FUN

The Picture of Insanity

/ brightandbeautyfull / 3 Comments

OMG THIS IS THE BATH> Seven shampoo & conditioner duos

> One conditioner on its ownio

> One tiny shampoo & conditioner sample {Kevin Murphy? Which is fabbilis and I don’t know where to get it?}

> Three bars of soap

> Four shower gels

> One in-shower body moisturiser

> ONLY TWO BODY EXFOLIATORS. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.

This does not even include the five facial exfoliators, the two cleansers, and the three intense conditioning treatments.

If you look up ‘first world problems’ in the dictionary, etc. etc.

On the other hand, I am hard at work!

Right. See above.

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How much stuff have you got in your bath? I would welcome photos of baths that are not quite as populated as mine…

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Maybelline Colossal Color Shock Mascara: Unleash Your Inner 80’s Rock Chick

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Or, reawaken, as the case may be.

Also, or: maybe New Wave Chick? Either way, this stuff is fun.

MAYBELLINE COLOR SHOCK 1That’s two coats worth of Electric Blue. What comprises a coat, in fairness? I go over and over the lashes, and then let them set, and consider that a coat. This may be incorrect.

…

Well, The Internet says, essentially, one swipe of the brush is a coat. I suspected as much — not sure I agree. Shock Mascara openI’m sticking to my personal definition, thanks, and even if by The Internet standards, the above lash look resulted from, like, ten coats, I don’t care. It’s fab, and I wasn’t expecting it to look so well.

I suppose I had low expectations because of my experience with colouredy mascaras during the actual 80s: they either gave no pronounced colour at all, or were of such a low standard that they produced nothing but clumps.

This went on like a proper mascara. The first ‘coat’ was barely discernible, and I felt justified in my prejudice. Then I gave it another go, and was delighted and impressed. Then I went completely cray — because at this time my Inner 80s Rock/New Wave Chick was fully revived – and put some on my lower lashes. I don’t know what’s stopping me lashing on some crazy eyeliner, except I have to go get my laundry out of the dryer and might meet someone on the stair.

MAYBELLINE COLOR SHOCK 2I think there is a purple one*, which I think would be better for blue eyes. If you have brown eyes, I bet this will look amazzzzzzing. Brown-eyed girls, go get it and see, and send me pictures!

Off to listen to The Go-Gos!

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€10.75/£5.99/$7.79**

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*Yes, there is a purple, but we can’t have it here. Were we bad and we didn’t even know it??

**Price point alert! Not good!

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ATTENTION Royal Baby Enthusiasts! Thomas Sabo Commemorative Charm

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Thomas-SaboI may have scoffed at the all the mugs and plates that accompanied the British Royal Wedding, but I am allll about the babby — which I think is a girl, and in whose name I predict that Anne will figure largely — and looooooook at the cutest iddle charm in da worrrrrrld!

You may remember the potentially traumatic loss of my beloved Thomas Sabo charm bracelet, a saga which had a happy ending, and as such, know of my love for the charms of Mr S. I also found myself, yesterday, googling royal baby is it born yet?, which is not at all creppy, nope, not one bit.

We have had an arrival, at least in the form of this adorbz wee charm. And it is wee, so if you’ve got some crazy shame around being excited about this, you can be subtle in the demonstration on your interest.
ROYAL BABBY CHARM

Will the actual baby be as cute as this?!?! One expects so…

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€44; where all Thomas Sabo charms are sold.

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Pucker Up, Peeps! International Kissing Day and LUSH

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I am only back from a weekend{ish} away — has everyone posted about this already?

Well, shoot, I’m going ahead anyway. Mainly because I have posted about the Emotional Brilliance range from LUSH since its inception, and indeed, have worn the very colour that I received in the post.

LUSH KISSING DAYInternational Kissing Day! Lock up your bros! I love kissing, and oddly, I loved the Guinness Book of World Records when I was a chiseler, so the confluence of these two things makes me happy.

Sure, you can read all the info on the postcard. There’s a hashtag — #crueltyfreekisses — and in order for Lush to beat the standing record of 22,174 lipstick kisses, you’ll have to head to your nearest emporium to participate.

You’ll not only get to front for the banishment of the use of animals in cosmetics testing, you’ll get to play with some of the brand’s fun lip stuff. The Mint Julips Lip Scrub smells like ice cream, and I’ve been meaning to post about the newly-aerated Lip Balms — they are the business. Pictured here is Lip Service, of which I am an ardent fan. All this prep will do wonders for yer kisser, and frankly, while I’ve delighted in the long-lasting quality, and rich hues, of the Liquid Lipstick, I do find them to be somewhat drying.

Here’s a photograph of the lippy, in the wild, from last year {and a follow-up post about its staying power is here.}
LUSH PASSIONATE

Do thisssss.

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See http://www.lush.co.uk for a shop nearest you — although I’m not sure that helps us much, on this island? Where’s the lush.ie, yo?

The shop over by Trinity can be rung on 01 677 0392.

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Guest Blogging at Crimson Romance: Consulting the Oracle{s}

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THAT MAGIC MISCHIEFBlogging for somebody else is a weird sensation. It’s kind of like riding someone else’s horse while they’re watching, which in my case, the one time I did it, made me feel really self-conscious and nervous.

I had a bit of that when I blogged for the wonderful lovelygirliebits, but after some deep-breathing exercises and couple of knuckle-cracks, I got down to business and it was fine.

You may think that ‘writing is writing’, but it’s kind of not.

One of things that my heroine, amateur witch Annabelle Walsh, learns is that ‘magic isn’t magic’. By that, she — I — we? We mean? Anyway, the point is that everything that happened to her, post-heartbreak, had as much to do with her desire to get over it, as did her own deep-breathing exercises and knuckle-cracking, which came in the form of burning bunches of sage and interacting with a supernatural creature from Irish mythology. Slightly different for me, then.

So, writing isn’t writing: I have a very different approach to critiquing a stage play or an arts exhibition than I do to reviewing a serum or a facial. Working on a new novel is different from trying to adapt one into a screenplay, and posting on my horse blog, I found, was a universe away from writing my horsey-divorcey memoir.

It’s a matter of practice and discipline, and getting used to having to try on different techniques. Despite the nerves, I was delighted to contribute this piece to the Crimson Romance Editors blog. Go have a look!

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Have you read That Magic Mischief? There’s a giveaway on this blog that’s about answering a question to win a great prizes… and there are more to come… just so you know…

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Win a copy of That Magic Mischief from The Romance Reviews!

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In honour of their second birthday, The Romance Reviews are offering a month’s worth THAT MAGIC MISCHIEFof great giveaways, interviews, and chances to join in on a community that loves romantic fiction in all its many genres. {Unsurprisingly, I am often drawn to titles that feature cowboys. Go figure.}

I’m delighted That Magic Mischief will be involved! Bookmark the link above, and this one, too, as there’s a hint in the synopsis, below, for the multiple choice question that could win you a free copy of my new novel.

What was the point of being a witch if Annabelle Walsh couldn’t manage a spell to fix her broken heart?  Okay, maybe calling herself a witch was pushing it — but as a dedicated dabbler in all things metaphysical, she figured she could, at the very least, speed up the healing process. Dumped out of the blue by high-powered banker Wilson Monroe, her boyfriend of three years and nine months, Annabelle’s hopes of walking down the aisle seem remoter than ever, and springtime in New York had never looked so dismal.

With the help of her dearest friends in the world—cool, calm and collected Lorna, and fiery, feisty, foul-mouthed Maria Grazia — Annabelle tries to pull herself out of the dumps by crying her eyes out, getting smashed on girly drinks, and working the odd spell. An idle wander into an unfamiliar new age shop adds the bit of magic in her life that she’d been looking for, in the form of a Pooka — an interfering, mischievous spirit determined to turn Annabelle’s life around, mostly by turning it upside down.

Suddenly, Annabelle hasn’t got time to brood, and her career as a journalist begins to take off; in fact, it’s during a brainstorming session for an off-off-off-off Broadway theatre production that she meets tall, dark, and handsome Jamie Flynn, an Irishman in New York who seems to be keen at first sight, if not in love quite yet. As Annabelle gets her life back on track, she starts to see the difference that a real life, a real career, and a real man can make … and all it took was that magic mischief.

Visit theromancereviews.com for more info, and for their T&Cs. Good luck!

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And follow @Crimson_Romance for more great titles!

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Pixy Natural Skincare and That Magic Mischief Giveaway! Enter Now!

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Okay! I hope I have not made a dog’s dinner of this!

Click here to be in with a chance to win a gorgeous Pink Love Hamper from Pixy! Details can be found in an earlier post.

Via the latter, you can read all about the products included, a value of €39.95.

Via the former, you’ll be directed to like Bright & Beautyfull! on Facebook. If you already do, you are away in a hack. Either way, go there and click on the Rafflecopter giveaway tab, and enter now…

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The fine print:

Giveaway begins 19 February 2013 and ends on 26 February 2013.

Entries are collected via Rafflecopter.

Approximate retail value of prize is €39.95

The number of eligible entries received will determine the odds of winning.

Winner will be chosen randomly from all eligible entries on or about 26 February.

Bright and Beautyfull! is not responsible for technical failures or typographical errors which impact entry.

Winners will be notified by email. If potential winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

Valid address is required.

VOID where PROHIBITED BY LAW.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

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Jet Plane, Leaving on A: The Cull

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CULLED FROM THE HERDThis is spectacularly out of focus, and under normal circs, I would reshoot.

I think it’s out of focus because yesterday I was already flyin’, and then immediately after I shot it I had to be somewhere else, like, pronto, so I didn’t check.

Also: wow, is that really all I am taking? It must be so, because it is in the bag and I am not taking it out again.

See, the thing is: I basically use the same number of things all the time. The brands may change, but the essentials do not. I mean, okay, a million lipsticks/balms, sure! But one moisturiser is most definitely {probably} sufficient.

I do like my routine, and I suppose that having a variety of product at my disposal makes it more difficult to cull.

This may sound like a humblebrag, by the impetus is not to show off — it’s more to show that we absolutely don’t need gobs of stuff to keep our skin healthy, or to enjoy making up our faces.

Unless you want to have to gobs of stuff, etc, and then, well, here’s yer sister, obvs.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to panickedly go see did I pack the power lead for Sir Tony, my Mac AirBook.

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Festive Fillies: Nieces and Cousins and Sisters, Oh My!

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Like you didn’t see this coming.

ZHU ZHUThese Zhu Zhu ponies are adorbs, and come in many colours and styles, and were unknown to me until I got a bunch of press stuff from Boots. Now, I know that when I was a girl, I loved mooching about in a pharmacy, looking at all the beautiful things — what am I talking about? I was mooching about in Boots, like, last Thursday!

Anyway, many may have a mental block about shopping for gifts in a chain of chemists, but honestly, there is nothing like brightly and beautifully packaged objects to appeal to young girls. Or older ones. Ahem.

Pictured is Cruz, and she is all about peace, man. You can go here and check out the other ones — I am torn between Blackberry and Rumer. I do object to the latter mainly because of the misspelling, and isn’t that the name of some Hollywood child?

These make noise and spin! {?} Eh, listen, they are adorable, there is a stable house too, and a corral!

Um. Yeah! Gifts for the young girls in your life! Look no further!

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Boots are doing 3 for 2 Christmas Gifts! Zhu Zhu Ponies are €12 [approximate]/£10

Special Guest Post @lovelygirliebits!

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

No, hey, over here!

Okay, wait, before you go, just have to say how chuffed I was to be asked to contribute to someone else’s blog. Karen from lovelygirliebits is my first internet/blogger/Twitter friend — awwwwww! — mainly because we watch the same programmes and tweet about them all the time. Ironically, she is over in NYC for The Thanksgiving, whilst I am over here, turkeyless.

Ah well, go over there, to her site, and check me out, and then check out the rest of the blog. It is fab!