Bring back Dairy Milk Mint Crisp!!

Ok, so these post are very random and more than a little complainy lately but this was my favourite chocolate bar ever and Cadburys, cruel mistress, discontinued it here the UK a good few ( too many ) years ago.

The precious

However.....

I just found out you can still buy it in Ireland!!!!!!!!!!!!

You might think this would make me happy - Yay, it still exists! I can once more savour it's delicious goodness!

Unfortunately, it's about £2.50 for a small bar PLUS International shipping costs so there'll be no savouring going on here.

So, in closing I would just like to say:

CADBURYS!! If you can feed Ireland you can feed Wales too! Bring Mint Crisp back!


Please...?

Today I have been mostly....

.... watching re-runs of An Idiot Abroad. Karl Pilkington is truly a genius.

The man himself

Ricky Gervais, you are a lucky man and I thank you wholeheartedly for sharing your good fortune with us.

Seriously, Illamasqua?? Seriously, Laura Mercier??

I will just skip over how long it's been since my last post as none of you need to hear the extent of the mental cringing that went on when I saw the last date listed here........

The point of this post is samples. Apparently a contentious subject when it comes to expensive foundation, although my opinion on the subject applies to the entire price spectrum.

source

The reason I have picked on chosen these two brands is because they are both extremely well known for their bases. Everyone and their uncle has written about Illamasqua Skin Base and Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage has been a classic for a bajillion years.

They also happen to be the two brands I wanted to try a sample from during my last visit to the Big Smoke.
This is how it went. For BOTH brands.



Me:  Hello, is possible to get a sample of (Skin Base foundation / Silk Creme foundation) please?
SA: Sorry, we are a colour matching brand. It's better for a make up artist to match you than for you to have a sample and try it at home.



I'm sorry? What now?? It's better for me to trust one person's opinion in shitty department store lighting, with only a few hours left in the day, than for me to have a couple of days worth of a few different colour/ texture possibilities to make sure that the colour is correct and that it doesn't oxidise, turn me into an oil slick, disappear after 5 minutes, or give me the breakout from hell ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Yes that's a lot of question marks right there. It is demonstrating the level of my incredulousness.

To make matters more annoying I have seen samples of BOTH PRODUCTS on various blogs. To be fair, a lot of the Laura Mercier ones were from Sephora (come back to the UK, PLEASE!!) but there were branded sample tubes from Illamasqua.

Are these samples only for people who will bring the brands more publicity and not for the everyday customer who doesn't want to make an expensive mistake? Should I have given some spiel about being a beauty blogger in order to get preferential treatment?

This is not to say that the SAs were unfriendly/unhelpful but there was a little initial snootiness when I made my request.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! This is lazy!

Estee Lauder, Lancome, Clarins and MAC are fantastic at giving samples and, guess what, if the product works, I will come back and buy it.

Guess what I won't do? Buy it blind.

Foundation is expensive but it is the crux of a flawless face and I refuse to waste my money on anything that doesn't live up to expectations.

Did these two? Unless the policies change, I guess I'll never know.

If you got this far, thanks for reading, I would love to hear your opinions and experiences.
xx

Maleficent's coming.....

Just saw this pic of the lovely Angie donning the uber-confident style statement that is the horned headpiece of Maleficent, the sorceress who causes all the shennanigans in Sleeping Beauty.

Maleficent and her magnificent cheekbones

I have to say, I do love a fairy tale and adding this to the great big pile of live action remakes that are doing the rounds lately actually makes me quite a happy bunny.

This one is supposed to be an origins tale giving us an insight into what prompted her, frankly rather churlish, behaviour towards Sleeping Beauty and her family.

In addition, the fantastico Sharlto Copley will be in it. This is good, he is amazeballs - District 9, Murdoch in A-Team and Funny or Die.

Curious?
I am. Don't judge me.

Pancake Problems

Actually, egg problems to be more accurate.

I was trying the Carbohydrates Addict's Diet (notice the use of the past tense here) so I bought a crap load of eggs to cook for breakfast.
Now I ain't got no time for cookin' 'n' such in the morning so I decided to rely on boiled eggs.

The result:
I am now sick to death of boiled eggs.

I bet you are shocked, aren't you?
Yup, neither was anyone else I know. The problem is that I still have to use up these damn eggs so I've been trying lots if random recipes trying to find something that doesn't make me gag.

My first attempt was a flourless pancake. It was ok but I wouldn't do it again. There were promises of fluffy deliciousness so convincing that it could fool small children.
Sadly I am not a small child but to see my cooking you might think so.

See here to make a better job of it than I:

http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/cream-cheese-pancakes.html

Second attempt: The  Tone it Up Perfect Fit pancakes

Mmmmmmm, looks good, no?

http://perfectfitprotein.com/recipes.php

Mine did not look like that. It was a different species of food entirely.
To be fair, I didn't really follow the instructions. I thought fuck it, I'll use 2 whole eggs (they'll be gone quicker), a whole banana (what am I supposed to do with the other half?), 2 spoonfuls of oats (in lieu of protein powder/flaxseed) and some cinnamon (the only accuracy in my version!).

The end result was actually quite nice at first but there was a weirdness to it towards the end, like a dodgy banana muffin.
I will probably try again so I will let you know if I stumble upon something amazing.

Any ideas? Let me know below....

Kudos to Kimberly

I just want to say thank you to Kimberly Sayer customer service.

I recently had an issue (for the first time ever, btw) with the pump on my SPF30 day lotion so I emailed the company directly, not really that hopeful that I would get a reply.

I am extremely glad to to tell you that I was wrong.

I received a reply within a few hours from (I think) Kimberly Sayer herself!

In addition to being timely, the response was thorough and extremely helpful - MAJOR points for this as I am still in the midst of a run-in with a dodgy eBay seller.

I have nothing to do with the company, other than being a regular customer since 2008. I really just wanted to give credit where credit is due.

A big ol' gold star for you :)

The trouble with ennui......

My posting has been more than a little sporadic of late.

The reason? 


Hmmmmm, there are lots really.
I haven't really felt like there was anything new or interesting to say. I did a couple of make up looks that I liked but the pictures were shitty (even more so than usual so you know that must be bad!) so I didn't put them up.

Sometimes I get bored of beauty. Sacrilege for a beauty blogger I know but sometimes I want to write about music and movies and books or just whatever random shit comes into my head.

Does anyone really mind if do that? I mean variety is the spice of life, right?

Anyway, if you are still there, you can expect more posts from me soon. I'm experiencing a little more chutzpah today so it feels easier to do this.

For now, here is a picture of a cake ;)

http://www.mychocolate.co.uk/2011/02/cookie-monster-cupcakes/#