New York, New York!

As most of you know I'm in NY at the moment visiting my beau. I'm having a fab time (as always) so far in this sexy city and for obvious reasons, blogging will be taking a back seat until I get back. Chaud's still asleep so I have some time to touch in without being interrupted.

I saw the new Times Sq branch of Sephora last night (well I was dragged past it, so I didn't get a chance to actually go in! How rude!), and will be popping back tomorrow to browse to my hearts content as Chaud will be sat in front of the TV watching back to back football from 1pm-9pm! If he thinks I'm entertaining non-stop action of "the game", bringing him beers back and forth all day he's mistaken. I'll be M.I.A!!!

I'm gonna do my drugstore run tomorrow and also do some last minute depotting (so long as I don't drink too much again tonight) as I didn't have the time to do it before I left and I've decided I need MAC Sketch e/s in my life so that'll be my B2M treat.

This time I WILL get to the MAC PRO store and see it once and for all instead of being lazy and visiting the branch up the road. I'm so crap with street addresses out here I know I'm gonna get lost, especially cos it's 'hidden' in an office building so am gonna drag Chaud with me next week - I'm sure he can't wait for that!

Hope you're all doing well and are having great weekends so far. Chat soon xxx

New York wishlist

Whoo-hoo! 4 days to go until I get to see my gorgeous boyf again! I'm usually so organised and am already packed with 2 weeks to spare but work has left me shattered most evenings since my new role at work begun and I have just enough energy for Twitter, let alone anything else.`

For the first time EVER I think I may well return to London with money left on my cards and in my wallet! I'm not really wanting very much. Definite purchases will be ...

Marc by Marc Jacobs Twisted Q Riz Hobo


Canon Powershot SD780 1S (Gold)

Bath & BodyWorks candles
More Victoria's Secrets Pink loungewear
MAC brushes & a VAE back up when Style Black is released
Revlon Colorstay foundation back ups
Colgate Crest Whitestrips - Every time I remember to buy these I've run out of money!
OPI In My Back Pocket
Some nice cardi's/knitwear for Winter
Walgreens Alpha Hydroxy Lotion 8% - I couldn't find this ANYWHERE (I scoured three Walgreen branches) during my last trip and I'm not coming home without it this time!!!

I'll have a look in Forever 21, but I never find the stuff I like online in the stores and a lot of stuff is downright dodgy - why that store hasn't gone up in flames yet cos of its polyester count I don't know! I'm not really a fan of the female clothing stores in America. Nothing beats the choice on the UK high street in my opinion, so I can understand why people are going crazy for Topshop stateside, including all the slebs.

Erm ..that's about it. Anything else that I purchase will be a bonus. I'll be doing my usual trip to Chinatown to see what jewellery I can find whilst fighting my way through the gauntlet of counterfeit designer good sellers whispering "Gucci, Prada, Fendi??" in my earhole too.

Any other places I should be checking out? I've done all the touristy stuff and I wanna explore Brooklyn a bit more as I'm always in Manhattan. All recs are welcome.

How much has your spending increased since you started Beauty Blogging?

I started this blog in May when I was still in New York visiting my boyf. Prior to that I was happy following the odd blog here and there but I used Makeupalley and Specktra as my main sources of information for all things beauty.

Fast forward 4 months and I have bought more make up than I usually would of in a 2 year period! I already had a sizeable makeup collection before I started this blog but I knew it had spiralled out of control when the weight of my make up caused the compartments in my beauty box to collapse not long after I posted pics of my collection - cue an emergency purchase of black duct tape!

I'm proud of my blog and enjoy documenting my love for all things beauty and fashion related but Lord Almighty I never imagined it would encourage me to spend the way I have been lately.

I have no self-control at the best of times and have the tendency to spend now, assess the damage later, and being in the company of 150+ girls in the blogging world who are just as indulgent is terrible for my wallet. I may laugh about it but I'm genuinely shocked at how much make up I've amassed lately.

I'll be so happy when Style Black is released as I'll still be in New York and then that is me DONE for 2009! I won't be buying anything from the MAC holiday collections or anything else unless it's an absolute must-have and is LE and all I can think is the Illamasqua silver liquid metal so I won't be going overboard. I know I've said this before but this time I really mean it.

I really need to start using the products I have. I have so much lovely make up to use and I intend to do just that - USE IT! I mentioned a couple of posts ago or so that I feel I'm reaching the peak with my make up. There's really not that much more I need. I've managed to acquire a lot of past LE items that I've been yearning for, for months and my beauty wants from New York aren't that many at all.

So how about you? Are you still in control of your beauty spending or like me have you all too often fallen victim to the feeling that you must buy that product you saw being reviewed on that blog yesterday evening? Arrrrrrrgh!

Has the size of your make up collection increased dramatically since you started blogging and/or reading blogs or would you say it's grown at a steady pace - nothing out of the ordinary?

Maybelline - beauty bloggers event. 10th Sept 2009

I was invited to the Maybelline beauty bloggers event which took place yesterday afternoon at the L'oreal HQ in Hammersmith, West London.

I've gone past the building loads of times before and have always wondered what it's like to work there and how their product stock room must be the beauty equivalent of Vogue's fashion closet! I feel no shame in admitting that I actually had the Maybelline jingle in my head as soon as I walked towards the building.

I escaped from work early and made my way from North West to West London and arrived with plenty of time to spare to find Lipgloss86 and J signing in at reception. Others soon followed and we were whisked upstairs to their canteen area where a yummy spread of sandwiches, cupcakes and other treats had been laid out for us. Everybody mingled and had a chance to caught up as we waited for everybody to arrive.

The afternoon started with Katie introducing the brand and we were shown a promo video of images for Maybelline's 2010 campaign as well as a detailed slide show highlighting their best selling products which I found really interesting which was presented by another lady also called Katie.

One of their newest products is the new Pulse Perfection vibrating mascara, which priced at £14.99 will inevitably be compared to Estee Lauder's Turbo Lash which retails at £28. I'm looking forward to trying this eye and will try my best not to poke my eyeball out in the process.

Maybelline have also released a new lipstick line named of Color Sensational which is available in 26 shades and separated into 4 colour families of reds, pinks, browns and plums. These lipsticks are creamier and have intense pigment which makes the colour much crisper and vibrant on the lips.

What I particularly loved about this event was that we weren't just informed about their latest products, we were introduced to all their best sellers - many of which I'd heard of or seen of but didn't know much about. I loved that all the products were laid out on tables for us to try with a staff member at hand to answer questions about prices, shade availability and usage. It was like one long personalised beauty session. I loved it.

From start to finish I was really impressed with how well organised the event was, how much information was conveyed to us in such a short time and how lovely the staff were. I have nothing but praise for the organisers of this event and you all know I can let rip when I want to!

They even had the fab idea of having two make up artists on standby to re-create looks we wanted and to answer any MU application questions we had. "J" took advantage of this and asked how to recreate a glossy eye look - we knew it involved Vaseline somewhere along the way but wanted to get the look just right and the end result looked gorgeous on her.

"J" being made over with a vampy black glossy eye

I walked out of L'oreal HQ with a different opinion of Maybelline to what I had walked in with. Prior to the event I'd always regarded them as being a brand for the typical girl next door who was afraid of colour and preferred wearing her "daily non-offensive face" to the outside world. Nothing wrong with that, but Maybelline I had only bought Maybelline mascaras, Dream Matte Mousse foundation and a green e/s quad prior to the event in all my make up wearing life.

The staff were lovely (I've said that already haven't I?), and open to all questions I threw at them - including the false lash effects they use in adverts. I've always wondered how they get away with using those shots in mascara adverts as I find them to be misleading.

I'll definitely be taking a closer look at the Maybelline stands in CVS, Duane Reade and Rite Aid next week in New York now! Speaking of New York, Maybelline is also the official make up sponsor of New York Fashion week as well as being the official make up supplier for London Graduate Fashion week - go Maybelline!

Maybelline were beyond generous to us and we all received 2 goody bags. The first containing their most popular products, the second containing their newest additions Pulse Perfection and Color Sensational lipsticks.

As if that wasn't enough, after the majority of people had left they told thos remaining to help ourselves to the products they'd put on display for us to look at - the majority being brand new and unopened!

Keep your eyes peeled for my giveaway when I get back from New York as some of the products you see will be making an appearance.

Oh and yes, the fake tan bottles you see shall be reviewed by myself (Yes I'll be venturing into the foreign world of fake tanning) to see the effect it has on darker skintones. Apparently Mary J Blige has admitted using fake tan before award show ceremonies to get the glow she's often seen sporting in photographs and Miss Virtue and I were asked to roadtest the proucts and report our findings back to Maybelline. Hmm should be interesting ...LOL

Huge shout out goes to Charlotte Bush and Claire Marlow who Miss Virtue and I were engrossed in conversation with for the best part of an hour! We were officially the last bloggers standing, still talking nineteen to the dozen with them as everything was being packed away LOL

Also thanks to Natalie and the rest of the team at Headstream. Pics courtesy of Headstream PR as I'd forgotten my camera - doh!

Review: MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator

MAC describe it as: "A highly effective, dual-purpose, foaming and exfoliating scrub blending natural Volcanic Ash with fine sugar crystals from the islands of Vanuatu. Adds moisture: leaves skin feeling soft and comfortably clean. Mineral-rich. Good for absorbing skin’s natural oils. May be used on any part of face or body. Rinses off with warm water. "

How to use: Smooth a small amount evenly over clean, moist skin, face or body. Wash off with warm water. Use 1-3 times a week.

I've been using MAC's Volcanic Ash Exfoliator for the past week and a half and I'm quite pleased with it so far. I find this scrub is non-drying and leaves my skin feeling really smooth with zero flakiness after use. It's fab! The sugar granules aren't too harsh which is an important factor in a facial scrub for me as the min I feel my skin is being "scratched", I abandon a product.

I'm still not keen on the smell which reminds me of cheap, rancid aftershave combined with stale cigarettes and I wrinkle my nose up every time I open the jar but it's worth it for the results. It's changed the texture of my skin a lot since I started using it, it's smoother than it was 3 weeks ago. The break out around my jawline and chin area have diminished significantly but I've continued to eat utter crap and not take my make up off every single night so I'm sure I've hindered its performance a little.

I only use this in the shower, as it's too messy for use in the sink and black goo ends up everywhere when I rinse it off. The scrub is easy to scoop out of the jar as it's not too runny and I tend to use whatever is on the lid as that's more than enough each time. It rinses off easily and my skin feels quite matte when I've rinsed it off, but it's not tight! Result! I can actually walk around with no moisturiser on for ages and my skin continues to feel really soft.

This is due to be re-released with the Style Black collection due out in the UK in October and the price is yet to be confirmed. It also won't come in the tub that it was originally released in but will be sold in a tube.

I'll definitely be buying back up tube as I'll be in the states when it's released on Sept 24th (I think). MAC need to make this a permanent product.

** Update 10/10/09
I've continued to use this and I'm still impressed. I love the way it lathers up as I scrub away. I've noticed that the granules are finer in the new tube version but it still gives the same results for me. I currently don't have a single bump on my skin at the moment, it's smooth all over and I fully acknowledge that this is down to my usage of MAC VAE. A fantastic product which MAC need to seriously consider making permanent in my opinion.

MAC Make up Art Cosmetics buys and a few extras

So as I mentioned in my Illamasqua event post, I popped into the Pro Store beforehand to check out the latest collections MAC have thrown upon us.

It was so busy. I hate being near a MAC counter when it's heaving, let alone in shoebox sized Pro store. I bought Off The Page e/s from Make Up Art and Sharp Focus lipstick from MAC in High Def a few weeks ago so was only after a few bits.

From Make Up Art Cosmetics I bought:
Violet Trance e/s
Haunting e/s
Full of Fuschia technakohol

By the way, can I just say what a nightmare Violet Trance is to work with using your fingers! It refuses to swatch on skin to skin contact. I think the oils in your fingers dry it out and then it starts acting up. Fear not though, it's fine when using a firm eye brush on it. Its a nice grape matte purple. I'm loving Haunting e/s too. I was gonna skip it but am glad I didn't now.

For some reason he Pro Store didn't get either of the two blushes that come with Make Up Art in their delivery (I'm sure they have them now) so they were missing from the display. Miss Virtue thought it'd be clever to buy the last Colour Matters (bright lime) technakohl so I couldn't buy that either.

After the Illamasqua event Miss Virtue and I went to Selfridges before going to grab a bite to eat and I B2M'ed at the MAC counter for So Chaud lipstick which is a bright orange matte shade.

Chaud is what everyone calls my boyf (Richaud) so I was quite amused at this exchange. He was quite chuffed he has a MAC lipstick named after him when I showed him so I'm sure he'll apprciate that I now own it - haha!

Friday morning I was on the phone like a crack addict to its dealer ordering the rest of my planned purchases. They were waiting for me when I got home from work today.

Colour Matters technakohl
Notable blush
Play on Plums MES
Earthly Riches MES

I've been stalling on the MES's for months and was forced into action when Earthly Riches showed up in the Goodbyes section on the MAC site. The Pro store had sold out of both so I was relieved to still get hold of them over the phone.

Right that's me done until I land in NY next week. I have a couple of bits that Chaud's ordered for me already from Sephora and I'll be focusing on buying brushes when I'm there. I think I'm reaching the peak of my make up collection. I have SO much to work my way through.

When Style Black is released all I want is a back up of Volcanic Ash Exfoliator (review post coming shortly), the thermal mask and Feline eye kohl (which I've managed to lose! Pissed!).

What have you bought from Make Up Art and the other collections?

Lovin' Ebay :-)

You've gotta love Primark. Always churning out disposable fashion for the equivalent of pocket change. I bagged this pair of Primarni specials off Ebay and they finally arrived on Friday. We all know how things fly off the shelves in there the min they're put out - well that's where Ebay comes in handy!

The postal strikes that have been occurring every other day in London delayed their arrival but they're here in one piece now. They're pretty comfy but we all know how the 'carpet test' is deceiving so I guess I won't know until I wear them out as I don't feel like walking up and down the garden in them giving the neighbours a free catwalk show.

I'm loving the zip detail on the back as I've got a thing for zips at the moment. I paid £12 for them inc postage and they cost £20 instore. Money saved!

Another successful purchase from the 'Bay!

Dystophia - The Illamasqua bloggers event (London)

I was invited to the Illamasqua event on Thursday evening which showcased their new A/W collection, Dystophia. I didn't tap into the Illamasqua hype when the brand launched last November and only caved in and bought liquid metal in Solstice as I'd never seen anything else like it, so I was looking forward to learning more about the brand and being hopefully being wowed.

It took place at kettners, a trendy Soho located bar/restaurant which caters to the after work crowd as well as theatregoers seeking a place of calm for a drink or evening meal before their show starts. I met up with Lipglossiping, Miss Virtue and Beauty Scribings of J outside the best known meeting place in London - Topshop, Oxford Circus, and we diverted to the Pro Store (more on that later), before making our way directed by Miss Virtue's blackberry to the venue. Tali met us outside and we trundled in.

We were the first to arrive and were soon being treated to cocktails a plenty (consuming these on an empty stomach wasn't one of my brighter decisions, but what the hell!) and mini bites of dishes including chicken (which was yum), ravioli and rabbit - I didn't sample Bugs Bunny though! LOL

"J" and Amy-Louise knockin' back those cocktails. Don't let those gorgeous grins fool you!

When I first saw the creative diretctor Alex Box, the first thing that struck me was how much she reminded me of Cruella De Vil (not evil though!) and Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. Her presence and style is very striking and you can't help being drawn to her. I think I was in awe for a fair while actually. I found her her passion for the brand to be very genuine and I like how she separates the views of those in beauty journalism whose job it is to often say nice things from the typical Illamasqua customer spending their hard earnt money who are more likely to give honest feedback.

Alex welcomed us and gave some insight into her inspiration for the brand. She also did a wicked job of making Lydia over and the end result was pretty amazing. Obviously it's not something you'd rock to do your weekly shop in Tesco in, but it was cool watching the look develop over the 40 mins or so it took to achieve. It would have been a cool idea to perhaps have had another make up look taking place simultaneously next to Alex which was still daring but a lil' more wearable for a night out. Something like this which has just left me open mouthed ready to catch a fly!

Illamasqua Creative Director, Alex Box working her magic

Lydia and Miss Virtue

Testers were arranged on a large table for us to swatch at our leisure but unfortunately I only managed to swatch a few things as by the time we were able to roam around the room it was dark outside and I couldn't see the products very well as the lighting in the room was dim - damn the end of British summertime! I'll have another look at the shades when I'm in Sephora in a couple of weeks.

It's a shame some felt the need to steal the testers at the end ...the USED testers as it's unfortunately a poor reflection on everybody who attended. Ok, the goody bags weren't overflowing with products to try but stealing the testers?! C'mon now!! Same goes for the person having a conversation over Alex less than 5 mins into her intro. At which stage did you not realise the room had fallen silent?! Anyway ...

I was given intense lipgloss in Galactica which is similar to the liquid metal texture and a matte e/s in Matter which is a mid-grey tone. I think I could possibly make the lipgloss work if I use a teeny bit mixed with clear gloss in the middle of my lip or on my cupids bow..I dunno I'll have to have a play with it. The e/s I can team with Contrast or Meet The Fleet ..or perhaps Steamy or Haunting instead of going straight for the standard smoky eye look.

Alex described the brand as being "chaos through perfection" - at least I think that's what she said. I was already aware of their quest to highlight self-expression and to encourage make up users to release their alter-ego by experimenting with their make up and create extreme looks that you wouldn't ordinarily wear every day. The silver liquid metal and bright pink lipstick stand out for me from Dystophia, though in all honesty each piece is pretty wearable. You can see Shirley wearing the pink lipstick in a couple of my pics further down.

I've never made a secret of the fact that I've not been bowled over by the majority of their eyeshadows. I went on an Illamasqua swatching frenzy a couple of months ago and only about three e/s out of about 15 that I swatched showed up effortlessly which was a lil' disappointing. I'm still lusting after Spectre which is the perfect dove grey (I LOVE this e/s - I dunno how I'll wear it, but I need it in my life!) but I'm happy with the MAC e/s that I own and pretty much have my colours covered.

I do like some of their blushes (not that I need anymore to add to the 50 I already own!) and will get the ones I have on my list which are Laid, Deep, Crush and Sin as I like the pigment of their cream and powder formulas. I wanna take a closer look at some of the more unique lipgloss shades they have too.

Anyhoo I had a great time catching up with the girls I saw a couple of weeks ago at The Body Shop event aswell as meeting other bloggers I've been chatting with on Twitter or through our blogs. The Illamasqua crew were really warm and friendly and had everybody at ease which was cool too.

A couple more pics:

Nicola, Samantha & Shirley

Sophie, Shirley (wearing the new Illamasqua pink lippie), Zoe and Louise

Oh good news - they're working on improving the swatches on the website that we all love to hate so keep your eyes peeled.

Dystophia is available to pre-order online now and out on counters Sept 10th.

Thanks to Alex (it was nice finally seeing the face behind the emails and the blog) and the rest of the team for organising the event and also to Mizzworthy who initially rounded up the troops on Twitter.

** I don't mind you posting my pics from the event on your blogs, but can I ask that you please credit their original source? Cheers x

FINALLY! I've lost my CCO virginity ;-)

For the longest time I've wanted to visit a CCO. Every time I go to NY to see Chaud, I promise to myself that I'll put a day aside to trek to the nearest CCO in New Jersey and I never do. The nearest one to me here in London is the one in Bicester shopping village and Miss Virtue (check out her blog and follow if you're not already) and I drove down there last Saturday afternoon, to see what LE treats we could find.

We both have Pro cards (thanks to The IMATS), so weren't interested in buying anything permanent that we could get in the Pro store using our discount. The Pro cards we have entitle us to 35% off, and CCO stock has 30% off. For some reason I get 40% off when I buy MAC in the States - not that I'm complaining! Every little helps!

I dunno what I was expecting once I got to the CCO but I called beforehand to try and get an idea of what stock they had in and when the dozy SA hesitantly said they had the "Safari" collection in, (she meant Style Warriors), I knew listening to another word coming out of her mouth was pointless and I'd just need to check the stock out for myself. Our initial plan had been to get there for opening time at 10am, but due to unforeseen circumstances we ended up arriving mid afternoon. We found it pretty quickly and it was pretty busy as expected for a Saturday afternoon. MAC was located in the back left hand corner of the store and consisted of 2 shelves full of eyeshadows, foundations, pigments and gift sets. A small separate block thing was a couple of feet away which had a pot full of eye pencil and lipgloss testers on it.

What I didn't like is that you had to take the eye/lip pencil and lipgloss/lipstick testers to the till and then you'd be given new products. It's easy to miss out on stuff cos people may be standing in the queue with testers in their hands and you'd be none the wiser to more products that are actually available, and as we were poking around the pot, a SA came over with a handful of testers she'd bought from the till.

There are also no baskets for you to put your items in either so I was walking around clutching testers and e/s and struggling to swatch stuff at the same time - annoying! You can pick up the e/s, foundations, pigments and gift sets BN straight off the shelf and take them to the till to pay for. There were a pot of brush testers on the till which could easily be missed too.

I bought:

Silly Girl l/g (Balloonacy)
Chignon l/s (back up just in case my boyf has lost the one I ordered that he couldn't find
Quick Tease l/g
Meet The Fleet e/s
Bobbi Brown shimmer wash in Bronze

Off the top of my head stock included:
Meet The Fleet e/s (BBR)
Solar White e/s
Shimmermoss e/s
Submarine e/s
Bright Future e/s (Style Warriors)
Eversun blush (Style Warriors)
Tribalist l/s (Style Warriors)
Chignon l/s (BBR)

There were a few pigments but I didn't look at them
Some Hello Kitty stuff
Pink Lemondade l/g
Moonbathe l/g
Quick Tease l/g (CCO)
Tempting quad
Shadowy lady quad
MAC 136 brush - there were a few more brushes but I can't remember which. None of the usual suspets like the 139, 109, 242, etc though
MAC MSF in Deep Dark
MAC Studio Tech in NC45
Bobbi Brown shimmer washes
Bobbi Brown lipglosses
Bobbi Brown oil control lotion
There was also Prescriptives make up, Estee Lauder stuff from the Sun Goddess range, Origins Skincare and make up, Clinique Skincare and a variety of perfumes which are made under the Estee Lauder umberella.

I did take my camera along to take pictures so but it was so packed in there it was impossible to get any pics of the stock as women flocked around the shelves like flies to shhhh!

Next on our CCO checklist is the Portsmouth branch which we'll check in a few months time to give the stock a chance to change. It was a fun afternoon and I'm looking fwd to the next "road trip" LOL

Highs/Lows of the week

Goes without saying but I'm seeing my gorgeous boyf in a couple of weeks and believe you me, I am counting down the days!!!!

I've been promoted at work - yes already (it came as a huge surprise to me too, trust me!!), but hey it's all good! It's been full on since yesterday and I'm going to bed in 5 mins cos I'm so tired but I'm really happy at how things have worked out and plan on grabbing this opportunity with both hands.

Some shoes I won on Ebay for £7 (Primarni specials) arrived today. Finally!! (No thanks to Royal mail who seem to be striking every other day for the bloody fun of it). I love them! I'll post a pic of them on Friday if I have the energy!

I'm attending the London Illamasqua event tomorrow evening and I can't wait. Should be a goody and it'll be great to meet some new blogging faces too.

So happy filming has started for SATC 2 - you have no idea how much I flippin loved (and still do) that series! I HEART SJP!!!!!!!!!!

The worse of my break out appears to have gone. That MAC Volcanic Ash exfoliator and TBS Moisture mask together are a match made in heaven!

Did I tell you that I can't flippin' wait to see my baby again??

I've been chucked into a role at work I didn't originally sign up for and whilst the support I'm getting from colleagues has been great so far, I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself to meet expectations. When your last waking thought is of work ..that's not a god sign. I need to chill out and stop stressing so much.

Even though the worse of my random break out has died down, I'm now left with the scarring. Lemon juice and honey anyone? Grrr!

As much as I love Autumn the rain and sudden cold weather that's hit England has still come as a shock! Not feelin' the rain!!! Especially not on my freshly relaxed hair!!!!!!!!!

Attention all fashion lovers - Scholl Blogger Diaries competition

Scholl appear to be the latest brand to appreciate the hard work that goes into maintaining a blog and are after a fashion-loving blogger to report from behind the scenes at London Fashion Week. Armed with an iPhone you'll update their Twitter page with the goings on of the fashion world live and direct from the catwalk shows of all the top designers!

All you have to do is send them a pic of yourself wearing your fave shoes and tell them in under 100 words why you'd be the best person to launch Scholl's blog at On/Off London Fashion Week. If you're a foot fiend who always puts their best foot forward or are in need of some tootsie love I'd imagine they'll probably pile you with a load of school footcare freebies too if you're the winner!

If you fancy a career in fashion journalism and are trying to get your foot in the door I'd imagine winning this competition would be a great stepping stone for making lots of contacts at London Fashion Week!

Closing date has been extended to September 13th. Click here for more info.

Tagged: I Think You Are An Awesome Girl/ 10 random facts

I was tagged by Beauty and the Blog (gorgeous girl!) to do this tag that's now doing the rounds. All I have to do is reveal 10 random facts about myself and tag 10 blogs in return.

So here we go ...

1. I'm terrified of insects and rodents. TERRIFIED!!!!!!!!

2. I once shoved my brother into the washing machine when we were little. I'll never forget the telling off I got as long as I live! LOL

3. I'm a very passionate person in all senses of the word. When I love I love, when I hate ...you'll know about it. I flare up easily, be it in excitement or anger. I blame my Leo nature!

4. I'm obsessed with hand cream. I apply it at least 8 times a day.

5. I could happily drink Tropicana orange juice all day, every day and I would - if it didn't unfailingly leave me on the toilet after I've drunk too much!

6. When I see something I want and it's sold out, I'll go to extraordinary lengths to track it down. I become obsessed.

7. I can be really, really lazy at times. Really lazy.

8. I'm crap with money. It's there to be spent, right?

9. I'm really into watching real-life crime documentaries and as a result can name every known serial killer by face! Mad, I know.

10. I love dogs and wanna own a blue eyed, grey staff (if I can find one), when I move to NY.

I'm cheating as I've had the most stressful day yet at my new job and lost 2 hrs sleep last night so am quite tired. Therefore I'm tagging everybody!