Clara

Imagine the scene: one day you're sitting and your laptop starts spewing smoke out of the air vents. What would you do?

If you're like me you panic and post to facebook for help! Basically my old, rubbish laptop decided to start jingling like I had put pennies in it and then next thing there was smoke coming out of the air vents. I was told to clean the vents but the actual bottom of the laptop wouldn't come off. In fact it's still sitting in the corner of my room without any screws securing the bottom.

How's it still staying on?

By superglue?!

But I digress. I had to use all of the money in my Jimmy Choo shoe fund to replace my laptop. Meet Clara, my new laptop:



Yes, yes. I realise she is little bit hideous because she is bulky and black but that sort of fits into my room theme so that's okay. She's a real mean machine and superior to my old machine in every single way.

The Liz Lisa website is so pretty is't it? I'd love a blog that was designed like that. Maybe I'll try to do that one day! Hopefully I don't blow her up like I did with my last two laptops. Technologically gifted I am not.

Review: Catastrophe Cosmetic

Hey everyone!
Today's post will be another review. I don't actually have my own pictures for this one; my old laptop blew up. Poor thing. I have my new, shiny laptop now which I have nicknamed Clara! I managed to salvage some of my blog posts but not my pictures which is a shame because I had a fabulous image of me with this face mask on my face!

This blog post is not sponsored. All opinions written here are my own and I am not being paid to say any of these.



I'm not too sure why but recently I've fallen in love with Lush again. I received some of their bubble bars and ballistics for Christmas so this may be why but I ended up popping into my local Lush store. I had intended to start my own skin routine despite being told my skin was in pretty good condition because who doesn't want beautiful skin? I don't agree with putting chemicals into my face because it's my skin and I'm sure natural items are the best for it.

I purchased a face mask, cleanser and toner for myself and received samples of two of their other cleansers as well as a moisturiser. I thought I'd review Catastrophe Cosmetic, one of their face masks.

If you're unfamiliar with Lush I highly recommend checking out their website. They can tell you about who they are and what they do so much better than I can. They're anti animal testing and use lots of vegan ingredients. They also invent everything they make and everything is fresh. As an example, this face mask has an expiry date on it because they don't use preservatives! Everything is made really fresh. If there's a Lush store in your area I would highly recommend checking it out as they will provide you with samples as well as recommendations. Plus it smells really nice!

Catastrophe Cosmetic uses ingredients that occur naturally or in naturally in essential oils. Some of the ingredients this uses are Blueberries, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Calamine Powder and Irish Moss Gel. The only ingredient that is synthetic is just the perfume in the face mask which makes it smell really nice. I was pleasantly surprised! A full list of ingredients can be found at Lush's website. The website goes into detail of what every ingredient in the mask does. For example, fresh blueberries are an antioxidant and full of vitamins and minerals whilst the irish moss gel will soften your skin. As I am writing this blog as a 'gyaru' blog let me put it this way to you; do you ever see a gyaru with horrible skin? Sure, make-up can fix everything but the last thing you want is for your skin to be aged beyond it's years so when deciding on what to use it can be useful looking at the ingredients of products!

This is blue in colour and creamy to touch. When I first saw the pot I thought, "Wow, it's tiny!" but you can get more than one use from it so it's definitely worth the money. I'd say you can get 6 or 7 uses from it before the pot runs out but that may just be me! Did I mention the smell? It smells really fruity, exactly like blueberries. If I'm going to have something on my face I might as well make it something which smells really nice!

As this was my first ever face mask I was a little wary about how to apply it. I need not have worried to be honest. A thin layer of this face mask goes a long, long way and I was pleasantly surprised when I had finished applying this as I had barely made a dent in the tub. It's pretty standard but there are chunks of blueberry in the mask which can be a little surprise when putting this mask on. I left this to set for ten minutes as recommended. After about five minutes my face could barely move and after ten I could barely speak! It didn't leave my face feeling tight or anything of the sort. It washed off very easily.


It looks grey here but I can assure you that my tub looks more blue-grey.

Results
I left this about a week before reviewing to see what sort of effect this mask would have on my skin. At first it made my skin very soft and made it glow and look as though it was really healthy which I was very pleased about. I noticed impurities forming on my skin but those were gone after a good night's sleep so I wasn't too worried. A few days after use my skin uncharacteristically broke out. Big time. I believe that this may have a link to the face mask since I haven't had problem skin like this since I was 13 years old. I am going to keep using this face mask with regular use until it runs out to see if it has an effect; if so I will update this review accordingly. My younger sister has been using Cosmetic Warrior with fabulous results so I'm assuming that it may just be my skin.

Pros:
❥ It smells really, really good!
❥ Easy to apply
❥ Leaves the skin soft and glowing

Cons:
❥ Don't use this for the first time before parties, etc. Make sure it's a two week period where you diary is dead because chances are it will cause a break out.
❥ Made so fresh that it has a expiry date

I give this face mask:
♥♥♥ღღ

All images for this are from the Lush.co.uk website.

Let's Talk About Gyaru~

I've decided that February will be a month dedicated to gyaru and I have prepared a few posts full of information for everyone! I hope that you're all able to enjoy the upcoming posts even though they will be pretty wordy.

I won't lie; I am pretty inspired by gyaru fashion. I love the way the girls can express who they are and who they want to be simply by their clothing and make-up; each different style seems to give them a new personality. I like following the style and seeing what they're choosing for each season but realistically I do not have the time, patience or money to be hardcore follower. I'm just someone who is inspired by them.



So gyaru. What is it?

Gyaru is the Japanese word for 'gal'. It is a fashion style which is followed by young women in Japan as a style of rebellion. It is named after a brand of jeans which was called 'gals' back in the 1970s but the name has stood the test of time. The style itself is very girly and glamorous; some of the sub-cultures within the style can be a little bit sexy!

Oh, like that ganguro thing?

That is pretty close! Ganguro was once a popular style back in the 1990s but it died away into obscurity back in the 2000s. The ganguro style has since evolved into yamanba, manba and plenty of other styles. There are different types of gyaru away from all of this though.

I see. So how do gyaru typically look?

That depends on the type of gyaru but universally all gyaru like to look 'fake'. Natural beauty has no room in gyaru. It's very rare that you'll see a gyaru with black hair; their hair is either dyed brown or blonde. Some gyaru do dye their hair different colours such as red and purple though. Gyaru make-up has a tendency to be pretty distinctive too. The eyes are made to stand out through black eyeliner and both top and bottom eyelashes. Some gyaru accentuate their eyes further by wearing circle lenses as they make their eyes look larger. Some gyaru also decorate their nails with a little bit more than nail polish; if you saw a gyaru with long nails with little Chanel ornaments on them don't be surprised! Some gyaru love to have tanned skin although the degree of the tan depends on what sub-style the gyaru is following.

Type of gyaru?

Yes, there are different sub-styles within gyaru which I will blog about later. Different styles include himegyaru, agejo and manba. Each style has their own preferences for how they want to wear their hair and how they want to wear their make-up, as well as how they want to wear their clothes! 'Gyaru' is the collective name for the entire sub-style and it can get a little confusing!

Is Kyarypamyupamyu gyaru?

No. Stop that.

Sorry Kyary...

All pictures for this post were sourced from Tumblr!

Other Posts In 'February Gyaru Month'

❥ Gyaru Sub-Styles
❥ 15 Popular Gyaru Brands
❥ 9 Essential Gyaru Magazines

Half & Half

This photo is the brain child of a long and boring Sunday afternoon. There's been numerous times where I've been sitting applying my make-up and my man has said, "It's like Photoshop but in real life!" Maybe it's a little rude of him to say something like that but it is kind of true as make-up is used to enhance beauty.

This is my face with make-up and Photoshop on one side, and completely bare on the other.



I think one of the most jarring things about this picture is the lipstick to be honest as it can catch you off guard! But yes. The power of Photoshop and make-up is really powerful, don't you think?