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Candles, Clothing and Fashion, Lifestyle, Make-up

An Accidental Haul Part 2

June 2, 2014

Haul

You know when you really shouldn’t go shopping but you do anyway? Well I blame Pants entirely (and you can see her haul post here!) and can’t be held responsible for my inability to say no to a good bargain shop! As we are both supposed to be saving money for festival season at the moment we limited ourselves to only four shops – Primark, Superdrug, Boots and Poundland.

 

Primark Boots

Boots – Primark  £10

I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt as I bought these as Pants had been after them for ages, but they only had clown sizes left! Luckily I’m a UK size eight shoe, so I always seem to get the best of the sales. I’ve got some customization plans for these, studs and chains and basically all the things Pants wanted to do to hers (sorry…not sorry Pants!). I figure they’ll get plenty of wear on stage, and even though they have a heel, it’s not too unreasonable to think I might be able to last a few bands at a festival in them.

Primark clothes

Black Dress & Lepoard Print Dress – Primark £5 each

I already have both of these dresses in other colours, but they’re so comfortable and perfect to throw on with a pair of leggings and some boots for work, that I always pick up a couple more whenever I’m on a Primark binge.

3/4 Leggings – Primark £2.50

It was warm enough to show my calves for about three minutes last week, but I got these just in case we have another five minutes of summer!

Lace Skirt – Primark £3.00

I couldn’t help picking up this lacy skirt, I have always had a weakness for black lace! I’m planning on turning this into either a mini or a strapless dress for stage, and the best thing is if it all goes wrong I’m sure I can do something crafty with my bargain find!

The Little Mermaid Pyjamas – Primark £8.00

I saw these cropping up a few times on my Instagram feed, and knew I had to have them! My PJ collection is quite ridiculously large now, but when they are this cute I can’t help but add to it!

Primark bits

Zebra Tote Bag – Primark £1.50

As you can probably tell from my current bedspread, I love zebras! You can never have enough totes (especially if you are eco-friendly and prefer not to pick up new plastic bags every time you go shopping!) and you can definitely never have enough adorable zebra-in-pink-stilettos-totes.

Shoe Liners – Primark £2.50 & Socks – Primark £2.00

I am physically unable to leave Primark without at least one set of new socks. Not the most exciting of things, but I just adore the feeling of brand new fresh socks! I picked up a pack of five shoe liners for the gym and some cute bunny socks!

Embellish 3D manicure set – £1.00

I’m not sure I’ll ever get round to trying out the 3D mani (though I have quite a few sets already! =s) look, as it seems a bit fussy and messy. I do however love the blue shade, so even if I never use the balls I’ll certainly get some wear from the polish.

Red Berries & Orchid Tin Candle – Primark £3.50

I adore scented candles, but what I love even more than that is scented candles that leave you with a pretty storage tin once they’ve burnt away!

IMG_9751

Soap & Glory Hand Maid Antibacterial Hand Cleansing Gel – Boots [£2.50]

I’ve started stocking up for festival season, and I never step foot into a field without antibacterial hand gel! Usually they smell of cheap vodka, but this one  smells delicious!

Soap & Glory Flake Away Mini Scrub – Boots  [£2.50]

Another festival essential, I’ll be stocking up on all my favourite minis over the next month so that I’ll have a plethora of nice treats to pack!

IMG_9753

MUA Matte Lipstick in Lilac Belle – Superdrug [£1.00]

I loved the first five colours released in the MUA Matte Lipstick range (reviewed here) so I knew I had to get the two new colours recently released. I found Fawn Fancy a few weeks ago, but this is the first time I’ve been able to put my hand to Lilac Belle. Given how much I’m into pinky/purple lipsticks at the moment I think I’ll get a lot of wear out of it!

MUA  Intense Colour Eye-liner in Snow White – Superdrug [£1.00]

The make-up was 3 for 2 in Superdrug, and even though I didn’t really need this, I figured why not. My old white eye-liner was getting a bit crumbly, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

MUA Inense Colour Lip-Liner in Red Drama – Superdrug [£1.00]

Er..it was 3 for 2…did I already say that. I definitely didn’t need this.

Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique Figer & Toe Twines – Superdrug 0.74p

One of my toe separators has gone missing so I figured why not try these out as they were only 74p on clearance!

Poundland bits

Oil Burner & Tealight Holder – Poundland £1 each

I’ve been looking for a new burner for my Yankee Candle tartlets for a while, but I’m glad I held out because this one is lovely and much cheaper than some of the others I was eyeing up! I couldn’t resist the cute little lantern, it’s intended for outdoor use but I think it will look just as lovely on my vanity!

Travel Bottle Sets – Poundland £1 each

More early festival prep, but I also use these a lot in general anyway. Between the band and a boyfriend overseas I spend a lot of time in transit, so it’s useful to be able to take a small wash-bag full of minis and small bottles.

Johnsons Baby Cotton Pads, Screen Wipes & Zebra Pens – Poundland £1 each

Just a few of the more boring essentials I needed to pick up, though the zebra pens were a great bargain as I usually pay about £3.99 for a set elsewhere.

W7 Rock ‘N’ Roll Eye Shadow in Envy and Sage – Poundland £1 each

Oh my god. Why has no-one thought to put loose pigment in a roller ball before? (If they have please spam me with links so I can buy them all!). I was having  a good search around the otherwise bare beauty section and I idly found an open tube to test out on the back of my hand. All I can say is I was blown away by how pigmented and mess-free they are! I love loose mineral shadows, especially glittery ones, but I always make such a mess – with these tubes you can get the colour right where you want it without any fall-out at all! I’ve already spotted a few other colours here that I just have to pick up!

So overall not too much damage done to my bank balance, but some nice treats and bargain finds that will tide me over till the next time my shopping urges appear!

Totally hellbent for “oh what the hell lets go shopping” days!

– Gem

Candles, Clothing and Fashion, Make-up, Nails, Skincare

Accidental May Haul

May 29, 2014

may-haul

Sometimes you just want to shop. It’s an urge that truly can not be ignored, especially if Gem and I are left alone, unsupervised! This afternoon was definitely one of those times and we ended up going on a completely unplanned spree.

may-haul-2

No budget style shop would be complete without a trip to Primark and even though I didn’t -need- anything at all, I still ended up with a bag full of stuff. I absolutely adore giraffes and I squeeled with delight when I found the giraffe print dress and the tote bag. Even though I usually buy matching underwear from La Senza or Ann Summers, I often pick up some cheap briefs when I can for the gym or lounging around, because lets face it, no one wants to spend 30 minutes on a treadmill in lacy briefs. I really couldn’t resist the pack of four Brazilian style briefs which came in red animal print, red lipsticks, red hearts and navy polka dots and the 5 pairs of animal print “shoe liners” or better know to me as … socks I can wear at the gym with my trainers.

Giraffe Dress – £5 – Primark

Giraffe tote bag – £1.50 – Primark

Pack of 4 brazilian briefs – £4.50 – Primark

Animal print shoe liners – £2.50 – Primark

may-haul-3

And now the stuff that I really really didn’t need. Another candle to add to my collection from Primark in “red berries & orchid” a beautiful berry candle in a gorgeous purple tin, surely this was meant for my dressing table?

A trip to boots ended up in me picking the Rimmel Scandel Eyes gel eyeliner up, which you can read Gem’s review about here, and also NO7’s Beautiful Skin Day Cream with spf15. This was my primary reason for going into Boots as I had a £5 off No7 skincare voucher and really needed some day moisturiser which had spf in. This was for dry to very dry skin and all the reviews I’ve read about this cream were pretty good, so I’m excited to give it a try when I run out of my current moisturiser.

Despite my worries of going to Superdrug and buying half the store, I was actually very sensible, as it was 3 for 2 on most of their makeup, I did pick up an MUA lip-liner in “Red Drama”, MUA lipstick in “Shade 3” and another MUA power pout in “Crazy in Love” (you can see my review of the MUA power pout in “Runaway” here). I also picked up some Garnier Micellar water, which I really did need and some more deodorant which I’m almost out of.

Lastly, we fell into Poundland where I stupidly decided that I had to have a Revlon nail varnish in “Runway Pearl”, two W7 “rock and roll” eye-shadows in “sage” and “envy”, some zebra pens (I already have a vast collection of these exact pens in my desk drawer!) and some beautiful blue paper, a nice addition to my craft room.

Purple tin candle – £3.50 – Primark

Rimmel Scandel Eyes Gel Eyeliner – 4.99 – Boots (usually £6.99 and also £6.99 in Superdrug)

No 7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream – £12.50 – Boots (only £7.50 with my £5 off voucher)

Nivea deodorant – £2.29 – Superdrug (2 for £3)

MUA Power Pout – £3 – Superdrug

MUA Lip Liner – £1 – Superdrug

MUA Lipstick – £1 – Superdrug (3 for 2 – £4 in total)

Revlon Nail Varnish – £1 – Poundland

Decorative paper – £1 – Poundland

W7 rock and roll eyeshadow – £1 each – Poundland

Zebra animal print pens – £1 – Poundland

I absolutely blame our shop on Lauren over at Lauren Amy Blogs, since I was up late last night reading some of her “Superdrug haul” posts and I had an overwhelming urge to go out and buy things. Despite both Gem and I having a no spending month *cough*, together we are a force that is unstoppable – thankfully we did manage to resist the £5 blow up chairs in Ann Summers complete with built in penis’ – something we thought would be absolutely hilarious to take to our upcoming festivals.

This is definitely my last haul for a while, but if you’ve had a recent haul, please post us your links in the comments below so instead of spending our money we can live precariously through you and your blog posts :o).

Totally hellbent for having an uncontrollable addiction that I thankfully share with my bested friend in the whole world

-Pants

 

 

Clothing and Fashion, Hair, Make-up, Metal

You don’t have to conform to be successful

November 15, 2013

PNB

 

(Brains and I looking successful above. Note how we still look like a bunch of greebo’s, even though we are dressed up!)

I now find myself reading a lot of Magazines. Most of the content I find is mindless dribble and I have to be honest and say that I’m only interested in either the products they come with, or the hope of finding miracle cosmetics that I don’t already own. Despite this, I still read them from cover to cover and occasionally I am irked by the odd article.

My favourite this month was from Marie Claire’s “Nov 13” edition. “Why your fake lashes might just cost you that dream job.”It’s basically an article written by six “top” HR managers on things that didn’t quite land others a job.

My first gripe of this being … who the hell decided that they were “top” HR managers? I certainly wasn’t asked to fill out a survey on how brilliant they are. Then as I read on through the article, I felt more and more compelled to shout at these idiots for being so judgmental. So I’ll just share a few highlights with you all:

Block Brows – “Only last week I had a girl come in with jet-black eyebrows that were entirely pencilled in. She looked bizarre. Given the “scouse brow” is so widely mocked, it make me wonder if she had any social awareness.”

Colorama – “The recent trend for pastel and dip-dyed hair does not belong in an office. We actively encourage individuality in our teams, but we must also be confident that clients will take our employees seriously.” (My favourite here was the advice on how to get hired by telling readers “if you’re still determined to have a punky edge, keep it low key.”)

Talon Show – “Our written code of Presentation even states that employees cannot have overly long nails.” (Scoff – “written code of presentation? Hilarious!)

There were some other top choice comments referring to people wearing fake tan to interviews and having “greasy locks” with some hilarious advice on “if you don’t have time for a blow dry, use a good quality shampoo” – first off, who the hell has time for a “blow dry” at 6am in the morning when they are running late for work? (An apt moment for me to point out that my hair is so long and thick, it takes me at least 3 hours to dry and style it!)

Without going on too much of a tangent here, although I had to agree that some of the looks wouldn’t be something that I would favour … i.e. the false eyelashes, fake tan, perhaps an unfortunate attribute such as having greasy hair – none of these should stop people getting a job. The problem these days, is that people in positions of “power” think they are superior to everyone else, and they often forget that sometimes people just need to be given a break.

The media are very quick to judge those that fall outside of the norm, and pretend that they are offering you advise if you want to “hold on to that crazy punk trend”, when actually, we should all be allowed to individualise ourselves how we like!

wacken

(I’m holding onto that “crazy punk trend” and I bet my makeup has run down my face … how non conforming of me!)

I know lots of people who favour the “block brow” trend, because it’s actually quite “in” amongst those from a similar cultural background as Gem and I. And the comment about the recent trend for pastel dip dyed hair not belonging in an office … say’s who? If this doesn’t affect performance, then why should it matter?

newyear

(Does this count as pastel dip dying? Because I always sat in the office with hair like this!)

One of the reasons this article sparked so much enthusiasm for me, is that over the years and through a variety of different employments, I’ve always been judged for how I look, (except since the “fashion world” has taken so “kindly” to our love of black, leather, wet look and studs, we are somewhat more accepted as being “normal” at least until this trend dyes out). I have piercings and brightly coloured hair, even when I wear no makeup and dress smartly I always seem to have a quirky alternative edge about me, but because people don’t understand the culture that I come from they judge me harshly and think I’m a bad person.

Having worked in healthcare, one of the important parts of my job roles was acting in an anti-discriminatory manner, and treating people as individuals. Something that is then mocked entirely when you are forced into dressing and acting like clones. To be fair, there have been times early on in my career, where I thought people higher in the career ladder than me looked terrible! Their fashion sense was hilarious, the shoes they wore disgusting and their makeup pre-dating my existence, but my job role was about giving care to patients, not creating my own judging panel for all of my managers!

Despite others opinion of me, I suceeded in my career as a nurse and still managed to keep some individuality. I didn’t change my hair, and did not take my piercings out. (They are -not- an infection control hazard, thankyou very much!) What I didn’t do, is turn up to work with a face full of stage make up and I at least had some self-awareness that meant when I was at work, I did my work.

So I guess my point is, you don’t have to conform to be successful, if you are good at what you do, are enthusiastic, look after yourself and are passionate about work you can get to wherever you want to be. Don’t let people back you into a corner and don’t let people change who you really are, just because you don’t fit in with their “corporal image”. In the words of some of Gem and I’s favourite Northamptonians … “Who’s gonna care in a hundred years?”

Here’s hoping Gem and I will always look like this …

album launch

(Would you have time to blow dry my barnet in 10 minutes?)

On a final note … Keep it true and Metal IS Forever!

Totally hellbent for being me … always … no matter what!

-Pants 

 

 

Clothing and Fashion, Make-up, Nails, Skincare

Oct/Nov’s Most Wanted

October 30, 2013

It’s the time of year when I should be focusing my purchases on others, ready for Christmas. Unfortunately all this does, is fuel my longing for products that I happen to spot along the way. There are so many things that I want -need- this festive period that I have no idea where to begin!

First up, Dior in “Rouge Dior 999”, because even though I already own over 9000 red lipsticks, I really need this one! I don’t know why, I’ve never been a massive fan of this brand before, I love their perfume but that’s mostly where it lies. I keep seeing beautiful adverts for this lipstick though and I don’t know if it’s the arty “chains” it is photographed with or how in the right light, the casing looks like it’s made of studs, the fact of the day is – I want it in my life!

For £26.00 from House of Fraser, it could be yours (and mine)

Now, lip Crayons are still quite a craze. Owning a few I think they are OK but most are not shades I would wear to important places such as the stage.  The NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in “Dragon Girl” and also “Red Square” both look absolutely amazing. Unfortunately only the Red Square colour is available on the UK NARS website which makes me very sad.

They start around £17.50 and you can pick them up directly from NARS.co.uk

I’m not one to lust over Loreal Skincare, but browsing a beauty magazine I hade a lot of fun playing with one of their QR codes which scans your face and tells you all about what skin tone you have.

The Loreal Skin Perfection range promises to “transform the appearance of skin quality” with tone looking more even and pores virtually undetectable. With wild statements like this I simply must at least try the Day Moisturiser.

For a very reasonable price of £9.99 I shall be picking one of these up from Boots although I may wait until -after- Christmas.

L'Oreal Paris Dermo Skin Perfection Skin Perfection Correcting Day Moisturiser 50ml

 

I’ve been swallowing feelings of envy for a while now over this pallette. Seeing a lot of our fellow beauty bloggers reviewing theBalm “Nude tude” palette, with 12 beautiful neutral colours I really really want this.

The cheapest I have found this is £26.00 from Feel Unique. Can I resist this for a few more months?

Illustration of theBalm® cosmetics NUDE 'tude™ Nude Eyeshadow Palette

Gem and I are going to a friends wedding on Saturday. (Evidence of our hen party shenanigans found here) With the theme being Red and Black, naturally my dress had to be red. After having a shoe dilemma and searching the web for a perfect match to my 50’s dress I came across these:

Iron Fist Little Lamby Polka Dot T-Bars. They retail around £44.00 definitely not an amount of money I am willing to spend on shoes right now, but I will be purchasing these as soon as I can physically justify it. (Being someone who never/rarely wears heels.)

My rubbish girl skills for walking in heels aside, look at them! They are absolutely perfect, it’s like they one day, decided they were going to make a shoe for “Pants and friends.”

Lastly, before my bank closes and ties all contact with me. O.P.I Christmas 2013 Liquid Sand editions modelled by Mariah Carey. At the very least I must have in my possession “Kiss me at midnight” and “It’s Frosty Outside” for all of my Christmas nail art fun!

Full size prices range from £11.00 but you can pick up the miniature versions in Christmas sets for about the same price.

 

Kiss Me at MidnightKiss Me at Midnight

 

So there we have it, my October and spilling rather heftily into November most wanted. Are there any things you are lusting after this time of year? Let us know!

Totally hellbent for spending all the monies on all of the shiny things

-Pants

Clothing and Fashion, Hair, Jewellery

Primark “Rock Chic” Accessory Haul!

September 30, 2013

Primark Accessories Rock Chick

I’d actually only planned on popping in to pick up some £5 fake uggs to laze about in, but I couldn’t help a tiny little look at the other bargains on offer!

Although I frown in despair when I see a fashionista sporting a bullet belt or a trvegrym band shirt that they’ve never heard of, I do love being able to pick up “alternative” accessories at high street prices!

Primark Opia bracelets

Okay so I only really wanted the black and silver spiked bracelets, but I will find some use for the others I’m sure!

£2.00

 

IMG_5697

 

Love this arrow necklace, especially with the very long chain. I bought this with idea of wearing it on stage, but I might have to watch out for how much it flails around when I’m headbanging!

£2.00

 

IMG_5702

I’ve been meaning to pick one of these up for a long time to try and make a sophisticated slick bun. Unfortunately they don’t come in blue so I settled for a black one!

£1.00

 

Primark backcombing brush

 

I’ve been rocking the big textured hair look a lot recently, so I figured it was time to finally buy a back-combing brush to reach Motley Crue esque levels of volume!

£1.00

 

IMG_5704

 

Honorable mention goes to these two scarves I picked up in poundland. I’ve paid a fortune for similar styles in the past from festivals! They’re short enough that they can double as headbands or bandannas too!

£1.00 each

 

Totally hellbent for festival-esque shinies at highstreet prices

– Gem

 

 

 

 

Clothing and Fashion, Festivals, Metal, Music

Nothing last’s forever, right?

August 26, 2013

WRONG!

First and foremost, Metal -is- forever.

With that bold impregnable statement shared, I do all that I can to preserve metal artifacts so that I may have them in my possession forever. I also collect a vast array of things to remind me of good times. Some examples include tickets and posters. (I get very annoyed when ticket people don’t give me my half of the ticket back, or I have to print out an “e-ticket”)

lastforeverlastforever3lastforever4

 

Another of my most prized possessions are my festival wristbands:

lastforever2

 

They may not look many, but on this wrist, I bear the following tribal festival marks:

  • Bloodstock Open Air 2009
  • Bloodstock Open Air 2010
  • Bloodstock Open Air 2011
  • Bloodstock Open Air 2012 (Artist wristband from our acoustic set)
  • Bloodstock Open Air 2013
  • Glastonbudget 2011 (Dakesis have played there three times now, but I only have one wristband)
  • Hammerfest V
  • Hammerfest IV
  • Hellfest 2012
  • Metalfest 2009
  • Wacken 2006
  • Wacken 2007
  • Wacken 2008
  • Wacken 2010
  • Wacken 2011
  • Wacken 2012
  • Wacken 2013

More recently, Gemma had to remove hers as she ended up with a horrible rash and she came up with the idea of putting them back on with some elastic. Since a lot of mine are nearing death I figured I would try this theory out. I hate getting mine wet which is inevitable due to the whole showering regularly and the use of many products, so I figured an additional bonus would be to remove this as I wanted.

Alas, this was a success and I have now sew elastic onto all but my Wacken bands, they are removed easily and the only problem I had was the fight with the very temperamental sewing machine.

wristband1So when you are sad that your bands are falling off, because other festivals just haven’t taken the hint from Wacken and still use those stupid plastic ends, do not fear – elastic is here!

Totally hellbent for festival wristbands

-Pants

 

 

 

Clothing and Fashion, Jewellery

Shirley Carnival Spoils!

July 14, 2013

A large part of my job as the co-owner of a part time music school involves hanging around at carnivals, fetes and other community events promoting the joys of learning music, so of course I take up every opportunity I can to peruse the plethora of craft, jewellery, organic and plant stalls that often crop up at such events!

Yesterday was Shirley Carnival and it was blisteringly hot so I only had one quick sprint around, however there were three shiny treasure (or jewellery to those without a magpie-esque addiction to all things shimmery!) stalls and I bought something from each of them!

Not only did I get the lovely feeling from supporting other small business owners but i also got a massive bargain on all counts.

Flower earrings £2.00

Pandora-esque bracelets (a blue one for me and a red one for Amie too of course!) £1.50 each

Blue flower pin £3.50

shirly carnival earings Shirly carnival spoils bracelets Shirly carnival spoils scarf pin

 

So, yes, obviously they aren’t going to look very suitable with a Gorgoroth shirt, but I’ll definitely be indulging my girly side to team them with a few summer dresses (whilst listening to Gorgorth)

Totally hellbent for summery costume jewellery!

– Gem

Clothing and Fashion, Festivals

The tardis festival bag.

July 11, 2013

I do enjoy hand bags of all varieties – although mostly ones that are red and full of pockets for me to store all sorts of things in. Years ago, however, my sole reliance was on my backpack which is sadly dying the death of overused, overfilled and overworn.

At festivals, you need something that you can have on your back or over your shoudler, that is going to remain attached to you even when intoxicated. The sort of bag that does not require effort to carry or hold – like your average woman’s “shoulder handbag”.

My first year at Wacken in 2006 was where I invested in my new, universal, festival/all rounder metal bag which has served me well and keeps on giving the gift of practicality, space and the ability to fill with patches!!

Unlike my backpack, if I want to indulge in some headbanging wherever I am, I don’t have to take my bag off and put it on the floor, it remains attached to me over my head and resting on my shoulder.

Despite it’s size, I can fit a lot of stuff in there too!

  • Purse
  • Phone
  • Handwash
  • Keys
  • Separate purse for euros
  • A t-shirt (for new purchases)
  • A drink
  • (as well as tobacco, filters, life time supply of rizzla and lighters when I was a smoker)

I can also attach shopping bags to it as the handle “clips on” so in times of heavy intoxication, I always arrive at the tent with all new shinies, and the entire contents of my bag. I’ve noticed over the years that other people have jumped on the wagon with these and they seem to be a popular choice for the avid female festival goer.

Alas, here is mine … and an example of just some of the things I can get into it!

 

tardisbag

 

Above, with more than ample room for keys/passport/plastic cups etc, I comfortably fit my very large purse, a bottle of water, hand wipes, alcohol gel, sun cream and a t-shirt! Some of the essentials for festival life.

So there you have it –
Completely hellbent for practical bag space!

– Pants