I'm Sorry... here's a gift.

Apologies are an appropriate form of initiating communication with one who you have wronged. I honestly feel that I have wronged you, my readers, in my prolonged absence of good quality law/fashion/beauty blogging and the like.

SO I'm Sorry.

Unfortunately moving house also means moving internet and moving internet apparently means a seriously prolonged period of lack-of-internetness! Sad times. It means that I am confined to carrying my pretty little macbook around in the hopes of accessing the internet at a friends house. I love my mac and though it is portable I don't really like dragging it around london. Worry not, Virgin Broadband has promised us that in JUST 15DAYS (yay!) we will be reconnected.

this is a portrait of me having a tantrum as a child (in my mind)

Anyway gifts usually help take away distract people from the pain that induced the apology and so I have come baring gifts. Well a gift, kind of. Take it or leave it because I really have heard that its the thought that counts!!

My gift comes in the form of make-upy goodness. Sadly your momentary increase in heart rate as you thought that I might send out free beauty gifts to all my readers/have a giveaway only served to help you lose 1 extra calorie. This is virtual make up goodness in the form of Topshops virtual makeover thingy.
I'm guessing its to increase the interest in their kind of new make-up range:

Lets see what it did to me:

original

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

And then I did this and knew it was time to stop.

You can click at the end 'What I'm wearing' and get a nice little shopping list to get the look in real life

Have fun, don't forget to thank me or at least let me have a look at your pics if you get some funny/interesting ones.

xx

Beauty Re:Vue - Maybelline Color Sensational (Pink Please)

I am yet to find a stand by photographer who will take amazing pictures of me on a really expensive camera. With a Xdd5i lens. Neither do I have a tri-pod. You will have to make do.

This is a little review of the Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in 'Pink Please'. I like this lipstick and wore it today to give my simple look a little bit of interest. See I decided to wash my hair this morning before work and didn't have time to adequately blow-dry and style it. So pulled back into a puffy ponytail it was for me!

Anyhoo I wore this top & necklace (vintage/primark)

With these jeans 

These earrings (African Jewellery)

And these shoes (Poetic License)

The Lipstick looks like this with no lip conditioner as a base and nothing on top for shine. It can be glossified and glamorised in this way.

got an insect bite under my eye :( 
(ah well!)

Love the way it feels when it goes on and also has a good smell. I managed to get mine from eBay for only £5 so good price too!

 x

Beauty Re:Vue - Clean Start

So I recently had the privilege of trying the Clean Start cleanser, toner and moisturiser. I didn't really intend to write a blog about it and share my wonderful experience with all of my millions of readers but after using it for 3 days, I kind of have to. It is cool.

In the summer I always find it a little harder to keep my skin looking fresh and well (but not heavily) moisturised. Using the WASH OFF you can immediately feel a deep cleansing with very little effort. It doesn't sting your eyes (I always get it in my eyes) and it doesn't take ages to wash away like some face washes can do.

Then you get the luxury of spraying your face with their ALL OVER CLEAR toning mist. I was a little scared when I did this to be honest and I think it is a little wasteful because you can never get the mist to go just on your face. I do try though and look a little crazy in the process. It feels nice and cooling but if I am 100% honest I don't entirely understand the benefits of toner and if there was water in that squirty bottle I probably wouldn't notice!

Finally its the WELCOME MATTE SPF15, this is my favourite part of the routine. Your skin by this point is feeling cool, clean and delicately moisturised. I have noticed the difference in my facial skin in such a short amount of time and my flatmate verified that I wasn't all excited about a new face wash for no reason by complimenting my skin! Great!

So I RAN down to the shop, the one that sells this stuff, ran all the way to www.cleanstart.com or something like that only to find that I would have to spend £41.95 for the three full sized products.

And then I ran back home. The end.

Beauty Re:Vue - Some Summer Nails (Rimmel 60 Second 'Sky High')

I love the 60 second nail polish collection from Rimmel, they have some really great colours, of which I own a few and will show them to you as and when I wear them (and can be bothered to take pics). This is a simple summer splash of colour to go with all those nudes and blacks: 

It dries really quickly. I have on 2 coats and a top coat. It costs about £3.99. Buy it! x

Beauty Re:Vue - LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub

Okay so I am late when it comes to the whole lip scrub review but in a bid to have the perfect pout (a seriously real aim of mine) one must not settle for dry, flaky lips... its unprofessional.


So here is what the little pot looks like. Made of caster sugar and jojoba oil with a splash of bubblegum flavouring.

It retails at £4-something. When I bought it I was told that it was tasty enough to eat. It really is, however I was immediately sickened at the prospect of using it to scrub dead skin cells off my lips and then licking my lips clean (dead cells in tow) and swallowing it. Its nauseating even writing about it.


I'm gonna get straight to the point, this is a waste of money. Not because it doesn't do an okay job, but for the same price you can get a huge bag of caster sugar, some olive oil (which is just as good for your skin) and you don't really need the flavour! Make little pots of it yourself and sell them to your friends.


For free (providing you are one of those people who does not see brushing teeth in the same way you see breathing) , you could also run over your lips with a toothbrush in the morning, not too vigourously but enough to keep them from grating your cheese. And then lather in a one of these lip conditioners.

Beauty Re:Vue - Blackberry Brown (Nails Inc)

Hi, So I did a beauty re:vue and never did one ever again! Well the blog is called LAW ad libitum... nevertheless here is another. So I spent forever looking for the perfect pale pink in a bid to have professionally powerful nude nails. You know when you are in a corporate environment you have to be concerned about how you present yourself, and shocking pinks and fluorescent greens are not the way to go.

So after a little while I realised that pale pink is not my nude. Its actually a yummy nude brown which I have labelled the blackberry brown. I don't want to clasp the bottle to show you what these nails look like, so here they are:

I put on two coats (plus top coat) and they lasted all of ONE day before chipping. Nails inc retails at £10.50 a bottle... but I got this FREE, okay not totally free but Diet Coke has released four colours which you can get free from boots with every 2 bottles purchased (until 30th June)

I am wearing the London colour (and I love it!)

LAL meets Meek 'n' Mild: The Equation of Beauty

We all have our specialties and things that we excel at. Normally these are what form the basis of our professional pursuit. Seeing as I have decided to mix my love for law with everything else, I thought I would go in hunt of other bloggers' secret geek. 

First up we have the lovely Shirley from Meek 'n' Mild!

So I asked Shirley a few questions about what makes her tick apart from being a beauty blogger extraordinare.

1. What is your academic specialty?

Mathematics it is!

2. What is your favourite thing about Maths?

My favourite thing about Mathematics is that it always brings on a new challenge! It's fun and nothing beats the satisfaction I feel when I am able to solve a problem systematically and result in a solution.

3. I once attended a series of workshops with the aim of finding an equation that would determine whether one had the perfect face and thus was beautiful (or not) Do you believe that mathematics has a role to play in fashion and beauty? and if so, what?

With rigorous deductions and tests, an equation that could possibly determine how perfect a face is can be found. However I don't believe a perfect face means that one is beautiful. You can have well proportioned features, but Beauty is something that comes from within. A gentle and quiet Spirit is what is beautiful.

4. What is your 'beauty buzz' right now?

Coral lipglosses! Great for all skintones and perfect for summer!

5.Which fashion trend has got you the most excited right now?

Tribal Print!!! I really can't wait to whip out my African Inspired print dresses this summer!

6. Is that legal? - ask LAL one legal question on ANYTHING you desire or have always wanted to know, crazy, quirky or quite normal and i'll research it for you.

I'm not sure what to ask! Lol!

Now since Shirley couldn't think of something legal for me to research, I thought I would spin off her love for Tribal print. I am totally with her, however anyone who knows me knows that I was ever so slightly peeved at the anti-climax that was ASOS Africa. Now I am not at all saying that they are breaching human rights by selling clothes that really should be £5 for £50 and calling it a move towards fair trade. At the end of the day business is business and the main aim is to make money. But I really do not think (once again in my most humble opinion) that it should be legal for them to have a section named ASOS Africa with such a terrible reflection on african atire.

These lovely examples were taken from FashionAfrica:

Anyhoo, if you have access to a good tailor and know where to get the right print, this summer will be perfect to rock your tribal print. If not, feel free to visit asos and buy a selection of their prints! 

Beauty Re:Vue - Battle of the Tinted Lip Conditioner

When it comes to getting the perfect pout, lip conditioners play a big part. Sometimes you cannot be bothered to put anything on your lips, but that doesn't mean you are going for the dry, cracked look. Using a tinted lip conditioner can give you the feel of a real nude lip with the look of a real luscious lip. In a professional/office context they are extremely useful; they take two seconds to apply, can be wiped off your finger on your tights a tissue and won't make you look like you just ate greasy chicken or are trying to seduce the newest partner in the office.


For my first ever (excitement) re:vue, here's my opinion of three of my favourite lip conditioners. Please don't ask why I have three.


1. MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner - Petting Pink

So this retails at £10.50. I was super excited when I purchased this as it smells seriously good, like a creamy cocktail. It feels silky smooth on the lips and you really do not need much to get the job done. In terms of how long it lasts I'd say a good couple of hours. Being a lip fanatic it probably is only a couple of hours before I panic and think to put something new on my lips anyway. I don't know how fair that will make my review. But take it or leave it.


It also has a little flavour too it, if your tongue happens to make contact with your lips. That's a bonus, I really hate acidic tasting lip products. 


A recent friend of mine tried it and said 'so this is what being rich feels like'. I chuckled but it really was an accurate description. In the 2.8 seconds it takes you to apply this, you feel... well, rich!






2. Vaseline Lip Therapy  - Rosy Lips

Currently retailing at £1.69. This 'lip conditioner' (yes I hesitate to call it such because it really could be pinky coloured petroleum jelly) is more oil based. It has rose and almond oil in it which is good for your skin, and so your lips too I suppose. This provides a perfect base for putting on lipgloss just to make sure ur lips are smooth and not dry. It honestly requires frequent application. It smells good and even tints 'gently'. 


What I like most about this is the tin. I am just being honest. I saw someone else with it and put it on my birthday wish list and ended up with two! (I am easy to please). It looks great in your handbag and if you are a fidgety type person who loves to keep re-applying then go for this. Also it will not burn a hole in your pocket, in fact if you are anything like me then you won't have to touch your pockets at all!


3. Sleek Pout Polish - Pink Cadillac

Get this for  £3.49! My least favourite I must say. While I carry the other two with me in my bag daily and sometimes even get upset when I cannot find them, this I couldn't even find to take a picture of for the review (sorry) so I found one online. The word on the street is that this is great. It's OKAY in my opinion. It is cream based and quite thick. It colours as opposed to tint, even though it clearly says tinted something or other on it (look on the edge of the lid). Taste, smell, its all a bit artificial and you do not get that 'oo la la' feeling rather a i want my MAC feeling. However it is good at conditioning your lips in my humble opinion. And I suppose all in all that is what matters. It's considerably cheaper than MAC too (and a close alternative).