I Just Can't Stop Pressing Play || December

It's official. I've gone soft.

'Hardcore' Hip Hop loving Holly is no more...

The fake snowflakes, fairy lights and glitter have gone to my head, and as a result my post this month is more geared towards... *shock horror* ...love :O!!

I really have strayed justttt a little bit from my usual Hip Hop, and have delved just a little bit into the softer world of R'n'B for the first time in, well, a long time.

Just a little bit though.

Once again, most of these are old songs, because I'm behind the times.

1. Omarion - Obsession

So back when I was about 14, life was all about Bada-Bing-Bada-B2K, 'You Got Served' was one of my favourite movies, and Omarion was, well, around.

Fast forward to age 17, Omarion has gone solo, and this was repeating on my Sony Ericsson w810i alllllllll the time. 'Obsession' isn't the generic soppy slow jam type love song that would have me falling asleep, it's interesting.

I'm all for a unique melody and this has it.

2. Robin Thicke - Lost Without You

Okay so I promise I haven't gone soft, nor do I think I'm 17 again! 

I'm not sure I really need to say much about this one, it's not one for the gym, but for some reason it has my attention at the moment.

Also, it reminds me of Justin Timberlake and I miss him god dammit  :(

*cue next month's post being full of Timberlake goodness ahhh*

3. Kano - Brown Eyes

Beginning to worry myself now with all these love related oldies...although this one isn't really R'n'B.

This is one of my favourite songs of all time, and I have loved Kano since day 1. He's featured on my blog before and he'll be on it again without a doubt. 

'Brown Eyes' has quite a bit of meaning for me, although I love it regardless, I love Kano's voice, I love the lyrics, the beat...in fact it would be quicker to say what I don't love, because that list is empty.

4. Lupe Fiasco - Out of My Head

I might get shouted at for this one.

Sure, it's not a Lupe classic masterpiece etc, but it is just sooooooooo catchy! 

I actually heard this during a gym class a couple of months back, (Les Mills Cx Worx anyone?) and literally couldn't get it out of my head. Sounds pretty good in the car with the volume up too.

5. Lupe Fiasco - Streets on Fire

Andddddd...back to some kind of musical normality, for me, and Lupe. Absolute opposite kind of track now and how amazing is it? First off, as always the beat got my attention first, Not only does it sound like something from a Massive Attack album, but lyrically this is just amazing. I've actually googled the lyrics ahemmm...

6. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York

My favourite ever Christmas song! Just because it's Christmas...and because yes, I am one of those people who, come St. Patrick's Day, clings to the fact that their great-great-great-grandma's dog was Irish. whether you're Irish or not you can enjoy this one, and have fun singing along, (or trying to, in the style of Michael McIntyre*) while you wrap your pressies :)

Now this time, I will shock you all. I'm actually going to end my post there, rather than ranting on about a song I can't stand at the minute. There just hasn't been any?

Hmm, maybe I really have gone soft...

* in case anyone hasn't seen this little piece of comedy magic, watch it, now.

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Dayyy...OOTD

Heyy everyone!!

First of all, I hope you had a fabbb Christmas, spent time with the people that make your world complete, and ate your body weight in chocolate and other good stuff.

I've been a busy bee this last week doing very important things such as eating and window shopping, so haven't had time to post this until now...

Christmas Day to some people is 'onesie day', and as much as I love the idea of that, I've always dressed up a little. Mostly because a.) I leave the house, and b.) I know photo's are usually involved.

So for the big day this year I chose a teal dipped-hem dress from the online store Oh My Love which I've had for a couple of months - it was and still is on sale for £10, reduced from £39.99 - bargain alert!!

I love the stand-out colour and the silky material - it feels expensive to touch and it has that amazing almost two-tone effect which is unfortunately very difficult to capture in a photograph...even on my mums good camera *woop woop*.

It also has really cute, gold collar tips which are a nice detail, along with the statement hem. 

Given that it's a shirt style dress, it skims your body, meaning all evidence of Christmas dinner and the copious amounts of chocolate which will have undoubtedly been eaten are hidden muhahaaa!!

I teamed my dress with some leggings and grey heeled boots to add a slight edge. 

My regular black blazer and fur collar combination also made an appearance haha...seriously, I promise I do actually own other clothes!

I also made sure I wore lots of gold jewellery to tie in with the collar tips of the dress. 

Being a chav at heart that really wasn't too difficult for me - Cash for Gold would love me if it wasn't all fake.

Or maybe it'd be me that would love them - I'd be a millionaire! 

I'd post a picture of my make-up, but I think after the previous post, the less pictures of eyes, the better...

I did however, do my eyeshadow a little different, and piled on as many shimmery shades from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette as physically possible. I wore my Bourjois Delice de Poudre bronzer as per usual, and Topshop - Rumour Has It on my lips.

Hope you're all enjoying the last few days of 2012!! 

I'll be posting again probably today, because I'm that good ;)

Here is how I spent Christmas night, because we all know the onesie had to come out at some point...
(before the zip came off that is *cries*)

My Amazing Eyelashes Experience: LVL Lashes Review

Recently, just in time for the Christmas season, I had a little treat with a big impact, and had my eyelashes done.

There's been a lot of hype over Hollywood lashes/eyelash extensions in the last couple of years, and as tempting as it was, I never really wanted to cover up my own lashes, just enhance them. When I heard there was a more natural version out there that did just that, I had to try it out.

The treatment is called 'LVL Lashes' and permanently lifts and tints your own eyelashes, making them look longer and more voluminous - not to mention extremely curly.
I'd had this treatment done previously, and absolutely loved it, so as soon as the last curly lash dropped out, I had to go back...

Let me give you a little back-story on my lashes...

(You don't have to read this bit, but it's here just in case)

If you know me then you will know I have always had eyelash issues, shall we say...

So many people say 'without mascara you can't see my lashes', but for me the problem is worse.

My lashes are the droopy, pale, pointing down type that actually sort of obscure my eyes with mascara on, that is, unless I curl them.

Wearing mascara only gets me so far, it's curling my lashes that makes the difference, and let me tell you it is no mean feat...

My make up routine is simple enough until I get to my lashes, I'm not exaggerating when I say it takes me up to 5 minutes to curl each eye, using ermm...home made heated eyelash curlers, (regular curlers that I heat up with a hairdryer, I don't advocate this) over and over again until they are almost vertical. It takes me so long because as soon as that mascara wand gets even close to my eyelashes, it's like they sense it and start to droop again! My daily drama with my eyelashes has been going on since I was 14, and got my first ever curlers. 

Doing my mascara is a careful, and longggg process, so not to disturb the curl I've created. It works, but it's a pain...hence, I'd been looking for a way out.

And back to the treatment...

 I took a trip to see local beauty therapist Rachel Brooker, who is a friend of mine, and quite frankly, a full on genius.

She explained what LVL Lashes are and how they work.

You can find out how here, because the pro's will explain it a lot better than I ever could!

What I do know is that it takes around an hour, and happens in several stages, the last stage being a tint to darken your fabulous new lashes and give them extra impact.

As soon as the tint is wiped off, you're done, and let me tell you the results are pretty amazing!

Before and After:

Photo's courtesy of Rachel Brooker :) 

Where before my eyes look bald and lash-less, now my lashes genuinely look either false, or as though I have several coats of mascara on - all the time! 

Morning, noon and night for the next 6-8 weeks, my eyelashes will look like this or similar, as they do begin to drop out naturally, and I am over the moon!

For the first 24 hours, it is advised to not go crazy with your lashes, but really, you wouldn't need to anyway.

Quite a few days in the last week, I haven't worn mascara on my top lashes at all. I haven't needed to, and it's been a breath of fresh air.

After the first day or so you can literally treat them as though they are your usual lashes. The treatment is very gentle and not damaging at all, my eyelashes aren't brittle, and I don't think I have lost many more, if any than I would usually do in a week...

The last time I had them done, (in August) they withstood a week of blazing Greek sunshine, make-up, tears and all the usual daily traumas your eyes face, and I still had a few lifted lashes left in mid-November. Of course everyone is different, but for me at least, the 6-8 week time scale was correct.

 I took these photo's on day 1, wearing no top mascara on at all. Given that the difference between my top and bottom lashes is so minimal, it's safe to say I'll be saving money on mascara for a while.

With mascara on, the results are even better.

Let's just say I've been fairly camera happy over the last week...

*Just a special moment for my freakishly long eyelash, (mascara fibre) in photo 2 yeahh*

So...that's the end of my little review there, but I can absolutely guarantee that I'll be re-booking in a few weeks time, once my old eyelashes start to make their unwelcome reappearance.

I'd like to say a huuuuge thank you to Rachel Brooker for making it such a lovely experience, making my eyelashes look super-human, and making my make-up routine 90% shorter.

:D

Bit of info for you little lovelies...
Rachel is based in the Marsh area of Huddersfield, at her very own in-house Beauty Room, and is a Master Stylist and Elite Trainer fr HD Brows. Rachel also does various treatments from shellac, to waxing, LVL Lashes, and make-up for various occasions.
So if you're in Huddersfield or somewhere else for that matter, I cannot recommend her, or this treatment enough.

For more information or to book an appointment with Rachel, you can call her directly on 07990525258.
Or visit her website for more information on what she does and where to find her...

:)

LVL Lashes:

If anyone wants to see the actual process, Lisa Eldridge did a brilliant video on her channel, where she explains in depth and shows a similar treatment.

Merry Christmas-cara Everyone :D (see what I did there? Haha...sorry, I'll stop)

Chicken and Christmas OOTD :)

As I've said before, Sunday's are for pj's or trackies in my world, and it takes something pretty amazing to get me out of them.

In this case, the culprit was chicken.

In fact I was venturing to NANDOS *drools* with my best friend for some much needed girl time, complete with a bit of Peri-Peri loveage.

Given that we were going for food, and Nandos isn't that dressy, I picked an outfit that I knew looked more dressed up than something I'd wear on any regular day, but wouldn't show the inevitable food baby that I would get...

Feeling Christmassy I went for a red theme with my usual black rest-of-outfit, (ooh adventurous) complete with my Primarni black faux-fur snood, which quite frankly I would sleep in if that was normal.

I did a bit of Winter layering too; what looks like red, flowery shorts is actually a Summer playsuit. Given that I wanted to wear red, and the material is quite thick and almost velvety in texture, I figured it could withstand coming out of my wardrobe beyond the chills of September...

With a black top over it, it was like a whole new outfit yey!

Just don't mention the added extra faff when going to the toilet - as if playsuit's aren't bad enough as it is!

The red playsuit before I layered it up.

Without the blazer, you can see the top has see-through mesh sleeves, but unfortunately it was a bit nippy in good old Nandos, so taking these pictures were the only time my nice sleeves saw daylight (I say daylight, it was dark).

What I'm wearing:

Blazer - H&M

Black T-Shirt - H&M

Red floral playsuit - Boohoo

Leggings - Matalan

Flatforms - Barratts

Faux-fur Snood - Primark

Owl Earrings - New Look

Owl Necklace - River Island

On my face:

Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Pallette - 02 Coffee Bean (discontinued)

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - 2 Light

Maybelline - The Falsies Mascara

Bourjois - Delice de Poudre Bronzer 

Rimmel Lipstick - Alarm

Sending you all some Peri-Peri love and hope you're all having a lovely Christmas so far :)

xxx

P.S I have a free half chicken saved on my loyalty card, so expect another Nandos OOTD soon.

Mmmmmm, chicken. 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Time for the obligatory Christmas decorations post to celebrate the fact that it is indeed CHRISTMASSSSS!!

My dec's have actually been up since December the 1st, but I've not been able to do this post until today because err...I had several malfunctions in the tree department :|

So to say I was megaaaaa organised and got my tree up asap, it all went to pot fairly quickly.

I also forgot to buy an advent calendar, say no more.

I'm soooo happy with my little tree though, not only is it pretty, but this is in fact my first Christmas tree in my own house, and so my first opportunity to go wild, and make it special.

As it happens, I lack space and money, so going wild meant buying a 3ft tree for £2.44 at Tesco, *high 5 for you Tesco, you go Tesco* perching it precariously on the edge of my fairly narrow shelves, weighing it down on one side with a tin, and hoping for the best. 

My room is cream and purple with silver as an accent colour, so I have all purple baubles, silver beads, and cream lights.

The purple LED lights came a few days later, after I realised that spending £1.29 on lights meant they probably wouldn't cover even the tiniest of trees...

 

My glittery angel tree-topper, (B&M bargains) is just sooo pretty, and even showered my sofa and floor with silver glitter on her way up to the top of my tree, because she is just so kind and magical.

I love the way the lights on the wall above my tree make it look like she is actually in heaven aww!

(Going to stop there, getting carried away)

As for other Christmas related things, I've been embracing red nails of the glittery AND non-glittery variety, eating lots and lots of chocolate, writing my Christmas cards, and watching awesome films such as Elf!!

We even had a few unexpected snowflakes where I live last week yey!!

Hope you're all having some festive fun, and eating as much as possible just because you can :D

I'm going to leave you with an image of my poor Christmas tree, pre-angel. 

A moment of silence if you please, for the star that was too heavy for my poor baby tree...

HAHA!!

Merry Christmas everyone :)

Twitter: @hollyamberrio

Instagram: hollyamberrio 

They Tried To Make Me Go To Rehab... (An Alternative OOTD)

I was going to write most of this post as if to say I actually dress like this on a regular basis, and then reveal the truth at the end...but I decided that 90% of people skim read blogs and would probably skim over that part, and so conclude that I am in fact, a weirdo. 

So just to clarify, I DON'T, (but kind of found it awesomely cool and would sooo do it again) dress like this often.

I actually was going to a fancy dress party - my first EVER fancy dress party, (Happy Birthday Mr. T!!) and decided that I would go as the late, and very great, Amy Winehouse. 

I chose Amy because not only is she a mahoooosive style icon, but she is a legend in her own right, and an amazing talent which should be celebrated. 

After a long debate over whether or not to wreck my hair trying to create a beehive that would even be slightly Winehouse-worthy, I decided to order a wig from eBay - *THIS SELLER HERE* which came complete with replica Amy tattoos - yeahhhh!! 

Wearing my mums dress, an old waist belt, my wig, fake tattoos, (err...tattoo singular, had an accident with the others) and at least half a tube of liquid eyeliner, off I went, optimistic that I would have a cool, current outfit.

It was cool and current enough yes, for me...and the other two Amy Winehouse's that had clearly also been on eBay buying cheap and awesome wigs haha. 

What can I say, we have good taste ;)

Oooh check out the sneaky "Blake's" tattoo :O 

Now for several reasons, one being that I am a genius and forgot to actually secure the wig to my head, meaning I spent most of the night holding it on while still having half my own hair hanging out, (tip for anyone who buys it - use clips!) and two being that most are blurry, I'm not going to put up any more pictures from the fantastic night that it was...

I will however, leave you all with a bit of the real Amy, encased in film, and the inspiration for my outfit :)

don't be afraid to sing-a-long.

R.I.P Amy

P.S Well jel...her beehive was still bigger than mine :(

Oh Primarni, Oh Primarni, How Lovely Are Thy Prices...

Guess who's been SHOPPING?!

Indeedy, I embarked on that oh so rare occasion where I actually spend money on clothes, and unlike my previous haul back in September where I attempted, (and failed) to buy warm, Winter clothes, I actually had some success.

When I say SOME success, I mean because it was a very, very tiny shopping trip...and also because I had meant to go and buy Christmas cards, but instead I ermmm...ended up in Primark and bypassed the cards altogether. Technically that means this shopping trip was an even bigger fail than the last one.

Sorry to everyone who is expecting a card this year, I'm getting there, promise...

Anyhow, away with the guilt- here are the goodies:

:D

Cream jumper - £8 

Not entirely sure how this will look on, but if it's warm I'm not sure I care, plus it's nothing a bunch of giant accessories can't cure :)

I'm thinking black skinnies and boots with any one of the items below...

Black snood - £6

I almost didn't see this! It was a last minute 'OH MY GOD THAT IS SO GORGEOUS AND I NEED IT' moment (you know the ones). I had another snood in my hand until I saw this, but it paled into insignificance once my eyes had been blessed with this beauty.

 McQueen-meets-Primark scarf - £3

I don't like skulls. However I do like this scarf, and it will look so nice with my cream jumper and/or a black blazer :D

I also saw the lovely Rosalie Jayne wearing a very, very similar one on her blog, so when I saw it on the shelf I felt a wave of inspiration, and wanted it on my shelf too.

Gold cross earrings - £1

I've gone against my own grain AGAIN, because I've always found the cross trend a little weird if I'm honest. It's a religious symbol and I'm not religious in the slightest, so I've always thought I'd feel a little insincere if I wore crosses. These were gold, shiny and £1, hence my purchase, but even now I'm still unsure about them. Am I alone in thinking this about crosses? Massively hope I'm not...

Also hope I can get over it because mannn I don't want to regret spending this £1...

That's all folks :D 

Sending you all Primarni love this Christmas, seeing as I have no Christmas cards...

These Are A Few of My Favourite Things: November

I'm telling you it will be a miracle if these are different next month.

These are my current favourite beauty products, but in all seriousness I can not see them changing...

I'd even be happy about that though,

You'll see me when I'm 40 still rocking the exact same make up look, and I'd still be equally happy...

Apart from one:

My first favourite.

My trusty eyeshadow. Which Revlon, (the swines!) have discontinued.

1. Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow in 02 Coffee Bean:

So innocently I went into Boots one day to re-purchase this lovely little palette right here, and ermm...it had gone. In it's place was a sparkly, non matte replacement, (which has some serious fall down when you use it) and that is just not on.  

Trust me, I'm so gutted. Luckily I have a pretty much full one here ^^ but now I daren't use it...

2. Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash mascara: 

I'm planning a seperate blog post on this. 

It's my new baby,

and I am in love.

<3

I will say no more for now...

Oooh the suspense...

3. Rimmel Kate Moss Collection Lipstick in 107

Who doesn't love berry lips in Autumn?

This lipstick is not only a gorgeous dark red/plum colour, but it is reasonably priced, and long lasting!

It also matches a pretty nice pair of shoes I got recently, so will definitely get loooots of wear over Christmas :)

4. Gold glitter nail polishes!

These two are perfect, in look, price, and everything. 

They feed my gold addiction perfectly, it's almost as bad as my leopard print addiction, and because gold goes well with leopard print...well you get the picture. 

5. Avon Naturals Vanilla Body Scrub:

This is not only the nicest vanilla smelling body scrub I've ever come across, (and I've had a few!) but it scrubs SO WELL!

It has the smallest little beads in ever, but absolutely millions of them - and I'm not exaggerating. I hate it when you buy a body scrub and find barely any little exfoliating beads in, meaning you have to use twice the amount to get half the effect. That's just not an issue with this one, I genuinely feel like it does the job. After I use this my skin feels so smooth, and because there's so much scrub in such a small amount, it will last me ages. 

That's it for the beauty favourites, but I have just a couple more I wanted to include...

6. Muller Corner - Strawberry Shortcake 

I know this is a bit weird, but ermm, yeah. 

They taste SOOOO NICE! I take one of these to work everyday, and as sad as it is, I genuinely look forward to eating it HAHA :|

I'd describe it, but we'd end up having a bad Nigella moment again. 

Go taste it for yourselves :)

7. Dettol Mould and Mildew Remover:

a.k.a my new B.F.F

 Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder...

Meet my new Best Friend Forever.

He is...Dettol Mould and Mildew Remover.

He is just amazing, he will do anything for you, support you, and most importantly, will help you out in sticky situations of the green-black kind.

 I am now placing this product right up there on that mystery cleaning product pedestal above my Dettol bacterial wipes and my also Dettol spray.

He is a cousin of the Mr. Muscle oven cleaner which I sadly killed in a mammoth 2 and a half hour oven cleaning session of the previous owners' oven a few months back, but better...and less time consuming.

During the Summer months my main adversaries were astro-turf and mud from my boyfriend's numerous football sessions, and moths, which only needed kitchen roll and the toilet ;)

However, now Winter is here, I have a new one.

Black mould.

*shudders*

It invades the bathroom, the windows, and...THE WARDROBE?!

What is this?!?!?!?!

HOW DARE YOU INVADE AN AREA WHICH CONTAINS CLOTHES!!!

Now, here is where my bestie comes in to play. 

My little green spray bottle gets rid of the stuff literally with a single spray.

The bathroom and windows aren't too tricky, (although venetian blind's are now on my enemy list) and I can do them often as needed with no problems... but the wardrobe problem was just lurking there all gross and undetected...it was on a whole new level for my trusty spray...but of course, he didn't let me down.

He has saved my wardrobe, and my sanity.

I'd cleaned the whole wardrobe and wall behind it until it was as good as new literally in half an hour.

I had resigned myself to the fact that I would miss the X Factor results that night just to clean it, but no, 8:03 and I was done!

In fact the only bit I missed was the bit where the judges come out, so I didn't get to have the usual Scherzinger-hair-and-dress-envy...but that is all!

See, my new friend is so considerate, he even helps me get the job done in time for must-see TV :')

Putting all beauty needs aside for a while...and maybe the bills, the next thing I will be spending my money on is a dehumidifier, because as much as I adore my new best friend, I really, really don't want to be seeing him again so soon.

Anyhow, time to go. 

I promise next time I won't spend 6 hours rambling on about a cleaning product...

Goodnight :)

Hello Great British Bake Off

Seriously, Great British Bake Off - what an awesome show?!
One day...one day, I will be THAT good.
Possibly only in my dreams, but still, dreams are better than nothing.

Anyway, guess who's been baking again?
Indeedy that would be me :)
Baking in a much less time consuming and less complicated way than anything that would be attempted on TV, but tasty all the same.
And with slightly less washing up.

I made another old favourite from my childhood, but this time it was flapjack, some of which I coated in chocolate for extra tastiness.

I used another of my mums recipes, although I honestly don't think there can be too many different methods of making it?


If like me, even flapjack tests the boundaries of your cooking ability, then this is for you :)

You will need:

6oz Margarine (Stork)
6tbspn Golden Syrup
4.5oz Sugar
12oz Oats
1/3tsp salt

Plus a greaseproof/tin foil lined baking tray, and chocolate to melt (optional if you're a chocoholic like me).

What to do:

                       

1. First, weigh out your 6oz of margarine and 4.5oz of sugar, and put into a large pan with 6 tablespoons of golden syrup. Melt the mixture together in the pan.

2. Next weigh out and add 12oz of oats and stir in until all have a lovely, even coating of stickiness.

3. Add less than a teaspoon of salt - the recipe says 1/3 of a teaspoon but that's too hard so just go with less than a teaspoon and you're good. It sounds bizarre because it's such a small amount but I once forgot to add salt and the entire batch just tasted wrong...it makes a HUUUUGE difference!!

4. Once your mixture looks like this you can transfer it to a baking tray lined with either greaseproof paper or tinfoil...my baking tray was too big so I improvised lol.

5. Put in the oven between gas mark 5 and 6, for 25 minutes, until your flapjack is a dark golden brown colour. Don't worry if some of it is darker, those bits actually taste extra good!

6. While still hot, using a knife, cut the flapjack into pieces - it's miles easier to do before it cools are hardens, although mine stayed quite crumbly.

7. At this point, if you don't want to top with chocolate, you are done!!

*If you want to add chocolate*

8. Melt some milk chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, (more reliable than the microwave method!) I used 2 x 100g bars of just any old milk chocolate but it's totally up to you.

9. Once melted, spread over the flapjack as you wish, and you're done. I would say wait for it to set before you eat it, but ermmm...I'm impatient and I didn't. In fact I'm a big fan of eating some there and then and enjoying the melty, sticky, warm goodness that it is while you can. Yeahhhhhhh :D

Going to stop using these adjectives or I'm in danger or sounding like a really poor Nigella.

#fail

:|

10. Sit back, put the telly on, andddd...EAT ITTTTTTTTTT!! 

Enjoyyyyyy :D x