Lou's Reviews- Eylure Girls Aloud Lashes

Aloha Bloggerinos,

On a recent Soap & Glory binge in Boots, I noticed that my favourite false eyelashes were on offer- what a brucey bonus! These are the Eylure Girls Aloud Eyelash range and usually retail for £5, but on this day there were about £3.60 per pair. I just checked on Boots.com and they are now £4.86, so still a tiny saving I suppose.

I have tried quite a few brands of eyelashes in my quest to find the best. For me, the 'best' have to be easy to apply, don't make you look like a crazed hooker/like you have 2 featherly little insects nestling on your eyelids, and preferrably be re-usable. These lashes tick all the boxes.

This range comes with 5 different styles, one for each member of Girls Aloud, and my two favs are 'Kimberly' and 'Nicole'. I find these both to be not too trashy and obvious, but not so natural that you can't tell they're on.

They are the easiest I have ever tried to put on. When you peel them off the packaging, they stay in their arched shape and that makes them easy to just pop onto the lid. You are provided with a generous tube of Eylure glue which is simple and effective. Full instructions are also provided- woop woop.

The lashes stay on all night and even though the packet doesn't say so, I re-use them. Just take them off gently at the end of the night/day, give them a delicate clean with a makeup wipe (or cleaning method of your choosing) and place them carefully back in their box. Viola! Ready to go for next time! I use mine for as long as I can before they go cacky- nice!

10 out of 10 for these fab lashes! Above is a picture of me sporting a pair and just for my jollies, here is a picure of me being a bit of a ninconpoop and my chum Samuel- I'm sure he'll appreciate it! Ha!

Toodlepip! xx

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Lou's Reviews- Soap & Glory 'You Wont Believe Your Eyes' Serum

Aloha Bloggerinos, how goes it?

I have been very excited of late make-up wise, because Soap and Glory is 1/3 off in Boots and on the Boots website- woop woop! Naturally, as any beauty lover would, I took full advantage of this and stocked up.

One of my bargains, was this You Won't Believe Your Eyes Illuminating Eye Serum. This usually retails at £9.00 but because of the super offer, it came in at £6.00. This product contains 15ml of serum.

(Click to enlarge)

The idea of this serum is that it sooths and smooths puffy eyes, reduces redness and leaves you looking a bit more zippy ;). It claims to contain cellular boosters, concentrated cucumber juice and 'sesaflash' which is a skin tightening agent.

The unique selling point of this over any other eye roll on is the niftly little applicator. Rather than the standard one large roller ball, there are 3 mini roller balls and when you squeeze the tube, you can see them stretch up out of their socket and the serum ooze out a little. This pleases me! I don't know why I like to see it do that so much but I really do! Haha. If I'm honest, I'm not entirely sure what the benefits of the tri-roller are over a singular ball, but it does feel very, very nice. I am a little addicted to rolling it over my under eye now actually. Must stop this peculiar behaviour poste haste!

Now, I must say, this eye serum was a bit of a slow starter for me. I think I made a bit of a booboo when I first bought it because, im my excitement, I applied it at my desk at work and swiped it across my smudged (grrr) eyeliner and just made a grey smudgey mess. This put me off for a couple of days but after a little while of using this in the mornings, on a clean moisturised face, I started to warm to it. When first applied, it looks like a pearly, luminous fluid. I gently pat it in a little with my fingers and it soaks it quickly and easily. It doesn't leave a sticky or greasy residue and really does feel very cool and refreshing. It also helps me wake up too before I trudge off to the office.

I think it leaves me looking a bit more bright eyed and bushy tailed and feels sooooo luurrvvvlly to apply the cool fluid under hot, puffy morning eyes- yummo!

As always with Soap and Glory, the packaging is spot on. It's girlie, modern and makes great makeup box eye candy. The tube is also very appealing- sleek, simple and sophisticated. Well Done Soap and Glory!

I think when this runs out, I shall wait for another offer to repurchase it. I think yes, defo worth £6 but perhaps not £9. Although, saying that, I have only been using this a week, so the full results are yet to appear before my eyes- haha, see what I did there?!

Have you used this product? What do you think?

Toodlepip! xx

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Springing into Spring!

Happy First Day of Spring!  I am so excited for the seasonal change, and the amazing climate changes that come with it!  Feels like project and spring cleaning time!

What types of things do you do to get your house all spruced up in the spring?!  Anyone looking for some inspiration?  Make sure to check out how we keep our homestead spring clean year round!  

On top of our regular duties inside, spring will be bringing us outside to do a ton of fun outdoor work to get ready for summer!  Raking the yard, staining the deck, cleaning the garage, planting flowers and a garden!  I can barely contain my excitement {no joke!!}  And of course, we will share it all along the way!!

And I ask the same of you!  What are some "Must Do's" on your spring cleaning list?!  Anyone start tackling their list today?

Time for me to get on the ol' boots and head out to play in the mud!  Enjoy your fresh spring weekend!
 

 

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Head to Toe: Feeling Girly

When I buy new things, I want to wear them all immediately. This is one of the new dresses I bought at the American Apparel Factory Flea Market for $12!! Yes, $12. All dresses were $12. I bought three different ones there (among many other articles). You'll be seeing them very soon. :)

I've been procrastinating my sewing lately. It's funny because I thought that I would only do this with homework, studying, doing laundry.... But really, it's anything that's considered work at the time. Even if it's your hobby that you've converted into full-time work.

Sometimes I look at my clipboard of printed invoices, and then I look at my laundry basket, and I would prefer to do laundry than sew. Or sew something I'm not supposed to like clothes. It's really bad, and I think it may be human nature to do everything else besides what you're supposed to be doing.

I'll snap out of it after this weekend. It was just due to a little burnout earlier when I had a lot of orders at once and when I finally finished them, the feeling was equivalent to post-mid-terms leading into Spring Break. I am on my Spring Break. :)

I think this is also healthy that I take a break from work. I love my job, but sometimes it gets a little redundant, and I would like to keep it as fun and exciting so that I can continue to bring new designs to the table.

Back to the topic. I re-photographed the Baby Ruche in Plum with one of my new dresses and wanted to share it with you!


American Apparel dress, Wet Seal belt, vintage boots, Baby Ruche in Plum

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Winters Should Be Cold So You Appreciate the Spring More

(Espirit Cropped Cardigan, Uniiko Vintage Floral Romper, Go Jane Cage Heels, H&M Butterfly Ring)

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Wedding Pics by Sara Gray...

I've been getting emails today from readers about this Yellow & Navy Wedding shoot on Style Me Pretty because the photographer, Sara Gray, incorporated my Love candy Lemon print into the shoot! She did such a GORGEOUS job for this Portland couple that I couldn't help but share with all of you! Speaking of Weddings, don't forget to check out our newest prints for your upcoming wedding here.

images sara gray photography

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Friday Finds: Spring Pinks

vintage FLORAL belted jumpsuit, brownbagvintage

Headband with Flower, BornWithIt

Rose Petals Soy Blended Candle, JenSanCandles

Spring Part 2 Fine Art Print, Lori411

Happy Weekend!

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Life Update: Drivers License

This may come as a surprise to some of you, and a well-known fact for others. I can't drive (but now I can, as of yesterday). Story of my life.

When my brother turned 16 and could drive, I was 14 and always had a ride. Woohoo!

I turned 16 and my brother went to college. My mom agreed to drive me everywhere so that we could have more "bonding time" before I go to college (mainly to save money on insurance). Little did she know that I was working at Banana Republic 20 hours/week, president of a school organization, involved in 4+ other school organizations, training to become a fitness instructor, and still in high school. We had a lot of bonding time. Good thing, because she's my best friend ever! :)

I went to college and you really don't need a car in Austin when you're living around campus. The public transportation system is amazing (and free for students!). I could get to the mall, grocery store, and ride my bike everywhere else I needed to go.

I graduated college and started working full-time for myself at home. Not bad, no need for a car. I order everything I need online (and the apartment management wonders why I receive so many packages daily) for myself and business. I use Endicia for printing shipping labels (best for First Class International) and use USPS Carrier Pickup. The UPS, USPS, FedEx people love me. :) No need to leave the apartment!

Well, there comes a time when I need to leave the nest and get the celery I forgot to buy during the grocery run. Or when I need to have a Chick-fil-a lunch date with my friend Nathan. Or would prefer going to the mall to try clothes to save on shipping costs and returns. Or take Hubert to the park during the day because the boys refuse to have him shed in their new cars.

There are always those little times when you need that little bit of independence. It was about that time.

My brother set up a WRITTEN CONTRACT that I signed in agreement to have my license by March 8th (Back story - I introduced written contracts between my brother and me because he often forgets a lot of compromises and agreements). He stuck it to the fridge and that was that. The Boy showed me all the ropes in the month before the deadline. I also totally p0wn'd parallel parking my first try! Take that!

All with my parent's old '91 Camry. It's our family initiation car. My brother drove it when he started working, and now it's mine. :)

10 days after my agreed deadline, I have a license. Thank god. 

To celebrate, The Boy took me (he does NOT want me driving during SXSW - Austin traffic is RIDICULOUS right now) to the American Apparel Factory Flea Market and I bought a pile of stuff, for super cheap.

I'm happy. :)

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You Asked: Precious Picture Packets

I recently received a fabulous question from one of my fabulous readers regarding storing excess kid's photos!  Here is what Crystal had to say.. or I should say, ask:

I am really enjoying your ideas!  Here's my question...what do you do with all of the pictures of your children that you do not currently have on display?  I have lots of picture packages I have bought that still have many leftover large and small pictures in them.  You can only put so many pictures out at one time.  What do you do?

First off, no matter how you store them, I recommend making a checklist of all the friends and family that you typically share your portraits with.  For example, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, etc... that way, you won't be as willing to over or under order when choosing package sizes, and when you receive the photos, you can cut them and put them in envelopes for your amigos on the checklist and store the rest.

 

When it comes to actually storing the photographs, there are a couple of easy ways to get them under control.  

1.  You could use a paper storage box large enough to hold the packet envelopes.  Once you have handed out and displayed your photos, anything remaining can be placed back into the photo envelope that they came in.  Write the date on the envelope with details of the contents, and store them within the paper box.  You could use something like this one, from IKEA:

2.  You could head to any local department or office supply store and pick up a standard 3 ring binder, or go as fancy as a scapbook.  Then, using page protectors, or scrapbook pages, insert the remaining portraits from the package.  Snag some dividers and section out the portraits by either date or type or kiddo, whichever works best for your specific situation.  Then, anytime you need to go back to them, you can just page through them, like a book and go down memory lane, or grab exactly what you were looking for and move on! 

3.  My personal favorite, because it's how I personally roll, is using a filing system.  Whether you decide to use a fancy filing cabinet, a file tote, or an expandable file {my choice}, they are all easy ways to file away your precious memories, and keep them orderly to return to in the future:

Inside, the tabs are labeled by year, and each slot contains my munchkin's extra photos from their school and sports packages:

 

So there you have it!  A couple of easy ways to tuck away those extra photos from the many portrait packages that build up over the years!

 

Thanks again for contacting me with a question!  How about you other readers?  What do you do to keep your families portraits stored away?  Anyone out there have all their kid's scrapbooks completely up to date with all of their school and sport photos?  Anyone have creative and unique ways to display the plethora of pride that we call our children?  We would love to know!

 

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why i may look bleary-eyed in the morning

I'm not a channel flipper by nature. In fact, I don't often watch TV. My kids are older and busier and when D's not around and they're asleep, I crave the stillness of a quiet house. But occasionally I'll get the remote in my hand and cruise through the 60+ channels that we haven't blocked out because they're offensive (talking to you, MTV, SpikeTV, VH1) or stupid (QVC, QVCII, the myriad of extra news channels). Incredibly enough, paying over $100 a month for cable with no premium channels and RoadRunner does NOT insure there's anything to watch. Some nights even Food Network lets me down.

But sometimes I'll run across a movie and stay up waaaaay too late watching it. Certain films suck me in like a field of mud--there's no resisting their power and I get stuck watching until the end. Most John Hughes movies have this effect. Classic Brit flicks like Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral rend me powerless to change channels, even though I own those titles on DVD and could watch them commercial-free and unedited. Music & Lyrics. (I'm apparently revealing my secret crush on Hugh Grant in this post, too. Oh, come on! Blue eyes, fantastic head of hair, sense of self-depreciating humor. Admit it, you love him too, reader.)

Decent teeth, too.

I even found myself in the vortex of a made-for-Lifetime movie about a special wedding dress starring a very young and mulletted Neil Patrick Harris.

OF COURSE I'm posting a gratuitious photo of him!

But my latest Late-Night-TV-Vortex-of-Viewing-Pleasure?

Hitch. BIG pink puffy heart-heart-heart it. It's sweet, funny, surprisingly intelligent, and Will Smith? Can I get an AMEN, sisters? (This clip is for you, HistoryGirl! I laugh out loud every time I watch it.)

Spill it, reader. What movie do you find holding your attention all night long, despite having seen it over and over again?

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Reader shares her home....

I love hearing from READER from all over the world & I try to respond to as many people as possible, even if it's 2 weeks later. Normally, it doesn't take me that long....(I admit, my inbox can get pretty full). One of my FAVORITE emails are from readers emailing me pics of their home! Below is Jillian's home, she wanted me to share it with all of you! If you have an interesting & nicely decorated home you think my readers would love, shoot me an email. I get lots of submissions so I may not be able to post them all. Enjoy!

(click pics for larger image)

images above by jillian buechi

The office photo below is from another one of my readers, Lindsay Leggett's home. She sent this pic of her home office today & I thought it was just lovely! 

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And the winners are...

Congratulations to littlegemsbykari and rima329 for winning the March Giveaway! :) I will be contacting you shortly for more information.

I really want to thank everyone for all the tweets, Facebook sharing, and blogging about this giveaway.  We went above and beyond my expectations with the exposure of this giveaway --making a SECOND winner possible! Over 100 followers in 2 weeks! That's amazing! I'm really thankful for all the support and would like to thank all the participants with a little (but really, it's big) gift of appreciation.

Please enjoy 10% off your entire purchase from my shop. Just use the code "MARCHGIVE10" in the message to seller upon checkout and you will receive the refund via PayPal shortly after.

This offer expires on Thursday, March 25th - a week from today!
10% is taken off the listing price (not including shipping).

Looking forward to many more giveaways to come!

XOXO,
Jenny

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Dear So and So...Tea Fueled Ranting

Dear Child on Bus,

LaLa does not read "baby books". She is just starting out reading. I understand that you are a year ahead of her and see the books she reads as simple, but please keep your comments to yourself. Keep in mind that any criticism that you offer undos all the praise that her teachers and myself have bestowed upon her and makes her think less of her reading efforts. Plus you had her in tears. Do you really want to be that sort of child?

Mama Bear, Kat

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Dear Roadworks Guys,

Thanks for being done with my section of the road. Hopefully, now I can shower with reckless abandon.

Stark, Kat

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Dear Rent-A-Kitty,

You are a sweetheart, but if you don't stop with the clawing of my sofa we're gonna have words.

Just Thought You Should Be Aware, Kat

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Dear Emergency 4 Cups of Tea,

Thanks for helping cure my migraine.

Love, Kat

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Dear Kitchen,

What do I look like? The maid?

Obviously, Kat

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Dear Readers,

If you have a letter please link up!

Love you all, Kat

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Chapter One: An Enchanted Tea Party

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