Trixie's back...

Happy New Year to one and all! Apologies for the ridiculously massive stop-gap between posts! Its been WAY too long and I have SO many amazing products to blab about Santa, that fabulous bearded wonder was VERY kind to me this year I don't even know where to begin!

That's a lie, I literally am bursting with delight with my absolutely favourite product of the moment La Ligne De Chanel, seriously if you are considering purchasing a new eyeliner get this - it is expensive at £26.00 but totally worth it.

 It creates the PERFECT smoky eye.

Hmmm, so it would be true to say that I have been having a bit of a beauty splurge of late - I treated myself to three fantastic Dermologica products shortly before Christmas that are still going strong and are quite frankly, amazing. I have been using Special Cleansing gel, Multi-Active toner and Skin Smoothing cream all of which I can't say enough good things about, my skin feels great, looks clear and healthy. My only complaint is that its a bit of a faff using three products but it is really worth it in the long run. Oh and Dermalogica doesn't come cheap, still totes worth the money though ladies!

Another product that I can't help but champion, in fact this is going up there with such  Hero Products as Dior Nude foundation - it  has got to be Lancome Hypnose mascara in black. Truly the most incredible mascara that I've ever used - beats the crap out of YSL, I KNOW blasphemy but it really is amazing, it conditions, doesn't smudge or clump and really legnthens. The beauty editors are all over it as well right now - bloody awsome.

 My god - I should take a breath but there is so much more to tell you about - I think its because I took such a long break - phew! Ok so next up on TB's H.O.T list is a little website that I recently stumbled across - actually found out about this via Looks Magazine who are consistently great with their beauty tips. www.eyeslipsface.co.uk - or E.L.F to their friends are the most amazingly economical beauty products I have found, my colleague (the lovely Leicia) and I purchased a few items among which I can reccommend: the Eye Transformer - literally can transform the look of any of your existing eyeshadow shade or worn alone for a sutble opally look. Gorgeous! Leicia loved their Waterproof liquid eyeliner in black which apparently has a really lovely applicator brush and an absolute bargain at £1.50!! I can only think that they save money on the packaging which is a bit ropey to be honest as the products inside are  genuinely really good and the site is worth a visit. I was also impressed with their brushes and mineral make up selection.

I have treated myself to some Bumble and Bumble products but have not yet tried them out, I will do so very soon and report back on their impact on my sad Winter-damaged locks very soon.

My last word is on another of lovely Santa's little stocking fillers, actually a gift from my beautiful sister Nichola - Nars Primer, I am new to wearing primer and this one is aparently at the top of the pile, it feels incredibly light and non-greasy not like slapping on several layers of make up at all! I noticed its benefits mostly around the eye area where it really keeps everything in place really well.. I would reccommend, when applying any primer to apply a thin layer and let is soak in of its own accord then apply foundtation over the top creating a really lovely fresh, dewy look. Keeps your make-up on and in place for at least 19 hours without allowing you to transform into a drag queen - tried and tested girls, tried and tested.

WOW - that was an epic adventure into the world of beauty - I have much more to fill you all in on so will update very soon.

 T.B xxxx

Bloomin' Christmas.

Morning face-fans. Christmas is fast approaching (how annoying) and I know that I am will be giving the gift of beauty to the chosen few but seeing as make-up is a fairly personal I would urge you all to veer on the side of caution when purchasing beauty-type gifts for others. For example; nobody’s mother really wants to receive a product that claims to ‘noticeably reduce the signs of ageing’ that’s just not festive folks. Similarly, receiving a cleanser designed to combat adult acne is will never be well received no matter how much it cost. I will be, needless to say thinking long and hard before I make my Christmas beauty purchases.

This week as I am attempting to save some pennies and to be honest I haven’t really done anything to deserve a treat I went bought a different shade of the Revlon Suede lipstick this time in Nude attitude.

I am finding that as the Winter draws in I really can’t get away with red lipstick so much without looking like a corpse and I have always loved that 60’s Brigitte Bardot big-hair-dark-eyes nude lips look. I love all of the aspects of this lipstick, it is actually matte, it stays on and its pretty economical at around £7.00. Job done.

A brand that holds a special place in my heart is Bloom. Now sadly banished to spend eternity in Purgatory or as its commonly know, Superdrug, Australian company Bloom is in fact a super brand that boasts super-cute and premium packaging with a long-lasting high quality product inside.



I have a really special raspberry coloured gloss that is the perfect compliment to rosy pink cheeks and a one of their eyeshadows that comes in a little metal case complete with a mirror – very useful and the eyeshadow itself stays put all night / or well into the next day, whatever.... I have also spotted their nail polishes in Stupourdrug and they have some really great shades, I literally am going to become bankrupt at this rate...

I’ll leave you with a warning; don’t go away for the weekend to the deepest darkest depths of Derbyshire and leave your foundation at home. You have no idea how much concealer and blusher I had to use just to look even vaguely alive, the greyness of the sky combined with the green of the surrounding countryside made for a totally pasty pallor, from now on the Chanel travels everywhere with me.

I still need to revive my skincare regime, am doing some research into what it right for me – that is yellowish grey colouring, the occasional mega-spot and both dry and greasy patches, not much to deal with then. I know that this will probably not come cheaply and we all know that great skin is priceless but needs to be worked at, I have had a month or so of really crap skin enough is enough – this is war.

Until the next time,

TB xxx

Red lips and light roots..

I know that I said I was going to splurge on some skincare as last week I had that terrible skin situation however, as if by magic my stupid face has righted itself and harmony has been restored, thank fuck. So I'm not going to aggravate it by shoving anything else on it, for now...

Plus, when shopping over the weekend I caught sight of my hair under some shop lights and decided it was time to dye my dishwater-like tresses.The thing with my hair is that its naturally 'rat-brown' similar to your mousy-brown but darker and nastier basically.  For the last year or so I have been regularly using a permanent colour on average every 6-8 weeks or so, if I leave it any longer i get crazy rat-brown roots that make me appear bald and my hair starts to look like a wig.

This time around as my FOTH (fear of the hairdresser) is growing with every month that I havent been my hair is actually getting quite long, the last time I home-dyed I got myself in a massive panic as halfway through it looked as if I was running out of the dye and I had to mix in some water. This time around I bought 2 HAIR DYES and used them both, the result was much more even coverage and a really deep colour. I bought L'oreal Recital Preference in Palma, natural brown, Boots are doing a deal on 2 of these for £10. Good colour and I love the conditioner that comes with it as it leaves hair feeling really silky and shiny No more ratty-roots.

Because I felt a bit sad that I had to spend my weekly beauty treat budget on a necessity I did allow myself one tiny thing to ease the pain... I am not a massive fan of red lipstick as a rule, I think it makes me look a bit a drag-queeny however I really like these new matte-look reds that I have seen about at the moment. I bought a Revlon one  - 005 Strawberry Suede which is actually really cute. The packaging isnt anything to go wild about but the lipstick itself goes on easily, is a good colour - almost pinkish but not too pink if you know what I mean.. It is definitely matte which looks great on but don't forget to blot it - nothing worse than an Olgd Gregg Clown mouth.

Having devoured both Vogue and Harpers in the last couple of days I am literally exploding with glittery and festive ideas for Yuletide make-up - there is SO much to choose from. I am going to select a couple of things to buy and try out and keep you posted. Top of my wishlist at the moment though has got to be some of these Mac glitter liners:


Vogue reccomend swiping red or gold over black (not pictured), I'm sold. Of course, there are a billion other things that I want so don't be surprised if the glitter falls by the wayside.

TB x

Green-eyed Monster.

Are you wearing the right eyeshadow for your eye colour? I am not, apparently. I was informed of this by an orange pre-teen sales assistant in Boots who was trying flog me something ghastly like 'Urban Decay'. I humoured her for a while and discovered that for a green-eyed individual such as myself I should be wearing purple (WTF?) eyeshadow. Who knew?

Anyway, I swiftly disentangled myself from the Urbanly Decaying pre-teen - too bloody glittery by half, that stuff and headed for something more familiar, as you will know by now, I have already treated myself this week so Chanel and my other usual faves were totally out, besides this purple-eye venture could be total bullshit so I gave myself an £8 limit, I mean we're not in Collection 2000 territory (over my dead body.). I went for the Bourjois Smoky Eyes Trio in Violet Romantic - I will upload a pic at a later date as my parent's Mac clearly hates and me an won't let me do it now..

The product is great - really lovely colour - not too purple, thank god and blended really well. You get what you pay for basically and although I'm not a massive fan of Bourjois this is a good eyeshadow. Perhaps it time some of you discovered the right eyeshadow for your eye colour, HOW patronising?

xx TB

Bad Skin - Great Products.

So, this is my first post - I'm excited! I haven't done a blog before and I'm sure that no -one will read this but what the hell. I basically like to treat myself to something new hair or beauty-wise per week - extravagant moi? Never. I think that small luxuries to brighten up one's dreary week are a must, my girls will agree.

This week however I was driven to purchase my little luxury out of necessity rather than sheer self indulgence. Thanks to whatever higher power controls my face I awoke on tuesday morning to find the worst spot ever lurking just to the top left of my right cheekbone. After a small weep into the sink I set about the arduous task of concealing this bad boy. My usual weekday routine is basically your bog standard, wash face, apply moisturiser (I'm not using anything exciting enough for this at the moment to tell you about but am thinking about purchasing something wonderful for next week!) and then on to my favourite 10 minutes of the day, make up application...

I may sound insane but I really love it. I will blog at a later date about my routine but this week the focus is on this blemish, sadly. SHOCK HORROR - Laura Mercier Camoflage didnt cut it this time... Sorry Laura but it just wasnt happening today, I will however let you off because you have never let me down before and have seen me through many  a festival blotchy-face nightmare..

Anyway I digress, my lunch break saw me hotfoot it to Harvey Nicholls - well I actually went ot Space NK first in search of Shu Uemura, in particular a concealer called: 'Mark Cealer' - heads up ladies Space NK no longer stock Shu Uemara make up only the oils apparently.. So it was that I found myself i side the luxurious confines of lovely Harvey N's, I do try and be fairly strict with myself when confronted with fabulous beauty counters, such situations can quickly spiral wildly out of control and I have been know to spend over £100 in about 30 seconds in the past - i made a beeline for what I wanted, refused to buy anything else, made my purchase and almost managed to leave... if it hadnt been for the MAC counter where I purchased a 'Sheer tone' powder blush in Pink Swoon - this was what I was going to buy this week had it not been for the spot, so its kind of ok..

The products are both totally fabulous in their own rights - Shu Uemura are not a brand that I have bought in the past but the Mark Cealer is an incredible, rich and creamy concealer. It is moisturising but also gives flawless coverage - I am super impressed. Puts Laura Mercier to shame and was almost half the price at £16!








As for the pretty blusher, I am a fan of MAC so am slightly biased having used 'Frankly Scarlet' blush in the past but this is something very different colour-wise. When applied with a soft brush it gives a really lovely pink glow - very cute and wintry, a make up bag staple from now on. Thanks Mac, a beautiful blusher and very good value at £16.50, they last pretty much forever.

As I mentioned before I think it might almost time to invest in some new cleansing products, I originally didnt want to spend too much but I having researching some bits that I want, will divulge next week - a small clue its starts with D and ends with ermologica......