GoogleWhacked: Bye Bye GFC And What To Do Now

Hello my lovelies, observe my fed up face.

Exactly folks, exactly.

So rumours have abounded for months and it would appear Google are trying to force us all onto the decidedly bleah Google+ by getting rid of Google Friend Connect as well as Google Reader. They're doing a clean up...and it would appear that includes the things we actually use. Now I use my reader quite a bit and I won't lie it makes me really happy when I see that so many of you read my ramblings. I'm a bit gutted, I'm not entirely sure how to keep in contact with all the blogs I love and read. I don't want to join Google+ I really don't. Another social media platform AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT. 

Let's face it folks one way or another GFC is going.

What That Means For You

Well the side bar widget on the blog that has pictures of your gorgeous faces below it, is leaving. So I won't be able to see you any more. If you have a GFC widget on your blog, you'll lose those followers unless you have a provision set up. So essentially, get a provision in place or lose the blogs you love to read. I think I have that provision to help!

 Getting Set Up On Bloglovin'

One of the things I've been doing is reacquainting myself with Bloglovin'. If you're not familiar with Bloglovin' it's a reader which will hold all of your blog subscriptions. It also is a nifty piece of kit, it has an iOS app and an Android app shortly. The interface is also lovely, very sleek and easy to navigate. 

If you don't have Bloglovin' fear not. Pop over to Bloglovin' and enter your email address, then you find the Claim Blog button, input your blog name and click on the result. Then they'll give you some widget code and you pop it into your sidebar and bang you've just claimed your blog. Easy.

Importing The Blogs You Read

So you want to move all of the blogs you had in your reader, and not lose anyone? No problem. Go to this Bloglovin' page and select Google Reader and then input your information and it will pull all of your blogs over. Bang!

So girls and boys, the end of GFC doesn't have to mean we lose our favourite blogs and our favourite readers. I propose a move to Bloglovin' hopefully because you'll find it as easy to navigate as I do. 

A Request

I've now imported my blogs over, and I'd urge you to do the same. If you have Bloglovin' do check that I'm following you and let me know if I'm not. If you follow me by GFC do feel free to follow me on Bloglovin' if you fancy being a bit more fun, click the picture of me being a miserable cow at the top and it should hopefully take you there. 

Anyway, Much Love

See you guys on Bloglovin.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Summer Sun: My Summer Shades Picks

Today we are talking sunglasses! My picks of some ace pairs!

I love fabulous sunglasses, for me the bigger the better. Sunglasses take the place of your eye make up so they have to be really stylish. I'm a fan of the oversize sunglasses but this summer if you're going to be in a field at a festival, on a foreign beach, shopping in the sunshine. Fear not, I have you covered.

Plaintiff Polished Gold Aviator Sunglasses With Dark Grey Lens

My first pick is a fabulous set of aviators. I've been wearing aviators since I was at university and I have a couple of vintage pairs from the 80s. These are a nice broad pair for the oversize lovers. These would be amazing for those of you who like the effortlessly cool look. Team with anything, in bright winter days these will also be fabulous. Consider putting them with your McQueen skull scarf for a monochrome look.

Collectors Edition Frogskins Sunglasses Blacklight Orange Pink

Festival goers these are for you. I loved these when I saw them, they're so fun and frivolous. The Oakley Frogskins come in a variety of colours but this instantly made me think festival sun. Think cut off denim, straw hats and these!

Dispatch II Sunglasses Polished Rootbeer

I loved these, they were very up my street. A big oversize lens, in a gorgeous tortoiseshell effect. I could easily wear these every day, with any outfit. I have a pair that are nearly identical to them and I wear them with everything.

Frogskins Sunglasses Basin Red Pink Iridium

Purple and pink, these are lush. If you don't fancy the neon fabulousness of the other Oakley Frogskins then these might be for you. I thought they were gorgeous, I love anything purple and the pink lenses were seriously retro. I think you could easily say the inspiration came from the Flower Power 1960s. Perfect for any festivals you go to.

So those are my little picks for the summer in plenty of different styles! What do you look for in a pair of sunglasses? Will you be daring enough to go neon this summer?

Let me know what you think.

Much Love

Shops And Spoiling: The Bloggers Hit Castlecourt

The girls from Castlecourt, Charlotte the PR, Katrina from Sugahfix and Kerry from the Belfast Telegraph

I was lucky to be invited by the lovely folks from Castlecourt in Belfast to come to their Blogger's Lunch yesterday. They wanted to meet local bloggers and journalists and let them know about all of the fabulous events they have coming up.

T-J from GingerSnapsVintage and Victoria from Victoria Isla

We heard about the upcoming Recycle Your Style event which will be taking place on the 22nd June, some of the centre's personal shoppers will be giving away their secrets, and styling the fashion shows which will run three times over the day. You can check out the poster below if you fancy popping down on the 22nd.

We were treated to lunch and coffee by the Bagel Factory and we got to sit and munch on some yummy bagels and wraps and chat to each other. We love a good chat!

Check out these fabulous cupcakes made by the cupcake shop in the mall, don't you love the shoes, bags and buttons. Perfect for fashion bloggers.

We got such a spoiling, T-J and I were taken to Trade Secrets to try out their Kerastase treatment and have a gorgeous blow dry, I opted for a big bouncy blow out. I can never do them so it was amazing to have their talented staff work their magic on my hair. It was the first time I'd had my hair done since I took the colour out of it. I'm now back to a more natural light brown shade.

These guys are wizards, honestly we had such a laugh and it was so lovely to sit and have a chat while we got our blow dries. From Beyonce to going to the gym at midnight, we covered it all!

After getting a gorgeous blow dry at Trade Secret we popped down to the Urban Decay counter in Debenhams who very kindly offered to colour match us to their new foundation. They also gave us a little makeover, wasn't that so kind of them?

Here I am after my Trade Secret and Urban Decay make-over, I am crazy about my hair, it's so volumised and swishy! I loved the 24/7 Urban Decay Lip Crayon in WallFlower that they used on my lips, it looks really natural and pretty. Also what do you guys think of my newly lightened hair?

My dress, even though you can't see it is from Bee Vintage and it is rather fabulous and unusually for me not black! My necklace is inspired by Up the Disney movie and is from Hear Hooves Think Zeebras.

Here's T-J after her hair makeover, she had lots of fabulous texture put in by the guys at Trade Secret.

Here's the poster for the Recycle Your Style Event, if you're in the area pop in and get some advice from the  personal stylists.

Before I go I wanted to show you all my new iPhone cover, I had been looking at it on Etsy for a very long time and eventually I clicked the button and bought it. I picked my favourite colour of course. It seemed like a very appropriate phone cover for a beauty blogger.

So girls that's all from me. I'm off to eat a cupcake and swish my new hair!

Much Love

Feeding My Teacup Addiction With Not On The High Street

 I'm a big fan of online shopping, most of the things I buy come from the internet and increasingly that has manifested itself in a swathe of apps on my iPhone which I constantly use. The prime example of this is the fact that I have a taxi app for my local cab firm which allows me to book and track them. I love an app!

When notonthehighstreet.com got in touch with me to ask me if I'd like to try their new Gift Finder app, it took me less than a second to say yes. My main thought was 'how did I not already know they had an app?' but I quickly downloaded it from the App Store and had a quick peruse around.

For those of you unfamiliar with Not On The High Street, it's a site filled with lots of individual, personalised crafts, but also boutique shops and designers. It's an absolute treasure trove of things, very, very good if you're looking for a gift for someone. Now with the new app you can actually base the present selection on personality and interests.

For example here's the search I did for Father's Day. Had I not already got him his Bruce Springsteen tickets ages ago for his birthday/Father's Day present I would have bought his present while I was on the app. You can import events, birthdays etc from Facebook so you're never caught empty handed.

I decided while I had the app I would have to treat myself to some gorgeous bits, further increasing my teacup obsession! 

I decided to order this gorgeous Disaster Designs teacup from the Why Not range at Lisa Angel Home-ware and Gifts. It happens to match my Why Not bag also, there was a quick toss up between, matching teacup or matching hip flask; anyone who knows me will know quite how fraught a battle that really was. My tea cup arrived quickly the next day, I love it, it's beyond pretty.

My favourite Fluff LA pug wallet was looking a little sad so I decided to grab a Disaster Designs Paper Planes wallet from This Is Pretty (I know I have a Disaster Designs problem).

I ordered it at Wednesday lunchtime and by Thursday afternoon it was with me. I was pretty amazed. Of course I couldn't resist adding a little extra pug, thank you to Claire from French for Cupcake for my little pug.

Here's some of the detailing on the Paper Planes wallet, I loved the whole airmail style. When I got it I couldn't wait to put all of my cards and pictures into it so I could take it out. I know I'm going to have to buy the Paper Planes bag now as I really need the matching pair!

To finish, I added this little personalised bar of bespoke chocolate from The Chocolate Library. I thought it was a nice present for Himself, after all I had well and truly spoiled myself so it was only fair. The chocolate was lovely, he gave me some and I had it with my tea, out of my new teacup obviously!

So if you haven't been Father's Day shopping yet, get onto the Not On The High Street app and let them tailor suggestions to your dad! It's so much fun.

I'm off to make another cup of tea!

Much Love

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: Man Of Steel Review

The Superman franchise has been a bit of a poison chalice, from Christopher Reeve's iconic four movies, through the Dean Cain television reboot, the Smallville origins series, and the sorely unpopular Superman Returns in 2006. It has been re-imagined and re-envisioned more times than you can shake a stick at. A stick wearing a cape obviously.

When I was invited to see Man of Steel the latest offering from the DC wheelhouse I didn't know what to expect. A brief bit of research and I soon discovered Christopher Nolan was behind the story, the man responsible for bringing the Bat back to Gotham; I knew I had to see this.

Man of Steel is an attempt at an origin story only without the arduous task of telling the audience what they already know. I hate origin stories, mainly because you spend an awfully long time watching the protagonist discover themselves, finding out the minutia of their lives, the fact they hate peas or can't do maths. It's like those celebrity autobiographies where you're speeding through the pages muttering 'hurry up and get famous so I can find out what the Spice Girls are like.'

Man of Steel thankfully didn't  subscribe to the linear origins narrative. Snyder takes the action to the present day and shows the audience Henry Cavill's Clark when he's all grown up. The film becomes a different kind of origins story, it introduces us to a new Clark Kent as he simultaneously finds out where he comes from and tries to discover what kind of man he wants to be. How he can be a man when he isn't human, but more than that, how he can be a Superman who holds a mirror up to mankind and reflects back to them what they wish to see.

Cavill, plays a physically powerful Clark, we can almost see the power he is desperately trying to contain to blend in. In the early scenes his bearded face and build echoes Christian Bale  at the beginning of Batman Begins, whether Nolan and Syder realised it or not there is an echo. He doesn't play the goody-goody Clark that we're used to, rather we see a small child overwhelmed by powers he doesn't understand and can barely control, flashes of teenage frustration, confusion and loss, and a man who wants to know his purpose and how he can fit into a world he doesn't belong to. His performance is strong and he brings a very natural quality to the role which is difficult with an extra terrestrial storyline.

Diane Lane and Kevin Costner play Clark's earth parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. Both are very good, but a special mention must be given to Kevin Costner who may not have been in much of the movie but had real impact in those scenes that he was. Russell Crowe played a relatively deadpan Jor-El, it was always going to be challenging to compete with Marlon Brando channelling a green suitcase, but he was solid in the role.

Amy Adams played Lois Lane, and although she did a good job, she didn't have much to do apart from further Clark's self discovery narrative and occasional action sequences. Hopefully in any future films she will be able to fully extend herself. Michael Shannon plays the menacing General Zod, he gives a fabulously Shakespearean performance which seemed apt with his Macbeth-esque narrative.

Man of Steel was a powerful and beautifully shot origins story which explores what an origin story really is. There were lovely humanising touches which overlayed the comic book story. It benefited greatly from the flashback approach which kept the narrative well paced. Snyder presents a movie which will please cinema-goers, there were some fabulous performances and a solid story line. I got more than an echo of Avengers Assemble at various points in the climactic scenes.  A solid offering from Snyder, the best Superman movie in a long time.

Before I go, here was my face of the day, flushed from the fabulously sunny weather we've been having. I kept things natural with Rimmel's Wake Me Up Foundation and matching cheek brightener.

That's all from me today folks.

Much Love

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You: Rimmel Sunshimmer Instant Tan Airbrush Effect

Today I'm all about tanning. I am not a sunbather so any tan I have comes from a bottle, or a can, or sometimes a packet. I'm always on the lookout for easy ways to get a quick golden look without fuss, streaks or hassle. Mainly this is because I am the laziest person when it comes to faffing about in the bathroom. I am all for speedy beauty, if it takes ages or is a whole faff I usually don't do it.

So I was sent these new Rimmel Instant Tan Airbrush Effect cans to try out. Now I thought these would be very up my street. I tried out the He-Shi Luminous Shimmer tan which is instant and I loved it so I was really interested to try this.

I got sent two shades in Light and Dark for me to try so obviously I whipped them out of the packet and started shaking the can ready to go.

Now the point of the sprays are that you can lightly spray them on and build up the tan you want with an airbrush finish. I think if you were very competent you could even use the darker shades to contour and add some definition. 

So how did I get on?

It turns out I am not very good with sprays, I must be a bit heavy handed as I kept getting a splurge of colour and then a lighter colour. I think if you are good with the other spray tans this will be no bother to you at all. I just couldn't seem to get to grips with it though. I kept getting splotches of colour which I had to try to rub in. It isn't really designed to be rubbed in though it's an airbrush so I think if I practise a little more perhaps I will get better with it. For the most part I'm a throw it on a mitt and rub it in kind of girl; my airbrush skills are not good.

The colours are true to the guide on the front. The Light Matte is perfect to give me a tan with my pale skin I don't think I could go any darker and the Dark Matte is really dark I'd imagine it would be good for people with olive or naturally darker skin. 

It's designed to last 24 hours and is transfer resistant, so it's perfect if you have a night out and you want instant colour without having to wait for it to develop. The bottles come in at five pounds which is pretty reasonable I think. It's definitely handy if you're good with a spray format, I'm not very good with it but I'm definitely going to practise and see if I can get better because I like the idea of it.

Much Love

Time For Tea: Tea Dress Love

The tea dress is a wardrobe staple of mine, if you love a little vintage styling you will all have an array of tea dresses to choose from. Many of mine come from surprising places, a lot from eBay, charity shops, some of my favourites are from vintage emporiums where their tags have long since rubbed off and I have no idea where they came from. I've found some tea dresses in surprising places though, most recently I spied some of these rather fabulous picks at bonprix.co.uk

I hadn't checked them out before but I'd read the rather fabulous Pamper and Curves article on her gorgeous  polka dot vintage style Bon Prix dress with sleeves. She's got proper style and it's great to see vintage styling in a generous plus size, with sleeves!

I've picked some fabulous vintage inspired dresses that I think are amazing, I think you guys might want to check out Bon Prix, I've already ordered one. See if you can guess which!

Love this floaty little purple design, gorgeous with a pair of pumps

Another pretty little floral dress, this would be rather wonderful for a festival, add wellies and a straw hat. It's here.

I love this! Proper vintage floral, cheeky little v neck and cinched in around the waist. Absolutely perfect for that vintage look and a total bargain. It's here.

If you're channelling the 1960s this is a fabulous little pick. Think Twiggy, big lashes and fabulous hair. I love this mint colour, it also has some hidden wonder support. Gorgeous. It's here.

Love this for the 1950s pin up look. It also has a light stretch, hurrah! It's here.

So that's my pick of some very fabulous vintage styled tea dresses, most for less than £30, I've just ordered the light blue floral tea dress for summer, did you guess right? Hopefully it'll be here soon and I can wear it and take some photos for the blog!

So what you think guys? Are you surprised these are from Bon Prix?

Much Love

Suffocated By Stuff: Tips, Packing And Lying Under Boxes

We are moving!

I am a hoarder, I constantly hang on to things because I think I'll use it, I'll fix it up, or it would come in useful for something. The problem is my other half is also a hoarder, he likes to collect things as well so we're never short of piles of things around the house. We have a very large DVD collection and a seriously large drama library, it made me feel tired even thinking about the prospect of packing it up.

Me and Mr Looking Knackered

Here we are though, a month before moving into our new home and we are packing. I decided before we started that I was going to be merciless, if we didn't use it, if I didn't wear it it was being thrown away or taken to the charity shop. So far we have taken thirteen huge black bags filled with clothes, shoes, bags, books, music, appliances to our local charity shop. Other things that weren't good enough for the charity shops have been thrown away and I have to tell you it has been hugely liberating. I didn't realise how much we had. It makes me feel rather uncomfortable, did any of you see the Comic Relief film a while ago about the DIY SOS team going to an African village to lay a floor for a man who had been able to build a small house with help of the funded project. They were able to remove all of his worldly possessions from his house in less than five minutes. I always think about that when I'm packing, we have all of this stuff that we don't need, in my case things I didn't even know I had. So I'm taking the opportunity to send it to charity shops so that it can be reused and hopefully sold to do some good somewhere.

From a personal perspective it's started to feel like a weight off, the more I give away the lighter I feel. The more bags I drop at the charity shop the less suffocated I feel. It's like the amount of things we accumulate tie us and weigh us down to a place. I know we put off moving just because we couldn't face packing all of our things, that seems crazy. We've actually inhibited our lives by accumulating so many things! My overall plan is to give away more than we take. When we move we're planning on starting fresh, being able to decorate how we want because we haven't pulled all of our decor from our old house.

I thought I'd put together my tips on moving if anyone wants a bit of help!

1.Clothes!
Work through your wardrobe quickly, take it piece by piece. In a second ask yourself 'Do I wear this? When did I last wear it?' If it's been a long time take it out. Work on instinct, don't start to qualify your decision with 'Oh but I bought it on holidays, oh the memories.' Stop. You have the memories in your head, take it out. Be merciless, only keep it if it was very expensive. That's allowed.

2. Coping with clutter.
Pick a room grab a bin bag, set the timer for one minute. In that minute fling everything you don't want into the bag, you can sort it for recycling or charity shops later. You have to have at least 30 things that are headed for the door. Setting the timer stops you dwelling and mulling over it, decisions are made on your gut. Do the same thing for each room every week running up to your move and you'll find yourself a lot lighter.

3. Give away more than you take.
New houses are a new start, don't lumber yourself with lots of things you didn't use in your old house. Think of the potential for new design if you have less that will impose itself on your room. Take the essentials though, sofas and beds are a must!

4.Avoid looking at the bigger picture.
Take it room by room or it can be overwhelming. Declutter each room first and then pack.

5.Beg, borrow and steal boxes.
Ask friends, ask local shops, borrow suitcases from chums (have them write their names on the tags for easy returning) then when they're moving give all the boxes back.

6. Be aware of the naughty box.
There is always that one box, you all know the one I mean girls. The one that if your mother was starting to unpack it you would dive over broken glass to stop her. It contains the purchases from Ann Summers that were in your bedside table. You might be thinking 'this gets an entire section?' yes!! If people are helping you, you must mark this box accordingly so no 'helpful people' get an eyeful of your bedroom collection.

7. If all else fails, ask the professionals.
If it all seems too much, get some movers in to do it for you. Oprah says no woman over 40 should help anyone move house, but I say why set an age limit, if it's not for you, get the movers round.

So those are my tips for moving, let me know any of yours down below.

Much Love

Summer Brights: Sally Hansen, Rimmel and NYC Summer Party

I realised the other day when I was scrolling through my photos looking for a long forgotten swatch, that I had completely forgotten to tell you about this fabulous event! A while ago myself and some of the other Belfast bloggers were asked by lovely Fiona to come and have a look at the new Summer colours and products from Rimmel, Sally Hansen and NYC at Paddy McGurgan's Make Up Store on Royal Avenue. Of course we all said yes, I love a good poke around new products. As you can see from the picture above, the other girls do too.

The table was laid out with all the goodies for us to play with and try. I was very glad to see make up remover and wipes because I went straight for the Rimmel Apocalips and man they are bright. If you love bold colours they are right up your street, lovely. I got a bright pink one to try and it is pretty fierce. I haven't had the courage to wear it out yet!

I love the NYC Colour Wheel, I reviewed it a while ago and highly recommended it because the layering of the pink and nude tones creates a really natural cheek flush, it's also such a bargain! You'll also see my total favourite lip product at the moment, the NYC Appelicious Balms, I can't even tell you how much I love these at the minute. There are some shots of the colours below if you want to see them.

Foundation bliss, oh and my finger in the way. A photographer I am not. NYC Skin Matching is a great pick here, I reviewed it earlier in the year and loved how light and adapting the finish is, the Rimmel BB Cream is also worth a try if you see it, it's lovely and light but it has very impressive coverage which I know is something we all can't do without.

NYC Mousse is a great pick for those who like a medium matt coverage, it is a fabulously light velvet like finish but it really stays put. I don't normally wear heavier coverage but this is a great little mousse for those of you who like a mousse texture. I reviewed it and you can find it here.

The girls testing all of the make up. Nic from Strawberry Blonde Beauty Blog, Bex from Welcome to FaeriWood, Gemma-Louise from That Belfast Girl, Sara from Belfast Beauty Love, T-J from Ginger Snaps Vintage  and Lesley from Lellie Moi it's a hard job but someone has to do it!

We were rewarded from our hard make up testing with chocolate chip cookies and scones. Yum!

These are my new favourite things, firstly my nails have been growing like nobody's business from the Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Polish. You put it on under your polish or just by itself and it makes your nails grow. Voila. I noticed a real difference in the second week of using it. I seemed to be filing my nails more because they were growing lovely and quickly.

This polish! Sally Hansen Frutti Petutie, has been on my nails for about a month, when it chips eventually or it grows out from the cuticle I just lash another layer on and I adore it. It's a fabulous fruit bright orange with some pink undertones and it's so summery and just looks fantastic. It's on my toes at the minute for my sandals and I've had nothing but compliments on it. It's a real summer must have for me.

Ah my Applelicious balms, I've already reviewed these so if you want to read my thoughts and see swatches have a look at the post here. These are fabulous for summer, colour and light texture, they're a balm, they moiturise, they give you gentle colour. Grab these before they're out of the shops.

Much Love As Always

Enjoy the Sunshine