BEAUTY: 'Diva' by M.A.C

Hello All, 

Another beauty post for you this evening. I recently emptied the 6th and final M.A.C product, meaning I could finally go 'Back2MAC'!

For those of you who do not know, once you use 6 M.A.C items (full size products,check the website for more details as to what is accepted), you can bring them back to a M.A.C store or counter in exchange for a lipstick from their permanent range. They then recycle the empties, & you get a brand new lipstick, therefore everyone wins! I took back:

-Studio Fix Fluid

-Eye Makeup Remover

-Mineralize foundation

-Lip Liner wind up crayon

-Eye Brow wind up crayon

-Tinted Moisturizer Tube

Now, I have quite a long M.A.C wishlist, which includes several lipsticks. However, as it is autumn & I love my red pout, I chose 'Diva' for my first 'Back2MAC' experience. 

 Left: no flash | Right: with flash

On the M.A.C website, 'Diva' is described as an 'intense reddish-burgundy' & I think this does it justice. As most of my other lipsticks, this is a matte finish. It's a perfect burgandy shade, which for me means it leans more toward red, than purple.In the below swatches, it looks much brighter than when put on the lips in my opinion. Please excuse my incredibly boney fingers & odd bent ring finger.

Left: no flash | Right: with flash

 The formula is creamy for a matte finish & doesn't cling to the dry cracks that plague my lips! Despite it's texture the finish is as matte as the other M.A.C matte lipsticks, with no shine at all. I found that it faded to a nice berry shade stain, therefore it still looks nice.

 No editing (apart from red eye removal!)

 A bit of instagram magic!

The main thing I love about this lipstick, is that it matches my current hair shade almost identically! It is such a lovely shade that I can tell will rival 'Russian Red' as my favourite M.A.C lipstick (which I shall be reviewing here soon!)

I was contemplating a nude lipstick, however considering I wear some shade of red lipstick everyday seeing myself without it looks strange now! Maybe it's my signature look?

 

BEAUTY: 'I Saw Red' Bleach London Super Cool Colours

Hello All,

As I featured in my Birthday Highlights post, which you can read here, my lovely friend Courtney bought me Bleach London Super Cool Colour in 'I Saw Red'. Being a red head, I constantly battle with maintaining the right shade of red & covering the ginger tinges that show through after only a few washes (in very cold water may I add!)

So this present was absolutely perfect (thanks Courtney!). I had previously used Schwarzkopf 'Red Passion' dye, which to be honest I was quite disappointed with. It wasn't red enough for me. I have never bleached my hair, luckily my hair takes red very well, probably due to my natural red hue. I had heard that the Bleach Super Cool Colours only work on bleached/ prelightened hair, but I've been using crazy colour & directions semi-perminents for a while now & they've always seemed to give me the refresh I wanted between permanent dyes.

This is the colour my hair had faded to just before using 'I Saw Red'

 Please ignore the bare face, I was about to wash / dye my hair the shower!

As you can see, although it was still red, there were several shades, & it was very ginger towards the ends!

Application

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of my application progress. But, Zoe, from The London Lipgloss has a fantastic video to show you how to dye your hair at home, which you can view here  Although she is using blue, it's the same application progress, of roots then lengths. 

The texture of 'I Saw Red' was different to that of Crazy Colour or Directions. I thought it was much thicker, which at first I didn't like, however by the end I found it was helpful to feel if I'd missed any spots! It looks like a very small bottle (It's 150ML), however it covered my entire hair, which is both long & very thick!

My friend, Katherine, also put a purple toner in her hair whilst I did the red!

As you can see, it's a very vibrant red, & I managed to not get any on my forehead!

Results

At first, in the light in my room & after a rough dye, I was quite disappointed. It seemed nothing much had changed. However, once I went into natural light, & my hair was fully dry, I could definitely notice more vibrancy to my red locks.

Left: no flash | Right: flash

I really love the rich red that my hair went. In natural or artificial light, with flash & without, I'm still undoubtedly a red head, which I lacked before. Previously, I only looked very red headed with a flash or in daylight. Now, I'm scarlet and proud!

I would definitely use 'I Saw Red' by Bleach London again, as the process wasn't messy & the results were great. You can buy various shades of the Bleach Super Cool Colours online & in store at Boots, & they only cost £5.

Thank you again Courtney:)

OOTD: Tartan Tales

Hello All

Having only done one ‘OOTD’ post before that I didn’t even show my face in, which you can read here , I thought another ‘proper’ OOTD post was much needed!

As you all know, tartan is huge this A/W. From High end, to High Street, tartan is taking over many shops, editorials & my earlier wishlist this month, which you can readhere.

I’ve been a fan of tartan for a long time. For my thirteenth birthday I wore a tartan strapless dress with a tutu underneath (may I point out I was going through my gothic phase, that hasn’t quite finished yet, but is a lot less extreme! My fashion role model was Avril Lavgine). For my last day at high school, I wore a tartan kilt, Dr. Martens and fishnets, resulting in a telling off & being told, & I quote ‘Punk Rock died in the 80s’ by my head of year.

This however didn’t deter me! Featured in my aforementioned birthday/ October wishlist, & seen across the bloggersphere, I have been coveting that Primark tartan dress for a long time now. Having looked in my local store, plus in both the Marble Arc & Tottenham Court Road ones, I had little success. That was however, until this Sunday. This ‘quick trip, just to browse’ in Primark resulted in a small haul &the dress, at last!

The below outfit I wore to a wedding, not your typical wedding attire I’d say, however I felt totally comfortable, danced the night away as my feet didn’t hurt & hats are appropriate for weddings!

 Hat - Topshop | Tartan Dress - Primark | Striped Satchel - Primark | Matte White Shoes - Dr. Martens

 Lipstick - Russian Red by M.A.C

Silver Rings - various from H&M & The Great Frog | Nails - Matte White Barry M & Black Nail Art Pen Barry M

This dress, (which is only £15!) is a perfectly flattering shape. With the slightly puffed shoulders, nipped in waist & loose skirt, I found it to be a really great fit. This is not the original dress I set out for. I initially liked the darker red & green tartan version. However seeing it i n person changed my mind. I love this dress, so expect to see more of it in the coming months!

The satchel caught my eye in the queue (clever marketing Primark team!). It;s really striking, & since using it a few times, it's uber practical too!

My shoe collection is getting out of hand, with this being my third pair in a month. But Dr. Marten's are really well made shoes, & are good for the feet too. So far, I haven't even scuffed these matte white ones, & they look perfect still! Let's see how long that lasts, eh?

Having wanted a bowler style hat for a very long time, I finally got one. I love it. I've hardly taken it off since I got it.

The nails were a bit of a pain. They aren't the neatest, hence the slightly far away, unfocused shot! But you can see that I painted them matte white, & used the Barry M black nail art pen to do half moons & tips. Not bad for a first attempt!

I hope you enjoyed my first 'proper' OOTD. Lately I feel I've found my 'signature style' so hope to do more OOTD posts on here!

ART: Lauren Baker

Hello All, 

As I mentioned in my first 'ART' port, which you can read here, I wanted to make there ART posts fairly regular. With work & attempting to have a social life, getting to galleries / exhibitions gets pushed back a bit. 

However, Millie, from She Hearts The High Street, my fellow skull enthusiast, introduced me to Lauren Baker.

  

Initially, I fell in love with her custom made skulls. Throughout this year, she had been running Skull Workshops, in which you could chose, decorate & take home your very own skull! Unfortunately I missed out :( But here are a selection of my favourite skulls, more can be found here

Fred

Frank & Frankie

Rose

But, since hearing about her, I have become incredibly interested in her art work. Although the skulls remain my favourite, I really like the Mosaic's especially in the cape collaborations with fashion label Velevet Johnstone & shoe collaboration with Joanne Stoker

photograph by Neil Collins

Photographed by Sacha Rainbow

Another thing I really like about art is art for a cause. Of course, creativity for creativities sake is beautiful & I find it admirable when people create such moving pieces. However, combining a talent with a good cause is so amazing. Lauren Baker created the below, crystal encrusted Tiger head for Save The Tigers

'Baker's most intricate work; The Crystal Tiger is a life-size tiger head sculpture encrusted with 35,000 Swarovski crystals. World-renowned luxury shoe designer Jimmy Choo endorsed and unveiled The Crystal Tiger at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. The artwork, which was modeled by trend-setting actress Jaime Winstone, fetched £10.5k at auction on 21st March 2013 for the tiger conservation charity Save Wild Tigers. '

You may already know that I love cats, sometimes I genuinely think they are better than people! I went to ZSL recently, & fell in love with the new tiger section. Also, I actually shed a little tear when I found out the baby tiger cub drowned. So the fact Lauren has used her amazing talents to support a cause I feel strongly about, appealed to me even more!

I hope that in the future she will be hosting more Skull Workshops as I would love to go to one!

Birthday Highlights!

Hello All!

As I may have mentioned slightly in the last few posts, it was recently my birthday. I turned 20, leaving my teenage years behind me & becoming an adult, apparently!

Due to work, I didn't go out on my actual birthday, or on Halloween. However the weekend just gone, I certainly made up for that! Spending it with all my best friends & dressing up was so fun. If you follow me on Instagram ( @missjadebd ) you can see more of my celebrations, but here are a few of my fave pics!

 Pacha with Carly

Brixton with Courtney

I was also incredibly spoilt in the present department this year & all my family & friends were so generous. Either I'm incredibly predictable, they all know me inside out or they read my blog, as they all got me perfect presents :)

So thank you to everyone who made me birthday week (yes, week) as amazing as it was

Although I loved each & every one of my presents, I couldn't talk about them all (not to sounds too spoilt or big headed), so I picked out my high lights to share with you!

Disclaimer- I am in no way bragging or showing off. I have incredibly generous friends & family, & am so grateful for everything I received.

 Cherry Red Shoes - Dr. Martens from my Mum & Step Dad | Vogue On.. Coco Chanel from my best friend Carly

 Monochrome Boots - Lavish Alice from my brother | Skull Scarf - H&M from my best friend Courtney

 Black & White Skorts - Amazon a cheeky birthday present to myself! | Bowler Hat - Topshop from my Mum & Step Dad

 

Clockwise from top left: Black & Black with red glitter nail polish from my aunt & uncle | Chloe purfume from my other aunt & uncle | Barry M Nail Art Pens one from my Mum and Step Dad, & One from another aunt & uncle | 'I Saw Red' Bleech London dye from Courtney again!

My Aunt also took me to see 'Wicked' in the West End, which was honestly amazing!

I had such an amazing 20th, thank you to everyone involved!

Needless to say, I probably won't be doing any hauls or wish lists for the foreseeable future as I got everything I wanted (sorry of that sounded really spoilt brattish) 

How was everyone's Halloween?

 

 

Halloween Series #7: 7 Terrifying Haunted Attractions Around The World

Hello All

Happy Halloween!!!! I'm marking the occasion, as it falls on a Thursday & I'm at work (boo!) by wearing black lipstick & getting many a double take on the underground! 

Fear not though, this weekend I shall be celebrating in scary style with proper fancy dress (if you haven't read my last, rather rant-y post about my gripe with sexy Halloween costumes, you can do so here)

As this is my 7th Halloween Series Post, I thought I would feature '7 Terrifyingly Haunted Attractions Around The World', as it seemed fitting! I was recently approached by Priority One Jets about this Halloween themed post they recently featured. As I mentioned at the beginning of this month, in my first Wanderlust post, I do want to feature more travel posts here. So Priority One Jets approaching me seemed perfect; combining my long term love of Halloween, & my new found love of discovering new places! 

I know many people live to visit haunted venues, especially around Halloween. There are many 'Ghost Tours' around, however the below places are slightly more of the beaten track, & therefore in my opinion, far more scary & enjoyable!

Below you can read the post from Priority One Jets, or visit on their blog here!

7 Terrifying Haunted Attractions Around The World

The arrival of All Hallows Eve is lurking around the corner and haunted attractions housing zombies, vampires, and ghosts are popping up all over the world. While the staged acts use special effects and fog machines to conjure up a few screams, for some, the creepy history alone is enough to send chills down their spines. Whether you are looking to travel for some eerie entertainment or to hit up a historical haunt, this list has enough scary and scripted options to leave you shaking in your boots.

Picture Credit

Eastern State Penitentiary: This Philadelphia prison was the first to practice solitary confinement. The prisoners were kept isolated and did all activities alone, until overcrowding forced the institution to abandon inmate separation. Along with this treatment, the guards and facility counselors developed different physical and psychological torture techniques that ultimately caused mental illness in many of the inmates. Since closing in 1970, visitors have reported sightings of dark figures and sounds of lonely wails echoing through the halls. The prison is open for tours year-round, along with a haunted house attraction from September to November.

Picture Credit

13th Gate: Feel like crawling through a crematory oven? How about wandering through dark, underground tunnels? This popular Baton Rouge Halloween hot spot has been consistently rated as one of the best-haunted attractions from several outlets over the past 7 years. From September to November, 100 professional actors and 12 special effects make-up artists come together to create grisly characters such as fiendish zombies and voodoo loving witches.

Picture Credit

Edinburgh Castle: With a history dating back to the 12th century and hundreds of reported ghost interactions, it’s no wonder that Edinburgh Castle is one of Scotland’s most visited tourist attractions. The castle has stood through numerous executions and attacks, ultimately becoming one of largest sites of paranormal activity. Drops in temperature, shadowy figures, and the feeling of tugging on clothes and body parts are only a few of the many reported experiences of visitors.

Picture Credit

SCREAM! At Madam Tussauds London: Forget standing around like a statue! Visitors travel through the Chamber of Horrors with hair-raising surprises, such as crazed inmates, hidden in every corner. With live and on-the-loose actors running around, expect a sore neck from constantly checking over your shoulder for things that go bump in the night. From New York to Tokyo, haunted house enthusiasts from all over can stop in for a quick scare while visiting this infamous wax museum.

Picture Credit

The Winchester Mystery House: Once owned by Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun tycoon William Wirt Winchester, this property has become a haunted landmark in Northern California. A medium told Winchester in order to prevent the spirits of those killed by Winchester guns from harming her, she needed to continuously build a house for them. The house was under construction every hour of every day for 38 years, with the hopes that no spirit would settle there. With a total of 160 rooms, doors that open to brick walls and stairs that lead nowhere, this mansion has become a heavy influence in pop culture.

Picture Credit

The Darkness: Labeled as one of the premiere haunted houses in Missouri, this devilish dwelling has drawn attention from media giants such as the Travel Channel, The History Channel and USA Today. From flying zombies to a live reptile section featuring piranhas, pythons, and scorpions, the attractions are completely renovated every year with an annual budget of almost $1 million. With a monster museum, a 3D house tour and a two-story walk through exhibit, this is the trip of a lifetime for the ultimate horror fan!

Picture Credit

The Catacombs: Underneath the brightly lit streets of Paris, millions of human bones act as a type of structural support for parts of the city. This underground cemetery originally acted as a temporary solution to improper burials and strengthening the structure of the streets. In the 1860s, city workers dug up many of the surrounding graveyards for bones to be used as building materials. After opening a small portion of the underground catacombs to the public in the late 18th century, there has been no shortage of reported ghost sightings throughout the years.

I love that two UK destinations made it on to the list. I really want to visit The Catacombs in Paris (any excuse to go back to my favourite city eh?) & I know that America is rife with haunted places!

Other places that I find really scary are abandoned asylums or old hospitals! Creepy! I also visited Cork City Gaol a few years back which had an incredibly eerie vibe to it. 

I think that anywhere that there has been suffering or pain holds the negativity or spirits of those who suffered. I think this is why 'ghosts' get such a bad rep, but I find this fascinating and love exploring haunted places!

Have you ever visited anywhere haunted?

Halloween Series #6: Halloween Costumes- Sexy or Scary?

Hello All, 

I've written about my peeve with girls using Halloween as an excuse to dress like sluts. The below Mean Girls gif really sums it up, & lets face it, Mean Girls quotes are always relevant

Recently, there was a Halloween fancy dress party. Now, I have to admit, some people did try & be scary with face paint, fake blood & fairly spooky costumes (mainly the boys though honestly).

 But others just dressed up in any old costume, from Minnie Mouse to just plain revealing outfits with no direct origin of who or what they were supposed to me. I just don't get why Halloween is an excuse to get your boobs, bum, or both out. Halloween is about scariness, & while some of those over exposing themselves was a scary sight (sorry for being bitchy!), they are missing the true spirit of Halloween, in a bid for attention.

Then, when looking for Halloween costumes for women online, so many of them are revealing, derogatory &, quite frankly, totally irrelevant to Halloween. Here are a selection of ones that insulted me.

All costumes found on party delights

So...where shall I start? I find the most offensive one the 'Sexy Teen Bride' (I will be referring the the costumes as they are described on the site, just fyi) Not only does it not mention that it is a corpse / dead bride, which would tie it into Halloween, it refers to her as a 'teen' bride. Why does that matter?  Are teens sexier?

A close second come the animal costumes. Skin-tight leopard print catsuits that leave nothing to the imagination, or adding a tail / ears combo to change a normal tight, revealing dress to turn it into a 'costume' have absolutely nothing to do with Halloween. Since when was a lace rabbit scary? Never. 

Next, the 'Sexy Mummy'. Yes, you read that correctly. That is what it's listed as. Egyptian Mummy's are anything but sexy. Firstly, they are dead, thus will smell pretty bad. Secondly, their brains have been removed from their skull via their nose, which is both pretty disgusting, but also means they are brainless. Nice. Now, playing the 'Mummy' game at a Halloween party is fun, there is no doubt about that! (If you have never played it, you definitely should!) But trying to make being wrapped in toilet paper sexy, don't bother!

Finally, the miscellaneous other insulting costumes available including but not limited to the totally pointless red catsuit, the 'Sexy Steam Punk' & the 'Psychedelic Zombie'. Honestly, what?

Now I'm not saying you can't be a bit sexy on Halloween (or any time for that matter!) But at least make it relevant! For example this is my costume:

A Zombie Nurse. Yes the nurse bit is a bit 'sexy', but the make up & fake cuts I'll be doing, plus the Victory Rolls hair style & the fact I won't be flaunting myself around, means that, at least to me, I won't look too 'trying to be sexy' in it!

One last note, I had a moral dilemma when I came across the below:

 Costumes found of party delight

Making Fairytale / Classic Story characters Halloween-ified. Is this allowed? And moreover, is it done well here? I am inclined to say yes. None of them are too 'sexy' & I quite like the idea of a spooky remake of your favourite classic fairytale!

What do you think about sexy costumes for Halloween?