Makeup - Gothic Glam

                 

                   

Products used:
Mascara - Bourjois Volume Clubbing Mascara
False Lashes - MUA Vixen
Eye Shadow - Blush Professional 88 Colour Palette
Eye Liner - Barry M Bold Black (pencil)
Eye Liner - Barry M Wink Black Marker
Face - Bourjois Healty Mix Serum Gel Foundation in No 51.  MUA Bronzer 'Bronzed Perfection.'
Brows - MUA Luxe powerbrow in Mid Brown
Lips - Illamasqua Lipstick in Pristine

MUA Nail Varnish - Fashionista Glitz!

One thing I love in life is a bit of glitter! Recently I was having a browse through the MUA Store sale items. MUA - Makeup Academy are a makeup brand which are cheap to buy but are still high quality products. I absolutely LOVE their makeup range! This glittery nail polish was one of my bargain buys! I painted my nails with a white varnish and then whacked on a bit of this MUA polish, in the colour 'Glitz.' There is so much sparkle and glitter packed into this clear coat polish, that you'll be sparkling all day. The application of the polish is smooth, despite it being glitter and if you just want to use one coat, you still get a decent, even coverage of sparkliness! You can put it over any colour, you could even use it on the whole nail with a simple french manicure, just to add a bit of glitz to your white french tips. The possibilities with this glitter polish are endless!

It's gorgeous and for a glitter lover, it is a must have! It's a steal at £1.50 over on the MUA site *here* as it is currently in their sale shop, original price is £5.00 and it's from their latest Fashionista range.

Illamasqua Nails! Rare!

Recently Illamasqua had a £5, £10 and £7.50 sale on their site. I managed to purchase a few things and one of these, was a beautiful, bright, yellow nail varnish in the colour 'Rare!' It looks bright in the bottle, but after putting on about 3 coats of the varnish on my nails, it did look a lot brighter than in the bottle, almost neon! Even the postman said, "Those are bright nails today! No one will miss you in those love!" Haha!

Just so you can get an idea of how bright this nail polish is, if you've ever drunk Mountain Dew, or seen the Mountain Dew bottle on a shelf in the supermarket, it is very bright and almost neon itself... you can't miss it, the varnish is comparable to that bottle!

The satin finish of the varnish gives it a smooth and slightly shiny look, which I love. I much prefer the satin finish to a matte finish. Overall it is a luxurious polish and the texture of it is very smooth, as is the application, but you wouldn't expect anything less from this wonderful brand! You can shop the Illamasqua Rare polish *here* on the site for £14.50 and if you fancy a wander round the rest of the site, I fully recommend it. They are an extremely high quality brand, with really pigmented eye shadows, a wonderful variety of pigmented lipsticks and beautifully coloured lip glosses. I am really pleased with my purchases and definitely keep an eye out for Illamasqua's sales because you'll get a wonderful product for a bargain price! You won't be disappointed! 

Race for Life - Cancer Research

'Because someone we love is in heaven, there's a little bit of heaven in our home.'

I thought I'd kick off February postings starting with my Race for Life event! Race for Life happens every year up and down the country, it's a women - only event and all the money raised from sponsorship goes to Cancer Research and this year I've decided that I'm going to be taking part.
In 2006 we lost my Grandad, (my Mum's Dad) to cancer and the following year in 2007 we lost my Granny, (my Dad's Mum) to cancer as well. Then there was last year, in June 2013, which if you've read my previous posts you'll know that I was diagnosed with Leukaemia, a cancer of the blood. For 4/5 months I went through chemo, tablets and many stays in hospital, it felt like a lifetime. Luckily at the end of October I was told that there was no longer any sign of the Leukeamia and I was in remission. I am so thankful for everything the hospital and the nurses and doctors have done for me and will continue to do for the next 3 years, as every 3 months I have to have a bone marrow biopsy done so they can monitor me closely, incase the cancer comes back.

When I was in hospital the majority of the time I was lucky enough to have one of the side rooms, so I wasn't around any other patients, but I did spend several days and nights in the ward along with other cancer patients. One thing you learn from staying on a ward with people who are 'in the same boat as you' as they say, is that although you're in the same boat... each person in that boat is still an individual. I was lucky that my cancer was treatable and responded so well to treatment that there is now no sign of it, but listening to the other patients talk to each other, you learn that the different types of cancer are as individual as the person they live in. Some have a positive outlook, they can be cured, some aren't so positive, but can be controlled and for some their days are numbered. There is no cure, no miracle drug, they're the ones who have to tell their families that it's bad news, that they might not see their birthday this year, they won't make it past Christmas... they might not even make it past next month. Luckily for me, the type of Leukaemia I was diagnosed with was, as the doctors said, "The best type to have, as it is very responsive to treatment." I was fortunate that my cancer was and is curable. But for those who aren't as fortunate with cancers that can't be cured, or treated effectively, I want to do something and this is why I've chosen to take part in Race for Life and raise as much money as possible. All the money that is donated for my sponsorship goes towards Cancer Research UK's life-saving work and continued research into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer.

If you would like to sponsor me, you can visit my online Just Giving page by clicking **here!** Even if it's just a pound, for Cancer Research every donation helps, so thank you.

If you want to sign up for Race for Life somewhere near you, you can find a location and sign up on the site. But if you fancy something different, Cancer Research have many different events going on throughout the year, which you can also check out on their site *here.* 
Thank you so much for your support. ❤