Hi Everyone!
Apologies for the long blogging break - my health has not been great!
I am re-branding & my blog can now be found at 'whentaniatalks'.
I'd love to see you all over there!
Are there any posts you would like to see?
Tania Xx
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Friday, 9 August 2013
Thank you for bearing with me!
Hi everyone!
Just a quick post to say thank you for bearing with me (as the title suggests!).
Unfortunately I have been rather poorly and am currently being investigated for Fibromyalgia (similar to ME/chronic fatigue syndrome).
Now that it is the school holidays I am off work so will be back with more posts shortly.
I have been nominated for a Liebster Blog Award by Shannon from http://www.lifeofafabobsessive.com, which is very exciting! So this will be my next post to go up & will hopefully not be too long in the making!
Lots of love to you all & hope you are enjoying the wonderful weather we have been having! What have you enjoyed most about this summer?
Tania Xx
Just a quick post to say thank you for bearing with me (as the title suggests!).
Unfortunately I have been rather poorly and am currently being investigated for Fibromyalgia (similar to ME/chronic fatigue syndrome).
Now that it is the school holidays I am off work so will be back with more posts shortly.
I have been nominated for a Liebster Blog Award by Shannon from http://www.lifeofafabobsessive.com, which is very exciting! So this will be my next post to go up & will hopefully not be too long in the making!
Lots of love to you all & hope you are enjoying the wonderful weather we have been having! What have you enjoyed most about this summer?
Tania Xx
Friday, 10 May 2013
'Hypoallergenic' Claims without an ingredients list in sight... interesting!
Hi everyone!
Apologies for not posting recently - I have been writing school reports! Which leads me nicely to today's post...
I finished & sent my first set of reports for one of my employers (I work for two areas, through different employers) & decided to head in to town to pick a few bits up.
I went in to Boots as I have a number of £3 off vouchers for No.7 & wanted to get a lip pencil to go with the Sonia Kashuk lipstick in No.1 91 'Pink Punch' that I received in a swap from Sandra (makeuploverusa) yesterday (it looks brighter in person than in the tube!).
Bearing in mind that No. 7 is a brand that claims to be 'hypoallergenic', I was shocked to find that there wasn't a list of ingredients available to access in store. I asked a member of staff, thinking they would have a book listing the ingredients of all the products but this was not the case. Even the manager came over. She took my details to look into it for me, which was good of her. I just feel that (in addition to it being law to make ingredients available to consumers), for a brand claiming to be 'hypoallergenic' this was not acceptable.
I will check other Boots stores to see how many of them are not making their No. 7 ingredients easily accessible & may start naming & shaming if it turns out this is not an isolated incident.
If you are interested in the swap I did with Sandra, you can check out Part 1 (here). Part's 2 & 3, with out takes will follow shortly.
Tania Xx
Apologies for not posting recently - I have been writing school reports! Which leads me nicely to today's post...
I finished & sent my first set of reports for one of my employers (I work for two areas, through different employers) & decided to head in to town to pick a few bits up.
I went in to Boots as I have a number of £3 off vouchers for No.7 & wanted to get a lip pencil to go with the Sonia Kashuk lipstick in No.1 91 'Pink Punch' that I received in a swap from Sandra (makeuploverusa) yesterday (it looks brighter in person than in the tube!).
Bearing in mind that No. 7 is a brand that claims to be 'hypoallergenic', I was shocked to find that there wasn't a list of ingredients available to access in store. I asked a member of staff, thinking they would have a book listing the ingredients of all the products but this was not the case. Even the manager came over. She took my details to look into it for me, which was good of her. I just feel that (in addition to it being law to make ingredients available to consumers), for a brand claiming to be 'hypoallergenic' this was not acceptable.
I will check other Boots stores to see how many of them are not making their No. 7 ingredients easily accessible & may start naming & shaming if it turns out this is not an isolated incident.
If you are interested in the swap I did with Sandra, you can check out Part 1 (here). Part's 2 & 3, with out takes will follow shortly.
Tania Xx
Sunday, 28 April 2013
What a Day - Time for Some Retail Therapy!
I normally post at the weekend, but today is a little bit different...
I had my Personal Development feedback from July(!) which I found a little stressful. I got paid today & received an email with a 20% off code for Illamasqua and Debenhams are having one of their 10% off Beauty & Fragrance events, so I've ordered a pizza from Domino's (gluten-free of course), have YouTube on and am going to decide what I want from Illamasqua & thought I'd take you along for the ride!
... So a day passed. I'd done some research online as to which Illamasqua products I might like to try (powder & cream blushers including the duo blushes). In the elapsing time, I went in to Superdrug & they are selling the Real Techniques Travel Set (previously only available online) with a buy 1 get 1 1/2 price offer on accessories! I wasn't able to get the combination of sets I wanted ( the Travel & Starter Set) in my local store or on the internet so decided to take a trip to Birmingham.
I wasn't actually impressed with the swatches of the Illamasqua blushers. It was rather busy & both the makeup artists were busy. I felt I needed the guidance of a makeup artist to choose a colour that would suit me & would have liked to have tried before I bought. So after that I didn't end up ordering anything from Illamasqua!!!
I did go over to the NARS counter. I have been wanting The Multiple in 'Copacabana' and so purchased that, along with a cream blusher in 'Penny Lane' and the lipgloss in the cult favourite 'Turkish Delight'.
Although neither of the Superdrugs in Birmingham had the Real Techniques brushes I wanted, I did end up coming out with a few (5!!!) nail varnishes. 2 Barry M Gelly polishes in Lychee & Papaya & a glitter in Rose Quartz. I also picked up Essie's Fiji & Lilacism.
I ordered MAC's Style & Well Dressed blushers on the Debenhams website, taking advantage of their 10% off offer. Because MAC's Powder Blushes were winners of the Debenhams Beauty Club Awards 2013, I also received 6 points for every £1 spent!
I found some coral peep toe pumps in Dorothy Perkins with a 30% off offer. I hadn't remembered to take the gift card I got for Christmas from my Mother-in-Law with me to Birmingham. I checked on the internet to see whether my local store has my size in stock & I'm going to go pick a pair up tomorrow! :-)
... So I went & picked up the pumps from Dorothy Perkins & thought I'd pop in to New Look & pick up a £14.99 dress I have been wanting for a while - I emerged £49.95 lighter!!! If you want to see what I bought, I will post a haul on my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/taniad5786).
Additionally, I bought some items for a swap I am doing with a friend on YouTube.
What will you be buying this pay day?
Tania Xx
I had my Personal Development feedback from July(!) which I found a little stressful. I got paid today & received an email with a 20% off code for Illamasqua and Debenhams are having one of their 10% off Beauty & Fragrance events, so I've ordered a pizza from Domino's (gluten-free of course), have YouTube on and am going to decide what I want from Illamasqua & thought I'd take you along for the ride!
... So a day passed. I'd done some research online as to which Illamasqua products I might like to try (powder & cream blushers including the duo blushes). In the elapsing time, I went in to Superdrug & they are selling the Real Techniques Travel Set (previously only available online) with a buy 1 get 1 1/2 price offer on accessories! I wasn't able to get the combination of sets I wanted ( the Travel & Starter Set) in my local store or on the internet so decided to take a trip to Birmingham.
I wasn't actually impressed with the swatches of the Illamasqua blushers. It was rather busy & both the makeup artists were busy. I felt I needed the guidance of a makeup artist to choose a colour that would suit me & would have liked to have tried before I bought. So after that I didn't end up ordering anything from Illamasqua!!!
I did go over to the NARS counter. I have been wanting The Multiple in 'Copacabana' and so purchased that, along with a cream blusher in 'Penny Lane' and the lipgloss in the cult favourite 'Turkish Delight'.
NARS The Multiple in 'Copacabana', £30 - can be found here.
NARS Lipgloss in 'Turkish Delight', £17.50 - can be found here.
Although neither of the Superdrugs in Birmingham had the Real Techniques brushes I wanted, I did end up coming out with a few (5!!!) nail varnishes. 2 Barry M Gelly polishes in Lychee & Papaya & a glitter in Rose Quartz. I also picked up Essie's Fiji & Lilacism.
I ordered MAC's Style & Well Dressed blushers on the Debenhams website, taking advantage of their 10% off offer. Because MAC's Powder Blushes were winners of the Debenhams Beauty Club Awards 2013, I also received 6 points for every £1 spent!
Coral Peep Toe Pumps, £20 (£16 in 20% off pop up sale) - can be found here.
... So I went & picked up the pumps from Dorothy Perkins & thought I'd pop in to New Look & pick up a £14.99 dress I have been wanting for a while - I emerged £49.95 lighter!!! If you want to see what I bought, I will post a haul on my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/taniad5786).
Additionally, I bought some items for a swap I am doing with a friend on YouTube.
What will you be buying this pay day?
Tania Xx
Saturday, 13 April 2013
£20 Makeup Challenge
Right, so I’m sat in a
Wetherspoons typing up this post. I’ve just had my lunch & am waiting to go
to a concert my husband is playing the Mozart Clarinet Concerto in. After this,
we are going out to ASK for dinner with his family. So I’m sure you can
understand my horror when we arrived (I didn’t have time to put my makeup on in
the morning as Dan had an early rehearsal so packed my makeup to put on in the
Ladies!) and I had forgotten my makeup bag!!!!!!! PANIC!!!!!!!!
Dan said that I would just
have to rely on my natural beauty (aaww!!). I said that it sounded like a good
opportunity to do the £20 makeup challenge! Now for those of you who don’t
know, the £20 makeup challenge started life in America as the $20 makeup
challenge. It became the £20 challenge because makeup is more expensive in the
UK. The idea is that that you’ve lost your makeup bag, say when you went on
holiday, & you only have £20 to find a whole face worth of makeup. So let’s
see how I did…
Let’s get the excuses out of
the way first – today is Sunday & I am not in an area where all the shops
are open. Superdrug is open (yay!), Boots is not (boo!). I know that I would
have been able to get a better deal on my products in Boots as they currently
have a 3 for 2 offer across their entire makeup ranges, where as with Superdrug
it is contained within specific brands (3 for 2 on all Maybelline for example).
I was also unable to get specific items I wanted to. I will note these, with
the amounts I would have saved as we go along. The Superdrug I had access to
was small & carried the following ranges:
MUA - ingredients found on individual products (some under plastic wrapping - helpful!)
Rimmel - ingredients booklet available containing most products (not new releases)
Maybelline - some ingredients on products
Bourjois - some ingredients on products
Collection - no ingredients available
Maxfactor - no ingredients available
Barry M - no ingredients available
As none of the brands had a full list of ingredients, I had to rely on those available & products I already knew are safe for me to use from previous research. I was lucky enough to have a
number of lip products, as well as my Urban Decay '24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil' in
Zero & my MAC 129SH in my bag, so didn’t need to purchase these.
Ok, so lets make a start with
the face products…
PRIMER - £0.00
I don’t find that I
need to use a primer so missed this step out in order to keep the cost down.
FOUNDATION – £10.99
I have wanted to
try the Bourjois 'Healthy Mix Serum' for such a long time but could not justify
purchasing it with two foundations to use up (I only wear foundation for
special occasions), two BB creams & a tinted moisturiser. So rather than
going for a slightly cheaper option, I chose the Bourjois in No. 51. This didn't have a list of ingredients available but I already knew I was able to use it. I also felt, with my
sensitive skin that this was the best option as I have had problems with Rimmel
foundations in the past (Granted it was rather a long time ago!).
CONCEALER – £3.99 (saving of £3.50)
I wanted to purchase
the concealer to match the foundation, the Bourjois 'Healthy Mix Concealer' (£7.49). However this was one of the
products I was unable to purchase. I arrived at the till to be told I had picked up a tester & that there weren't any more... back to the drawing board. I ended up with the Collection 'Illuminating Touch Brightening Concealer' in the shade Natural, No. 2. This is much more yellow toned than shade No. 1 which is very pink based (not ideal for my under eye circles!).
POWDER - £0.00
I don't set my foundation as I have very dry skin so saved myself some money here.
POWDER - £0.00
I don't set my foundation as I have very dry skin so saved myself some money here.
For my eyes...
PRIMER/CREME SHADOW - £4.99
This is a step you might be able to skip, but my eyeshadow has a tendency to crease. I purchased the Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold. It holds eye shadow well & I can put it on as my lid colour, then define my crease & brow bone with powder eyeshadow. I do already own this product but use it a lot so felt it was justifiable. I am going to take one down & leave it with my capsule makeup collection at my parent's house.
EYESHADOW - £6.00
First I looked at the Rimmel trios (£6.49), which would give me both crease & brow shades. I then realised that the MUA Natural Too palette, which contains 12 colours I think, was on offer (£1.00 off) making it cheaper than a Rimmel trio. For £2.00 more I was able to get the new MUA 'The Artiste Collection' palette. This includes 6 marbled eyeshadows, 2 blushers, a bronzer & a highlighter - score!!!
EYELINER - £0.00
Urban Decay '24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil' in Zero
MASCARA - £7.99
I have never had a good experience with Maybelline mascaras. I tried a number of different types and found them all to flake badly. Having watched YouTube videos for 2 & 1/2 years now & hearing rave reviews from so many people, I decided to give the brand another try. After all, if I can reduce the cost of my mascara then great! I think I may have been unlucky that the time I tried Maybelline mascaras was when I was living in student accommodation. My room was WAY too hot to the point where it caused the wood of my oboe to expand & contract so much it cracked!!! Anyway, back to mascara. I decided on 'The Falsies Flared'. If you have read my post on the Diorshow 'New Look' mascara, you'll know I have very straight lashes & I like a good curl on them which can be difficult (or impossible) to achieve with some mascaras (If you want to read more about my thoughts on the 'New Look' mascara or my eyelashes & preferences, click here).
For my brows...
PENCIL - £0.00 (3 for 2 on Maybelline)
I looked at the Rimmel brow pencil as I know Khyla from Miss Budget Beauty (click here to visit her blog) really likes it. I chose my shade & then spotted the Maybelline 'Master Shape Brow Pencil' in Soft Brown. This was a better colour match for me, had a softer, waxier feeling so would apply more easily & was free in the 3 for 2 - score!!!
BROW GEL - £1.99 (additional 99p)
I usually use the MUA clear mascara to set my brows. There wasn't a space for it on the stand so I definitely didn't overlook it. My sister uses the Collection clear mascara for her brows. There weren't ingredients available for this but it was the only available option & I have a vague memory of using it a while ago so I purchased it. I wouldn't normally do this but needs must!
At this point it is worth noting that I should have got a free Collection product as they were on 3 for 2, but with trying to figure out a whole face of makeup out I missed this. The staff didn't point it out to me either (to be honest they seemed very indifferent!) so i missed out there!
For my lips...
LIPS - £0.00
I used my Urban Decay Lip Love in the shade Taunt
Tools...
EYELASH CURLERS - £3.49
The only mascara I can use without eyelash curlers is the Diorshow 'Iconic' mascara, so eyelash curlers are a MUST!!! I chose the QVS version.
EYESHADOW BRUSH - £1.99 (additional £1.99)
Unfortunately, the MUA 'The Artiste Collection' palette didn't say it came with applicators. If it had I wouldn't have, for the one day, purchased a brush! So I chose the Superdrug 'Blending Brush'. I think this is too stiff for a blending brush, but is good to pack colour onto the lid & apply a crease & brow highlight colour.
I found that I needed a pair of scissors to get into the packaging of the 'The Artiste Collection' palette, the eyelash curlers & the blending brush. I carry a pair of straight nail scissors with me for eyebrow touchups so didn't need to go back to Superdrug & purchase these.
So here's the finished look:
In total I spent £41.43 - Eeeeek!!!!!!! I wanted to look my best for Dan's big day so purchased for this specific event.
If I did only have £20 available to me, I would leave out the:
Foundation (taking the total to £30.44)
Palette (£24.44)
Blending brush (£22.45)
Concealer (£18.46)
And purchase an MUA blusher for £1.00, making my total for:
Creme Eyeshadow
Eyeliner (in my handbag)
Mascara
Brow Pencil
Brow Gel
Lip Gloss (in my handbag)
Eyelash Curlers
Powder Brush (in my handbag)
Blusher
come to £19.46!
To me this just goes to show how little £20 stretches, even at the drugstore/high street.
Tania x
EYESHADOW - £6.00
First I looked at the Rimmel trios (£6.49), which would give me both crease & brow shades. I then realised that the MUA Natural Too palette, which contains 12 colours I think, was on offer (£1.00 off) making it cheaper than a Rimmel trio. For £2.00 more I was able to get the new MUA 'The Artiste Collection' palette. This includes 6 marbled eyeshadows, 2 blushers, a bronzer & a highlighter - score!!!
EYELINER - £0.00
Urban Decay '24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil' in Zero
MASCARA - £7.99
I have never had a good experience with Maybelline mascaras. I tried a number of different types and found them all to flake badly. Having watched YouTube videos for 2 & 1/2 years now & hearing rave reviews from so many people, I decided to give the brand another try. After all, if I can reduce the cost of my mascara then great! I think I may have been unlucky that the time I tried Maybelline mascaras was when I was living in student accommodation. My room was WAY too hot to the point where it caused the wood of my oboe to expand & contract so much it cracked!!! Anyway, back to mascara. I decided on 'The Falsies Flared'. If you have read my post on the Diorshow 'New Look' mascara, you'll know I have very straight lashes & I like a good curl on them which can be difficult (or impossible) to achieve with some mascaras (If you want to read more about my thoughts on the 'New Look' mascara or my eyelashes & preferences, click here).
For my brows...
PENCIL - £0.00 (3 for 2 on Maybelline)
I looked at the Rimmel brow pencil as I know Khyla from Miss Budget Beauty (click here to visit her blog) really likes it. I chose my shade & then spotted the Maybelline 'Master Shape Brow Pencil' in Soft Brown. This was a better colour match for me, had a softer, waxier feeling so would apply more easily & was free in the 3 for 2 - score!!!
BROW GEL - £1.99 (additional 99p)
I usually use the MUA clear mascara to set my brows. There wasn't a space for it on the stand so I definitely didn't overlook it. My sister uses the Collection clear mascara for her brows. There weren't ingredients available for this but it was the only available option & I have a vague memory of using it a while ago so I purchased it. I wouldn't normally do this but needs must!
At this point it is worth noting that I should have got a free Collection product as they were on 3 for 2, but with trying to figure out a whole face of makeup out I missed this. The staff didn't point it out to me either (to be honest they seemed very indifferent!) so i missed out there!
For my lips...
LIPS - £0.00
I used my Urban Decay Lip Love in the shade Taunt
Tools...
EYELASH CURLERS - £3.49
The only mascara I can use without eyelash curlers is the Diorshow 'Iconic' mascara, so eyelash curlers are a MUST!!! I chose the QVS version.
EYESHADOW BRUSH - £1.99 (additional £1.99)
Unfortunately, the MUA 'The Artiste Collection' palette didn't say it came with applicators. If it had I wouldn't have, for the one day, purchased a brush! So I chose the Superdrug 'Blending Brush'. I think this is too stiff for a blending brush, but is good to pack colour onto the lid & apply a crease & brow highlight colour.
I found that I needed a pair of scissors to get into the packaging of the 'The Artiste Collection' palette, the eyelash curlers & the blending brush. I carry a pair of straight nail scissors with me for eyebrow touchups so didn't need to go back to Superdrug & purchase these.
So here's the finished look:
Apologies for the not ideal setting or photo quality, I had to rely on the lighting in the Ladies at Wetherspoons - not ideal I know!
In total I spent £41.43 - Eeeeek!!!!!!! I wanted to look my best for Dan's big day so purchased for this specific event.
If I did only have £20 available to me, I would leave out the:
Foundation (taking the total to £30.44)
Palette (£24.44)
Blending brush (£22.45)
Concealer (£18.46)
And purchase an MUA blusher for £1.00, making my total for:
Creme Eyeshadow
Eyeliner (in my handbag)
Mascara
Brow Pencil
Brow Gel
Lip Gloss (in my handbag)
Eyelash Curlers
Powder Brush (in my handbag)
Blusher
come to £19.46!
To me this just goes to show how little £20 stretches, even at the drugstore/high street.
Tania x
Monday, 1 April 2013
Product of the Month - March
So it's time again for my product of the month, which this time around goes to the MAC #168 brush.
This brush is made of goat hair & cost £26. I bought it as a contour & blusher brush but have found that it also works well for applying a powder highlighter. The brush is easy to use, it picks up just the right amount of product & has a great shape for applying product to the face.
Contouring with NARS' Laguna bronzer
Blusher using the Urban Decay Flushed palette
Highlighting with the Urban Decay Flushed palette
The MAC #168, although pricy, is definitely worth the investment as it is a good quality, versatile brush.
You can check out the rest of my monthly favourites on my YouTube channel here.
What was your favourite product of the month? Do you have any favourite brushes?
Tania x
This brush is made of goat hair & cost £26. I bought it as a contour & blusher brush but have found that it also works well for applying a powder highlighter. The brush is easy to use, it picks up just the right amount of product & has a great shape for applying product to the face.
Contouring with NARS' Laguna bronzer
Blusher using the Urban Decay Flushed palette
Highlighting with the Urban Decay Flushed palette
The MAC #168, although pricy, is definitely worth the investment as it is a good quality, versatile brush.
You can check out the rest of my monthly favourites on my YouTube channel here.
What was your favourite product of the month? Do you have any favourite brushes?
Tania x
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Two New Additions To Our Family...
Hi Everyone,
Slightly different post today. I wanted to introduce you to the two new additions to our family...
Dan & I 'adopted' two cats yesterday. Freya & Mylo, a sister & brother duo. So as this is a beauty, fashion & lifestyle blog I thought I would tell you about them, being part of my life & all now!
Some of you may have seen pics of them on my instagram (taniad5786) already but if not here they are:
They have settled in really well. They arrived with all their things, which would have helped, but they did have the ordeal of an hours drive in the dark, which can't have been pleasant for them.
Last night was spent exploring the house. Mylo appears to be the least timid of the two, jumping on top of the book case & our glass cabinet! Freya went behind the TV & got herself stuck. She could have got out herself but was meowing in a distressed way so I intervened.
They seemed happy this morning, although wanted to go out (even though it was raining!). We are keeping them in for four weeks to get them used to their new environment. After that they are free to explore (but will probably avoid next door's dogs! lol). Dan has told me that when he got home from work they were both waiting for him! :) They have been purring & giving him cuddles while I'm writing this between my teaching jobs.
I can't wait to get home to see them again! It hardly seems real as I was never allowed pets as a child because of mine & my sister's allergies.
Do you have any pets? Any tips for a first time owner? If you can't have pets, what would your ideal companion be?
Much love,
Tania x
Slightly different post today. I wanted to introduce you to the two new additions to our family...
Dan & I 'adopted' two cats yesterday. Freya & Mylo, a sister & brother duo. So as this is a beauty, fashion & lifestyle blog I thought I would tell you about them, being part of my life & all now!
Some of you may have seen pics of them on my instagram (taniad5786) already but if not here they are:
Freya Mylo
They have settled in really well. They arrived with all their things, which would have helped, but they did have the ordeal of an hours drive in the dark, which can't have been pleasant for them.
Last night was spent exploring the house. Mylo appears to be the least timid of the two, jumping on top of the book case & our glass cabinet! Freya went behind the TV & got herself stuck. She could have got out herself but was meowing in a distressed way so I intervened.
They seemed happy this morning, although wanted to go out (even though it was raining!). We are keeping them in for four weeks to get them used to their new environment. After that they are free to explore (but will probably avoid next door's dogs! lol). Dan has told me that when he got home from work they were both waiting for him! :) They have been purring & giving him cuddles while I'm writing this between my teaching jobs.
I can't wait to get home to see them again! It hardly seems real as I was never allowed pets as a child because of mine & my sister's allergies.
Do you have any pets? Any tips for a first time owner? If you can't have pets, what would your ideal companion be?
Much love,
Tania x
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