The Weekly Round Up #14:The Jungle Book, Stanley the Pug, MAC Palettes & Facial Mists

The Weekly Round Up #14:The Jungle Book, Stanley the Pug, MAC Palettes & Facial Mists

Sunday, 5 June 2016

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From top left: Hey, Warm Breeze, Gingersnap, Dark Brew, Dance in the Dark, Brule, Vanilla Extract, Honey Lust, Amber Lights, Saddle, Lemon Tart, Creative Copper, Butterfudge, Divine Decadence & Unwind. 

From top left: Honey Lust, Poppy Seed, Quarry, Antiqued, Embark, Noir, Haux, Star Violet and Sketch.

Hi Guys, it's been a long time since my last Weekly Round Up, but I have had a super busy week this week so I'm gonna tell you guys all about it. 

Monday was a Bank Holiday here in the UK, and the weather was rubbish, so my sister and I piled my niece and nephew into the car, and took them to see The Jungle Book at The Odeon in The Galleria in Hatfield. We had such a good time. I was so excited to see it and it really didn't disappoint. It was sweet, funny, heartwarming, stayed true to the original story but had some twists and turns thrown in, it even had me shedding a tear or two at the end. The special effects were incredible and the casting of Idris Elba and Christopher Walkern as Shere Khan and King Louie was a stroke of pure genius. My favourite part  was when King Louie sang I Wanna Be Like You, that song is a classic and it was really, really good. It's such good film, definitely go see it. Show times can be found here

If you guys follow me on instagram, you can here, you'll know that there's a new addition to my family. His name is Stanley, he's 12 weeks old , he's my sister Sian's new pug and isn't he the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen? I've been dog-sitting this weekend and we've had so much fun. He's so cute and happy and only a little bit of a menace. He can get under the sofa, because he's so small, and he loves hiding under there and slithering out like a snake, he also loves playing with an empty coke bottle, despite the fact that he has loads of toys. At the moment he's worn himself out, from playing, and is cuddled up on my lap, fast asleep. I'm not going to be happy when he goes home to his mumma. *Blog update: Stanley's just been picked up, I'm really sad and I miss him so much*

Lately I've been really loving eyeshadow palettes, I mean way more than usual, and MAC Warm Neutral Palette and MAC Burgundy Times Nine Palette are the newest additions to my collection. They are stunning. Both palettes are part of the Eyes on MAC collection and have become a fixture in MAC's permanent line up. The MAC Warm Neutral Palette is a stunning palette. Neutral palettes are my jam! You can never have too many, and this one is kinda my ideal palette. As the name would suggest, the shadows are all warm toned neutral shades, that run the gamut from dark and smokey to nude and peachy. I haven't used it yet, but will report back once I've tested it out, but so far so good. 

MAC Burgundy Times Nine Eyeshadow Palette is a teeny little palette, made up of 9 mini shadows. The shadows compliment each other beautifully and have a mix of different finishes. The palette has everything for dramatic evening eyes or more subtle daytime looks, and being so small and compact it is perfect for travelling.  The Warm Neutral Palette is £49.50 and the Burgundy Times Nine Palette is £25, and you can get them here and here. Full reviews and swatches will be coming up in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out for that. 

So hydrating facial mists have become one of my favourite things recently and Mario Badescu's Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater and Pixi's Hydrating Milky Mist are my favourites. They're so light and refreshing and give my skin a much needed boost of hydration. I use both pretty much throughout the day, whenever my skin is feeling tight and dry,but I tend to use the Mario Badescu in the morning before and after make up. It's very light, it smells incredible, makes my skin feel refreshed and sets my make up in place. I like to use the Pixi mist in the evening, as it feels a little bit heavier on the skin and really packs a punch in the moisture department. The Mario Badescu facial spray is £7.00 from Urban Outfitters and the Pixi mist is £18 and available at Cult Beauty

What have you been up to this week? Let me know by commenting below, on twitter, or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat -search lolarocknroses - & pinterest for regular updates.

Love love love xxx

Urban Decay's Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass Palette Review

Urban Decay's Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass Palette Review

Saturday, 4 June 2016

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To celebrate the long awaited release of Disney's Alice Through The Looking Glass. Disney have teamed up with the purveyor of cult eyeshadow palettes, Urban Decay, to create one of the most beautiful collections I've ever seen. Now when I saw what was in the collection I was beyond excited. I'm a HUGE fan of Alice in Wonderland, it's one of my favourite childhood books and I was OBSESSED with the first film! So you can imagine how eager I was to get my hands on it. 

The collection is made up of a stunning eyeshadow palette and 5 unusual, but incredibly beautiful lipsticks. The lipsticks were all sold out, annoyingly, but I did manage to get a palette into my basket before they'd all gone. After testing it out for the past couple of weeks I'm finally ready to give my verdict, and, SPOILER ALERT, it is good! 

First of all we need to talk about the packaging, - that packaging though! - because it is the most beautiful packaging I think I've ever seen. Featuring a kaleidoscope pattern, psychedelic roses, quotes from the book and film, and a stunning pop-up butterfly, as well as a good sized mirror, it is very much in keeping with all the whimsical and wonderful weirdness of the film, whilst also being absolutely gorgeous. Like, seriously! It's amazing. 

So now on to the shadows themselves. Urban Decay are known for their awesome eyeshadow palettes, the Naked palette anyone?, and this one is no exception. The palette has 20 shadows, with everything from earthy toned neutrals to bright and bold statement colours, with both matte and shimmery finishes.  Each column is themed around a specific character in the film: Alice, the Mad Hatter, Mirana (the White Queen), Iracebeth (the Red Queen) and Time. Alice's column has three peachy toned neutrals and a sky blue, reminiscent of her iconic blue dress. The Mad Hatter's has an emerald green, a dark, smokey purple, a bright orange and a dark fuchsia. Mirana has four earthy neutrals with a shimmery white, that works perfectly as a highlighter shade. Iracebeth has much brighter tones: a gorgeous icy turquoise, a royal blue, a deep rusty red (one of my faves) and a peachy nude. Time is the darkest column, with a deep, dark navy, a light, purple-y grey glitter, a rich chocolate-y bronze and a gun metal grey. The colours are beautiful and vibrant and the quality of the shadows is insanely good! I would expect nothing less of UD. They're finely milled, buttery-soft, easy to blend and, for such bright colours, surprisingly wearable. I've swatched my favourites below, from left to right they are Kingdom - a shimmery orange-bronze, Salazen Grum - a glittery ruby red, Chronospher - a toasted bronze, Dream On - a glittery lilac and Mirror - a dark silver. 

You can see from the swatches that they apply beautifully, with very little fall out and have excellent colour pay-off. It's amazing! and has quickly become one of my go to eyeshadow palettes. Seriously, I'm so in love with it and strongly recommend picking it up, if you still can, if you love to experiment with bright, bold statement eyeshadow looks. Sadly the collection is completely out of stock everywhere online, but may still be available in store at Urban Decay stockists. Find out more here and here.

Have you tried UD's Alice in Wonderland palette? Let me know by commenting below, on twitter, or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat -search lolarocknroses - & pinterest for regular updates.

Love love love xxx

The Weekly Round Up #13: T.K. Maxx bargains, An 80p Wonder Concealer, Afternoon Tea & Accidentally Turning 3

The Weekly Round Up #13: T.K. Maxx bargains, An 80p Wonder Concealer, Afternoon Tea & Accidentally Turning 3

Sunday, 20 March 2016

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Happy first day of Spring lovely people! Spring feels like it's been a really long time coming this year but at last! It's here. Let the pimms, picnics and general giddiness for summer commence. But before we get too excited let's talk about the last week shall we?

Nars Eyeshadow Duo in Vent Glacé - £5.99 from T.K Maxx instore

You guys know that the beauty aisle at T.K. Maxx is my spiritual home. I make weekly trips to see if I can unearth any hidden gems, and I always do. This week I found the holy grail... an undamaged Nars eyeshadow duo. For £5.99. This duo is worth £25 and I paid £5.99. I'll let that sink in. I've only swatched it on the back of my hand but so far so good. The colours aren't as pigmented as I would like, especially for such a luxury brand as Nars, but they are very pretty and would look really nice washed over the lid for a more subtle day look.

Primark P.S. Concealer in Light - £0.80 from Primark

The general consensus for Primark's PS make up range is that it's seriously good stuff with a seriously low price tag. Honestly I haven't tried much of it BUT what I have tried I've loved. I'm a big fan of their nail polish and the nail polisher remover twist pot. So when I was in Primark last weekend and spotted the make up stand I thought it was definitely worth a look. This concealer jumped out at me, as someone with acne ridden skin I'm always on the hunt for concealer, and at just 80p it was definitely worth a try. It is so good, maybe one of the best concealers I have ever come across. and it cost less than £1! It gives really good coverage and is creamy without being too thick or feeling too heavy on the skin. It does crease under the eyes slightly, but really not very much, and the colour is an excellent match for me. I've been back and bought more, that's how good it is! Try it and let me know what you think. 

On Saturday me and my sister took our mum to The Sugar Boutique Cupcakery in Knebworth for an Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea for her Mother's Day treat. I'll be putting up a more detailed post next week but for now I will tell you that it was incredible and let the pictures say the rest.

On 10th March 2016 my blog turned 3, and I didn't even notice! I knew my three year blog-aversary was coming up but couldn't remember the actual date. By the time it occurred to me to check, it had been and gone, making me feel like the worst blog mother ever. So I'm wishing my small corner of the Internet a belated, but very Happy Birthday! And will happily eat the cupcake I bought for it.  I will have some exciting stuff coming up in the next few weeks to celebrate but until then you can read my first ever post here and I'll be quietly cringing in a corner.

How's your week been? Let me know in the comments below, on twitter, or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat - search lolarocknroses - & pinterest for regular updates.

Love love love xxx

Fleur De Force's Make Up Line: Review & Swatches

Fleur De Force's Make Up Line: Review & Swatches

Thursday, 26 November 2015

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If you've been reading me for a while now you'll know that I'm a bit of a Fleur De Force fangirl. I just love her. Mostly because there is nothing she can't do. Like actually nothing. She is Wonder Woman... with a sausage dog.  - I should really stop fangirling now, before I make myself look like a super creepy stalker! - So when she announced her new make up line with feelunique I was all over that business. It was inevitable that a rather hefty feelunique order would be made. And made it was.  Obviously.

FDF's make up line consists of 6 lip glosses, 2 eyeshadow quads, a make-up bag and a mirror. I 

picked up 2 of the lip glosses, both quads and the make up bag because why not?

Fleur De Force Make Up Bag - £8.99 from feelunique.com

Let's start with the least interesting thing, the make up bag (which is still pretty awesome by the way... just saying.) A white leather-effect box pouch with Fleur's trademark watercolour print and beautiful rose gold detailing & hardware. The make up bag is ideal for travelling, as it's quite compact, but also holds a redonkulous amount of stuff. It's really practical as well because the material, and I think the lining  too, is wipeable. It's also extendable which is both really clever and so handy. For a make up bag it is pretty epic. 

Fleur De Force Lipgloss in Lucky Star & Starry Starry Night  - £6.99 each from feelunique.com

Now let's talk about the more fun stuff, starting with the lip glosses. I picked up Lucky Star, a deep but very bright, blue toned red, and Starry Starry Night, a rich, berry pink, which I am completely obsessed with, just fyi. The lip glosses are formulated to be somewhere in between a liquid lipstick and a traditional lipgloss. A kind of best of both world's (HANNAH MONTANA REFERENCE! Sorry... I got excited) hybrid. They have fabulous opacity and an amazing colour pay off, but unlike a lot of liquid lipsticks they're not chalky or drying in any way. They're really moisturising and are so comfortable to wear, however it is a bit of a double edged sword because they just don't have the longevity of a liquid lipstick. For a lipgloss the wear time is amazing, but for a liquid lipstick it does leave a little to be desired. However they do stick around a lot longer than most other lip glosses, even if they do need reapplying every few hours, or after eating and drinking. The packaging and application is fairly standard with the glosses being housed in a tube and applied with a doe foot applicator, however, and I'm aware that this sounds weird BUT I think the pewter lids on the lip glosses are absolutely gorgeous. Strange but true. Anyway. Overall they are fabulous and I'll definitely be picking up more, I've already got my eye on Starlight.  

Fleur De Force Eyeshadow Quads in Cosmic Bronze & Lunar Rose - £7.99 from feelunique.com

So onto the best bit... the eyeshadow quads. There are two in the collection, Cosmic Bronze and Lunar Rose, I got both because I couldn't decide between them. Cosmic Bronze is more of an 

everyday quad, made up of 4 neutral brown shades; 2 matte shadows - a light, almost sandy shade and a dark chocolate brown, a pale, gold-y taupe highlighting shade and the most beautiful bronze shimmer. The shadows are amazing, either used by themselves or together to create a day time appropriate smokey eye. The second quad, Lunar Rose, is Cosmic Bronze's smokier, sexier, more evening appropriate rose-gold toned older sister. Again it's made up of  4 shades; a pale, matte ballet slipper pink, a stunning rose gold shimmer, a lilac-y pink shimmer and a deep, dark purple with a fine gold glitter running through it. The shadows are amazing, they complement each other beautifully to create a super sexy evening look. Both quads are equally fabulous, with the shadows being highly pigmented, with an amazing colour pay off as well as having a beautifully soft, buttery smooth consistency that blends flawlessly. They don't crease, they stick around for ages AND the colour range, in both, are lovely. The packaging is simple and fairly standard, playing host to the quad itself and a little brush. Now as a rule brushes that come in eyeshadow pallets are generally quite naff, and while this is definitely not the best eyeshadow brush ever, it is so much better than the standard sponge applicators, which are pretty much the worst things ever. Anyway...

The collection is fabulous, everything is of seriously excellent quality and it is obviously well thought out by someone who clearly knows what she's talking about. Fleur I salute you! 

Have you tried any of the FDF's make up line? What did you think? Let me know on twitter, by commenting below or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat - search lolarocknroses - &  pinterest for updates.

Love love love xxx

W7 In The Buff Eyeshadow Pallet: A Review

W7 In The Buff Eyeshadow Pallet: A Review

Sunday, 15 February 2015

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L-R: W7 In the Buff, In the Nude & In the Buff: Lightly Toasted Eyeshadow Palettes.

In the Buff

W7 In the Nude

In the Buff: Lightly Toasted

Being a fourth year student it's no secret that I'm seriously strapped for cash. Annoying (and boring) expenses like rent and food seriously eat into my income, so my make up tends to be almost exclusively from the high street with a few high end treasures. Luckily I've become quite adept at knowing a decent dupe when I see one, no prizes for guessing which pallets these beauties are a dupe of (pssst... it's the Urban Decay Naked pallets) 

I’ve been having a bit of a moment with these pallets lately because they're kind of amazing. All three pallets are really good quality, particularly considering I only paid £5.99 for each of them. Each pallet is made up of 12 shadows, with the majority being satiny shimmers but with a few mattes thrown in. My favourite is In the Buff: Lightly Toasted, a dupe for the Naked 1 pallet, because it's beautiful! The shadows are warm toned, and has everything from shimmery taupes, rich chocolatey browns, dark purples and smokey greys. It does everything  but it's really good for creating the most incredible smokey eyes (and we all know I LOVE a smokey eye). Having said that I get a lot of wear out of all three pallets. 

The shadows in In the Buff are cool toned neutrals that create everything from a really subtle day time look, to a super smokey evening look. In the Nude is probably the least wearable of the three due to the pink tone of the shadows but they're still lovely and look really pretty just swept across the lid. 

The shadows are soft and blend beautifully. They last really well on the lid, are nicely pigmented and don't crease. Now they're not perfect, I won't lie to you lovely people, like all of us they have their faults, the texture leans slightly more towards the chalky side of things rather than buttery and there's quite a bit of fall out when applying, also the packaging isn't great - my Lightly Toasted pallet's broken already! -  but that's to be expected when they cost as little as they do. Overall they're really, really good for the price. 

Have you tried any of the W7 In the Buff/Nude Pallets? Or the Naked pallets for that matter? Tweet me @lolarocknroses, comment below or drop me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, Bloglovin & pinterest. 

Love love love xx

Friday I'm in Love #9

Friday I'm in Love #9

Friday, 29 August 2014

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Hi Guys,

              Happy Friday! This is the first Friday I'm in Love that I've done for a while but I have collected the all the things I've been loving for the past week and am ready to share them with you lovely people! 

L-R: Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper, MAC Maleficent Eyeshadow Quad, Maybelline New York Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow  in 35 On & On Bronze, Kate Moss for Rimmel London Eyeshadow Stick in the shade 100 Rose Gold Scandaleyes 011 Bluffing by Rimmel London & L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mega Volume Mascara

 L-R: MAC Maleficent Eyeshadow Quad, Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper, Scandaleyes 011 Bluffing by Rimmel London, L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mega Volume Mascara,  Kate Moss for Rimmel London Eyeshadow Stick 100 Rose Gold & Maybelline New York Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow  in 35 On & On Bronze.

L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mega Volume

L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mega Volume Mascara

This is my new favourite mascara ever. I bought this a couple of weeks back after months and months of wanting to try it. And man, oh man, it did not disappoint. It is, in a word, amazing! It gives excellent coverage. The formula is awesome, the brush is equally so and the combination of the two is... magical. It lengthens, volumises and curls the lashes, it's really long lasting AND most importantly it doesn't cost an absolute bomb. In love. Expect a full review of this soon.

Maleficent Eye Shadow Quad 

MAC Maleficent Eyeshadow Quad

MAC Maleficent Eyeshadow Quad - clockwise from top: Goldmine, Ground Brown, Carbon & Concrete

After seeing Maleficent last week (read about it here) I found out that to celebrate the release of the film MAC had released a collection dedicated to Disney's greatest -and scariest- villain. Obviously it being a MAC collection all the products had long since sold out but I had to get my hands on something from the collection. So with a determination I wish I could utilise in other areas of my life I got to clicking and found this. And it is beautiful. The packaging is so sleek and gorgeous and whilst the colours are not ones I would necessarily associate with Maleficent (brown... really?) they are colours I can see myself getting a lot of wear out of. I am obsessed with it.

Maybelline New York Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in the shade 35 On and On Bronze

 Maybelline New York Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in the shade 35 On & On Bronze

 Maybelline New York Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in the shade 35 On & On Bronze

I have been going through a bit of a bronze eyeshadow obsession at the moment and this is the bad boy that started all the trouble. It is gorgeous. The colour is intense and beautiful, it's long lasting, has a lovely creamy consistency and makes me want to cry with happiness whenever I look at it. Just... stunning. 

Scandaleyes in the shade 011 Bluffing by Rimmel London & Eyeshadow Stick in the shade 100 Rose Gold by Kate Moss for Rimmel London

Scandaleyes in the shade 011 Bluffing by Rimmel London & Eyeshadow Stick in the shade 100 Rose Gold by Kate Moss for Rimmel London Scandaleyes in the shade 011 Bluffing by Rimmel London & Eyeshadow Stick in the shade 100 Rose Gold by Kate Moss for Rimmel London

Eyeshadow Stick in the shade 100 Rose Gold by Kate Moss for Rimmel London & Scandaleyes in the shade 011 Bluffing by Rimmel London (That's Bourjois So Lacque Glossy in 04 Amande Defile on my nails if you were interested)

Continuing along the same vein as the Maybelline New York Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in the shade 35 On & On Bronze, I am totally loving these eyeshadow sticks from Rimmel. The colours are gorgeous. The formula is long lasting with a lovely creamy consistency. They are also ridiculously easy to apply and make smokey eyes a breeze. I can definitely see myself adding more of these to my collection.  

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper

Modelling Hot Pepper for you! I’m also wearing L’Oreal True Match Foundation in Rose Vanilla, Rimmel London Match Perfection Concealer, MAC blush in Dame, Rimmel London Scandaleyes in 011 Bluffing, MAC eyeliner in Feline and L’Oreal Paris Miss Manga Volumising Mascara.

Despite being a massive lipstick fan I don't like to wear lipstick to work because it tends to get everywhere and I don't have time for touch ups. But this formula is so long lasting that I have no qualms wearing it to work.  I have spoken of my love of this formula before (read about it here .) It is fast becoming one of my favourite everyday reds. I also have the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Pink Pong, Ole Flamingo & Grand Cru. I love them. 

Picture via s2smagazine.com

This feat of televisual genius has been keeping me up at nights. I am tired and grouchy during the day but I don't even care because Scandal is that good! In fact saying it is good almost feels like a insult. It is the best thing to happen to television since Hugh Laurie put on an american accent and starred in House (you guys know how much I love House!) and I do not say that lightly. There are so many amazing things about this show... the epic love story between Olivia and Fitz - I am Team Olitz all the way! - the writing is nothing short of incredible, it's gripping. But I will say the absolute best thing is the casting. Oh my God the casting! Don't even get me started on the casting, it is stellar! Kerry Washington is incredible as Olivia Pope. No one else could play her. Kerry Washington owns it! Both Olivia Pope and Kerry Washington are my new girlcrushes and Tony Goldwyn as President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III is my new actual crush. If you haven't seen Scandal you need to change that... NOW! It's okay I'll wait, actually no I won't because 10 minutes in to the first episode you will get hooked and try to watch all 3 seasons in one sitting and I just don't have the time to wait around for you I'm afraid (sorry that was a weird moment). Anyway I am obsessed with Scandal!

This week's song of the week is Riptide by Vance Joy

I have been meaning to have this as my SOTW for ages because it is so good. The lyrics are a bit strange, as is the music video, but the melody is ridiculously upbeat, to me it just sounds like summer. 

So that was this week's Friday I'm in Love... I know it's been a while but I hope you enjoyed it. Have you tried any of my loves this week? If so what did you think? Love them? Hate them? Are you a Scandal addict? (I AM! I'm trying to make Scandal-avians happen, but like Fetch and Gretchen Weiners... it is not going to happen) Anyway I want to know. Let me know on twitter or by commenting below. If you do comment I try to always reply so do check back. Also check me out on facebook, BlogLovin, instagram & pinterest for your daily dose of me :)

Love love love xxx