Melange of Muses.

First - let me apologise for the lack of posting. I've created a sister blog called www.musewithsooz.blogspot.com for the sole purpose of my Twitter, and since I tend to put a lot more personal stuff up here, I didn't want to link to this. So there are more up-to-date posts there if you want to read up.

Well, where do I start? It is a 'melange of muses' meaning that I'm not going to stick to one particular topic.

First, the Tennis. And today, although I didn't watch it, it was Women's Final's Day, and Serena Williams just beat her sister to get the title. Big whoop! No surprises there at all. Well done! I AM looking forward to tomorrow's final though, with Federer vs Roddick. I think I would really like Fed to win, since he's such a nice guy, and I'd love him to reclaim his title, but I think Roddick has played well this tournament and deserves to get another Grand Slam under his belt. It could be anybody's game. I'm not bothered that Murray isn't in the Final. I think he's still young, and he's still getting better and maybe next year is his year. I still think it's the reign of Federer and Nadal for the time being.

Next up, personal stuff. We had the Yr 11 Graduation at school and it was surprisingly a very emotional day. I had to play the piano for the students too, and I was quite nervous. It's been a couple of years since I have done a solo performance. All the students looked lovely, and it was the same day as my colleague's birthday. That evening also we had to speak at the Governor's meeting, which was nerve-wracking. The following evening was our staff boat party.... and well... let's just say that being sober is sometimes probably more fun than being drunk! I have stories that nobody wants me to repeat, I'm sure! Moving swiftly on... I have been told that in September I shall be teaching a class in Yrs 7-10 which I'm happy about and very excited about! Bring it on! I've just today been working with the students that will be joining Yr 7 in September. They look like a little handful!

Next is Make-Up. My other blog mentions that I've done an inventory of my make-up and I have about 85 items. The next MAC collection to be released is the Colour Craft one (with lots of mineralised items), which I will definitely be purchasing from, and also I want to get a few things from ELF. After I have purchased all that will I be doing a Project 10 Pan! I just want to say also that, remember the very first MAC eyeshadow that I got, and that wasn't too long ago either. It was the 'Sumptuous Olive' one, a bit green. Well, having tried it in the shop, I absolutely loved it, and then it just sat in my case and I couldn't figure out a combination to wear it in. And then finally, I just decided to take the plunge today and I wore it alone. Nothing else on my eyelid apart from a primer, and I LOVE it. I heart this colour even more now, and this could quickly become my favourite colour.

Last night I went to see Take That at Wembley Stadium doing their Circus tour. This really was the Greatest Night of my life, and also the Greatest show I have ever seen. Definitely their best - by a mile. It was so inventive, so creative, and amazingly put together and thought out. It was truly a spectacle and I loved every single moment of it. Definitely buying it on DVD when it comes out. The whole show was based on a Circus theme, and ranged from hot air balloons to elephants, to clowns, unicycles, fires, and animals. That's all I can tell you. But yeah... a-ma-zing! I got pitch standing spaces, which, for my height, wasn't ideal, but it didn't take away from anything. I couldn't see anything when they were on the small stage in the middle of the arena. But when they were on the main stage I got a pretty good view.

Finally. I'm very excited about the Tour De France, which started today with an individual time trial around Monaco. If you don't know what that is then it's a race around a circuit against the clock. Each riders rides on their own following the same course, each departing at 2 minute intervals, and whoever gets around the quickest is the winner for the day, and gains the infamous Yellow Jersey. Today's winner was Fabian Cancellara from Team CSC Saxobank, the team that I support. He is the BEST time-trialer around, having won Gold in Beijing for the same event. So well done! Looking forward to tomorrow. Other names to watch out for are Alberto Contador (brilliant rider, won TDF 2 years ago), Carlos Sastre (won last year), Cadel Evans (came 2nd twice), Lance Armstrong (returned from retirement, and always a threat), Roman Kreuziger (young talented rider), Mark Cavendish (British Sprint Champion, won 4 stages last year, hopes to make it through the mountains and win at the Champs-Elysses), Frank Schleck and Andy Schleck (brothers on Team CSC, a deadly duo, who are very good tacticians. Andy has been labelled as the next big thing).

Right, I've written LOADS! It's nearly bed-time for me too.

PS: I'm watching 24 Season 4. It's BRILLIANT!

Andy Murray winning the Aegon Queen's Championship

So, I'm literally typing this whilst watching Andy Murray waving around the massive trophy that is associated with the Queen's Tournament. He has just beaten the American James Blake, who looked disappointed, but he will bounce back and he's a very nice guy.

Andy pretty much cruised through the tournament. He didn't drop a single set and didn't spend more than 6 hours in total playing. That's quite a feat. But it's a well deserved title, and it's time that Britain had a top player to champion and believe in. Henman and Rusedski gave us home, but Murray is bringing home the goods.

But the big question now is "How well will he do at Wimbledon?"

My answer: It's anybody's game for the taking. I do believe that any of the top 4 (Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic) can win this title. People only talk about Federer and Nadal, but with the form that Murray is showing, why not? He has beaten the other 3 in previous matchs, so why not this. And Djokovic is not far behind, and has an Australian Open under his belt. Personally, I'd love to see Federer back on top and win this tournament again.

So let's see what happens. Wimbledon starts on 22nd June. None of the draws have been done yet, won't be done until 19th. Depending on how they're seeded (since Wimbledon seeds the top 32 slightly differently), I think we can expect to see Nadal and Murray on one side of the draw, and Federer and Djokovic on the other. But it's a 2 week tournament. You have to make it through 7 best-of-5 matches, you have to deal with the weather (although, there is a new Centre Court roof), and you have to deal with yourself.

I'm so excited about Wimbledon. It's a shame that I won't be able to go. I'll be watching online and on TV. And you can expect to see many more updates from me about this years Championships.

Boots/Mini-superdrug Haul! Part 2

The other things that I got from the No. 7 collection were a Creme Tint Blush in Blossom. I have other powder blushes, and a Maybelline blush, but I don't have a creme one, so I'm really interested in using this, and slightly excited. I tend to not need a lot of blush on my cheeks in general because I'm quite naturally rosy, but this is exciting!

The other thing I got was on my list, it's the Limited Edition Summer Poolside Eyeshadow palette. It's got 5 pastel colours on it, and I'm just looking forward to playing around with these shades. It's SO summery, it' just nice and exciting. And, interestingly, I don't have any of these shades, or anything like it.

So, bargain at the No. 7 collection, because the lipgloss was half price, and then the other 3 items were on a 3 for 2 offer, so I got the blush free :-)

I've been looking for some eye brushs, and was tempted to buy the 217 M.A.C brush, which was recommeded by one of my colleagues, but if I'm really really honest, I don't even know how to use this brush properly, so I was afraid of spending a lot of money on a high quality brush and then not using it to its best ability. So luckily, I got an eyeshadow brush from Boots own brand for £2, and then a eyeshadow blender brush for £4.50. Nice and cheap, and I'm looking forward to experimenting with them.

There's more! Yup, I haven't finished yet. So the last 2 things I weren't expecting to get, but I walked past and just saw this massive sign saying "Half Price!". Ted Baker was selling their palettes at half price. They had faces ones, and lip ones and then eyes ones, big and small. So, I ended up buying a 'big' eye palette that has 4 shadows, an eyeliner, mascara and a brush for £4.40. Again! Bargain. They had different shades as well, but I didn't want a pink or brown one since I have a lot of those colours already.

And then finally, I went down to Superdrug, and was browsing the Me. Me. Me and Gosh, and another brand which I can't remember what it's called anymore, but it sells all Mineral make up. But anyone, on the last shelf, hidden away, was BeautyUK, and they were selling this eyeshadow palette for £2.80 Oh my gosh, what a bargain. And these colours remind me a lot of the shimmer palette by Coastal Scents etc. I've been afraid of buying that palette becauseI think that I will never be able to use the colours properly, so this is almost like my taster palette. My colleague has just bought a 108 (or 102) palette from ebay. It looks pretty, but I'm satisfied with my 10 palette right now!

So that's it. That's all that I bought, and I did spend a lot of money, but not as much as I spent at M.A.C last week, so I'm pleased with that.

So, I'm thinking that I REALLY need to restrain myself now, and whilst I wanted to only do a Foundation Project 5 Pan, I think I'm going to start a Project 10 Pan for real.

So there goes. I hereby declare that today is the start of Project 10 Pan. Wish me luck!....

Boots/Mini-superdrug Haul!

No surprise, because my last post told you ALL about what I would be up to today.

So I took my list with me, and I'm actually going to list for you what it said, make-up wise.

Maybelline

1. Dream Satin Liquid Foundation/Pure Liquid Mineral Foundation
2. Dream Mousse Shimmer Highlighter
3. Colour Definition Eyeshadow/Dream Mousse Eyeshadow
4. Watershine Lipgloss/Watershine Elixirs
5. Lipsticks (12 different colours to swatch and see)

No. 7

1. High Shine Lip Gloss (instead of the Maybelline ones)
2. Creme Tint Blush
3. Limited Edition Summer Poolside Eyeshadow Palette
4. Gold Metallic Eyeliner

Barry M

1. Nail Varnish in Shocking Pink/Fuschia

And here is how I did:

Firstly I got the Barry M nail varnish in Fuschia. I'm excited about wearing this. It will be so good for the summer. It was the only pink there. And I compared it to the Limited Edition No. 7 Pink one and well, it's frankly just a lot cheaper.

Next I got the Maybelline Eyecolour Express, which wasn't on my list, but the Colour definition wasn't there, and the mousses didn't appeal in the flesh. I got this colour in Vintage Rose, and it just applies quite a dry, shimmery effect to the eye. It's very pretty

and I think could become an instant favourite.

And then I bought 3 Maybelline Lipsticks. To be honest, I wasn't impressed that Boots didn't have out many testers. So I had to kinda guess which ones I wanted. But I finally

settled on 3 colours. I wanted another one Anemone,

but it was too close in colour to another one that I bought. Maybe next time. So I got (from L-R) Raspberry Sorbet, Fuschia and Flamingo.

And that's all that I got from Maybelline. I couldn't find the

shimmer highlighter, and I liked the Satin Liquid Foundation, but it didn't have my shade (Cameo). Oh well. I did try Superdrug, but it was £2 more expensive, so I thought 'forget that!', and the lipglosses weren't as nice so I decided to get that from the No 7 Collection.

The Lipgloss is the High Shine, and the shade that I got was Whisper, and it's SO pretty. Seriously pretty. I cannot wait to use this. The picture isn't great, but it's like a light gold colour and it's SO nice. Very impressed. And, bonus, it was half price!

Then I got a metallic eyeliner from No. 7 These are fast becoming my favourite eyeliners. I love these and the Rimmel ones, because they're so easy to apply, and they last pretty much the whole day. And they are strong. You don't need to apply loads to get the colour. Literally 1 line does it. I love it!

Right, it seems that there's a limit to how many pictures you can post, so I will continue in just a bit!

Where's that wet fish?

So, if anybody has watched the last video, about the Style Warrior Haul, you'll have noticed that right at the end of the video that I said something along the lines of "If I buy anymore make-up, then you have permission to slap me with a wet fish!"

So.... tell me people... what I have gone and done?

Yes, you guessed it.

But, if in my defence, I only bought one thing... AND it wasn't from M.A.C.

Yesterday I had to take a trip into Central London to go to an Open Evening at All Soul's Church. I had plenty of time to kill after work, so I headed up there with my colleague and ended up in John Lewis, and I looked at the Benefit counter. Knowing that I would be heading there, I did look at the Benefit website and knew that the only thing I could really afford would be either a lipstick or an eyeshadow. They've got the most beautiful creaseless eyeshadow mousses, but the thing that really grabbed me was a lipstick called "Lady's Choice" from the Lana range. And that's it. I did head to Boots and was very tempted by the Maybelline range, but I was in a hurry and think that I will head back to Boots on Saturday to check out what Maybelline has to offer.

You will most definitely need more wet fish!

The other thing that I spoke about in that video was that I bought some storage containers/drawers for my make-up. Well, in hindsight, I was a bit of an idiot, because not a lot fits into the drawers, so I have had to put things on top of it too. So, by buying more make up, I'm not doing myself any favours because I have nowhere to store it. The idea behind it is that, by having small storage space, then that will restrict my collection.... "Never going to happen"!!!

So what am I going to buy on Saturday? Too late, my mind has been made up.

Well, firstly, I do need some more cotton wool, and my general moisturiser is nearly finished (Simple Hydrating Moisturiser - nice and cheap).

There was a LOVELY nail varnish colour by Revlon, but I think that has to be looked over by the fact that my particular store of Boots has a Barry M section. I have to go there instead and have a look (which reminds me that I need to change my nail varnish tonight).

The other things are from the Maybelline collection. Despite my aims at doing a "Foundation Project 5 Pan" (a what? Use up 5 foundations then you can buy one foundation), I'm tempted by either the Mineral Liquid Foundation or the Dream Satin Foundation. I haven't heard great reviews about the second one, but to each his own really(?) and plus it's on offer. The other thing that I want to look at is an eyeshadow quad, but possibly not. Or I might get that as well as a Dream Eye Mousse. And then the full moisture Lipsticks. I've just been browsing their website and just written about a list of 15 colours that look pretty, but I will have to swatch them in the shop and see just exactly what they are like.

So that's it for now. On my face right now is Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, which actually I applied with my fingers this morning and if I'm honest, I quite like it, although I had to use quite a lot to get a nice coverage. It hasn't stayed on partiularly well, but I have been touching/wiping my face a lot today, so I'm not surprised that it has come off.

I realise that I've talked a lot about Maybelline today, and I'm not a lover of their brand. It just happens to be one of the brands that I first came across when I was getting into make up. And I backed away from them for a while, and started trying out Revlon, Rimmel, L'Oreal, Max Factor, No 7, Boujois, basically everything. But I've always felt that whenever I have bought something from Maybelline I have not yet to be disappointed whereas I have with other brands. The same could be said about L'Oreal. Revlon hasn't really grabbed me, but I do like the eyeliners produced by Rimmel and No 7. I feel like I'm still experimenting with all types of brands of make up, whether the low-end or the high-end stuff, but I'm really beginning to fall in love with certain products.

Just to quickly review some of the other things that I bought from M.A.C. the other day. I'm loving the Lustre Drops. I only use a tiny amount as a cheek highlighter, but it's great. Eyeshadow is really light and bright. The lipstick I find quite dry, but I think thats just becuase its brand new. The lustreglass is SO beautiful. I love wearing it. The tinted lip moisturer is just a god send. It's so lovely on the lips. The colour is not rich, which I think I really like.

Woah, I've written LOADS! I'm going to keep going with Foundation Project 5 Pan, but I probably will end up buying another on Saturday. But that doesn't mean that I have to stop the Project. I just have to make another goal and stick to it!

Ok... I'm ready for the fish slaps now! *holds breath*

It's June, and it's another Vlog and another M.A.C Haul - the Style Warriors Collection

So, firstly, here is the first VLog of June:

And then also another video about the M.A.C Style Warriors Collection Haul that I shouldn't have done, but I did!!! LOL

Mini Mac Make Up Haul

If you're confused and raising an eyebrow then... all really explained in the video really.

I did add some more to my make up collection today after a short trip to Boots:

I got a:

• Primer (No 7 - Make Up Base) - £10 (I know....But it will last!)
• Lipstick (17 - Watermelon) - £3.91
• Lip Gloss (Natural Collection - Turkish Delight) - £1.95
• Nail Polish (Natural Collection - Cosmic Comet) - £1.75
• Dazzle Dust Eyeshadow (Collection 2000 - Purple) - £2.93

You can see that most of it is the cheaper stuff, but they work just as fine on me, so why not!

Vlog 4.5

Part 2 of the Vlog because it was getting so long and the file size was too big!

Vlog number 4 + Mac MiniHaul...

YAY! I'm back to Vlogging! It's so much fun. So most of what I want to say is in the video. The only thing I want to add is that I'm not going to be putting up anymore videos of Tokyo. I have been watching the rest of what I filmed and I didn't find it particularly great and thought that I'd better not subject you to that. So there won't be anymore videos about that... sorry.

So here's the Vlog, Part 1: