Superdrug Goes a Teeny Bit Moschino

A brand new Superdrug store has opened in Bloomfields Shopping Centre in Bangor. It's at the Next end of the complex and is worth a visit. When you enter the store the entire left hand side wall is flanked with all the makeup brands, right to my favourite dupe brand REVOLUTION at the back. 

Right at the back of the store is an eyebrow threading walk-in station (thinking about reviewing that, what do you think?) and if you then turn to face the front of the store again, you'll find a display of these very cool makeup bags. 

They are decently priced, from £2.99 for the circle purse with Pom Pom which would work for carrying lippie on a night out. 

To the £3.99 rectangle pouch which would hold touch up mascara, highlight and the like.

They are so Jeremy Scott/ MOSCHINO don't you think? The fabric is plastic, not leather, but is very soft and a good fake. It's wipe clean so you can carry some spare wipes and use one of them as a portable makeup kit. 

I got the large pouch in the soft, orange pleather, and I'm using mine to store my M.E. medicines I have to bring when I'm staying overnight at my parents. 

They could also make fab pencil cases.  

Instant Dan TDM Hair- L'Oreal Colorista One Day Spray Turquoise Review. The Good... & the Bad.

When I spied the new L'Oreal Colorista Spray range in Superdrug last week, I knew Smix would be up for trying the turquoise wash out spray to look like one of his favourite Youtubers DanTDM.

Dan has dark blue, turquoise hair, and the spray I chose looked exactly like his on the can. Smix has very dark brown hair, so to have any other colour product show up would require pre-lightening, something most parents don't want to get into with natural kid hair. 

Sprays can be a good alternative, as they coat the dark hair strands rather than colour them, so it shows up better. I was really impressed with the L'Oreal spray. It looked more like the strands were actually dyed rather than coated.

The colour went on pretty easily. Just cover your clothes with a towel and use the precision spray. The shade wasn't quite what we expected, and was more royal blue than the Dan TDM turquoise, but Smix was still impressed and happy with the result. 

It was easy to apply to short hair, but may be trickier to get coverage on longer girl's hair. Any mess on the skin was simple to remove with a baby wipe. 

As you can see the coverage and result is pretty impressive. Colorista spray is definitely the next generation of wash out sprays. It looks more like a proper dye job and less like a fancy dress after thought. Superdrug currently has the range on offer for £6, which is a good price for the results. 

UPDATE: I said I would add in how the dye lasted and the mess potential of sleeping with it on. I wish I wasn't having to share the truth about how it went, cause it's not good news, but at least if you read this review you'll be warned and be prepared to wash it out that night and not let yourself or your kid sleep on it like we did. 

Smix washed his hair on Sunday morning and I sprayed the Colorista Turquoise One Day Spray onto his freshly shampooed and dried hair, giving a great result. Monday morning his friend Connie was coming round to play and we didn't have time to get him showered to clean up what disaster we were faced with when he woke up.

His hair looked like he had been dragged through a hedge backwards. The texture with the spray coating the strands is crispy and tricky to comb through into shape. While sweating during his sleep, a lot of blue had transferred onto his pillow and duvet. Now this wasn't the end of the world. The transfer onto the bed cloths was slight and looks like it'll be easy to get off, I'll just be careful to wash it separately from clothing.

The bad part was Smix's face, neck and hands. He had turned a weird green grey which now wouldn't shift with the baby wipes. We had used a baby wipe to clean up any spray that got on his forehead during application, but this ingrained stain wouldn't move at all. To clean the hands we just had him wash the colour off in the sink using shampoo instead of soap, which worked a treat. So I then used a little bit of shampoo on a baby wipe to clean his face and neck.

To be honest the result wasn't great, so I was glad he and a Connie were playing indoors that day! That night he had a shower but even after two instensive shampoos with Pantene, the hair was still a strange shade and texture. It's now Thursday and he's had two showers since the Colorista one day spray and his hair still isn't back to normal.

So my advice would be if you use the one day spray, try to wash it off before you go to bed. 

CONCLUSION: 

L'Oreal One Day Spray is well priced and does a decent job, but it's messy and hard to get off. The Turquoise wasn't quite the shade we hoped. 

During the summer we plan on using Colorista Washout, maybe with a Sun-In type pre-lightener, but not a bleach. Age nine is still too young for bleaching hair I think, but if he wants some blue hair, who am I to judge? I've had my hair every colour of the rainbow over the years. 

UPDATE: At Easter we went a step further and tried the  L'Oreal Colorista Washout Vivid Turquoise which is a semi-permanent dye made for brunette hair. It's part of the range pictured above and should last 7-15 washes. Read our review (it was a bit of a fail) then if you need to, read our review of how to remove blue or green dye from your hair in one wash- yes that's how badly it went!

There will be another update when we dye his hair properly with pre-lightening at the end of June, but after that disaster I'm contemplating visiting my own hairdresser to get her to do it! 

Accidental Goth & The Most Ridiculous Fake Fur Scarf Ever

Revolution at Superdrug: Make Me Tonight Atomic Shade £1

So tonight while doing my makeup I tried my £1 purchase of last week Revolution's Make Me Tonight lipstick from their Atomic range. I seem to accidentally have gone goth.

From my teenage years up I always dressed punk or rockabilly, but never quite goth. I have sort of evolved into just being a normal dresser with the odd crazy accessory or scarf now and again.

One of my oddest accessories, which I don't often wear, but love, is this plush fake fur scarf from H&M. Yes, it has a pretend fox's face on it. 

As you can imagine it can be tricky to find the right occasion to wear a big fluffy toy fox to, but when I saw it in store however many winters ago it was, there was no way in hell that fox wasn't going home with me.

So it's a few seasons old, and only cost £7 I think when it was on sale in H&M, but I've found two on eBay for around £18.50, should you feel inclined to need to own one too. 

http://r.ebay.com/5zaXP1

Don't be put off by the auction photo having Avril Lavigne wearing it, you know you want one too.

He goes very nicely with my big gentleman fox tattoo. Well, you have to match your accssories, don't you?

My fox tattoo by Chris Crooks, White Dragon Tattoo Studio, Belfast

Wednesday Round-up: Drop a Jean Size 3/4 Mark, New Revolution Make-up & Readers, Can You Help Recommend Me a Hair Product for Crazy Frizz?

I started my drop a jean size challenge last Monday, with the intentions of sticking to The New You Plan diet a bit longer (see here for their drop a jean size journal should you want to do the same).

M&S Feta & Olive Side Salad : Lidl Salmon with Dill Dressing

I've lots going on at the moment, real life important stuff, so I'm not in the headspace to stick to New You 100%. When you are paying for a special diet, there isn't much point doing it by halves, you waste time and money, so I've bowed out of their Secret Slimmers' Facebook support group for now, but I promise I will be back! 

I was 9 days into my drop a jean size, which finishes this coming Monday, and I think I can still do it. I'm definitely shrinking and even though I tried that M&S pizza last night to review it, I only had one slice and a big salad. 

Lunch today is smoked salmon and dill from Lidl with salad. There's feta in the salad so it isn't mega healthy, but it could be worse. I'll let you know if I can fit my size 12 M&S boot cut jeans on Monday then! 

You saw my post yesterday about the giant Revolution 100 shade, £12 eyeshadow palette. It's class and my shadow I used today is a shimmery nude, a cream light brown and a glittery dark brown. I've been trying out different brushes, and got a Revolution blending brush to try to get the effect below. I still need some practice, don't I??

I also got the Revolution Kajal eyeliner crayon which I've owned before, despite my makeup immaturity! My Ballyholme friend Arlene has posted me one of these a couple of years ago, and I found I was able to apply it easily to my lower eyeliner waterline with ease. It's huge crayoness with soft texture, combined with its £2 price tags makes it a good eyeliner for novices or wobbly handed girlies like I was/am! 

It doesn't claim to be waterproof, but it does say smudge proof and it's never let me down, or bled down into my wrinkles. 

I also got a trio of Revolution Amazing Lipsticks that Superdrug didn't have in stock. I need to try them on properly to see which ones work. Under lightbulb lighting, late last night, the darkest one looked a little bit too gothy, but I'll show you soon.

Lastly, a shout out to my readers, I need some help. I have very thick, long hair, which has been treated with bleach to achieve a lighter effect at the ends. I use John Frieda cream serum, as the oily one I don't like, plus a balm type serum of the same range that I apply AFTER the hair is dry too. I use a good quality shampoo and use Aussie 3 Min Miracle Conditioner on my hair EVERY DAY when I wash it. I also straighten it with GHDs. But it's STILL frizzy. 

Has anyone any secret products they can recommend? Is Mane & Tail worth the price tag? Talk to me on @rudedoodle on Twitter or Instagram and help me out! 

The 100 Colour, £12 Eyeshadow Palette Every Makeup Junkie Needs

I nearly collapsed with excitement when I spied this  100 shade eyeshadow palette from Revolution which is only £12 on both their own site & Superdrug's. I ordered it on Sunday afternoon & it was delivered to my local Superdrug store for pick up today.

It has nudes, mattes, shimmers, neons, the works. All I need to do now I skill up on eyeshadow application, especially with colours. 

The Perfect Pink Lipstick- For Only One Pound!

I've been wanting to do a little 'my daily make up routine' type post for a while now, and today I managed to find the perfect pink lipstick, so the time is right! 

Everything I wear day to day is squeezed into this little case

Now I'm no beauty blogger or expert; I only started wearing foundation a few years ago, but the past year I've found myself getting more & more into make-up. I must be going through what most girls do as teenagers, except I haven't developed an interest in blusher & eyeliner until my thirties!  

I now have a daily makeup routine that takes about seven minutes, but that packs quite a lot in. I'm very into my bargain dupe beauty products, especially as I've had to teach myself how to use them, so buying £28 eyeshadow and then not being able to apply it properly wasn't an option. 

So this 'routine' or whatever the professional beauty bloggers call it, is ideal for someone who is a bit of a beginner when it comes to putting on a face. 

Here is what I wear day to day. 

Rimmel Perfect Match foundation in Classic Ivory. This is a really easy foundation to apply as its liquid form and blends without too much work. I used a brush for foundation for a while, but in the end I've found it just as successful to use my fingers to apply it as a base. It costs around £6.99 which is the average price for a Rimmel foundation.

Next I go straight to eyes. If you haven't shopped in Superdrug for makeup before then you are in for a treat when you discover their Revolution range.  

I bought the  Redemption Iconic 1 palette, which is a measly £4. Revolution is a 'dupe' range mostly, meaning their products are a bargain version of similar more expensive versions. There are quite a few of these £4 palettes to choose from. I also picked up a version with blues, purples and greens, but I've yet to apply them without looking a bit like a clown. Like I said, I'm new to this makeup malarkey!

The furthest left shade of shadow is perfect for a base, so I also got it by itself for £1, as I've nearly used it all up in the palette. I apply that right up to my brows, then the light shimmery gold colour in the centre of the palette on the eyelid. Then I brush one of the darkest colours into the crease. I actually learnt my eyeshadow skills from watching Ru Paul's Drag Race & hearing that 'garage doors' are when someone only uses the one shade of eyeshadow. You certainly get an education watching Drag Race.

As I'm writing this I've just noticed my nails are chipped in all the photos! I'll never make it as a beauty blogger at this rate! 

Next up is eyeliner. Over the years I've tried pencils, eyeliner pens, little ink pots with brushes, but I still can't seem to get the liner in the right place! So if you struggle with eyeliner I'll let you know my little secret. I used a Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow crayon. It's a thick, soft stick of blackness that even with my shaky hands, I can line my bottom lids with. I've long since given up trying to get any liner on the top lids. I think this was about £5.99 to buy in Superdrug.

Whilst my top lids escape liner, I define them instead with mascara. I use a Boots No.7 waterproof one at the moment, and although the brush looks like it wouldn't do much to your lashes, I find it better than any big thick brush. 

Brows are next. I have Susan, who I go to for my laser tattoo removal, to thank for teaching me how to define my brows. I feel like I'm putting on fancy dress makeup if I ever had tried an eyebrow pencil, but Susan gave me this little palette and a wedge shaped brush which is just perfect for filling in and making your eyebrows look neat. 

Next, contouring, of a sort. I've really wanted to attempt the clown contouring I've seen on YouTube, but with my makeup skills still being very new, I haven't contoured excessively for my daily makeup routine. Instead I use the Revolution Sculpt & Contour Kit in Ultra Fair to put a bit of highlight shimmer on my cheekbones, and bronzer below. I'm still playing around with this 'step' of my routine, but I think practice will make perfect in the end. 

The Rimmel foundation, whilst giving great coverage,  can be a tiny bit shiny, so I apply a tiny bit of pressed powder. Again I went for a cheap and cheerful range and got the shade Candlelight from Collection.

Lipstick is the final step! I haven't bought any lip liner to practice with as yet, so it's always just straight old lipstick and no messing around. My friend Claire from  The Lily Pink Bakery gave me this Soap & Glory palette about two years ago, and I still have it on the go. Naked Beige is my usual colour to wear, as its closest to my natural lip colour.

But, as the title of this blog post says, I have found the perfect pink lipstick for me, and it only cost £1! 

It's Revolution from Superdrug again and the shade is called 'crime'. I've always stayed away from brightly coloured lipstick as I'm self concious about my bottom teeth being crooked, but my friend Jane has told me on a few occasions that I should just go for it, so I took her advice. I bought that pink thinking it would either look okay, or it would look atrocious and go straight in the bin. Luckily my £1 was well spent and I really like how it looks!

So that's my daily makeup routine as of September 2015. I imagine it will only get longer as I practice with more products and follow more tutorials from all the proper makeup bloggers out there. But for now, that's my flirtation with beauty blogging done!