Where Art Thou Mr. Eyebrow Pencil?

My biggest peeve in life has to be losing one of my daily makeup stables as you don’t ever realize you’ve lost it until you are running late for work or a night out.

I checked the usual places. Behind my typewriter, underneath my makeup storage, underneath my vanity table and in my makeup brushes and pencils but I just couldn’t find the damn eyebrow pencil!!!!

So after going around for the better part of last week with wonky and slightly surprised looking eyebrows and then deciding to wear bangs so they cover my forehead and brows so that no one can see my brows, I finally caved in and went to the MAC store to make a repurchase . . . and would you believe the SAME DAY I buy my replacement pencil, I find the original in a random bag I used over the weekend!!!!!

What the FRICK???!!!

I KNOW it had to have been hiding in there all undercover spy on a mission because I could swear that I checked that bag like a gazillion times but oh well guess it never hurts to have a backup.

Don’t you just hate it when you lose something, make a repurchase and then immediately find the original like I’ve done? Absolutely grinds my gears

continue reading "Where Art Thou Mr. Eyebrow Pencil?"

How Much Does It Cost To Be A Beauty Blogger?

Over the weekend, I read an article published by the Independent Fahion Bloggers  entitled ‘How Much Does It Cost To Be A Fashion Blogger?’ and while it was an interesting read, I thought the author would probably be a naked blogger because she really only touched on the initial start-up cost of blogging and not the running costs, so I thought that I should follow the theme of this article but share how much it personally costs  me to be a beauty blogger.

Camera: Fujifilm HS20 EXR = £299

While some bloggers prefer to use a point and shoot camera or a DSLR to take their photos, I’ve decided to use a bridge camera. I felt that it was the best option for me as I didn’t want to part with £500 odd pounds to buy a camera I had no clue how to use.

I originally bought my camera for about £250 off Amazon and I absolutely love it (even though I am thinking of buying an upgrade by Christmas). With my HS20 I’ve learnt a lot about aperture, shutter speed, lighting, depth of field, etc and honestly I love it and it works really well for what I use it for.

Rechargeable Batteries = £30

I own 8 rechargeable batteries with 2 chargers . . well I'm meant to have 2 chargers but I can't seem to find one of them. My camera runs on batteries, some people might have some that don't but if you do I would recommend you shell out on a set of rechargeable batteries as they will save you time and money in the future.

Memory Cards= £30

I go through Memory cards like crazy as I am always losing them or they break!!! I just broke my 16gb, lost my 8gb and now on a silly 4gb that I have offload my pictures from every week . .  very stressful!!.

SmartPhone: Iphone 4 - £35 a month

I agree with the point made in the original article that life as a blogger is made SIGNIFICANTLY easier if you have a smartphone. Apps like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram adds to your blog presence and also helps keeps you connected and interactions fairly neat.

I have had my iPhone 4 for about a year now, as I got it as a mini present for myself for my 21^st birthday and love it!!! There are other phones out there but my iPhone is my baby.

Moo Mini Cards: £20

When you go to a few events, you will notice sooner than later than you need a business card for your blog. Scribbling out your blog and contact details on a piece of paper can be very time consuming when networking.

I got my business card for Moo.com and I just love how cute their mini-cards are, plus I bought their mini-card holder (in a pretty pink) and attached this to my camera strap so I don’t ever forget to take my cards with me.

Travel:  £10 for a return journey

This cost really applies regardless of where you live, if you are going to a brand event or blogger social you will have to travel from your house to the event location and that my loves will cost  you.

Before I started by job and bought myself a year’s travel pass (which I use 7 days out of 7), I had to get around on either a London weekly travelcard which cost £40 (yh that much for a week) or use the pay–as-you-go option which I think cost anything between £2.60 to £10 for a return journey which quickly starts to add up if you have to leave your house more than once in a week.

iPad Connector:- £7

Some might ask why the hell to do you have this? It makes viewing the pictures I take on my camera a lot easier as I get to blow up the pics, check their sharpness, send it to my various apps, email it around, upload it to my dropbox etc etc etc without ever having to go onto my computer.

It just is my little middle man of blogging.

Dropbox Account: Free

I would recommend dropbox to ANYONE!!! It’s somewhere you can save all your pictures and data and receive it anyway. With the dropbox app I upload my pictures and can instantly download on my phone, iPad. Netbook, Work computer, my Aunt’s computer in Nigeria. . . . I just do it as it saves me having to panic looking for a USB

Experimenting: £70

This is probably a cost that is very much dependent on the blogger but over the last year I have bought and experimented with using studio lights, light boxes and wallpapers/stones/mirrors as backgrounds just to get my pictures to look clearer and visually appeasing. Blogging is a learning process and you ARE going to experiment with props and equipment to find out what works for you and your picture/video taking style.

The first post I made over a year ago and a post I made last week on my blog look nothing alike. You probably can’t even tell that the same person took these photos because I keep learning, experimenting and adjusting and I can tell you right now I will keep experimenting and I doubt my blog will look like this in a years time.

Makeup Budget:- £150

I generally have a large budget for beauty (which I always go over) because I buy what I know or think will work for me, and honestly the majority of what I use is not that cheap.

My budget might seem a tad bit excessive to some people but the fact of the matter is that I blog because I like beauty AND the added fact that I am dark skinned living in the UK means that I generally have to spend between £20-£30 just for a foundation as my shade is not generally stocked in Highstreet/Drugstores so if I don’t want a foundation that makes me look orange or ashy, I have to part with the cash.

WOC in the UK don’t really have the luxury of stepping into any random Boots or Superdrug and knowing that your skin shade will be there, half the time it is sold out with a manky tester bottle showing you where your shade should (but never is) be.

Time: Fricking PRICELESS!!!!

Blogging is like a job.

I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of time I have stayed up til 2-3am editing pictures just so I can post it the next day when I know I have to be up at 6am to go to work or  trying to compose the opening paragraph to a sentence on my lunch break or (my favourite) waking up at 5/6am on a Saturday to do housework so I can have the freedom to spend hours taking 30 pictures of a single product only to put 3 pictures on a blog post.

Blogging takes up a lot of your time, and honestly you could be doing something else. Any blogger who has done this long enough will tell you that blogging sucks into your personal time but I do it because I love it (and a good concealer will hide the lack of sleep.)

Total Cost (Give or Take):-  £621 with an estimated monthly running cost of £185

I am aware that a lot of people think that beauty bloggers get a lot of stuff free but generally what you can receive are not products that you would necessarily go out of your way to buy and might not even be great for your skin shade or skin type, so if you want to be a beauty blogger and you think you are going to be showered with free stuff every week for you to try out . . . re-examine this.

continue reading "How Much Does It Cost To Be A Beauty Blogger?"

Hilarious . . . . Non??

Hi everyone, today’s post is very impromptu and being drafted straight from my office computer on my lunch break, so I apologise if there are a few more spelling mistakes that normal but I really wanted to pen down my thoughts on this before something comes up and I never get round to it.

As a blogger, I am always keeping tracks on my stats, referring URLs, and keywords so I can always track what is going on with my blog, what topics my readers enjoy and what are not really as popular. While finishing up my most recent post on Keziah Connections Event, I noticed that my overall blog stats had jumped by about 1000 views in 3 hours and (unfortunately) this is not really normal. A quick scan of my keywords and referring URLs showed up a lot of traffic from Reddit.com, which I found very odd as I have never used Reddit and I don’t even have an account on their site.

Roughly 5/7 hours ago, a troll stole a picture I posted 2 weeks ago on a fake injury makeup shoot I did on an actor called Kassidy Chaplin and led people to believe that he was a black man who had been beaten and mugged by young black teenagers and he was having an identity crisis and considering becoming racist towards people of his own race (Click here for the reddit link)

 

At first, I thought this was HILARIOUS as while I am proud of my work and I knew that the fake black eye, swelling and bruising was good . . . but DAMN, I didn’t think it was THAT good!! Anyway, I started scrolling through the 300+ comments on Reddit and I quickly became horrified on what the troll was doing with a piece of my work. He (I’m assuming it’s a he) was literally creating a racial fire and conning people into sending him free clothes as his clothes were ‘allegedly’ destroyed by the black teenagers who beat him up.

I’m just horrified!!!

People, good Samaritans, were giving him emails and worse still were sharing their stories of when a similar experience happen to them, trying to counsel this sick, twisted b*****d

I am so upset and disgusted that someone would use my work in this way but whoever discovered this troll and exposed his con.

A BIG THANK YOU FROM ME!!!!

continue reading "Hilarious . . . . Non??"

Let's make Joseph Kony more Famous that the Simpsons!!!!

I am not an Activist.


But honestly, you don't need to be an activist to hear about something and know in your gut that it's wrong and want to bring awareness to the cause to bring about Change.

Picture Source: Invisible Children Facebook Page

Kony is conducting crimes against humanity for no other purpose than to increase his own power. He is tearing apart families, communities and a country apart for his own selfish and conceited reasons. The thought that him and his Lord's Resistance Army would kidnap little kids, give them a gun and force them to kill or mutilate their own families is just . . . . I honestly just can't seem to understand the twisted mechanics behind this.

When watching this video, I was beyond words and had to keep starting and stopping the video because I felt it was just too overwhelming. I can't express how angry and disgusted I am that he has been allowed to do this practically unchallenged for so long!! 30 YEARS! 30,000 Children! What the Hell!!!! 


The depth of the psychological damage that these children, adults and country have had to suffer, and will continue to suffer for many years to come as a result of this CRIMINAL'S immoral actions is just difficult to comprehend.


I am not going to drag this post on for too long, all I can say is spread the awareness and support.


Join the Invisible Children Facebook Page, Sign their Pledge, Make a Donation, Post a status, make a tweet, even make a Blog post or a Youtube video . . Just do something!! Joseph Kony must be stopped and 2012 is the year to do it.

continue reading "Let's make Joseph Kony more Famous that the Simpsons!!!!"

Epiphannie A in Nigeria - Episode 1

As you can guess from the video I posted earlier, my flight to Nigeria has been the most nightmarish situation I can actually remember having with an airline and airport. Turns out.I missed out on a key key events which my mum was quick to point out (as well as the fact that the camera had cut off the top of my head *picky lady*), so I thought I should do this quick post re-highlighting every thing that happened *again*

1) The Cab
The cab driver was late but not only was he late but he had convinced himself that he was on the right road and outside the right door, when in reality he was on the wrong road and outside the wrong door and nowhere near my house. He had two sat-navs that were telling him two completely different things so how on earth he every got anywhere on time is beyond me loooool. He didn't really know where Heathrow was and wanted us to go long way there when there was a quicker and easier way to get there

Anyway we got stuck in traffic and the cab journey that as only meant to take an hour max. took us almost 2 and a half hours *stress!!!* but we finally got to Heathrow and innocently thought that our main drama was over, done and dusted but in reality, our nightmare was only just beginning.

2) Arik Airways and Heathrow
Soooooo we get to our check in gate in Heathrow and find out that we have to queue and tag ourselves. We didnt really get any information on to why, I just assumed that their thing was broken but anyway we ended up in one queue for an hour and a half, just to be told at the end of the queue we had to get into another queue to check in. We were flabbergasted!!! By this time it was 9pm and our flight was at 9.45pm so we just were not impressed, so my mum had a few "choice" words with a member of staff who rudely told her that she should have been here earlier (which was a bit of a slap in the face considering we had had problems with the cab, been stuck in traffic and just been in a pointless queue for an hour). Anyway we just were not impressed and long story short they opened up an express queue for our flight, so we checked in, went through security and ran for our gate (which wasn't even open)

Now all we wanted to get on our flight relax, have a nap and take off safely

yeeaaaahhhh . . . . It didn't work out exactly like that

3)Arik's Customer Service SUCKS!!!

Yhh . . . I think you get the point I'm trying to make with this subheading loooool. The airhostess/airhost all looked devoid of life, manky and soooo sloppy. The airhostess that covered my section was the rudest b***h EVER!!!! She had NO manners, NO positivity and a MAJOR attitude problem. I think my flight would honestly have been made worse if I had to deal with just her for the whole of the journey but luckily her co-worker balanced her out with his bubbliness and humour. The safety procedures were a shambles. Sooo uncoordinated and unsynced. The person who was on the tannoy had a serious talking problem and they only had 20 blankets for the whole flight so because my mum and sister had a blanket I had to use my wool scarf as a replacement blanket.

The flight wasn't all bad . .in Arik's defense, they have the best airplane food I've ever had, and that's saying something as I normally refuse to eat airplane food as it tastes soo horrible, not even a boat load of salt, pepper and nandos sauce can rectify it.

4) Nigerian's are borderline Crooks
I know Nigeria generally have a bad reputation when it comes to crime, *Im hearing silent sniggers of 419 right now* but I don't think it really registered til I got off the Arik flight in Abuja. We had to get a connecting flight from Abuja to Lagos but had to make our way from the international airport to the local airport (which we didn't know at the time, we assumed the flights would be in the same place), now we hadn't changed any money yet and only had max N1000 (roughly £4/£5) changed and the lady at the info desk told us that it should only cost us N1000 to get to the local airport. We are so lucky that she told us that because when we got to the cab station/ airport carpark when the cab drivers heard our accents they nicely tried to bump up the price to like N1500/N2000 *419ERS (¬_¬)* BUT my mum bargained them down like a true Nigerian looooool but that was just crime 1.

Crime 2 happened when we got to the local airport, we found that the local people or guys or parking attendants or valets or whatever they called themselves had rounded up all the trolleys in the airport and were CHARGING us to get a trolley from them. How on earth do you want me to pay for something that's meant to be free??? WTF!!!! As you can guess we were just not impressed about that but then a nice person gave us some money from a trolley but I think I was in the foulest mood at this point I can't even remember if the person was a male or female looooooool

Crime 3 is probably the one that nearly pushed us over the edge. The local airport had reduced their luggage allowance to 20kg . . . and I dont mean 20kg per suitcase . . . I mean 20kg per PERSON! I don't think you can understand the frustration when we heard that as our luggage allowance in the UK and on Arik was 60kg . . . that like *counts in head* a 200% reduction!!!!!! (OK that might not be right but you KNOW what I mean) so my mum had to go and hunt down a mallam (like I said in my video - currency exchange on legs) and change some money. I think what took the biscuit is the fact that the man slipped the money into his own pocket meaning that the huge luggage reduction wasn't the airline's policy but rather a way for him to make money on the side . . RAGE!!!

So anyway we just could not be bothered at this point, we just tired.

Luckily for us, Danair our next flight was sooo lovely. It was eveything that Arik was not

But super long story short . . we got here safely  . . . and I got to rage about the events on a video loooool (click here to watch it)

continue reading "Epiphannie A in Nigeria - Episode 1"

The Weirdest Saturday EVER!!

I've actually had the weirdest Saturday EVER!!!!!


I actually got locked IN my room!! The door handle fell right off the door and the little square rod was nowhere to be seen

I'm super lucky that I wasn't the only one in my house as I honestly don't know how long I would have been trapped in there but that didn't mean I got a speedy release.


Of all the times for my mum to "Choose" to ignore me, she chose right then!!


She wouldn't pick up my phone calls to EITHER of her phones (her excuse later was that they were both dead . . .errr then why are they both on the charger and ON!!!). She didn't attempt to pick up the house phone despite it being in REACHING DISTANCE and she didn't respond to my screams and banging on the door (but in her defence she was on her sewing machine and I was two storeys above her).


I was stuck in my room for almost an hour and had nothing to do except tweet for help and  tidy my room.


In all honesty, I think my mum must have done something to lock me in my room . . I'm thinking like an ancient firm of mummy voodoo or a secret trigger or something as she's been bugging me for the last two weeks to tidy my room.


But come on, it's not that bad . . right???

It might look a bit bad . . but at least I made my bed

continue reading "The Weirdest Saturday EVER!!"

I am not Black . . . I am Brown - Skinned

These were the words spoken to me with such confidence from my 6 year old cousin that I had to pause and stare at her dumb-founded. This confident and bold statement made by someone so young has stuck with me from the first time I heard her say this to me roughly a year ago.

My little cousin is *in my opinion* a dark-browned tone, miniature beauty with features that reflects my mother’s Nigerian lineage, and is currently living in Dubai (with a brief stint in Singapore). Her mother (my aunt) recognising the fact that her daughters were likely to be the darkest skinned children in her class reinforced the ideology in her children that they were not black, as the colour black literally means the absence of colour, they were dark brown and they should NEVER let anyone try to demean them by calling them black and instead should reply.

When she said this to me after I described myself as black, I was shocked!!! How could I be corrected a child, I could practically have given birth to?! I informed her that I WAS Black and so was she. Excitedly she ran and grabbed an item black in colour (I think it was a cushion) and held it against my skin and said,

‘This is black, you are not black. You are brown skinned’.

This got me thinking, is it my choice to call myself black as a racial label or heritage choice or rather is it some other person's imposition that I call myself black to show what background I come from.

Growing up dark skinned in England is probably a lot easier than growing up dark skinned in America as the levels of racism over there seems to be quite mind-boggling and over here I can honestly say that I haven’t really experienced racism in anyway towards me. Nevertheless I feel that ‘being black’ is regarded by most as an identity rather than a colour, *anyone who has ever used the excuse of ‘BMT – Black Man Time’ for being late knows what I mean by this* yet why are dark skinned people the only people who readily accept an identity associated with a colour? And even worse why do we try to impose that said identity on others, like I tried to do with my cousin? If I went around labelling individuals of Oriental or Asian Descent by the colour of their skin or eye shape, I would be looking at several, never ending lawsuits

Moreover, I really can’t stand when people describe others of a Caucasian nature as white, as that is simply not true. There are spectrums of shades, tones and pale or dark colourings which should not be limited to one colour . . . especially if it’s the same shade as a sheet of A4 paper. Labelling someone as one colour is just too vague. It turns very unique people with various beliefs and backgrounds into a dried up Paper-mache lump breeding racial inequalities. In fact if we stopped referring to each other by colour the large majority of racial tension would be obsolete

So when someone asks me what I am, I refuse to use 'Black'. It’s just too narrow and excluding and doesn’t describe me at all as a person, instead I will answer

‘I am not black, I am Dark- skinned’

So what do you think? How do you feel about labels on your ethnicity or skin colour? What do you use and what do you avoid?

continue reading "I am not Black . . . I am Brown - Skinned"

Rant - The Lack of Choice of Black Beauty Products in the UK

I found this article on my recent random searches through google (life of an intern) and despite this article being written in Januray 2011, nothing much has changed in regards to Black Beauty Products in the UK.
I really thought it's worth taking a look at if you happen to be dark skin and frustrated with the lack of choice available to us.

 This Article is written Carlene Thomas- Bailley and was originally publised on the Guardian website on the 14th of January 2011

Original Source - The Guardian

Enjoy

Given the brush-off

It's big business in the US, so why can't black women find suitable makeup on the British high street?

'Many mainstream companies believe there is no market in ethnic makeup...' 
Photograph: Image Source/www.jupiterimages.com
 There is a photograph of me somewhere, possibly immortalised on Facebook, in which I look as if I have taken some flour and used it to create two warrior marks underneath my eyes. This snapshot wasn't taken at a fancy dress party, but is evidence of my first foray into makeup, aged 16. Ask any black woman in the UK, and she'll tell you that finding good makeup is a bit like searching for the holy grail. Then, last April, I moved to America and found the promised land.
Searching for a concealer and a bit of blush as my first Christmas here approached, I was dumbstruck by the amount of choice there is for black and Asian women. I can go to department store makeup counters and get a makeover, without fearing lurid colours or makeup that dulls my skin. If I fancy the DIY approach, I have the luxury of standing in a pharmacy and not being forced to go for the most tanned option sitting on a half-empty shelf. Here, there are at least five brands that I can buy at all price points.

Why hasn't the UK caught up with the US as far as black women and their cosmetics are concerned? According to the latest UK Mintel report, published in 2009, the market for black or Asian beauty products in the UK remains a niche one, valued at £70m, or just 2% of the total market for women's haircare, skincare and makeup, well below their percentage of the population. This is blamed partly on the fact that there is a "lack of commitment by mainstream companies to ethnic beauty needs and a lack of availability of ethnic brands in mass-market distribution".

This loosely translates to being forced to find specialist retailers while the rest of the population can find what they want on the high street. This deficiency is not just about a lack of concealers, it runs deeper. One friend said: "When I was younger I felt very alienated, because all my friends could just go to Boots and buy their makeup, but I couldn't. The fashion houses/makeup brands (Chanel, Dior) still do not cater for darker skin tones, which I don't understand as it seems they are closing themselves off to what could be a very lucrative market. And it sends out the wrong message, like darker beauty shouldn't be celebrated or revered."

Dr Shirley Anne Tate, director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at the University of Leeds, has written extensively on the subjects of race and beauty. "Many mainstream companies believe there is no market in ethnic makeup and so they are not willing to put money into this market or into advertising," she says.

Tate adds that the lack of representation by black models in beauty adverts perpetuates the feeling of many young black women that they do not fit the ideal of what is considered beautiful. Hannah Pool, whose column in this paper was the first in the mainstream media to address beauty issues for women of colour, agrees. "As black women, if we are lucky, occasionally, there is a picture of Naomi Campbell on a spread about makeup in a mainstream magazine," she says.

In recent years, things seem to be improving in the UK, albeit slowly.

Grace Kelly, organiser of the Afro Hair and Beauty show, an annual event in London, has seen an increase in the number of good-quality independent black makeup ranges on offer in the UK in the last few years. She believes this is a sign that things are getting better, counting Doris Michaels Cosmetics and KCoUK as some of the new brands available, with accessible price points. Marie Claire also now has a black beauty columnist in the magazine.

While these are steps forward, one large smack in the face comes with the news that K by Beverley Knight, a comprehensive makeup line for black skin, which came out in September 2009, and is no longer available in UK shops. This news is particularly glum since the line was launched as a result of the singer's own frustration at the lack of available products. Despite coverage of the brand in high-profile places, such as Grazia magazine and Asos.com, beauty blogs that are carrying the news about the brand's demise blame it on the common problems facing black beauty products, a limited availability and not enough advertising to get the word out.

So, my hope that in the next few years the British high street might start to resemble the American one is faltering. Until then, we'll all have to stock up stateside.

continue reading "Rant - The Lack of Choice of Black Beauty Products in the UK"

BB Cream - Rant!!!!

Ok, Im about to have a little rant right now so if you don't want to read this I suggest you close this page right now!!

BB Creams!!!

The master technology that claims to act as a primer, a balm and a foundation that is currently taking most of the UK by storm. Now please notice the emphasis I have put into the word 'most' because despite the UK and especially London claims to be highly multicultural and diverse. I still can't seem to find a BB cream that can be used on dark aka black skin.

Yes, I know options in the UK are quite limited in comparison to the USA and even Japan (home of the BB Creams) but honestly I couldn't given a flying reindeer about that.



Garnier, who has the most accessible and affordable BB cream on the UK market, didn't even think of including a dark range in their BB creams. Think I'm joking then check out their website. In both Boots and Superdrug you can only find Garnier BB creams in light or medium.

UNE, does  coms the closest to matching anything close to my skin tone (and thats not saying much as it is still a LOOOONG way off). It has no spf and is more of a cream compact foundation than a BB cream

And finally MAC! MAC, I am soo very disappointed in you. Mac is the last stop destination for women of colour and even they didn't offer a BB cream in a suitable colour. On the MAC Website, they boast that their Prep + Prime beauty balm 'is lightly tinted in a sheer beige tone to work on an array of complexions' . . yeah . . . well . . . NOT!!!! If I wore anything beige as a foundation or under my foundation, I honestly believe people would stop me in the street asking if there is either something wrong with me or if I was sick.

Now people could read this and say I am making a big deal out of nothing but I honestly dont believe I am. If you are going to put something on the market and plug a whole lot of PR and Advertising into it then you should make sure it can be used more the majority of skin-tones. Because honestly anyone who has a seriously deep tan/ happens to have dark skin (whether Asian, African, Caribbean, South American or mixed race) and live in the UK,would find that they can't reap the benefits of the BB cream phenomenon . . .Well until they happen to bring out a new shade next year then reset the whole bb cream hullabullo hype to drum up sales, instead of bringing out all the right shades AT THE SAME TIME LIKE THEY WERE MEANT TO!!!

Ok . . . rant done

continue reading "BB Cream - Rant!!!!"

You have got to be kidding me!!!!

This week R'n'B's most 'prominent' *well known might actually be a better word* female artist released her video for her newest singles  . . . .and let me be one of the first to say . . WHAT THE F**K???!!!! 

Like really?!?! Beyonce,  . . .WHAT THE HELL??!!!??? You guys paid money to make these videos?? It looks like something you could easily find on channel aka.

First up Beyonce . . . What the HELL??!!1+1 is actually a really, really good song, but your video doesn't add anything to it. Personally I think it takes a lot away from it. You staring at the camera, giving it seductive gazes while covered head to toe in a truck load of baby oil, has no meaning or any relation to the song WHATSOEVER. I couldn't tell if you were trying to seduce me or kill me with your over acting

How could you have gone from 'Best I never had' which was so pretty and classy to this . . landslide??? What do you think peeps am I being too harsh???

continue reading "You have got to be kidding me!!!!"

London's Burning . . . .

I know I've did a rant recently but I'm just warning you again before I get into this, that this is going to be a rant and if you don't want to read this, I don't really care because at the end of the day it's my community and my city that's going up in flames and being degraded by the very people it's trying to invest in

I was initially going to write this post a few nights ago but I was just too drained and emotionally haggard to even press the send botton, but as I'm not anymore. I just want to comment on the way the British Governemnt and Officials handled this problem in the early days. . . honestly If I was God and paying their bills I would sack all of them!!! Especially David Cameron!!! How is the British Prime Minsiter refusing to come back from his holiday during a time of unrest in his own country, and when he FINALLY touches British soil 3 days late, the media all hail him like he did such a huge thing??!! No it was not huge, policemen were pulled off their leave/holidays within the first 24 hours of the riots and they had a much more volatile time of it. I mean rioters were shocking bricks and fire at them!!!!

Next thing that I had a huge problem with, is the moral decay of certain individuals in the British Community. Life has certainly been a bit too easy for you, making claims that youre rioting and looting because there is no jobs and the government has failed you and all this woohaaa but lets be serious where else except the UK do you have free healthcare, council housing, benefits, free educational, free travel on the bus services. Yes you might be relatively poor but how poor can you really be if you are rocking £300 blackberry's and £500 ipods (or however they cost). You are not poor!!! You might not be able to buy everything you like but you are still a lot better off than a lot of people in the world, so get off your high horse.

I'm still furious of what has happened rght now, and the fact that 5 days on it still hasn''t ended but I want to give a round of applause to all the people working in our Emergency Services, who are risking their life and safety trying to remedy these attack *huge applause*

With this I will be leaving you with a few pictures on how moral decayed, selfish people have destroyed and damaged my community

Disclaimer - All Footage and Pctures used in this post are not my own, but all where chosen as they showcased the damage, rioting and looting taking place in Woolwich SE18 (London) - Majority of pictures taken (with permission) from the facebook album of  Trevor Maskery

continue reading "London's Burning . . . ."

Glitter Puff Disaster!!!

Hey everyone,

 Well if you remember, (and if you don't and are curious,click HERE) I talked about a lovely glitter puff set that I found at the Haagen Das Boudoir, which I am/was completely smitten with and I asked if anyone knew what cosmetics brand it came from . . . Now I know . . . Benefit!!!!

Exhibit A - The puff being discussed

 *Aaaarrrggghhhhhh*

Just even typing that name on my blog irritates me.  I have so far had a really bad experience with the benefit cosmetics counter, and I know it's really immature to base my opinion on a brand by my experience I received from their makeup artists rather than the quality of their products, but in this case I really don't care. I've never had a customer experience so bad in my entire retail life!!!

 Before visiting the benefits store on Carnaby street, I've never been or even tried any benefit products, I was only going in because I ran out of black eyeliner and she recommended benefits eyeliner. So I dragged Joy into the pink post 1945 looking store to sample the eyeliner and the store was completely deserted!!! There were no sales assistant, customer assistant, makeup assistants (whatever you want to call them) insight. (which FYI is a invitation for thieves to steal the whole of the shop front stock and walk out of the door) but after having located the eyeliner by myself, I found a few lipstick (gorgeous colours) that I wanted to ask a few questions about. So it was time to put my Sherlock Holmes hat on and look for them and to my unsuprise I found them at the back of the shop, gossiping over the tills . . . Blatantly ignoring me. It took 5 mins for me to me to get their attention and ask for a price for their lipsticks . . . And then they went right back to ignoring me . . . WTF??!!! By this time I was soo irritated with them that I just dumped the lipsticks and very nearly dumped the eyeliner (which I specifically came into the store to buy). I just had to catch the sales assistant attention again (who had the audacity to give ME an exasperated look) and pay for the eyeliner. Now despite the awful experience I had at the counter, I really do love the eyeliner I bought but I know that once it runs out I won't repeat buy it because my view on the whole brand has been jaded by that one store. So sorry my pretty glitter puff . . . You and I will never be acquainted!!

continue reading "Glitter Puff Disaster!!!"

Solange Knowles as the New Face of Rimmel

Rimmel London have cast Solange Knowles (sister of Beyonce Knowles for those out there who didn't know *shame on you*) as the new face of the UK cosmetics brand, and will be using her (gorgeous and flawless) face to showcase their upcoming Autumn campaign.

Now while I love Solange's artistry and public image, I am a little uncomfortable that Rimmel; who promote a London Beauty image with their famous London of 'Get the London Look' chose to use an African American Icon instead of an Afro-British one just sits a little bit uneasy with me. Maybe I'm being a bit too sensitive and reading too much  into it but does Rimmel think by using her image, instead of a local one they could successfully promote their cosmetics line to the British black community, despite not even having a foundation shade that is appealing to our skin-colour range???


Hmmmmm . . . .  . Well this is certainly one to ponder


Well despite this Solange looks great. To check read her interview, click here

continue reading "Solange Knowles as the New Face of Rimmel"