I'll name that taupe in...

Just a bit of fun as it's Friday. I've bought a new pretty and couldn't resist taking a group comparison shot. I wondered how many of these eyeshadows you eagle-eyed* taupe fiend could name without assistance?

There are no prizes for guessing correctly, just a sense of satisfaction. I'm also wondering how many of you are old enough to remember the game show I've misappropriated my title from?

* yes, I couldn't resist!

Today I am wearing...

The idea for this post has been shamelessly stolen from a hashtag that I spotted on Twitter. I thought it would be nice to show you what makeup I picked out to wear today. I don't have any face pictures, just a snap of the products I used but I was really pleased with how it turned out. I have been continuing with my efforts to pick out old favourites each day to mix with new items. NARS Brousse felt like a good choice for a Friday. It's a bit darker than I usually go for but it's nearly the weekend and I felt like doing something a bit different (you're probably thinking it's hardly wild but it isn't taupe and that's as wild as it usual gets around here!).

Face
Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre
Le Metier de Beaute Peau Vierge*
Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher in Delicata
Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Tranquility* as a cheek highlight
Shu eyebrow pencil

Eyes
TFSI
NARS Brousse
No.7 Lash Adapt mascara*

Lips
Le Metier de Beaute Voltaic lipgloss from the Aurora Kaleidoscope Lip Kit* (review coming very shortly)

Now it's over to you, I'd love to hear what you picked for your 'Friday Face'. I'd also be interested to know if you change your makeup in the evening even if you're not going out?


*PR Sample

Today, I will mostly be..

....watching this.

I'm intending to make good on my promise to spend less time on the internet. Or at least I hope I will be! My husband is away and after a very long evening putting three little imps to bed, I thought it would be nice to have a quiet day today. What better way to indulge myself than watching a very old favourite from my childhood? I think Thoroughly Modern Millie is relatively unknown but I discovered two other fans through Twitter, namely Helen Just Nice Things and Kenneth Soh. I look forward to recreating the lift scene in my living room later!

I will also be wearing my 'pirate' earrings. My eldest boy that has become fascinated with me wearing earrings, referring to both pairs below as pirate earrings. If I don't wear them, he will go and fetch them for me and apparently, when he is a grown up, he'll have holes in his ears so he can wear pirate earrings too. I haven't broken the news to him yet that he's going to have to keep his hands off!

The first pair are by Ottoman Hands* and were sent to me as a sample. Although I tend to favour silver jewellery, I really like the detailing and the beads. The second pair were a Christmas gift from my Mum and were originally bought by my Grandma. My Grandma was an artist and she also had a passion for shopping at flea markets and car boot sales. She travelled a lot and made some very interesting finds over the years including some unusual jewellery pieces. I have no doubt this pair will have come from one of her scouting missions. Although these earrings are more delicate than I usual go for, I still think they are very me.

Also, my plans for today include reading more of this...

It's like One Day all over again! I'm reading this as I am keen to watch the film adaptation. Well, both of the film adaptations really. I'm not yet at 100 pages but I can see myself getting very absorbed by this book.

What does Friday have in store for you?


 *PR Sample

More Random Photos On My Camera

It's Friday and you know how I like to be silly on a Friday. There is no confessionals post today I'm afraid, do feel free to email me if you're interested in confessing. Due to popular demand (read a couple of people liked this last time), I'm doing another random photos post. Here is a selection of the weird and wonderful things that have been snapped on my camera. There's even one from my parents travels. Well if they will insist on downloading onto my iPhotos, it's fair game, right?!

Mwah!

Darth Brown!

My eldest demonstrates his couches de couleur technique!

Meet Iggy the Iguana

Happy Friday!

Random Pictures I Find On My Camera

There have been a few occasions recently that I've had to hand over control of my camera to other people (other people meaning my family of course, not random strangers). I sometimes find it amusing to see my blog pictures sitting alongside all of our family snaps. It's also interesting to see what pops up when I download a batch of pictures that I haven't had anything to do with. Lately there have been some very random ones sneaking in.

Just because it's Friday and it's sunny I felt like being a bit silly and sharing. So, here are a few of the weird and wonderful (and occasionally jealousy inducing) photographs that have been caught on my little Canon point and shoot.

We had the nursery bear to stay recently. He grudgingly accepted the Bop It challenge.

Just your everyday picture of an Eppendorf??!

Not content with leaving me on my own for a week, I get to see fancy bathroom. Nice!

Happy Friday!

Friday Confessional: The Series!

If you're a regular reader, you already know I love a bit of Friday fun. This Friday is very special as it heralds the start of my new feature. I am inviting guest posters to come and take a turn in my Friday Confessional.

This week it's the turn of the lovely Welsh Beauty Blog. WBB, as I like to call her, is a fellow Mummy and make up enthusiast with a great sense of humour. I'm grateful to her for being brave enough to be first in to the Beauty Confessional. I hope you enjoy reading her confessions as much as I did!

Confession is good for the soul, go ahead and unburden yourself! I promise I won’t judge..

•   From the ages of about 15-17 I shaved my eyebrows. Yes, you read it right... SHAVED. Totally shaved them off so they had to be drawn back on (in black eyeliner to match my jet black goth hair, natch) I am still to this day, mortified by this period in my life. I came to my senses and ditched the bic and within about six months of growing out, I managed to cultivate a fairly normal, albeit sparse pair of brows. They’re still thin and sparse to this day.

•   After leaving the goth phase behind, I developed a penchant for sunbeds. Sunbeds AND tan accelerator lotions. I know, I know *hangs head in shame*

•   Since marriage and the arrival of a small child, I’m a bit slack on the ol’ hair removal front. I’ve been known to skip hair removal of my legs and *ahem* bikini line until I resemble a yeti. Okay, maybe not that bad but when time is of the essence something's got to give! Good job I mostly wear trousers!

•   I have a terrible habit of spot-picking. I just can’t help it. Spots, blackheads, milia - if they’re on my face and they shouldn’t be - you can guarantee I’ll prod, poke, squeeze and even stab at it until it’s either gone or I’m red and often bleeding and can do no more!

•   I once called in sick with a 'tummy bug' because I'd had my hair done at a new salon on the Saturday and they had totally messed it up. They were meant to strip the black dye out of my hair and get it back as near to my natural blonde as possible. I ended up ginger, to cut a long story short. I was so embarrassed I couldn't face seeing everyone in work so I faked illness and headed back to the salon on the Monday to sort it out


There, don’t you feel better now?
(Not really, mortified doesn't even cover it!)

Aunty Brown has a few more questions though; it’s true that I’m the nosy type.

When was the last time you visited the hairdresser?
About 4 weeks before I gave birth to my son, so about 15 months ago! They gave me the worst haircut I've ever had and I've been scared off salons ever since. I was heavily pregnant and had gained 4st - my face was round and puffy so what did they do? Cropped my (naturally curly) hair into a super short asymmetric bob and shaved the back of my hair. I looked beastly! It was a high end salon too, so I'm afraid to try anywhere else and instead have been chopping at my split ends and fringe myself. I'd welcome any recommendations for any attentive hair stylists in the South Wales area who can actually listen to what a client wants!

You have a choice: bad hair or bad nails?
Oh no! I hate these types of questions, as I'm really quite vain! I suppose either can be covered up with a wig and gel nails. I'm going to say hair - my hair is pretty bad at the moment anyway - it's in terrible condition and thinning. I'm quite a catch.

I used to be a nail biter and I couldn’t go back to having bad nails again, I enjoy painting my nails now and I think a nice pair of hands with tidy, manicured nails is really important.


What is the oldest item of make up in your collection?
I've got a couple of Lancome Juicy Tubes that I bought when they first launched or a Chanel 'Brilliance Lumiere' sunkissed fluid that was limited edition what seems like a lifetime ago -the latter has turned and now has a really nasty smell but I can't bear to throw it away.
Both the Brilliance Lumiere and the Juicy Tubes are practically full and mostly unused.
*goes off to do some googling*
Okay, so it turns out Lancome Juicy Tubes launched in 2000 and the Brilliance Lumiere was LE in the 2004 collection - so they are 10 and 6 years old respectively!

Which trend still makes you cringe?
My drawn on eyebrows rank pretty highly. That and scrunchies *shudder* I must have owned every colour of the rainbow - but I was young and naive. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

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If you would like to take a turn and unburden yourself in the Beauty Confessional you can email me at modestybrown@googlemail.com. It's open to everyone: if you have something to confess, I'm happy to hear it!

The Friday Confessional (Part III)

 

It's been too long since I've had a bit of Friday fun. Whilst cooking the boys dinner earlier on I was reminded of a funny (and very embarrassing) story that I feel the need to share. For a change this is a non-beauty version and I will expect some sharing from you later!

This story comes to you from my days of student in Norwich. Back in those days I used to buy quite a lot of music (when I wasn't hiding out in Boots). One day I came home with an album. It was an unusual choice for me but when I showed my boyfriend he looked at me with sense of panic. You know that "what have you done with my girlfriend kind of face"? I'd bought the album on a bit of a whim because I'd liked one song. I put it on that evening and I listened for a bit. I sat there for a while and it finally dawned on me, I had bought......

A Shania Twain Album!!!!!

I played it for no more than 15 minutes, put it back in the case and the very next morning took it back to the shop. "The reason for the return madam?". Me "Because it's sh*t!". Knowing look, "Yes, madam. That will be a full refund then". Thank goodness they were understanding!

I'll leave you with the song that made me do it. Take it away Shania! No, no, really....take it away!

Go on, tell me an embarrassing story. You'll feel better when you've let it out. Let's see who can top my Shania shame.

Friday Confessional

It's confession time again as I feel the need to unburden myself again of my beauty sins.

• I left my nail polish on a day longer than I really should have done. Chips ahoy!



• I really need to get and do some, ahem, facial threading but I am lazy and keep forgetting to do it.



• I am STILL not using an eye cream. This is very bad and I fully intend to spank myself.



• My beautiful hair cut is in need of matching beautiful colour. Grey roots are not cool but have I sorted out an appointment? Have I heck.



• I do not use a body lotion. I do it once, promise my self it will become a habit then promptly forget all about it it.



• I still haven't thrown away my terrible Tresemme shampoo and conditioner. There is so much product left that I feel unable to bin it. It is rubbish though and makes my hair feel awful. Someone please speak to me sternly about this.

I am a very bad beauty blogger, I really ought to clean up my act. Do you have anything you need to confess? Feel free to unburden yourself here, I promise not to judge.

Haircuts: A little poll

I've added a little poll in the sidebar. It's just a bit of fun as I'm a self confessed hairdresser-phobe. Things haven't been the same for me since the advent of the Rachel cut. Since then most trips for a trim result in ridiculously short layers and the undesirable mushroom head! Consequently my visits are irregular at best.

I will be going for a hair cut next week, it'll be my first proper cut for over a year. The trip to the walk in, no appointments necessary chop shop doesn't count. They didn't even wash my hair for goodness sake!

I'd love to hear about your hairdresser habits. Are you a lover or a hater? You can answer the poll or leave me a comment below. I look forward to seeing if I'm alone on this one.

The Friday Night Ramble

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll have realised I do rather like a bit of fluff on a Friday night. This Friday is no exception, this will probably turn in to a general witter so if you're not in the mood for non-make up chat I'll forgive you for not reading on!

I have to start off with an apology for neglecting the blog a bit this week. My parents arrived on Monday and only left today so it's been a bit of an internet dry week. I have so many blog posts to catch up on and comments to reply to it's not funny! I had been looking forward to a week of relaxing and catching up with my Mum whilst fitting in a bit of shopping. Sadly this wasn't to be. My Dad took one look at the empty pond in the back garden and the week turned into Operation Fill Pond. I've ordered jumbo bags of gravel, hired a jack hammer with multiple blades and ordered husband to acquire a wheel barrow. I also looked away in horror when my Father almost inserted the jack hammer blade into his foot. I can assure this week has been distinctly lacking in it's usual glamour quotient. At least the gaping hole is almost full and I can start to imagine how nice the garden will look when it's finished.

The pond pre-sledgehammer (it was about 2 metres deep)

Post-sledgehammer

It's not all been bad though. This week I received a MAC order. Yes, yes, I know I said I wasn't going to buy anything from In The Groove but I am weak and the minute I thought I might miss out, items suddenly became irresistible. I plumped for Petticoat MSF and Hang Loose Mineralised blush duo. I'm sure I'll be posting about them in more detail very soon. I also received Guerlain loose powder eye kohl in Oriental Metal (finally) and OPI Dulce de Leche. Both are beautiful and as they are both items I've lusted after for a while I'll definitely be sharing my thoughts with you.

There are also two other fantastic things that happened this week. The first was the amazing response to my guest post on Get Lippie on Monday. I was exceptionally nervous about unveiling my inner nerd so it was lovely to get so many comments. I'm hoping to do some more scientific posts in the future, do feel free to let me know if there's anything in particular you would like me to investigate. I'd also like to take the opportunity to welcome some new readers, it's lovely to have you here!


My other fabulous news is that I won one a place to attend the Edward Bess launch next week thanks to Zuneta. I was literally beaming when the email came through to say I would be going. There are some bloggers that I really admire going along too so it's a double bonus. I'm sure there will be lots of wardrobe and hair stress in the next couple of days as I attempt to get myself ready for an outing that isn't the nursery run!!

Well, I think that's more than enough ramble for now. Thank you letting me share, I hope you're all having a wonderful Friday.
Jane x

A bit of Friday Fun!

I've been trying to come up with an idea for a regular Friday feature but as yet I've had no inspiration. As much I loved sharing my Friday Fancies I can't bore you all every week with my latest cosmetic whims and fancies! So, for a bit of fun I'm going to share with you some of my make up and skin care crimes.



• Sometimes when I've had a few too many sherries, I take my make up off with baby wipes.

• Often when I should have taken off the varnish on my toes and started again from scratch, I've cheated and just slapped another layer on. Naughty, naughty.

• I'm incapable of leaving spots alone.

• I've plucked hairs out above my brows. If the magazines are to be believed this is one of the original make up sins! In my defense I've been very lax in going back to get them threaded and I was trying to maintain the shape.

• I'm still not using an eye cream.

• I am terrible at remembering to reapply sunscreen (I can feel you recoiling in horror at this).

• I have needed a pedicure for several month now. It's got to the point where I think it's a professional job only!

• I really need a good haircut, instead I am likely to go back to the walk in, no appointment necessary joint.

I think that's all I can bear to share, I can already feel the virtual horror from here! As this has turned into a little Friday confessional do feel free to unburden yourself, I promise I won't judge.
Jane x