Swatch Fest - Darling Girl Cosmetics

Hello Lovelies

I just thought I'd share some swatches from my most recent Darling Girl Cosmetics haul - I utterly love this company. Susan is so utterly talented and her eyeshadows are incredible. And just in case you're wondering, yes I have already swatched one of these colours before - I just chose to buy it in a slightly bigger size this time (and a bonus point if you can tell me which it was - this is my last Darling Girl post)

Aren't they pretty?! I primed my hand with Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy first :)
Top Row (L-R):
Chococat - my pictures have brought out a lot of the gold in this but it actually has a rich chocolately brown base with a gorgeous greeny gold infused finish
Electra - yellow and gold infused lime green. One of my favourite colours I own.
Dragonwasp (GWP) - teal green with hints of peach and gold

Bottom Row (L-R):
Turtledove - dove grey with a hint of mauve and gold sparkle
Firefly - pinky lilac with a blue duochrome
Landry (Hello Kitty Collection - sample) - utterly wonderful chocolatey plum with a petal pink finish

Side stripe:
Kiss Me Tinted Lip Balm in Sassy (sample)

Bottom stripe:
Liquid Kisses in First Kiss

Just a not on the Liquid Kisses - hurrah! I've finally found an indie lip product I love! This is not quite gloss but not quite lipstick - it's somewhere in between and it's utterly lovely! I'm a complete eyeshadow junkie so I have to really force myself to try lip products but I think I might end up getting myself a few of these because they're truly fab.

Have you tried Darling Girl yet? What do you think? Any colours that you'd recommend me trying next?

Spa Ritual Drop Dead Gorgeous Nail Polish Review

Hello lovelies

Sorry that I've been so quite - it was my birthday on Tuesday so I had lots of exciting things happening around then but I've also ended up with really bad sinusitis so I've just been going to bed super early this week as well. Anyway, today I thought I'd share with you a little review and a NOTD with this polish from Spa Ritual.

I was sent a couple of polishes by the gorgeous people at Spa Ritual and I have to say I'm in love. I'm not really a massive fan of nail polishes a lot of the time and there's 2 main reasons - 1) I'm too lazy to wait for my polish to dry/apply 23 coats for full opacity etc 2)I hate the smell. The third is that I have stupidly shaped finger nails but I'm going to gloss over that one for now.


All this has changed since Spa Ritual with their richly coloured, vegan, DBP, Formaldehyde and Toluene Free professional quality polishes - oh boy, come to mamma! I was sent two colours, Drop Dead Gorgeous (which I'll show you in a minute) and Hypnotic (which I'll show you on another day when the lighting is better - it's such a pretty complex colour and my pictures didn't quite do it justice). Both applied easily with no streaking and took 2 coats for fully opacity (although if I'd been extra lazy I could have easily got away with just 1). The finish is high in shine and has an almost jelly like appearance (to my eyes anyway). They dried fast and best of all, the smell was minimal. I think I'm in love <3 Enough waffle, on with the pictures.

[fully aware that I suck at painting my nails]

Such a fun colour don't you think?!

You can buy Spa Ritual polishes here for £8.50 each xx

Inspirational Interviews - Phyrra

Morning lovelies! It's Saturday again and the New Year really is in full swing! This week I'm massively excited to be able to bring you this little interview with the fantasticly wonderful Phyrra. I was massively excited when Phyrra said yes and she's been such a huge inspiration in my blogging, especially with some of my more creative looks, and its through her that I've been introduced to so many excellent indie makeup companies. So without further ado (and to stop me gushing) lets crack on with the interview!

Thank you so much for agreeing to let me interview you! Firstly, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Well, I'm a gamer, a writer, and a standard poodle lover. I'm a voracious reader, usually devouring books and series at lightning speed. I enjoy playing video games, though I've cut back on a lot of my game time to spend time exploring other hobbies.

How long have you been blogging for and what first inspired you to start a blog?

I started my beauty blog about 2.5 years ago for a few reasons. I was inspired by several blogs, including as Musings of a Muse, Temptalia and Shades of U. I had been trying to find out information on mineral makeup and couldn't find as much information on mineral makeup as I would like, so I started blogging about my experiences with products, as well as practicing my eye shadow techniques.

You use a lot of mineral makeup - how did you first discover it?

I discovered mineral makeup when I finally gave up on finding a department store foundation that would match my skintone. I'd been wearing MAC NC15 or NW15, depending on what the MAC makeup artist sold me at the time, and it was too dark for me. I was tired of wearing foundation that looked like a mask and started to search for something that would match my skintone. Mineral makeup seemed to be the answer because they had more than the standard shades of foundation available and went pale enough for my coloring. I eventually found my perfect match in Meow's Pampered Puss foundation in Inquisitive Siamese.

Who are your favourite mineral makeup brands at the moment? Are there any up and coming stars that we should be keeping an eye out for?

Favorites - Meow, Morgana Cryptoria, Silk Naturals, Evil Shades, DreamWorld Minerals, BftE Cosmetics, Glamour Doll Eyes, Hi-Fi, Shiro, Suds n' Sass

Up & Coming - Geek Chic, Overall Beauty, Persephone Minerals, Darling Girl Cosmetics

It can be so hard to work out who are the fabulous hidden gems of handmade cosmetics and who the dodgy repackagers wanting to make some fast cash - what are your top tips for avoiding the rubbish?

I actually wrote a guide on it!

http://phyrra.net/2009/11/how-to-look-for-quality-mineral-makeup.html

The basics are:

1. check out the ingredients listed. If you see 'shimmer, pigment or frost, they're not FDA-approved ingredients.

2. If they make an SPF claim, see how they word it, because they may be making a false claim. They can't claim a specific SPF rating unless they've done lots of expensive testing.

3. See what other products the company makes. While some companies make only eye shadows and they're legitimate, many repackagers focus just on eye shadows. Also keep your eyes open for the Pops colors. Those are colors that people will often repackage.

I love how creative you are with your makeup - what inspires you?

I get inspired by looking at a lot of different blogs, as there are so many great bloggers out there. I get inspired by looking at art, video games, ads, just about anything.

What do you get up to in your free time?

I read, I write, I play video games, I play with Phaedra and Maximus, I spend time with my friends.

You post on a fantastic range of topics - what are your favourite things to post about?

I actually enjoy swatching a lot. I find it enjoyable to swatch an entire collection and see the nuances in the colors. I also enjoy writing reviews. Finally I really love playing with eye shadow colors and seeing what I can come up with.

As a fellow girl gamer, I feel I should ask this question - what's your favourite gaming platform and your current favourite games?

This is a tough question. Probably the PC because of playing WoW. However, if we discount MMOs, I've traditionally been a PlayStation lover over the other platforms. But, the games I want to play currently are on the XBox360, since I'm on a Viva Pinata kick for console gaming.

What can readers of Phyrra look forward to in the coming months?

More swatching and more videos :)

3 Favourite Items of Make up:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Hard Candy Moon Glow Powder

Wet n' Wild Black Creme Liner

3 Favourite Foods:

Sushi

Seitan

Cooked Pears

3 Desert Island Items:

mark For Goodness Face SPF 30 moisturizer

my Kindle 2

a large beach umbrella

3 People who've inspired you:

Voltaire (the musician) - http://voltaire.net/

Izzy of Musings of a Muse - http://www.musingsofamuse.com/

Blix of Glitter is my Crack - http://themoonmaiden-blix.blogspot.com/

3 blogs you'd like to recommend:

Grey of Legothique - http://legothique.com/

Ana of Lipsticks & Lightsabers - http://www.lipsticksandlightsabers.com/

Jacqueline of A Brilliant Brunette - http://www.abrilliantbrunette.com/

3 words of advice:

Don't be afraid of color!

Eye Shadow primer really makes a difference.

Pixie Epoxy is amazing!

Courtney, thank you so much for taking part. Ladies, I'm sure you're already following this fab blogger, but if you're not, you should most definitely head over and subscribe! You'll learn a heck of a lot (and possibly end up semi bankcrupt after discovering a million new swatches of eyeshadows that you quite simpley MUST own hehe)

Recipe - Winter Warmer Stew

Hello lovelies! Today I thought I'd share mine and Peter's favourite winter stew - we have a veg box delivered every week hence we get a heck of a lot of root veg and this stew is a lovely way of using them all up. It's very loosely based on a recipe from Leah Leneman's Vegan Cooking for One . Also I don't really measure things out so my measurements are all approximate :D

The Stew (serves 2):

Roughly chop a small - medium onion, a largish parsnip, a large carrot (or 2 medium ones) and 2-3 medium potatoes.

In a fairly large crock pot, gentle soft the onion in a little oil over a low-medium heat.

Add some Quorn Chicken Style pieces (or tofu if you want to make this vegan - I'll include adaption ideas at the bottom of the post) and your herbs/spices and continue to gentle fry.

The herbs and spices you use can vary depending on what you have in/what you like but I tend to add around 1/2 tsp paprika, a small sprinkle of cayenne (and I mean small!), a pinch of Za'tar, a few splashes of Soy Sauce, a few splashes of vegan Worcester Sauce, a couple of splashes of lemon juice (to give it a little lift), around 1/2 tsp of basil and 1/2 tsp of herbs d'prov. This is just what we happened to have in on the say - on other occasions I've also added rosemary, marjoram, oregano, chilli flakes.... get creative!

Now you need to add your stock (about 1/2 pint - maybe a little more if you're using gluten free flour for the dumplings) and 1 tsp of marmite. Also add a good amount of salt and pepper - nobody wants bland stew for tea!

Mmmm marmitey, peppery goodness! I use Marigold Swiss Vetable Bouillon power in the Reduced Salt Vegan variety - I've tried quite a few Marigold Bouillon's and this is by far my favourite. You'll normally find it in the free from aisle at most supermarkets.

Bet you've been wondering if I've forgotten about those other veggies haven't you? I haven't - add them now! Give it all a good stir :)

The dumplings:

This is bit basically taken from Vegan Cooking for One, although I do make a couple of adaptions. For those of you who are Gluten Free, I recommend using Dove's Farm Organic Fluten Free Flour Blend - the rest of you can use normal flour. Weigh out 4oz (about 110g) flour and add to this 1oz (30g) butter/marg/dairyfree spread. Then add 2 tsp baking powder and a little salt and pepper (maybe add a few herbs and a little cheese too if you fancy getting posh).

Now for the fun bit - using a gentle touch, rub the butter and the flour together until it reaches a breadcrumby consistancy! Next, add a little (soya) milk - just a splash at a time, using a knife to combine at first and them using your fingers when it starts to stick together a little more. You should end up with a ball that looks a little like this:

Now you need to break your dumplings up into 8 golf ball sized balls. Before you pop them on top of your lovely stew, give the stew a good stir because it's the last one it's gonna get! Done that? Excellent, now you can put the dumpling balls on.

Awww look at them - all happy and ready to be steamed :D Now you need to pop the lid on your crock pot and pop it in a pre-heated over at 180C

Yum! This is probably going to need around 15 or 20 minutes in the oven so why don't you go have a nice cup of tea and a sit down? Done that? Okey doke, it's time to lift the lid....

Hurrah - all cooked and ready to go. You should have a nice thick gravy like liquid to spoon over... all that's left to do is plate up (you've got 4 dumplings each remember) and enjoy!

Adaptions:

• This can easily be made entirely gluten free - just use Dove's Farm Flour for your dumplings and the following tofu idea instead of Quorn (although I am technically wheat free, I do cheat ever now and again)
• If you don't have an oven, you can just as easily make this on the hob! Just use a large saucepan and a lid (preferably one that doesn't have a hole to let out steam.
• If you're vegan, the dumplings can be made dairy free by using a dairy free spread and you can replace the Quorn with the following adaptation:

Chop half a block of tofu into cubes and freeze overnight. Before you chop your veggies, defrost your tofu with boiling water - squeeze out any excess. Marinate your tofu in a mixture of 2tbs soya sauce, 1/2tbs vegan worcester sauce, 2 tsp cider vinegar or lemon juice and a few herbs and spices for around 10-15 minutes and then follow the instructions as they've written for the Quorn :)

Hope you enjoyed my first recipe and do let me know if you make this! And remember - recipes are not law.... I encourage you to have as much fun playing around with this as you possibly can!!

Beauty Uk Eyeshadow Palette Review

Hello lovelies! Just thought I'd share some of my thoughts (and of course plenty of pictures) on the 3 beautyuk  palettes that I picked up in the Superdrug 3 for 2 offer the other day. I have to be completely honest and say that beautyuk is a brand I'd previously snubbed and instantly assumed that the quality of the products wouldn't be that great... I'm happy to say I was proven utterly wrong. I'd seen a couple of other bloggers give them a try recently (and I know a whole batch of you have been selected to be beautyuk reviewers - congratulations!) and at a mere £3.99 a palette I didn't really have much to lose!

I went for 3 palettes - 4, 5 and 6 (not the most creative of names but nevermind). The shadows themselves have a range of textures from  matte to shimmer to glitter. One thing that I will say is that the colour payoff can be a bit hit or miss - some colours can be a little low in terms of colour pay off. However, that's a small grumble when you consider the amount of product you're getting for your money!

Overall, I'd say that these are fabulous palettes and I've found myself reaching for them daily! They're cheaper than Sleek palettes (although Sleek palettes do have slightly better pigmentation) and there's tonnes of colour combinations to choose from!

Enough of the waffle, let me show you some of the pretty pictures!

 [Palette Number 4]

[Palette Number 4 Swatches]

[Palette Number 5 - reminds me a heck of a lot of the Sleek Bad Girl Palette which I never managed to pick up :)]

[Palette Number 5 Swatches - the top line really does include all 5 colours, 3 of them are just super sheer!]

[Palette Number 6]

[Palette 6 Swatches]

So Ladies, what do you think? Have you tried anything from beautyuk? Will you be trying them at all if not?

These palettes cost £3.99 and are available from Superdrug and from the beautyuk website