Collection 2000 The Smokey Eye Palette Quick Review

Bad, bad blogger.

I have been completely rushed off my feet lately, with my crazy unpredictable schedule, a lot of sorting out to do and worrying because Mr Fish still hasn't found a job and we are needing/wanting to move to our own place ASAP.

I know things will eventually get there, but it takes a while and a hella lot of headaches I can tell you!

Apart from that, I am absolutely LOVING my job, I am so happy there! The ideal thing for me would be to move to a more Make-up/Skin care oriented role at Boots, but for now I am very happy just getting little "whiffs" of different roles in the shop: pharmacy, beauty counters, perfume, customer assistant... Getting a load of extra hours covering for other people means every week is different and never boring. It just takes a while to get used to and some weeks I hardly get a break, last week I only got one day off and tomorrow and the next day I'm doing 12 hour shifts! 

As for blogging, unfortunately it has become a bit of a background priority but never forgotten! I still try and catch up with all your gorgeous blogs quickly before I go to bed, even if I don't have the time to comment!

I really do miss it though, and must get back on the horse, as they say!

I just wanted to quickly point out a great recent purchase of mine that I have been using everyday. The Collection 2000 The Smokey Eye Palette is freaking awesome and cheap as chips!

I have been lusting after the infamous Naked II Palette but seeing as it retails for 36£ I think I have to put that one on hold. In the meantime I spotted this little baby at Boots and for just 4,19£ it was impossible to resist!

The colours are all very wearable, extremely pigmented for such a cheap palette and amazingly long lasting! I was amazed by this because usually eyeshadows will crease and fade during the day, especially without a primer so when I got home from work the other day and checked the mirror, there it was - perfect! I even took a picture for blogging/reviewing purposes.

I am really enjoying being creative and experimenting with these eyeshadows as they're dead easy to mix and match! 

I fully recommend investing in this palette, it's also excellent for beginners and as a good alternative for those who can't afford the higher end ones!

I'll try and post a few FOTD using this palette to show you the different shades, but as you can guess the colours range between browns, blacks, nudes and light colours for highlighting. A couple of them are shimmery but without being outrageously so.

By the way, the mascara I'm using is the No.7 Fanomenal Lashes I had blogged about before, I love it!

Thanks for reading guys, and thanks for being patient with me! x

Long time, no post!

I haven't forgotten about you guys!

I have been so busy with work lately, I was only contracted to work 5 hours on a Sunday but have been doing every extra hours I can get my paws on and have been working practically full time for the last couple of weeks - lucky me!

I am really enjoying working at Boots, my colleagues are so nice, I love interacting with the public and just being around all that make-up and beauty products all day makes me happy! Yes, I have a degree in Pharmacy but am not working as a pharmacist yet (because it will take a while to sort the fact my degree was completed in Portugal). However I am lucky enough to be able to work most days at the Healthcare counter so in the meantime I am, to a certain extent, using my knowledge there :)

I feel like a totally different person now, more independent and overall just feeling like life is gradually sorting itself out. I was getting a bit desperate - firstly not being able to get a job in Portugal, and now all the adapting process after having moved to the UK. Mr.Fish is job-hunting, and we're already looking at places to rent, so it is all falling into place - slowly!

As it happens this week now I wasn't given that many extra hours at work, which is a shame, but I'm working Thursday and Friday (and obviously Sunday) so that's better than nothing and at least I'll be able to sort other things out like looking at houses to rent.

I'll keep you posted and I'll probably blog this week since I have plenty of time. In the meantime I'll leave you with a couple of pics I took via the Webcam Toy google chrome app. If you have Google Chrome I fully recommend you download this app, it's free and fun to use. You can add loads of effects to your webcam pics and load them instantly to facebook or twitter if you want.

I literally took these pictures 5 minutes ago, and after a few attempts managed to get a decent one of Marley - bless. For those of you that don't know, I'm blind as a bat without my contact lenses so at the end of the day I have to pop this not so fashionable pair of glasses on (just like every other hipster out there I'm wanting the nerdy ray-ban wayfarer ones).

Taking off my lenses is on par with putting on pijamas and ditching the bra... just heaven after a day at work!

No.7 Fanomenal Lashes Mascara

I have been a bit absent these last couple of days because I've been a busy busy bee, with my training at my new job and just generally solving a few bureaucratic issues regarding us moving to the U.K. (i.e. trying to get a N.I. number - a real pain in the behind, but fingers crossed it should be all resolved next week).

I am so happy I am finally working, albeit it being only a part time job, but it's keeping me busy and it's always a few more pennies in our pocket at the end of the month. I am really enjoying my training period so far, it can be quite daunting at times but all new beginnings are really and you just have to push through it and learn from the experience. In the long-run it's so gratifying and it provides you so much self-growth.

With that little bit of motivational speaking I'm moving on to the main purpose of this post, to talk about a very exciting launch I'm dying to try out! I'm still keeping to my spending lock-down and am not buying anything now for a while. 
However I can still blog about the things I'm lusting for and put them into my little virtual wish list now can't I?

No.7 is proudly presenting their most recent product - a very promising mascara. It has a funny looking wand but has received tonnes of positive reviews already and I'm really itching  to try this out!

On the Boots website it says:

Introducing Fanomenal Lashes, the revolutionary new mascara from No7.

The unique 'star' brush is made up of clever cogs which load and comb through the lashes to volumise, lengthen and separate, creating a spectacular fan of lashes.

It's hypoallergenic and doesn't contain any fibers that can be irritating to the eyes. 

You can buy the No.7 Fanomenal Lashes at Boots and it retails at 12.95£. 

At the moment when you purchase this mascara you get 5£ worth of Advantage Card points, so that's a big plus.

How about you, have you tried this mascara out, or are you wanting to?

*Balance Me* Moisture Rich Face Cream WIMH free try

Remember when I told about this great site - What's in my handbag - where you find about beauty trends by peeking through other people's handbags? And that you can register for a free try each week and they then send you a lovely personal packaged item if you're selected? If not, take a look here at my older post explaining all about it.

This past week's try was a Balance Me Moisture Face Cream (10ml) and it even came in a sweet little drawstring bag, I was chuffed when I got it in the mail a few days ago.

The cream has a lovely texture and is really moisturizing. It smells of roses, and I'm usually not really a fan of that scent, but I've been sent so many rose scented products lately that I'm actually warming up to it more and more!

Balance Me is a "natural, high-performance, paraben and sulphate free, aromatherapy skincare products, made in the UK" and has been raved about  in several magazines lately, like Red and Glamour. 

I personally love anything claiming to be natural origin or organic, especially if the the product is good and smells nice. My only thing to pick at with this moisturizer is that there's no SPF in it, for me that's a very important factor when choosing a daily moisturizer. Apart from that, very very pleased and shall be looking further into Balance Me products soon.

This try has ended, but now for grabs on WIMH is a Jurlique Rose Hand Cream (rose again, I really am going to end up loving this scent, you'll see!), so give it a go and register on What's in my handbag for a chance to win a lovely high-end sample totally gratis.

Click here to get your free try.

Also I just remembered, Glamour Magazine is offering a Balance Me product with their July Magazine, so keep an eye open for that!

Now for those of you that follow me on Twitter, you probably already know my good news. I went for an interview last week (quite intense I must say, but it went very well actually) and they called me today offering me the job! I am so so happy, I can't even tell you. 

Ok, it's only a part-time job but it's a start! Baby steps, as they say.

You know you're getting old...

...when you suddenly need reading glasses!

It's the boyf's 28th birthday today and this was the "card" I made for him, courtesy of Sir Marlington looking very dashing for the occasion :)!

How 'bout this lovely weather, hey?

I never thought I'd get weather like this in the U.K.! Why didn't anybody tell us? There we were, missing Portugal and being jealous of friends and family that were getting lovely sunshine and going to the beach.

Imagine my surprise when all of a sudden (it really was, wasn't it?) I went from boots to flip-flops!

Well, with such beautiful beaches right at our doorstep, we didn't have to think much about what we were going to do this weekend.

I didn't quite muster up the courage to actually go in the water, no matter how lovely it looked, because I must say - it's much chillier than in Portugal! Baby steps...

So what were you all up to this weekend? I'm sure you were enjoying this good weather too, hm?

By the way, this is Runkerry Beach in Portballintrae, right near the Giant's Causeway.. Lovely isn't it?

This really isn't fair.

I really am trying to avoid noticing my portuguese friends' statuses on facebook saying how they had a lovely day at the beach this weekend and how today at 9h30 in the morning it reached 34 degrees. 

My desktop also is kind enought to remind me of the slight diference in temperatures.

Meanwhile Mr.Fish and I got blown away by gailforce winds and hailstone whilst atempting to have a nice bike ride in the morning. We were not successful.

I did however purchase a Piz Buin Gradual Tan Face Moisturizer a couple of days ago. Since I can't have the real deal, might as well fake it, hey?

It's the little things, really

There's something really conforting about tea and scones. 

Boy I sure missed this when I was in Portugal.

Here's a resolution for this year: learn how to make scones. In fact, be a better cook and learn to bake, period. Even if it's just so I can post all my lovely creations on my blog. Certainly something to think about.

Now I better get back to curling up with Marley and reading my book... *I'm lazy and I know it*

New Beginnings

I know I have a lot to make up for my loooong absence in the blogosphere... But I just came to say the time has finally come! Mr.Fish and I are officially moving to Northern Ireland this following Saturday, we are driving over with our cat Marley and a chock-a-block car! It has been the most caotic and overwhelming couple of months, full of hard decisions and goodbyes.. but the wait is over and we are moving on with our lives on to a -hopefully- happier and more fulfilling future!

So once we are settled I promise I shall go back to writing, as I miss it so...

Love to you all x 

Things I'm lovin' at the moment ❤

Hello girls!

So I'm finally blogging about a topic that is very overdue, I've been wanting to do this post for AGES!

So here goes...

The things I'm absolutely loving at the moment are:

• The Hunger Games! 

I hope you all know what this is about, if not, go and find out, buy the books and get hooked ASAP, please! I lovelovelove this brilliant trilogy, I hadn't been hooked like this on a series of books since Harry Potter! Also, the movie is coming out on the 23rd of March - so hurry - if you want to know what all the hype is about before the film comes out you'd better read the first book quick! (I read it so fast I felt so guilty afterwards for shortening the whole pleasure of it!)

And here's the trailer:

• Biotin capsules.

 I am taking a 5000 mcg biotin capsule a day as a food suplement for overall hair and skin health, after reading millions of reviews raving about it on the internet. After thoroughly combing through the reviews and figuring out if there were any side effects (turns out it's completely safe) I decided to give biotin a go. I ordered it from Amazon.uk, since I couldn't find it in ANY shops in Portugal or in the U.K.

Biotin is basically vitamin B7 and it's responsible for normal growth and body function. Biotin deficiency is rare because, in general, intestinal bacteria produce biotin in excess of the body's daily requirements. For that reason, statutory agencies in many countries, do not prescribe a recommended daily intake of biotin and I suppose that's the reason why it's not a very commonly sold supplement over here or the U.K.

Biotin promotes normal immunity and plays a critical role in skin and hair health, and this is the main reason why so many people are raving about this supplement. They claim that their hair and nails were growing fast like never before, stronger and healthier looking.

So I've been taking 1 capsule a day for almost a month now and I can honestly notice a huge difference on my hair growth already! Not to mention my nails are stronger and don't break or chip as easily.

My hair is very fine and has never been longer than just below my shoulders. We musn't forget everyone has a "maximum length" that their hair can reach, so there's no point wishing that it will grow longer than that point. The thing is my hair has been abused beyond reason the past few years, with all the bleaching, hair extensions, blow drying and whatnot, so now that I'm being kind to my hair, cutting all the dreadful dry ends, abolishing all heat aplliances and letting it grow back to its natural colour, I'm trying to figure out if it actually CAN grow longer and healthier, without it breaking at the ends. With the aid of Biotin, I can already see a great improvement. A friend of mine that hadn't seen me in weeks commented on how long my hair is.

Picture taken in December

1 month later (excuse the stupid face and the shot glass in hand)

I'll keep taking the supplement and I'll keep you posted on any developments.

• 9gag and Pinterest.

Not much to say, other than that I'm on these two websites more than I'm proud of. I'm kind of addicted to the wonderful world of pinning great fashion and beauty tips, decor and wedding ideas,cute pics, and much much more to my very own virtual boards. I'm also hooked on 9gag, a site where my mood is instantly lifted after reading a couple of hilarious posts. 

• My Little Pony. 

Yes, I'm hooked on the My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic cartoons. Don't laugh. It all started when I was browsing on 9gag and there was a post about men that enjoy watching My little pony, and are proud of it. They call themselves "bronys" and use expressions like "Welcome to the herd" and "I'm gonna love and tolerate the crap out of you!".

According to the "Urban Dictionary":

Brony

A name typically given to the male viewers/fans (whether they are straight, gay, bisexual, etc.) of the My Little Pony show or franchise. They typically do not give in to the hype that males aren't allowed to enjoy things that may be intended for females. While generally associated with a negative stereotype by outsiders, due to it's former 80's frilly girly-girl twinkle-toed tea-parties and all-female main casting, bronies are attracted to the new show by it's good animation, acting, writing, and humor.

So obviously I was curious WHY on earth would a bunch of men actually really enjoy watching a girls' cartoon. So I went to youtube, searched for episodes and decided to give it a go. The episodes are only 20 minutes long, I like cartoons and cute stuff so how bad could it be??

Turns out not only is it sooooooo cute, it's also incredibly funny and entertaining! The characters are fantastic, each having complex personalities, with virtues and flaws and each episode teaches us an important lesson about friendship.

Long story short, I'm a brony now? Bronette? Pegasister! That's what they call us grown women that enjoy MLP. :)

If you're interested on "joining the herd" or simply figuring out what the hell I'm talking about, click here for the YouTube chanel.

• Once Upon a Time

This TV show by ABC that centers on a woman with a troubled past who is drawn into a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real.

All I can say is that it's brilliant! I love that you get a deeper understanding of all our childhood fairytale characters like Snow White, Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin, Hansel and Grettel, Little Red Riding Hood and many more... their stories of their pasts intertwined with the present, modern day. Watch it, now!

Hope you enjoyed this super duper long post!

Take care, xx

Big Changes!

Hello girls! 

So sorry to have been missing for a while now... With our trip to Northern Ireland for Christmas, then me falling ill near new years' and having to postpone our return flight (bloody norovirus!), all in all 2012 had a bit of a rough start and  didn't have the energy to blog. 

But it's not all doom and gloom, another reason why I've not been around as much is that Mr.Fish and I have been thinking a lot these past few weeks, about our future and how dificult our situation has become here in Portugal. There are no jobs, everything is getting more expensive and well... we all know our global economic situation so there's no point going into that. But one thing is for sure: Portugal is definitely worse than the U.K., and we've been going over and over the topic until we came to the conclusion.. it's time we move to England.

Yes, one of our 2012 Resolutions is moving to the U.K.! I am so happy and excited now that we have a goal, an objective, something concrete that's going to happen and I'm sure that even though it will be tough to begin with, it will bring us so many good things! I've been looking into all the things we have to do prior to our move, and we have a lot of work ahead of us:

- Save up!! (yeah, as if we haven't been trying already!!It's so hard to even get by, let alone save.) For this I have to get some sort of a job, at a supermarket or something.. and as sad as it sounds, I'm handing out C.V.'s that DON'T mention my degree in Pharmacy because overwhise they simply don't accept me! I guess they think that with me being a graduate, they will have to pay me more? Anyway I'm confident that this way SOMEONE will take me and we will be able to save some money to help us move.

-Sort out the cats. Prior to January 2012, all animals going into the U.K. had to go through a lenghty process of quarantine (6 months) but I was thrilled to find out that now all we have to do is microchip them and get their rabies vaccines. Then all we have to do is wait 21 days and they're ready to go! That's a huge relief, not to mention how cheaper it will be.

-Look out for jobs for us, in my case preferably to do with Pharmacy. I'm looking into Boot's "New to the U.K." programme, where they help pharmacists from the E.U. get settled in the U.K. and start working with them. Fingers crossed!

-English lessons for Mr.Fish! He really is not that bad, he understands most of what we're saying, it's just he doesn't feel confident enough yet and is terrified of moving without feeling more at ease with the language. So we're having "Only English Days" here at home, where all I do is speak English with him and pretend I don't understand anything he says to me if he dares to reply in Portuguese! Poor sod. :)

-Sell the cars. It's not like they're worth mega bucks, on the contrary. My little Ford Ka was about 1000£ and is 13 years old. But hey, everything helps!

So... I'll keep you posted and hopefully in a few months I'll actually be, geographically speaking, closer to most of you! 

xx

Get to know you TAG

I saw this on Rachael's lovely blog - Island Girl Insights, and instantly knew I had to do it too! I now tag everyone who's interested on completing this questionnaire, leave me your link if you do!

Vital Statistics:

*Name - Gabriela

*Nicknames - Gabby, Gabz, Gabby-loo

*Birthday - 12th October

*Place of Birth - Faro, Portugal

*Zodiac Sign - Libra

*Male or Female - Female

*Occupation - Unemployed *sob*!

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Appearance:

*Hair Colour - Mousey Brown but coloured darker at the moment

*Hair Length - Just below the shoulders... and I'm desperate for it to grow looonger!

*Eye Colour - Brown (Chestnut)

*Best Feature - Eyes I guess... although I wish I had blue eyes like my mum!

*Height - 5'10"

*Braces - Never had them, but will next year (I'm on a waiting list)

*Glasses -I am very short sighted and would be lost without my contacts. I have a pair of glasses that I wear mostly at home although they're nothing like the Harry Potterish ones I was forced to wear throughout my childhood!

*Piercings - Ears, bellybutton and used to have a nose piercing but took it out recently. 

*Tattoos - None but I also wouldn't rule out ever getting one

*Righty of Lefty - Right!

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Your "Firsts":

*First Best Friend - I would have to say Irina in primary school, but we lost touch.

*First Award - 2nd place in a race when I was in primary school, lol

*First Sport You Joined - Ballet (wish I hadn't dropped out!)

*First Real Vacation - France when I was about 11 to go to EuroDisney

*First Concert - I think it was some Portuguese boyband!

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Favourites:

*Movie - So many favs... Here are just a few: Love Actually, Fantasia (Disney old old movie), The Nightmare before Christmas, The Longest Yard...

*TV Show - This is even worst, I love SO MANY tv shows... Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, New Girl, Pretty Little Liars, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Spartacus, The Vampire Diaries...

*Colour - Pink of course!

*Song - Beautiful Mess by Jason Mraz...cos it's our music ♥

*Candy - Chocolateeeeeeeee

*Restaurant - Taco & Tequilla (Mexican)

*Store - Boots! (we don't have it in Portugal so everytime I go over to the UK Boots is like my little Aladdin's Cave!)

*Book - I've read so many great books but I'm not embarrassed to admit that the Harry Potter saga is probably my favourite read ever!

*Magazine - I'm not that much of a mag reader, but once in a while I'll pick up a girly one like Cosmo...especially if it bears freebies!

*Shoes - Flip-Flops in the Summer, Ugg-ish boots in Winter, Heels to go out

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Currently:

*Feeling - Sluggish and hungry, woke up and still in bed on computer

*Single or Taken - Almost 2 years with Mr.Fish now!

*Eating - I finished my hot chocolate ages ago and am starving

*Listening to - my cats scratching at my bedroom door

*Thinking about - Cleaning that has to be done

*Wanting - the 24th to come quickly so we can fly to Northern Ireland for Xmas and hopefully see some snow!!

*Watching - my pc screen

*Wearing - PJ top and ... knickers? I don't wear that much in bed, lol!

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Future:

*Want children? -  At least 2! (We'd have them now if our financial situation was stable..)

*Want to be married - Yes yes yes! Hopefully soon 

*Careers in mind - Pharmacist

*Where do you want to live - my 2nd home : England (my family lives there and it's where my mum was born and raised. I've been to visit more times than I can remember and love it)

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Do You Believe In:

*God - Yes. I think we all believe in something bigger than ourselves. Some call it God, others have other names. 

*Miracles -  I suppose so

*Love at first sight - Yeah

*Ghosts - Oh yeah.. have a very open mind about all that

*Aliens - We can't be the only ones out there, can we?

*Soul Mates - Definitely

*Heaven - Yep

*Hell - Hmm.. not really

*Kissing on the first date - If it feels right, go for it!

*Yourself - I try to, most days it's a battle!

♥

A nice haul coming up...!

Hi there lovelies! I know I've been MIA for a few days, I blame it on the lack of excitement in my life.

I've got to get out of this rut, it's killing me. No job, no money, just stuck at home all day. Bo-ring. 

Not to mention most days I just feel completely demotivated and uninspired! 

I really hope things change for us soon. 

Anyway, my mum is coming over for a bit of a holiday next week, since it's my birthday on the 12th so that shall be a bit of a pleasant change. I'll have some company and will be able to go out a bit more and have fun. 

Also - my dear mum is bringing me some goodies and you know what that means... Product reviews and FOTD's! Yay! 

What were my uk requests? : 

  Cosmetics 

-Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara

You know I'm a sucker for mascaras - can't get enough of them!

- Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick in #8

- Garnier Skin Perfector Daily All-In-One BB Blemish Balm Cream in Medium. 

Really looking forward to this! 

And a bunch of things from Avon, I shall show you my Avon haul as soon as I get it! 

Books (they're SO much cheaper in the UK) 

-Feel the Fear and do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers 

-The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham 

-The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle 

-One Day by David Nicholls 

Others 

-Antistax. For my tired legs and to prevent varicose veins - I have plenty of them already unfortunately :(

-Wassen Silica Ok tablets Supplement to help maintain healthy hair

-Boots Multivitamins with Iron. Basic daily multivitamin supplement with extra iron since I'm a vegetarian

 -Tea Bags!. I need my supply of english tea, thank you very much!

On a different note, my mother has just informed me (and posted it on her facebook wall for everyone to see) that she has just had her bellybutton pierced. I can only imagine that she is going through a second (or is it a third? I've lost count) midlife crisis. This, the vivid pink hair she had once, and the rose tattoo she's planning on having done (or butterfly, in case the latter wasn't unoriginal enough) on her back are just a few examples of my mum's madness. Gotta love her anyway.