Sunday 25 September 2011

A couple of faces

Just a couple of looks from the last little while. As usual I have forgotten most of what I was wearing because I am a rubbish beauty blogger!


Absolutely no clue!

Ahh I know this one as I did this look for my guest post on Floamia's blog :)


Here my eyes are  Brazen Cosmetics Jaded eyeshadow with Collection 2000 Glam Crystals glitter eyeliner in Dig It.


Here I know I'm wearing Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Emerge on my eyes and Atomic lipstick.

And here I'm wearing Milani Oran-gina lipstick

Also just a wee little plug ('cause I am annoying :P) to say that our Jewels and Ghouls collection launches tonight at 12 Midnight GMT and the 10% off ends tomorrow so you have a day to use it on the Halloween goodies :)

Friday 23 September 2011

Lynnderella - princess of polishes!

A while ago I ordered some polishes from Lynnderella. You may have heard of her, she's a fantastic frankener who, a few months ago, finally gave in and started selling her amazing glitter creations. I love the colours I got, particularly Connect the Dots, an amazing and completely unique black and white glitter polish.
Here is one coat over Illamasqua Jo'Mina.



It's just so amazing! Like instant nail art. It looks great over all colours of creme polish!

I also made a video about the polishes, you can see the other colours I got :)

 

Her shop only opens at certain times so she can handle the orders easily and it's actually about to open tonight! She only ships to the US at the moment (I got mine through Wendy) and there is a 5 bottle minimum order. Unfortunately this means I can't afford to buy any more right now :( But if you can you should get what you like while she's open!  Some of the Halloween collection are just gorgeous looking. Boo hoo!

Thursday 22 September 2011

Plug Plug Plug

Ok this is my last shameless self promotional post for a little while.
On monday our Halloween collection is coming out

 

Ghosts and bats and witches and pumpkins oh my!

And we have a blog,  a twitter and a facebook page please add us if you'd like to. No pressure mind :P

Thank you so much to all the people who have ordered so far, it's really been amazing!  Our UK orders have started arriving and people seem to like their goodies so far, which is a big relief!

Ok now there will be makeup on this blog again, I promise! :P

Wednesday 21 September 2011

I love the nightlife

 On saturday my friend Xenia and I went out for a boogie. I was really happy as I hadn't been dancing in ages and I love to go dancing! Also it was the first time this year I have managed to go out on the town and not had  a panic attack at some point! Wahey! :D We had a lot of fun except for when Xenia decided to snog some guy she didn't actually fancy (so we had to spend the rest of the night avoiding him) and when she nearly got into a fight with a bunch of really annoying girls at the bus stop on the way home. Wahey!... :/

Here is my face:

  



Wearing:
Face: Illamasqua skin base foundation in 2, ELF Studio HD powder, can't remember my blush
Eyes: MUA matt (sic) eyeshadow in 18, Collection 2000 glam crystals glitter eyeliner in Night Fever
Lips: Sleek Pout Paint in Peek-a-Bloo

And here is my outfit:


It's my favourite nautical playsuit from New Look. Unfortunately I have.. uhh... 'grown' since I first got it and it isn't quite so flattering now :P

And now some hilarius drunken outtakes!

Monday 19 September 2011

We're open!

Wooooo!!! *throws confetti*




Thank you everyone for your lovely comments on my last few posts, your support means so much! I hope you like what we've got on sale :) If you happen to see any bugs with the site please tell me.

Edit: the prices are in dollars because of the way Storenvy (which is hosting our store) is set up. We ship from the UK to anywhere in the world :)

Sunday 18 September 2011

Sneaky Peek

Sooo yes, now it's been revealed that our little business is selling jewellery I thought I'd show you just a few pieces before our launch tomorrow :)
Everything has been designed by either me or Claire or both of us together. It's taken a lot of time and effort to get to this stage, months of sampling pieces, making small changes and sampling again, finding good places for findings, building the website etc etc and it is so SO exciting to finally be ready to launch!
Our jewellery is all made of acrylic plastic with a whimsical, fun and quirky feel.

So here are a few pieces! 

We sell laser cut and engraved acrylic. Like this:


Or this:


And also printed acrylic.
Like this:


Or this:


I hope you'll all take a little look at our shop, if for no other reason than to see my hilarious 'modelling' :P Sadly we can't afford to hire proper models so it's just Claire and I for now. It was fun anyway!

We'll be launching tomorrow at 12 noon GMT keep an eye on my blog for the address :)

Saturday 17 September 2011

Callooh and Callay!

So I know I've been quite a bad blogger recently and I apologise but I had good reasons!

Finally, finally, the project Claire and I have been working on since the beginning of the year is ready to be shared with the public!
So may I present to you Callooh and Callay - purveyors of fine acrylic jewellery

gif animator 

All the fun of the fair for you to wear!

We're just adding the final touches to the website and our grand opening will be on monday. 

I'll be updating today or tomorrow with some sneak peeks so stay tuned :)

Thank you all for your support.

Monday 12 September 2011

Flakies!

Mmm flakies, one of the most glorious kinds of polish ever. I love glitter but flakies are like opals for your nails! I also like the name, 'flakies' sounds a bit... nasty, it reminds me of flaking skin and that amuses my childish mind  :D I only actually own 3 and need more, particularly some of the gorgeous ones from Inglot. Anyway here's a couple of manicures using lovely flakies.



 

This was Models Own Spring Green with GOSH Rainbow over the top.



And this was ELF Mango madness with NFU-Oh 47 on top. It was subtler than the green mani but still very pretty. But I can't leave my nails alone so I...



Mattified it! Ahhh <3 I'm not usually the biggest fan of matte nails but putting a matte topcoat over flakies somehow makes them look even more magical, like hidden glowing jewels.

What's your favourite flakie polish?


Sunday 11 September 2011

My First Trip to Westfields OOTD and FOTD

About a week ago my Mum, sister Lyd, Claire and I went on a little expedition to Westfields. It was my first time ever going there. I really like it, I was worried because it's so popular but because it's so big it wasn't really crowded at all and it ended up being a really nice laid back day. I didn't buy much at all (I'll pop what I did get into a immense haul post that's coming up that will span about months :P) but had a lovely time looking around and eating ice cream and sitting in the comfy seats scattered around.

Here's what I wore:

When I get my photo taken I like to stand like Peter Pan. 

Here my skirt is puffed out so I look like I have a giant belly :P
Hat: Primark
Cardigan: H&M
Dress: New Look
Tights: dunno (they're just white opaque)
Shoes: Office

The hat didn't stay on long, sadly it's a tiny bit too big for my head. Basically as soon as I got off the tube and was walking the hundred or so yards to the shopping centre a large gust of wind blew it off and away. I had to run after it and actually shouted 'my hat!' like some feeble woman. My sister and I were disappointed no amazingly handsome and eccentric man reached the hat at the same time as me, and then our eyes would meet and so on like in films.

I felt like doing quite a soft, neutral look which isn't my usual thing. I liked it though and it was quick and easy, which is good for lazy ol' me.



 
Face: Illamasqua Skin Base foundation in 2 mixed with some moisturiser, can't remember my blush.
Eyes:  Ginger eye brow powder,  Geek Chic Cosmetics eyeshadows in Princess in Distress and The Imp, black mascara
Lips: ELF Studio Pout Perfector 

Oh also in my last post I mentioned that I really want a CP for some of the Wet n Wild On the Prowl polishes, but they're tricky to find as Wet n Wild seem to be sneaky buggers. If anyone in the US is also looking for them there's a really handy interactive map of sightings on Nouveau Cheap here. They also have one for the Dream Weavers collection :)

Tuesday 6 September 2011

CP request

Hullo everyone.
I've fallen in love with a lot of polishes from the Wet n Wild On the Prowl collection and would love it if someone could do a CP for me. However I've heard Wet n Wild collections are sort of tricky and don't appear that many places. If anyone has seen them or has some sort of access to them could you please email me at: lillianfunnyface@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks a lot!

And now just so this post isn't totally lame and boring have a photo of me from around 2003 (I think) during my 'faerie phase' -__-


Oh God...
If anyone used to play 'Creatures' I think I look a bit like a Norn. Or something from the Dreamstone.

Monday 5 September 2011

Lillian Loves - Illamasqua

 

Why I love Illamasqua:
(Well apart from the products)
 I love the whole idea behind the brand, makeup dedicated to art and creativity rather than simply looking how society dictates we should look to be percieved as attractive. I love the themes behind the collections which always have a real story, not just 'we like spring'.  I love the sleek, classy packaging and innovative, stunning images. I love their connection to the SOPHIE charity.
But most of all I love them because, to me at least, they are quite possibly the nicest makeup brand I've encountered.

For about a week the brand had a great online sale so I bought some bits, mainly nail polishes (I'll show you what I got later :D ). Between the time I made my order and my products were packaged for shipping 2 things I had ordered became out of stock. most companies would have probably just sent an automatic refund and generic apology. Not so with Illamasqua. I recieved an email informing me and apologising but giving me several options. Either I could have a refund or an exchange of product.
And the exchange was fair! INSANELY fair!

Ok so I ordered a nail polish (I believe it was Fern) for £5 in the sale It was out of stock so I was offered a refund or an exchange for Force nail polish (as it was in the same colour family) I already own Force so I asked if there were any other alternatives. They said sure, I could have another nail polish of my choice.... Not just another nail polish for the same price from the sale, ANY polish that was instock. For the £5 price to apologise for any inconvinience.

I also ordered a special set they had called 'Boo!' which contained both Baptiste nail polish and a special glitter colour called Boo for just £10. As Boo is only available in the set and Baptiste costs £13.50 on it's own it was a really great deal and I was delighted to get it. Sadly the set became out of stock too. So I was offered a few choices. I could get Baptiste + the base coat, Baptiste + Harsh or Baptiste + Prism or just a refund. I chose to try the base coat. So I got a £10.50 base coat and a £13.50 polish for just £10. AWESOME!

As if that wasn't great enough I later discovered a message on my answer phone from them, so they really had gone to great lengths to inform me of the problem and did everything in their power to fix it.

You may have seen on other blogs that last week they had a blogger event to celebrate the launch of their new collection Theatre of the Nameless (which looks amazing, I really wish I had the money to get some of it, there's stuff I'm longing to try out!). I was invited but because my anxiety is so bad at the moment I had to decline. Looking at all the posts it seems like it was an amazing event and I'm sad I wasn't well enough to go :( Anyway when I explained I couldn't make it Hayley Smith (who is Illamasqua's marketing assistant) replied and was so so sweet. She said she was sorry I couldn't make it but completely understood and said she wouldn't want me to do anything that would make me uncomfortable. But then she said that if I felt up to it I could pop into the shop in September with a friend so she could show me the collection, or we could even go get a coffee together to discuss it, whatever would be best for me. As it is I probably am not well enough to do any of that just now but the offer is so so lovely and really heartwarming.

I haven't loved every single product of theirs I tried (though a lot are among my holy-of-holies) but it's things like this that make me love Illamasqua and make me want to buy from them again and again. They've gone above and beyond to make sure I am happy. It really really makes me feel appreciated, not just as a customer or blogger but as a person.

Friday 2 September 2011

KKCenterHK review - Nail Patches

After my last review for them the lovely people at KKCenterHK sent me another product to test out.

It's hard to talk about these things because I can't seem to find a definative name for them! Nail foils, wraps, patches, whatever these things are called I'd like to start the review by saying that I've never used them before. You'll see later in the review that I had real trouble with the application process but I cannot comment on whether this is down to the product (possible) or down to my lack of practice in applying them and general cack-handed-ness (probable).

The pack calls these both 'nail patches' and 'nail foils' but as KKcenterHK call these 'nail patches' that's how I'll refer to them in this review. They're basically a special sticker that covers your whole nail with a design, they're supposed to be superior to polish for several reasons:
  1. They require no drying time.
  2. They're not as messy and there's no chance of smudging.
  3. They're long lasting, supposedly able to last up to 11 days without wearing or chipping.
  4. They come in designs that would be hard or impossible to recreate through regular nail art.
The nail patches come in a tonne of different varieties though, including patterns, block colours, french tips and even special ones meant for your toes. I chose these patches which have a fantastic diagonal red and white stripe design that reminded me strongly of candy canes.

Again KKCenterHK sent these to me in a plain brown envelope. As these are just a little packet of stickers there was very little chance of anything happening to them during transit but it does worry me thinking of a more delicate product being shipped that way. 
The packaging is simple, a cardboard packet with instructions on the back and then a little plastic envelope inside that. The patches are stuck on a plastic backing.







The pack comes with 2 sets of 8 patches in varying sizes. This means you have some choice as to which patch to use on each nail (which is helpful as nails aren't a uniform size so yours may be slightly larger or smaller than average) and it also gives you a couple of spares in case of mistakes. 


The instructions printed on the back of the packaging are very straighforward.  To prepare for the foils first you manicure your nails and push your cuticles back a little, then you buff them. You peel the patch off the backing and trim it to fit your nail as closely as possible then press and smooth it over your nail and trim or file any any excess.

Sounds simple right? 

Wrong :(

Firstly I was very hesitant to trim the patches too much before applying them because I was worried I'd end up with something that wouldn't cover my whole nail. This meant I had to trim it to size a bit after putting it on the nail which was very difficult and meant the edges were quite raggedly. Then when it came to smoothing the patch out its tells you to 'rub all areas of the nail foil firmly with the 'Push N Press' cuticle pusher'. Umm don't have one of those! So I just did it by hand, pressing and stretching it over the nail as firmly and smoothly as I could. And finally filing away the excess of the patch at the nails edge was really difficult. The patches aren't hard or thick enough to really file away, the flop and flick irritatingly against the file.

Anyway I managed to get the patches on as best as I could and, sespite a few wrinkles, I thought they looked pretty good! 



The patches are beautifully shiny and the design on them is just perfect. From far away they look very effective and professional. I really liked the way my nails looked with them on.

But sadly they had an even bigger problem than the frustrating application. These are meant to have up to 11 days of wear time and maybe they do but I couldn't bear to keep them on that long. Due to the raggedy edges from having to just trim or file away the excess everytime I touched or held something I could feel the edges of the patch scraping against whatever it was. It was so so annoying! And while at first all of them had their edges firmly pressed against the nail plate, my thumbs and index fingers started peeling at the tips within just a few hours (presumably because those are the most used fingers). That made things even more annoying as the tips of the patches flipped and flapped around! I couldn't stand that so after just a day and a half I had to give up and peel them all off :(

This is my ring finger after a day: 


You can see the edge is smooth and flat against my nail.

But here is my index finger after the same length of time:


 
:/

When I wanted to take them off they came off really easily. I just picked at an edge and then peeled them away. The instructions say to wash them in soap and water first, which I did, but it didn't seem to make any difference. I don't know if the ease of removal is a good or bad thing really!

Again I must reiterate that I can't say if the problems were caused by me or the patches themselves.

These cost $5.20 for one pack. While I was disappointed by these, because of the problems I had, I might still try them again. The pattern was so cool and perfect I could never replicate it by hand. I certainly would never choose these for everyday wear like a normal polish, but I would try them again on a special occaision, like a party, or,  in the case of the candy-striped ones I tried, Christmas. If the problem is with the patches then I definately do not think they're worth the price, however if the problem lies in me they may be a bargain if they lasted the whole time tey are supposed to.
 
KKCenterHK currently have a sale for 15% off your entire order until the end of september.

*I was sent these for review purposes but all thoughts and opinions are my own*