My MAC Palette

Once upon a time there was a girl called Holly.

Holly quite liked make-up, and in particular, eyeshadow...

From a young age she spent just a bit too much time eyeing up the pretty powders in the palace more commonly known as 'Boots' and dreaming of owning her own...

When she was thirteen, she became the proud owner of her first eyeshadow; a Claire's Accessories silver creme eyeshadow in a ladybird shaped pot, of which the less is spoken about, the better...

Times moved on, and Holly began to dabble in the delights of L'Oreal, and Rimmel, smudging a variety of pretty rainbow shades, (totally lying, all browns) over her lids, in a bid to find her signature look.

She believed she had found 'the one' in a small and kindly priced Revlon quad palette, consisting of beautiful neutral, brown and bronze shades. 

Everyday for two whole years, the combination of Holly's brown eyes and the Revlon quad, made for some pretty nice shadow wearing. Their love was strong, however Revlon's family grew tired of her repetitive behaviour, and cast her out of their wing in the Boots palace, unashamedly, to starve.

Sicko's they are! 

Holly was sad, and she spent many moons searching and longing for a replacement.

Time after time she traipsed to the palace, looking for a new love, and time after time, she failed.

Until, she relinquished her evenings, (and therefore life) in favour of watching YouTube video's and reading blogs dedicated to make-up, and discovered...MAC.

The glistening shades attracted Holly like some kind of crazed magpie, and she became determined to one day, own her own set of beautiful and blend-able shades.

There was however a problem, known as 'mortgage' (not really a problem, I'm grateful, really I am, my house is preeeetty) which meant that every month Holly was left with very little to spare, and not enough to purchase her MAC eye shadows...

One day though, on the 31st of August this very year, Holly turned 23, and was granted a birthday wish by a handsome man. The handsome man presented her with a glorious gift...and therefore, Holly's MAC palette dream became a reality...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand....we're back in the room!

It's totally true though, I mean OH EM GEE I have a MAC palette!!

And there's room for - oh - only fifteen of the little creatures!

Cloud Nine is now my home.

I have a new mortgage, lol.

Like a kid in a sweet shop, I went to a REAL LIFE MAC SHOP, (seriously, I love you Huddersfield, but get with the times) and along with the beautiful 'Woodwinked' which lucky me won and blogged about here, (yey!) I have built up an amazing six shades and spent ermm...well, a good deal of time debating which little pretty will grace my lids on a daily basis.

I fear for my sleep when I have fifteen to choose from omg.

So as you know, I ramble a lot, so just watch how simple I'm going to keep this next bit...seriously, you will be proud.

Behold, the 'list':

All That Glitters:

My current go to all over lid colour - ahhhh, it's a beautiful kind of pink champagne colour, with a strong almost glittery shimmer running through it, owed to its Veluxe Pearl finish. It so far has been a perfect combination for every shade of brown I've tried with it, and knowing me, will be all gone in no time...

Retrospeck:

Now this is one that in my twice ever visits to a MAC store, has just jumped out and grabbed my attention, screaming 'BUY ME' at the top of its voice, despite being pretty much unknown to me beforehand.

It's almost viable to say this could be used as a highlight, but saying otherwise gives me an excuse to buy another, paler one haha ;)

'Retrospeck' is another champagne coloured shadow, but more of a pale golden champagne tone. I love shimmery shades on my lids, and as with 'All That Glitters', this has the perfect amount of sparkle, and makes a nice alternative for an all over lid shade.

Soba:

'Soba' is an interesting one to me; a warm toned light brown with a very subtle satin finish, meaning that it's perfect for every day if you're not wanting anything too dramatic, too sparkly, or too matte. I've been wearing this in my crease but felt I wanted something even darker, leading me on to...

Brown Down: 

So I wanted a rich, VERY dark, chocolatey matte brown shade to just make my crease pop, and 'Brown Down' is just that! As with the others the pigmentation is amazing - believe me a little goes a long way, but this colour is perfect, and blends out easily to create a deep and layered finish.

Tempting:

We don't always want a matte finish though do we ladies (and gents)? Which brings me to my shimmery but still deep, rich and chocolatey alternative to 'Brown Down', (and oh yeahh they still look awesome together!) 'Tempting' tempted me with it's creamy and ultra complimentary sparkle.

Woodwinked:

I don't need to say much here, 'Woodwinked' is a stunning bronze shade which when blended deepens to a dark orangey shade - believe me this is in a good way too, meaning it can be worn alone across the whole lid as well as in the crease, as well as in the crease alone. The Veluxe Pearl finish means when it catches the light beautifully, and...well god I just love it!

I'm gonna leave you with one of the looks I created this week, using 'Retrospeck' accross my lid, 'Tempting' underneath, through my crease and blended out towards my eyebrows, complete with juuuuust a lickle bit of 'Brown Down' in the outer 'v' shape and the very inner part of the crease to create a big contrast.

I wanted to show you another look using All That Glitters, but I'll simply say the words 'watery-outer-corner-of-eye' and leave it there.

Say.No.More

Make-up disaaaaster.

*Strictly judge guy voice*

Ahem.

So, I'd tell you my story was ending here, however it's not...

I still have another nine shades of my pretty MAC palette to fill, and I'm on the hunt for them as we speak!

Serious, I'm about to order my giveaway winner prize and am seriously tempted to order myself some 'Naked Lunch' goodness...
What do you recommend?

Orrr maybe I'll just go wild and get my oh so coveted 'Soft and Gentle' Mineralise Skin Finish AHHHHHH <3?

Orrrrrrr maybe...just maybe I'll remember that I still have my mortgage to pay, and we'll see next month ;)

Then I'll be living happily ever after.

:)

An Autumn Evening OOTD :)

You guys are gonna think I'm the most clueless person on this very Earth.

See I just can't help myself...

Yet again, for at least the 34766487th Outfit of the Day post, (probably in a row) I am showing you an outfit which hasn't got the slightest hope of concealing any kind of inevitable FBOEP, (Food Baby of Epic Proportions) from the teeny tiny ones resulting from over indulgence in a certain rather crunchy and even more nutty cereal, to the slightly more formidable ones forming as a result of a night like this one...

*gulps*

The Indian Buffet.

You guys, I don't advocate wearing this.

You might as well click on the red cross now.

But erm...please don't.

My mum is great but it's nice to have more of you for blogging company ;)

Just promise me, that you won't follow me into such a dark and uncomfortable place, where the food on your plate is abandoned purely on account of the elastic in your waist high skirt reaching its limits.

You know when an elastic band stretches too far on your hand and snaps, and it kind of hurts in a really shocking, sharp type way that makes you flinch?

Yeah, this almost occurred but on a really, reeeally large scale, and would have surely meant the end of my food conquest for the evening for entirely different reasons.

My poor belly.

I also would have been one very nice skirt down.

And we can't have that can we?

I contemplated other options...

One included pretty much stripping down to my knickers in the middle of what I'm fairly sure is the biggest restaurant I'm ever likely to go to, in order to let my food baby run free, and my food consumption continue...

It took the other half of my brain to remember such actions would have probably got me removed from the building, and my poor curry would have been left anyway.

I imagine I'd also have a lifetime ban from the place, and could therefore never enjoy such tantalising tastes ever again.

I thought better of it.

The second option meant leaving the remains of my poor Chicken Karahi and Naan to go cold and slightly soggy on my plate, no doubt from its tears at not being eaten.

The shame.

Curry is always, always, for eating.

It's just too damn good.

 What I wore:

Lace Crop Top: New Look £12.99 (a birthday pressie from my BEAUTIFUL bestie <3)

Skirt: Missguided £6.49 BARGAIN!!!!!

Berry Wedges: Primark (last year, also from my bestie - she's too awesome!

Earrings: River Island (old)

Oh yes peeps I have mastered the art of transitioning my crop top and maxi skirt addiction into the new season (can I get a 'woop woop'?). My trusty black maxi skirt is nothing new, but the lace of my top just adds a little Autumnal touch, despite still having no sleeves and showing a teeny bit of belly...

I love lace, me.

And cream coloured clothes - I've missed them over the Summer.

It also gave me chance to get out last years Primarni wedges, seeing as I fear it's almost time for my beloved Shoesies to hibernate.

I'm trying not to cry at that sad little fact, but all will be good so long as I have my wedges to get me through it...

On my face I wore 'the usual' which has actually changed somewhat, (oooooohhhh!!) you will see why soon but until then I'll leave you in suspense because I'm mean like that ;)

On my lips I dug out last years staple Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in shade 107, because it totessss matches my shoes yey!! 

Oh, and it's Autumn, therefore berry shades are the new orange.

Sadly though, it was about as practical for food eating as my skirt...it stays put all right, I just have a tendency to accidentally smear it all over my face.

My poor choice is not limited to my clothes it seems haha...

Least I didn't attempt jeans.

Now that WOULD have been impossible.

Just, don't go there you guys, and all will be okay.

Oh and please, please don't strip off in a restaurant or in fact anywhere.

***

 Oh yeah - one more thing before I go...

Look who sneakily made an appearance for the night?

Yep, it sniffed out those spices and FORCED it's way out of the thigh split in my skirt in an effort to show itself to the world (my mum) yet again, via my blog.

It may or may not have also tried to seduce the table leg into snapping during my meal and therefore tipping the contents of my plate onto itself so it could feed.

Such a monster it has become.

(becoming slightly disturbed by my own writing at this point)

It failed.

It misjudged the bill which I would have been paying had the poor table leg suffered, and the fact that paying for it would mean no more new clothes, (leg baring or otherwise) would be gracing it's greedy self...

Now please excuse me while I go chase (by this I mean hop) this blumin' sulky leg of mine, apparently it's hungry again and has gone to hunt down the remains of my plate...

Ange clearly never eats curry, she never had these problems.

*sigh*

Maybelline Baby Lips: Review (and Slight Reality Check)

I can't lie to you, 

I'm resisting the temptation to call this the 'Glorified Chapstick Review'

...because that's what it is.

A glorified flipping Chapstick.

Let's face it, the hype surrounding the Maybelline 'Baby Lips' has been...well, rather on the large side.

And that's putting it mildly.

I'd seen so many bloggers expressing their extreme excitement about the arrival of these little teeny packages before they did in fact arrive, that in all honesty I thought Boots may spontaneously combust.

Or at least, the Maybelline shelf-y thing would.

In fact, rather than combusting, the 'Baby Lips' section simply lay empty for a good three weeks...

Such a disappointment.

Fireworks would have been more fun.

So big was the hype, that I was beginning to think that on opening this product, tiny beams of luminosity would begin to escape from the tube and softly caress my lips, making them luscious and loveable, before I'd even put the bullet to my mouth.

(Let's not even go into how amazing I suspected that would be, I'm talking the feeling a One Direction super fan may get at the mere sight of a single Harry Styles curl; extreme elation before busting into happy tears, followed by fainting, and therefore missing the entire show.

Major lolz.)

I kind of refused to buy into it for a few weeks, but then I am a female with an unhealthy need to build up points on my Boots Advantage Card.

And I had lost one of my Vaseline's.

Clearly Maybelline had hatched a cunning plan to steal my trusty Vaseline, (the Cocoa Butter one as well you know!) therefore FORCING me to buy another one, knowing that the mere idea of a new and very much hyped product would lure me to a different section of Boots, and in a trance, one of their 'Baby Lips' products would be mine...

This of course, is EXACTLY what happened.

***

Okay so I picked up the shade 'Cherry Me' because, well I heard it smelled good, I liked the colour of the packaging, aaand of course Autumn is coming, (actually the almost hurricane outside tells me it's here) and therefore any darker berry toned colours are more than welcome on my lips right now.

A slightly longer word on the packaging here - I like it!

I like the bright colours, and I like the design, it's just pleasing on the eye...and the colour of the text matches the colour of the actual lip balm in that pleasant 'matchy-matchy' way that makes my OCD feel good.

Once you open it, even better!

The smell really is gorgeous! I can't speak for the other flavours, or for the hydrating ones that have no colour, but this one is just MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM <3

It's that typical sweet cherry smell that you might get from a really good cherry flavoured sweet - like literally mouthwateringly good!

I'm wearing it now and can smell it faintly...kind of wanna eat it.

*licks lips and remembers that the smell does not translate to taste*

Unfortunate.

:(

Application is pretty lovely - it's smooth and not at all sticky, it just glides on and doesn't drag, but I feel like it needs quite a few back and forth swipes to get a decent amount of product on, to even attempt to get the claimed eight hour moisturisation.

(Which is #lies, by the way - totally didn't get even half of that)

I wore it all day on Friday and found myself licking my lips, (with no nice cherry taste, boooo) a lot more often than normal before the time I normally reapply, (from about 7.30am-12pm) in fact it was after probably around three hours that I'd say all traces were more or less gone, and my lips in fact felt fairly dry.

The colour was gone by this time too.

As far as the colour goes, however, I do like it!

I really needed something fairly subtle with that Autumnal berry hint to it for everyday wear, and this is kind of perfect for that - it's buildable also, and I did layer it up to get a good bit of colour.

It matched my blazer :)

I have to say, that my own review here included, I'm yet to see a negative review of 'Baby Lips', and I've seen a lottttt of reviews...however on the same note, 99% of those reviews haven't been as wildly positive and hysterical as the pre-release-hype.

It's like a One Direction song to all the regular non-super fans, it's catchy, you could accidentally find yourself singing-a-long in the car one day, but aside from that you could quite happily never hear the song again and not miss it or even be bothered.
My poor Baby Lips may well end up lurking with my Sleek 'Rose Gold' Blush in the depths of my make-up bag once I get my hands on something else...

Overall, do I think they're worth the hype?
NO.
I do not.
They're just lip balms?!
L.I.P B.A.L.M.S
That's all they're ever meant to be.

Just a mere staple in the life of a lady, to make your lips soft.
And at the end of the day, they do the job, but no better than any other generic lip balm out there...

No better than a Chapstick.
And do we see the rest of the world going mental for their new ranges?
No, no, we don't.
(They're also more expensive at £2.99 a pop, however currently on offer yey!)

Nice packaging, nice smell, nice product.
But as I've said before, (wise words from my old English teacher) if your best description of something is the word 'nice', then it really isn't nice enough.

Now seriously, where even is my Vaseline?

OOTD: An Asian Wedding.

Ladies, (and gents) I present to you something a little different today, and very, VERY exciting...

I got to play dress upppp!

In possibly the nicest and most beautiful way, and for an extremely beautiful occasion...

CALL ME JASMINE PEEPS I BECAME A PRINCESS!

*for two days only.

Yes indeedy this Summer was the wedding of two of my lovely friends, and very special it was.

I spent the weekend with amazing people, eating amaaazing food, and *cue immense girly excitement* wearing not one but TWO amaaaaaaaaazing outfits for the two days of beautiful wedding-ness I attended.

Now anyone who has ever been to any wedding of any kind will know the amount of planning that goes into an outfit.

Fun times for someone like me...

A little while before the big day, and after a quick text (or ten), I was playing dress up like a little girl with a friend of mine who's wardrobe knows no bounds, (hey Sahrah!) having lots of laughs and - well, rather nice samosas...mmmm <3

For anyone who may not know, Muslim weddings tend to last several days; I attended the Mehndi ceremony as well as the actual wedding across one pretty nice August weekend :D

For the Mehndi, I wore a gorgeous pale pink Salwar Kameez which was decorated with pretty beads and jewels and just...ahhhhh. 

Oh, and I wore my newly fixed Shoesies, because they're versatile little beings and go with anything don't you know?

For the second day came my favourite outfit, and the one I wore for the wedding itself - le sari! 

I mean you guyssss, I know I'm saying it a lot, but seriously - EVEN MORE AHHHHHHHHH<3

You know those dollar signs Simon Cowell gets during Leona Moments on X Factor?

Yeah.

You know the iPhone emoji with the little hearts as eyes?

Yeah.

That was me when I saw this beautiful baby of a sari.

Oh my god and I can't tell you how relieved I was that it fit...

Black and gold - two of my favourite colours, and so intricately designed that I've abandoned hope of finding a metaphor that will even begin to cover the amount of work that must have gone into its creation!

Genuinely the most stunning piece of clothing I have ever worn in my life!

Plus a perfect match for my black and gold Shoesies yet again.

Oh yes.

Any excuse to wear them...

#booya

I really did feel like a princess.

On my face I went a little glitter crazy, and splashed more than a good helping of Naked 2 palette goodness across my lids - 'Half Baked' you little gem of a colour you!

I couldn't tell you the rest of the colours I used, hell I think I used them all.

The more glitter, sparkle and colour, the better.

I even did a good old fashioned eyeliner flick oh yerrrr.

Oh and glittery gold nails - fingers and toes, (Models Own 'Gold Rush' - if you don't know, get to know) along with more sparkly jewellery than you can possibly imagine.

I even attempted a beehivey wedding up-do, managing to use pretty much an entire pack of bobby pins in the process, (no lie, I'm pretty sure there's still some in there) - impressive stuff!

Let's just say I didn't do things by halves on that day...

It was nice to finally let my inner sparkle/accessories loving self have her moment in the sun, and for such a beautiful occasion.

I'm gonna leave you with just a couple of snaps from the big day itself, (given that err I only have a couple of snaps) and say a biiiig congratulations to the gorgeous couple that are:

Amar and Farrah :D

(who are on a plane right now as I type to somewhere a bit less September-like than here, eughh)

My Mehndi Outfit

Photobooth fun!

The happy couple (nice pout Amar)

Group shot! The best men :) c/o Saniul Islam

Random and extremely cool looking photo c/o Maciej Pogorzelski and his amazing badass camera

So, the end of my time dressed as a princess came to an end, but what a weekend it was - genuinely such a beautiful and memorable occasion and so nice to see my friends get married :)

I'm now a pro at fastening sari's too - seriously, if anyone else is planning an Asian wedding outfit and needs a hand, just drop me a blog comment and I'm all yours ;)

I should charge and become a millionaire, just in case I don't win the Daybreak competition.

Or the This Morning one for that matter...

Let's just say YouTube served me (and my mum) very well indeed...

Sleek Rose Gold Blush: Review

*cue the music*

'SLEEK, SLEEK, WHY ISN'T SHE USING YOU?

SLEEK, SLEEK, IT'S NOT YOUR FAULTTTTTTTTTT!'

So true.

And I am so sorry, really I am.

Sleek, you wondrous little brand you.

You produce all this amazing stuff, and yet when I buy you, you end up languishing all unloved and lonely in the bottom of my make-up bag feeling all left out until the end of time.

Or in this case until a time when I realise that I still need to review you, meaning you can make a brief reappearance into the light.

I don't mean it.

It really isn't Sleek's fault.

I just err...don't like blusher.

Call it blusher aversion, if you like.

Blusher looks gorgeous on 99% of people, stunning in fact at times, like all healthy and flushed without looking like you have either rosacea or a bad case of sunburn.

It completes your make-up and finishes off your cheeks - 'it helps re-create the contours of your face', as the wise girl at the MAC counter told me a few months ago, whilst staring in pure disbelief, (or in hindsight, possibly disgust) on hearing that I wasn't wearing blusher, and before plying me with generous amounts of an extremely pink one I can't remember the name of. 

My poor cheeks didn't know what had hit them, and I certainly became very aware that I was wearing too much bronzer - the balance had gone all squiffy and wrong.

#clownface

It looked all well and good in the pan, but on my cheeks?

Nahh.

Apparently looking healthy and flushed is not my thing.

Naturally, having blusher on the brain and a few pounds in my purse, I then went straight to Superdrug and picked up my first EVER blusher - Sleek's infamous 'Rose Gold', and errrm, proceeded to slot it safely into my make-up bag, and leave it there untouched.

Nice one Holly, great spending habits you have.

Could have bought four and a half tubs of houmous for that.  

Sleek's 'Rose Gold' looks well, insanely terrifying in the pan for a blushophobe like myself - but the sparkle loving magpie in me kind of gets a kick out of the golden shimmer (who am I kidding, it's like a blumin' gold mine in there) running through it.

 I WANT GOLD SHIMMER ON MY FACE.

(Gold...mmmmmmmmm)

Shame it's with a load of pink mehhhh...

'Rose Gold' is a hot, hot, hotttt coral toned pink, perfect for the Summer season, or for days where we still wish it was Summer, (all year then haha). In actuality, very little of the pink transfers onto the face, which is odd to say how vibrant it is before blending out - literally it is almost completely gold once on the cheeks. Sadly the tiny amount of pink still present manages to be off-putting to me, but let's just say I'm a weirdo and the rest of you lovely lot will love it and rightly so!

It is intensely pigmented and pretty much takes one swish of the finger or one tiny blott of your brush to get the required amount of colour. I beg you a little, do not go overboard with this one, you need a light hand, ain't that right mum? ;) 

Once you're in the light the golden tones look sooooo beautiful, and surprisingly subtle. 

If done correctly, you literally glow.

The packaging is pretty gorgeous, a simple, chic, black plastic case emblazoned with the Sleek logo, which looks and feels a lot more expensive than it is, complete with OH YES PEOPLE - A MIRROR!!

I love a good mirror, me.

It doesn't feel flimsy or cheap, and survived being thrown around in a suitcase without being hurt...

People have compared this to NARS' famous 'Orgasm' blush - I honestly can't say, I've never seen a NARS product in the flesh, but many people have said they're similar, and given the price difference I know what I'd be inclined to do in such situation where I had to choose.

(Actually I'm lying, if I was ever in this situation, I'd totes go for the NARS one, because clearly I'd have more money than sense if I was considering buying a £30 blush I'd never use...now when is that Daybreak competition winner announced?)

Straight from the pan - one swipe of the finger

Blended out

Check me out you guys - I actually WORE it!

This is daring for me, I attempted a subtle look to avoid all #clownface moments a la MAC lady, and think I just about pulled it off. I didn't use a highlighter because to be honest 'Rose Gold' is shiny enough without me sticking a load more on my cheekbones to go with it - I have to say though, if you weren't bothered about the pink tones, this would make a proper good highlighter!! Longevity wise, I'm pretty sure it lasted me all day, or for the duration of the time I had my make-up on without any problems - I like :)

To go with my poor blusher on this daring day, I wore my also poor and unloved Sleek Contour Kit - given that I know the products are sold together as well as separately, so the last two pictures are a bit of a double whammy and you can see how the products compliment each other - clever little me ey ;) 

Personally, I'm not a fan, but only because I wear way too much bronzer for blush, and the Sleek colour does me little favours...poor thing likes to keep it's pink toned friend company in the bottom of my make-up bag...

The pair of them, ousted like a couple of Smelly Cat's, offending their owners with their stench...

Things haven't been all bad for my 'Rose Gold' blusher though - my mum, (and most avid reader) forgot to take her make-up to Ibiza this Summer, (as if, yeah I know)  and had to borrow a selection of my stuff for the week - one of them being *YEYYYY* the Sleek 'Rose Gold' blush, and she loved it!! 

In fact she loved it so much that we ended up having a nightly blusher check, given that she was getting a bit happy and applying juuuuust a little too much of the stuff.

I blame holiday mode.

It truly looked beautiful on her though :)

Just don't go too heavy handed you guys - glitterball face ain't a good face to have.

I vowed once I got back from my holiday, to fullfil something of a mini destiny for it, and actually review it's loveliness on my blog - it deserves some recognition before it returns to the dark depths of my make-up bag to join its unwanted but much more used sister product, the Sleek Contour Kit...

At least I didn't buy the MAC one ey?

Sleek's version is a fraction of the price and is definitely gorgeous...I just don't like it on me.

Sleek, Sleek, it really REALLY isn't your fault.

Happy Birthday Holly Mixtures: GIVEAWAY

Allow me to take you back in time...

Exactly one year ago today.

Pretty sure it was about as cold and windy as it is right now, and I was sat in the exact same setting as I am now - in a blanket with my dressing gown on, wishing it was justifiable to put the heating on with it now  being meteorologically Autumn...but then remembering I'd rather buy a new mascara than be warm.

Followed by going upstairs and adding my onesie to the growing number of layers I had on.

See that was the thing, I liked mascara a lot.
I liked other beauty stuff, a lot.
 And most of all, I read blogs about them, a lot. 

I'd get that weird excitement in my belly when seeing someone love a product so much that they just had to speak about it - and I had the same problem.

Like an affliction.

Seriously, even my dad had to put up with the occasional ramble about how great my new lipstick was and how it's lasting power was sooooo much better than it's nearest counterpart from time to time.

As you can imagine, he was thrilled.

I needed a vent.

 I was one of those kids in high school who asked for extra paper in exams.

I would, could, and very bizarrely liked to (I know, weird) write twelve pages where only three were necessary, and fill them with absolute nonsense that the question definitely did not ask for.
Poor examiners.

*senses I'm doing it now and this whole essay is totally uncalled for*

I had all these words in my head and they needed to come out.

*senses I'm still going*

To cut a long story short, I decided it was time to preserve my poor dads hearing and write it somewhere where like-minded people might get the same thrill I do, or errr...not thrill if I'm on a rant about something.

That day, Holly Mixtures was born, with this cringe-fest of a blog post...

Although it took until around November for me to actually put my link out in the big bad world for someone other than my mum (and most avid reader).

Not going to lie - one of the best things I ever did!

I love blogging now, and although I'm not the most regular of bloggers, it combines so many of the things I love into one place; beauty, fashion, art, (iPhone photography is soooo art) and writing - and that place is all mine!

I feel so privileged to be able to share it with you all, and I've 'met' some great people along the way to reaching one year.

I genuinely believed that it would be just my mum reading until the end of time...

My thank you to you all is inspired by a giveaway I was lucky enough to win myself a few weeks ago, thanks to Kimberley, because my god I never thought it was possible.

I'm going to run a similar giveaway myself, and offer you lovely lot the chance to win the MAC LIPSTICK OR EYESHADOW OF YOUR CHOICE!!

That very giveaway has inspired me a little, because such a product is not always possible to just buy for those who have mortgages to pay and an expensive addiction to houmous like myself.

I was more than thrilled to win and have decided that I would really like pass on that feeling to one of you, as a thank you for the support I've had over the last year :)

TO ENTER:

Simply fill in the rafflecopter below :D

I'm keeping it simple - so you have up to five entries, one of which is mandatory and includes leaving your email address in a blog post comment.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

1. Sorry you guys, but it's a UK only giveaway and you must be 16 or over - I've never done one of these before and don't want to get ahead of myself. 

2. You can choose either an eyeshadow OR a lipstick and whatever you choose must be part of the permanent line.

3. I will email the winner on the provided email address and will need a response within three days or an alternative winner will be chosen.

4. I will be purchasing the product of your choice online, (I am nowhere near a MAC store boo) and have it sent to you via standard delivery.

5. All entries will be checked, so stick to the rules lovelies :).

The giveaway closes on the 29th of this month - four weeks time, and I will be choosing a winner that day provided nothing goes hideously wrong...

***

I think that's everything peeps...

I'll stop rambling now...
Clearly I never learned.
If web pages were made of paper this would be a flipping book.

I should take a page and write to the examiners who had the unfortunate task of marking my exams - a 'thank you' or a 'sorry' card maybe, but it'd have an explanation inside so long that they'd still be reading it come Christmas.

Maybe one of them unwittingly follows my blog and will enter - if they win maybe I'll be forgiven ;)

Or maybe one of you will win, who knows...?

But you gotta be in it to win it!!

Happy entering people :)