A Bit of Crochet and a Catch Up

Long time, no speak! I really don't know where the last few months have gone but I must be honest and say that they haven't included any makeup shopping and barely any lemmings. Instead, my free time has been occupied with lots of book reading, meeting new people and discovering new ways to waste time on the internet hobbies.

Thanks to my local WI (waves at the Tea Birds), I have learnt how to crochet. My principal motivation was not missing out on the opportunity to go to the pub every two weeks for Knit and Natter! I can't claim any particular expertise: I know these things are supposed to be relaxing but I have been known to suffer with yarn rage. However, I managed to keep up on my first crochet course at Purlesence last week and I seem to get as much pleasure poring over expensive wool online, as I did looking at taupe eyeshadow swatches. Who knew?! My current work in progress is a cushion cover made with Noro Silk Garden and I've just bought a knitting pattern (I have no idea if I can actually knit) in the hope of making this rainbow dress for Miss MB. I won't share how long I've wasted looking for the right shade of blue for this particular project. Maybe one day, when I grow up, I will pick a pastime that doesn't hoover up time and money like a vacuum.

Now, if you will forgive me, I want to share a few gratuitous family shots from the summer, as well some other highlights from the last couple of months.

Beale Park

The Summer Pamper Evening

Miss MB's discovers the carousel

Cheese!

The boys

Miss MB's birthday present finally make in onto her wall, only six months late...

I'm not sure whether my makeup blogging mojo will ever return properly. I do still enjoying wearing makeup and watching tutorials, but these days I tend to stick to wearing my tried and trusted staples and I find that's not great for inspiring blog posts.  However, I do have a few things I would like to review, so hopefully dipping my toe in with a bit of general chit chat will help me find my way back. Feel free to share what you've been up to, it would be lovely to catch up on your news too.

The Beautiful Isle of Man

I hope you will forgive me for being a holiday bore. I know it's totally off topic but I thought it would be interesting to share a few more pictures of the island and a bit of chatter as so often people don't really know where I'm talking about when I mention the Isle of Man (unless they follow the TT or grew up in Liverpool...or remember the Manx 'telecommunications entrepreneur' from The Apprentice).

The Isle of Man is a small island in the middle of the Irish Sea, roughly half way between Great Britain and Ireland. The 2006 census recorded it's population as 80,058 and although it is part of the British Isles, it isn't part of the United Kingdom and has it's own government. The island is 33 miles long and 13 miles wide (at the widest point), the highest point is the summit of Snaefell. There is an electric railway which runs to the top of Snaefell moutain. I didn't go up on this visit as it was too misty and also, I'm a big chicken so I can usually find any excuse to get out of it!

I'm not a terribly outdoorsy person but I tend to make and exception when it comes to the Island as there are many scenic walks. My husband took us on a walk through Dhoon Glen down to the beach on one particularly sunny day. I confess to being terrified at various points on the walk as it is a steep decent but it was worth it for the spectacular views along the way.

Although we didn't go on the mountain train on this visit, we did spend a lot of time on both the Electric and Steam Railways. There was a steam festival on over the Easter weekend which pleased my eldest son enormously as he's a quite the little trainspotter. To be honest, it's a nice way to enjoy the scenery even if you're not a train buff.

Thank you for looking. I promise to be back with more makeup talk shortly.

My Holiday Makeup

I realise that it is rather an odd choice for me to show you my holiday makeup packing after I've been on holiday. I ran out of time before I went away but I thought it might actually be interesting to look back retrospectively, so that I can consider which items I could have left at home. Especially as I ended up taking more than was necessary, requiring a larger bag than in the picture above. You may think of it as me sharing what a wally I am!

So, here is what came with me, more or less. I actually managed to forget to pack the Spirit of Beauty facial spritz which was a shame. I would have been grateful of it after the shocking ferry crossing. I think anyone who has travelled the Irish Sea in a force 8-9 gale will know what I'm talking about. There's no amount of correctional makeup that is going to disguise that kind of horror!

I don't suppose it looks like a huge amount spread out like this and I know at home that I tend to vary the products I use a lot. However, I do have a tendency to favour new things and I wore a couple of products almost everyday which I should have predicted when packing.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance and the Rouge Bunny Rouge Sketches on Water tinted moisturiser were used daily. I avoided using the perfect skin defense spf30 as it definitely makes my skin look dehydrated. The RBR tinted moisturiser does have an spf of 15 so I wasn't going without sun protection.

I don't regret packing any of the items above. The Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara wand has a big brush head and I do find I blob on my lids but it gives good buildable definition. I forgot to apply my Shu Uemura brow pencil one day and I realised how strange my brows look without powder or pencil. This is as essential to me as covering up the grey hairs in terms of disguising the effects of age. The eyeliners I took with me were YSL Long Lasting Waterproof liner in #5, GOSH Velvet Touch liner in Truly Brown and MAC Teddy Eye Kohl.

The eyeshadows were probably one area that I could have cut back on. Surprisingly, the palette I hardly used was the Guerlain Les Fumes quad. I love this palette and ordinarily, I could have got away with only taking this one. Instead, I fluctuated between days of wearing just the Rouge Bunny Rouge Atlas Swallowtail or Julie Hewett Mystere with liner (for simplicity) or going for a more colourful look. One of my favourite pairings was Chanel Epatant with the grey from the Dolce & Gabbana Fabulous quad. It was nice to re-acquaint myself with NARS Dogon too.

Chanel Epatant and Julie Hewett Mystere

From top, clockwise: NARS Laguna, Illamasqua Rude, W3LL People #5, W3LL People highlighter

I love all of these items but for whatever reason (read holiday red wine intake), I hardly used them. I think I could have swapped them all for one cream blusher such as BECCA Turkish Rose or Edward Bess After Sunset.

L-R: EB Secret Desire, Ilia Arabian Knights, Ilia Crimson & Clover, RBR Murmurings and Hourglass Femme

I had very chapped lips when I arrived at my parents and I pretty much stuck to using the Ilia Arabian Knights and Rouge Bunny Rouge Murmurings all week as they both feel so comfortable. As a side note, these are similar colours and I must do a side by side comparison. I took Edward Bess Secret Desire along in the hope that I might do a smoky eye and nude lip for a night out. I don't really know what kind of special child sleeping miracle I was anticipating!

I could have definitely cut back on the number of brushes that I packed. I hardly used the face brushes as I hardly used the face products. I could have reduced the number of eye brushes too as several of them are multi-purpose, such as the Rouge Bunny Rouge large shader. Using the cream eyeshadows on a couple of days also cut down on my brush needs.

I suspect that I probably won't improve my packing skills next time round. Hopefully, I will remember not to pack for unlikely eventualities though. Feel free to remind me that I said this!

We're off in a motorcar...

Hopefully by the time you're reading this I'll be in the car and on my way to the Isle of Man. I will be on holiday for a week and (once the drive and ferry crossing are over) I hope to enjoy a relaxing week with my folks.

I have scheduled some posts, including a lovely guest post, and I hope they keep you entertained in my absence. I will have internet access to publish comments but I fear I will get shot if I spend all my time on the computer. Feel free to tell me off if you spot me lurking!

In the meantime, I hope you all have a lovely Easter and I'll see you on the other side.
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