Ciaté Feather Manicures!

Ciaté have really been bringing out the big guns in the at home nail art/manicure world in recent times, what with their Caviar, Velvet, Sequin and Chalkboard Manicure kits (to name but a few, all of which I have yet to actually trial) being released; and so I am not surprised to see yet another weird, yet wonderful kit from them appearing on my nail-dar.

Their new 'Feather Manicure' kits (£20 each) actually look like such good fun, and are definitely something different from the norm. I could see me using the feather manicure kits mostly on an accent nail or 2, as opposed to doing a full manicure on all nails. I think this way the kit would first of all last longer, but also stop it being too much of a good thing.

In the image above there are two out of the three kits available showing, but there's also a snow owl version, containing monochrome feathers that I couldn't find the full set of images for, but can be viewed on the Selfridges site, where the kits are available to buy.

What do you think about these kits? Are they something you could see yourself wearing, or do you think it's a step too far/too much faff?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Are Care Instructions for Clothes Getting Wimpy?

Now my love of fashion has been reignited since losing weight, I've been buying more clothes in general, but also because I need to, since my older ones no longer fit me (perfect excuse). It's almost as a necessity to have a lovely large wardrobe brimming with new stuff really, to accompany the hugely hectic social life that I seem to be leading; especially when I'm being snapped by cameras and not wanting to appear to be wearing the same dress at every event.

This isn't a bad thing, I'm not complaining (although my feeble attempt of a bank balance most definitely is), but what I have noticed in buying all these lovely new clothes is that the care instructions appear to have got a bit finicky and precious... overly cautious, if you will.

Many of my clothes, or clothes that I am looking at online etc now seem to be hand wash only (without appearing to be particularly delicate to me), or unable to be tumble dried... or unable to be washed OR dry cleaned like the beautiful, expensive Forever Unique gown shown in the image above, and available here, where the care instructions say:

"Do not wash, Do not dry clean, Do not spray alcohol based products directly on garments such as perfume, Hair spray etc, Spot clean only with mild detergent, Do not bleach, Do not iron on embellishments" 

WTF?! It's made from 100% Polyester - something I thought was easily washable?! If I'm paying £550 for for an item of clothing, surely a basic requirement is that it's able to be cleaned so it can be worn again?!

In years gone by, I'm sure most clothes (bar obviously delicate materials, such as wool and silk) were generally just able to be thrown in at no greater than their recommended temperatures. Am I imagining this, or is this the clothing manufacturers and brands being wimps? Have we got so used to complaining, taking things back and suchlike that they're just protecting themselves, or are these clothes, and the materials they're made from really that delicate? I mean since when did denim get so fragile that it could no longer be tumble dried - as I recently saw on a pair of jeans I own?

Now I know washing machines can be quite rough and the insides aren't perfectly smooth, and I know that tumble drying isn't brilliant for the condition of your clothing either, but surely either technology should be able to cope with cleaning/drying clothes without causing (too much) damage, or that there are precautions that could be taken to ensure clothes stay in the best condition they can?!

Messing around... I know!

It actually puts me off purchasing items of clothing if the care instructions appear to state that you have to make a trip to mars, whilst singing a song backwards and dancing on your head just to get the item clean, ha. I want to be able to wear them, enjoy them, and wash them without hassle so I can wear and enjoy them again... not feel like I should 'save for best', just because it's a chore to get them ready to wear again.

For instance, I have a few dip hem dresses (shown in the other 2 images above, from a BBQ/party I went to not long ago), made with a chiffon-type material where the care instructions clearly state 'hand wash only' and I did hand wash these dresses... ONCE! It was so tedious, I honestly felt that life was too short for that malarkey, and so I actually didn't wear them again for a while because of it.

I then wondered if the dresses were hand wash more so they didn't catch on the inside of the washing machine and get pulls in them, than for any other reason. So, I decided to do a little experiment where I put the dresses inside an old pillowcase, used a hair band to seal them inside and stuck them in the wash on a low spin, 30 degree wash. Guess what, no harm came to them!!

Now I'm not saying these care instructions don't have their uses, or are not there for a valid reason; however, I do feel like they're being applied by brands and manufacturers that are simply wimping out by basically wrapping the garment in cotton wool so they don't have to deal with returns and refunds or some other nonsense. What do you think?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

'Unkempt' Brows a 'Thing' For Spring?

L: Alexander Wang NYFW S/S 2014, R: BCBG NYFW S/S 2014.

So, it seems 'unkempt' brows are going to be a 'thing' in spring 2014, if celebrity eyebrow specialist Elke Von Freudenberg's prediction is anything to go by. Speaking after New York Fashion Week, Elke said  “Models sported thick brows that reminded you of Brooke Shields from the 80’s that are full, thick and kept natural looking with very little brow makeup. The stenciled brow is officially over.”

"Not only are brows thick and full, brows will be more layered looking, with stray hairs being more prevalent along the bottom of the brow line. Brows will also be less trimmed and kept longer to go with the fuller look for Spring." said Elke.

Elke suggests:

1. Let a row or two of brow hairs grow along the bottom of the brows. Avoid cleaning them up and let them grow in for a fuller layered look.
2. Avoid trimming the brows close to the brow and the let them grow longer, especially the ones near the fronts of the brows.
3. For thicker brows, use a colored Brow Mascara to sweep hairs up and out to mimic a thicker brow. Elke suggests her Brow Fixx in Blondie or Brunette.
4. For thinner brows, use a Clear Brow Gel, brush through. And while it's still damp, use a eyebrow pencil to mimic brow hairs and apply hair like strokes through the whole brow or only where needed. Concentrate on the fronts and then tail ends of the brows or a natural look.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I have stray hairs lurking on my brows (and, well anywhere really) my first instinct is to GET RID!! I'm not entirely sure I'll be rocking the slightly messy brow look, however 'fashionable' it is.

How about you?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

China Glaze Monsters Ball Collection for Halloween 2013

I love glitter, I do... but then you'll know this if you've been a regular reader of this blog; and so when I spy a glitter nail polish, my interest is automatically piqued, just like it was when I spotted these glitter-fabulous China Glaze 'Monsters Ball' collection images in my inbox today.

The shades are as follows (from left to right reads from top to bottom):
 
Ghoulish Glow: Glow-in-the-Dark top coat
Howl You Doin’: Shadowy purple glitter
Fang-Tastic: Mysteriously mixed up green, blue and magenta glitter
Boo-Gie Down: Multi-sized orange, black and white glitter
Bat My Eyes: Ominous gold glitter
Bump In The Night: Hair-raising black texture

I'm totally eying up the whole collection, especially the purple and gold glitter shades, oh and also the black texture too... so if I absolutely *had* to choose just 3, I'm thinking that those would be the ones I'd be choosing.

What do you think my lovelies? Do you like the look of the collection, are there any shades in particular that you must have in your life?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Free Red Nails Inc Polish (Choice of Gloss or Metallic - Worth £11) With Purchase of Colgate Max White ONE Toothpaste (£3.99) at Boots!

I was in my local Boots store on Friday and noticed a fab little offer currently running from Colgate and Nails Inc wherein you get a free 10ml bottle of Nails Inc polish with every purchase of Colgate MaxWhite ONE toothpaste. There are two exclusive shades of polish to choose from, both red but with different finishes; Luminous Red Gloss, and Luminous Red Metallic - both pretty self explanatory I think!

You can get both shades by purchasing the toothpaste twice, however I personally went for the metallic, since Christmas appears to be coming quicker than ever and this just screamed Christmas party to me. I'd love to swatch it for you, but currently have gel polish on my nails... however as soon as this is off (as long as the offer is still running), I'll get it swatched.

Nails Inc are renowned for their free polish with purchase offers with Coke from recent years, so this offer, whilst has a change of partner product, does not surprise me too much and is still an absolute bargain, considering you get the toothpaste AND a polish worth £11.

From looking at the shelf edge details, it appears this offer is running until October 1st 2013, so hurry on down if you want to snap one up. x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

'Normal' Sized Mannequins... What is 'Normal' Anyway?

I've just been on Facebook and this image of 'normal sized' mannequins popped up on my news feed as a friend of mine shared it on her timeline (therefore sorry about the image quality). This story seems to have originated around March this year, but seemingly escaped my attention back then (not surprising, with everything that was going on at that time), and I thought it apt to post about it; especially with my bikini body challenge that I set myself still going strong - I'll be updating you on this soon, but also continuing the challenge, since I'm still not at my goal size/shape.

The department store (in Sweden) was apparently criticised for introducing these 'normal sized' mannequins into their store; the mannequins were a size 12 and size 16. Apparently this 'condones obesity' or something equally as bizarre. For a start, I've never seen an obese size 12 girl, have you? This kind of thing really does my head in, as this is one of the reasons that girls, myself included, are never happy with their body.

Left: a standard mannequin. Right: a 'normal' size 12 mannequin.

What gets me though, is that women come in all shapes and sizes, so what constitutes 'normal' when it comes to sizing of clothes/mannequins and even models? I've seen both size 12 and size 16 women with more wobbly bits than these mannequins, so in a way, the mannequins are still misrepresenting their respective sizes to a degree.

I also think there's a place for every size to be represented when it comes to mannequins and that includes those for the naturally very thin/petite - I don't think we should forget that not all tiny girls are anorexic, or that every larger girl is unhealthy or greedy.

I get that the brands/stores want the clothes to sit well on the mannequins (and models) in order to capture peoples attention and translate to sales, but is that actually saying that unless you are a perfect size x with no wobbly bits or imperfections, that the clothes won't look just as good on you? If that's the case, why do we even bother with these clothes?

I don't really know where I am going with this rant, but I felt compelled to write about it all the same as I am a bit sick of seeing the media's perception of beauty all over the place, namely that we should all aim for absolute perfection, and if you're not perfect, then you don't matter.

Is this something that winds you up as much as it does me?

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Hi Honey, I'm Home!!

View from our hotel in Playa D'en Bossa.

Sunset at Mambos.

View from Playa D'en Bossa hotel.

Sun.

Hola chicas.

This is just a quick post to say hello and let you know that I am back from my holiday to Ibiza. I had such an amazing time out there, having the most fun you can possibly have on two feet with the best friends on the planet. I met some awesome new friends, caught up with some others that I hadn't seen for years and generally had the time of my life out there. I am knackered, I need a holiday to recover from my holiday, but that's because there was too much fun to be had and sleep obviously came secondary to that. ;-)

I'll be posting many images over the next few days, both from the holiday and also from my clubbing and partying antics over the last few months - since I have failed massively at dodging cameras since being single, and actually haven't minded how I looked on some of the photographs as much as I thought I might.

I had intended on posting the clubbing/partying images earlier (and generally posting more regularly to boot), but alas there's always been something to stop me in my tracks, this time it was a local issue with the internet that made the internet either keep dropping out, or only work at snails pace... which has apparently now been resolved; and also more recently I have been in a massive rush, getting myself ready to make it to that plane on time.

I hope you've all been well and I am totally looking forward to sharing my escapades with you guys, and showing you some of the fabulous products I've been discovering recently too. It's definitely time to get my writing/blogging mojo back. The images above are just a few scenic ones from the island.

Adios for now.

Claire. xx
 

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk