£10 beauty challenge finale!

Hurray!!! It's 31st October, which means that my £10 beauty challenge is over! The challenge was set up by Never Too Broke For Beauty and the basic aim was to spend £10 or less on beauty items in a month. 

So how did I do???

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Pixie travels: Chester

Just nipped here for a couple of hours after visiting Hack Green Nuclear Bunker and IMMEDIATELY decided I wanted to go back. 

What a beautiful city! 

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Pixie hauls: Primark haul

Had a surprise visit to Primark...surprise in that my boyfriend came in with me and didn't moan about deviating from our day's plans! That NEVER happens ;-)

Anyway, I picked up a few bits and bobs so thought I'd show you them :-)

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Pixie celebrates: It's been my birthday!!

Yay! Happy birthday to me :-)

I adore birthdays, anyone's birthday as well as my own. I just love that it forces you to spend time with the people you love, a good excuse to drink champagne and eat cake, as well as presents.
By forces you, I mean it makes you clear space in your diary without other stuff getting in the way. All too often, time gets booked up and before you know it, you haven't seen the really special people because you've been so busy with all the other stuff. Celebrations make you prioritise!

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Pixie travels: Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker

I recently went to Hack Green Nuclear Bunker for a day out to celebrate my birthday...that's right, this Pixie is ageing...

I'm a bit of a history geek so absolutely loved it! 

It did tickle me that all of the tourist signs pointed to The Secret Bunker...great secret ;-)

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Pixie loves: Accidental Bargains

Who doesn't love going into Primark for some warm, slightly boring, winter jumpers and coming out with these babies. 

And ONLY £6!!

I love Primark!

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie nails: Primark nail wraps

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Pixie looks: Gold and brown EOTD

I used the MUA eyeshadows I bought in September for this look. I've worn it a few times now, and it is fast becoming my go-to look for social occasions where a smokey eye would be too much. 

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The Big Move...

I've completed the import of my blog over from wordpress now. 

This is the first post written on Blogger! Wooooo!

I hope to find all my old subscribers over here...and some new ones as well. 

I've kept the design simple, but will be working on it over the next fortnight or so to personalise it for you! 

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie looks: EOTD Turquoise

I did a little experiment with colour.





Which has taught me that I need to:

a) Buy a new mascara...and

b) Check for fall out when using cheap eyeshadow.

Still, I like the colour combo!

What is your favourite colour to wear on the eye?

What's your best tip for preventing fall out?

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie Nails: Funky French Manicure

 I found this picture on my iPhone from a manicure long ago!

Very simple...French tips, dotted over the top and a diamante applied to one of the dots.

I loved it...!!

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie Nails: Hidden Heart Manicure

I made a hidden heart on my nails, dedicated to my lovely boy. He makes me laugh like no other. In fact, we giggle our way through life. So to The Boy!



I used Rimmel Lasting Finish in London Clouds as the white base, then added the hearts in two stages. First was Barry M Bright Pink Nail Paint (279) as a base, then covered over with Models Own Pink Fizz Glitter Nail Polish. I created the hidden heart and the smaller pink hearts with a dotting tool.

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie crafts: Beaded bracelet

I got my craft on recently and made this beaded bracelet.



I knotted after each bead to prevent them from moving around and knocking each other. I also finished the ends with a bead on each strand so that it was nicer to loop through the other end.

It reminds me of Autumn with the browns and sparkle!

***Love and Pixie Dust***

 

 

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Pixie travels: Amsterdam /Antwerp

First things first, I love Amsterdam. I visited a lot as a child as my dad worked there and fell in so it's the Amsterdam of my childhood that I went to see not long ago.

First of all, Schipol airport!! Amazing! We got a train straight to Amsterdam with no problem. If you've ever tried to get a train in GB then you'll understand why I was so impressed!! Haha!!

Amsterdam was a fishing village and named after a dam in the river Amstel. It's a chaotic, canal filled, cycling city and I love it!

Must sees/do

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Pixie crafts: Circle/ Pom-pom flower

I found this tutorial through  Pinterest...http://pinterest.com/pin/341499584213778512/ and immediately thought about the multiple uses I could have for one of these flowers.

I hunted through my craft supplies and found some old paper that had once been used for wrapping, I think from La Senza! I'd always saved it for making something...and thought I'd use it for one of these flowers!

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Pixie loves: @Rimmelondonbuzz Scandaleyes

This isn't counted in my £10 beauty budget for this month as I used some vouchers on it!! Wooooo! Creative ways to get stuff without spending...lovely stuff

I chose this colour mainly because I don't need ANOTHER black eyeliner. I did photograph this on the eye, but you couldn't really see it. It just made my eye look flawless!



 

Read the buzz here.

In short, I really like this eyeliner. It's easy to apply having a creamy consistency. It doesn't drag on the lash line at all but glides on easily. It lasts well on the water line, not all day, but show me an eyeliner that does!!

I'm looking forward to making this eyeliner part of my daily make up routine, especially in the mornings for work. It makes me look more awake and my eyes brighter.

I almost can't wait for my latest black eyeliner to run out so I can purchase the black version of this!!

Have you got any other eyeliner recommendations?

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie Nails: Dorothy Wizard of Oz

I painted my nails a scarlet colour, which has photographed slightly pink, stupid light! And then sponged Barry M red glitter over the tips.

I loved this look as at first glance, they just look like red nails, but then as you move your fingers around, the red glitter catches the light and sparkles nicely! Just a bit more of an interest point to a regular manicure!

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Budget £10 challenge update: £2.78 down

I held off spending any money for 6 WHOLE days! But I needed hairspray...desperately. So off to B&M Bargains I trotted. There's actually a large B&M Bargains about 5 minutes walk from my house so its quite handy.

I managed to spend less than £3 and get some hairspray - Wella Silvikrin to be precise which was £1.79.

I also picked up a tanning mitt



 

It cost 99p and claims to be 3 in 1. The box included the mitt and a pair of latex gloves.

The white side of the mitt is supposed to be used for exfoliating and actually applying tan. I think there's better ways of exfoliating but I managed to apply the tan evenly. You do need to wear the latex gloves as the tan does seep through. The Boy did comment that it sounded like I was stripping wallpaper when I was applying the tan, probably because of the exfoliating nature!

After that, you're supposed to use the brown side, which is velvety, to buff the product in after 20 minutes. I was so sleepy that I didn't do this, but I've never buffed a tan in my life and it always looks fine!

£7.22 left for October's budget!

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie loves: @Maybelline Colour Tattoo

I've read and watched a lot of blogs and YT videos about these products...and only read good things. So when I saw them in my local Sainsbury's for 1/3 off, I grabbed what I could! This was pre-£10 monthly beauty budget challenge obviously!

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Pixie Loves: B&M Young Bakers

Who says kids get to have all the fun!

Look what I found in the young baker section of B&M Bargains..

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Pixie Cooks: Mediterranean Pasta Bake

This was the result of looking at the contents of my fridge in DESPAIR! It's a common feeling around tea time for me...

 

Ingredients

2 chicken breast - chopped

Chorizo sausage - chopped

Pasta

White sauce - I made my own with a butter/flour roux and then milk. I added onion and garlic granules and some Chargrilled chicken seasoning.

Grated Cheese.

Frozen Vegetables.

Sundried tomatoes from a jar.

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Pixie life: Oompa Loompa

After 6 months of no fake tan, I cracked! Got up early this morning to apply a 2nd layer and now....





At least I'll fit in...

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie Nails: The Trials and Tribulations of Water Marbling

Well. Water marbling looks so easy. And IT IS NOT!

I have this idea in my head of nails that look like an oil slick...the kinda pretty oil effects you get from a little oil in a puddle or something. Rainbowy colours. Silvery.

And I'm pretty convinced that the way to do it is through water marbling.

But it's SO hard!!!

I gathered all my equipment.



My first attempt ended in a sad little ball sinking to the bottom of the cup...

It looks like another world in there!

And then a lot of hot messes...no marbled effect, nail varnish drying too quick...you name it, I think I had it!

Eventually, I got these. And when I say eventually...I'm talking a couple of HOURS!



ONE NAIL THAT I LIKE!!!

And as for the clean up...oh my gosh, the clean up!

I taped around my nails...but as you can see, there's still a hefty amount of cleaning up to be done...I did what I could with a cotton bud, but the rest will have to wait.

Anyone got any tips on how to make this easier? Or less time consuming?

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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Pixie loves: @VaselineBrand Pink Bubbly

I saw this recently, didn't pick it up and then kicked myself. After that, I couldn't find it anywhere!!

I thought it would make a great present for a work colleague who uses Vaseline ALL the time! But then, to my surprise...this morning, she turned up with...



One for me and one for her!! I was so excited! How kind of her too!

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Pixie nails: Autumn Sparkle

I decided to paint my nails using a Rimmel nail varnish that I bought from Pound World. It isn't Rimmel's main range in the UK but is gorgeous. I reviewed the nail varnish on its own here.

I then decided to make some nail art using this and another recent purchase: W7 gold glitter nail varnish. This glitter is SO thick that it didn't quite have the effect I wanted, but I thought it still looked striking.

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Pixie nails: gold glitter tip

I used these two polishes to create this look:





I applied Rimmel Purple Rain as the base colour, bought in this haul

I then sponged the gold glitter over the top, it's packed with glitter and one sponging gave an opaque coverage.

I love these colours together! What do you think?

***Love and Pixie Dust***

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