then go with it! Cosmetics are expensive enough as it is :)

I'll do a post about different eyeliner brushes and application in a bit...