A few xmas items & NYE plans

First I wanted to share a few gifts I got for xmas. I'm very grateful to my family and friends as I realise I am very difficult to buy for as I never want anything!

First up is this aztec cardigan from Miso at Republic that my best friend got me. It was a real surprise actually as I didn't expect her to get me anything like that at all but its really lovely and very warm!

My mum also got me this underwear set with reindeers on from Matalan. I wanted it when I first saw it and couldn't find my size. Eventually I did get it and it fits perfectly but my mum got me one too as she didn't realise I already had one. Its a very comfortable and well fitting bra but as its on;y cheap it probably wont last long in the wash so glad I have a back-up!

My boyfriend got me this Wacom Bamboo graphics tablet. Its fantastic and will be really good for my design work. So far though I have only messed about putting a moustache on photos of myself and that kind of thing!

This may not seem like a very exciting gift but I love it. My dad gave me a Colurworks melamine mixing bowl with some silicone baking tools. I really enjoy baking but I didn't have a proper mixing bowl so I'm really please I have my own now. I also treated myself to some funky digital scale so I can be a bit more accurate when mixing my ingredients now!

Finally, wanted to share my outfit for NYE. I am going to a Black and White ball in a local restaurant. It's not very ballgown-y but I think I would feel too self-conscious in something over the top so I went for this dress from New Look. The picture doesn't look that good but I can assure you it is far better in real life. Maybe I will get a picture before I go out!

What are your NYE plans?

Alyssa xx

Black and White Ball

For the first time in many years I actually have somewhere to go on NYE! We decided to go a black and white ball at a local fancy indian resaurant, there will be cocktails, buffet and dancing. The idea is that the whole place is decorated in black and white and everyone wears black and white so it was the perfect opportunity to go online window for a new dress and here is what I came up with:

I'm not really a fan of one shoulder dresses but I think this is very elegant and is glamorous enough for a ball. Its from the Lipsy VIP collection so is a bit out of my budget at £130.

I found a couple of suitable ones on River Island's website and this one I particularly liked as I really like lace bodycons but this is more glamorous as it is a midi length.

This is another midi dress from River Island and its more white than black and even though I like it, it reminds me of a summer holiday dress a bit too much.

I'm not sure if this dress would suit me, as I think it would be too pale on me but I think it is quite classy and would look good with black tights and some patent shoes.

This dress is very similar to the whiet one above but I like the cape detail at the back, I think it is really unusual. I think it may be too short for me though.

This is taking the blacka nd white theme very simplistically. I quite like the pleated skirt effect but the neckline is a bit too high and it isn't really suitable for a ball I don't think!

I think this is probably my favourite, as it is a bit more modest than a mini dress but wouldn't swamp me like a maxi dress could. Its also more reasonably priced from Miss selfridge at under £40. I like the gold detailed belt even though it doesn''t fit with the theme, but I don't think anyone would notice!

Which is your favourite? Or can you find anything else more suitable?

Alyssa xx

Blog Sale: Handmade Gifts

Got a few bits and bobs left over after the craft fairs I have done this month. All pictures can be found on my facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ClariseCosmetics

P&P is a flat rate of £1.99 no matter how much you buy so you might as well stock up as its a one day only offer! Anything bought today will be posted tomorrow so you will have in plenty of time of xmas!

Here are a few things I have for sale:

Flannel xmas bunny with handmade soap £2

Children's sock cupcakes various sizes £3.50

Flannel Chocolate log £2.50

Natural handmade citrus soap £2 per bar comes gift wrapped as shown below

Let me know if you see anything you like, you can comment here or in my facebook album,

Alyssa xx

NOTD (or should I say week!)

As I've mentioned before I'm not really a lover of painted nails mainly because it usually lasts an hour on me before I find a way to chip it! But I took the plunge and went for Shellac at my local salon as they had an offer on it. It was all a bit of a disaster as it started coming off after a day (its supposed to last 2-3 weeks without chips) so I went back and she completely re-did them thankfully!
I went for black with multi-coloured glitter dusting, think it looks rather festive don't you!

Just trying to decide what colour to go for next, assuming this lasts as long as it should!

Alyssa xx

The Giveaway

 Just to let everyone know who is on Facebook that I will be hosting my giveaway on there. But....only when I reach 100 fans so get over and like my page and whilst you are there have a nosy through my album of new products!

https://www.facebook.com/ClariseCosmetics

Alyssa xx

P.S Told you I hadn't forgotten about it!

The start of xmas shopping...

Yesterday I went to the local shopping centre with the boyfriend as it was a miserable and I wanted to be out the house. I though with it being a Friday it would be quiet and I could get some xmas shopping done nice and early. However after a couple of hours I had seen or bought nothing and neither had my boyfriend so we decided to give up and go home. I did manage to buy something for myself in Republic though as I had a gift voucher which was about to expire so I bought something in desperation as I vowed never to come back to the shopping centre again as it depressed me!

Anyway, here is the jumper I bought, it is the fluffiest thing ever. Can't wait for it to get properly cold so I can wear it now. haha!

Anyway today I went for a wander round my local village and ended up buying about half my xmas presents in about an hour so it was much more productive, I even picked up a cute River Island shirt from one of the many charity shops which I will show you in an outfit.

So the moral of the story is SHOP LOCAL!

Alyssa xx

Clarise Cosmetics re-launch!

If you have read my past two posts you will realise I have been busy making lots of lovely things. Trying out new recipes for luxury bath products. I always hated buying these things from shops and not really knowing what was in them so last year I started making my own, now I know exactly what I am using on my precious skin!

I have really upped my game this time and going for looks as well as content and being a bit naughty I used Lush as a sort of inspiration. Everything I have made is entirely my own creation, I havn't copied from anyone else and I think you will like what I have come up with so far.

Shower Scrubs

These are lovely moisturizing shower bars with lots of exfoliating bits such as fairtrade sugar and lemon peel powder in for giving yourself a really good scrub! Look out for 2 extra products: Volcano (which has peppermint, pumice & volcanic ash) and Hippy Hands (hemp and nag champa with hemp seeds)

Bath Creamers

I didn't want to call these just bath bombs because they are much more than that. For a start they are a whopping 200g! and they contain a centre of creamy foaming bath butter. They made you bath look and smell incredible. Licorice love contains cocoa powder for a really indulgent treat and shining star (which is frankinscence and myrrh scented) contains gold glitter and is helping me get into the festive spirit already! Look out for Aphrodite, rose & ylang ylang with dried rose petals. 

Body Butters

I made the decision that a solid body butter was much more practical than in a jar, it also works really well as massage bar. These ones I designed to use in a bath or shower as they work by melting onto the skin, they also have a bit of gentle exfoliation.

Lip Scrubs

Lip Scrubs were always one of my best sellers, I have no idea why? Anyway I have refined them and made them much more sophisticated now and narrowed it down to these flavours. No doubt I will add more flavours in the future though.

Lip Balms

Final catagory is lipbalms, I have made Cherry & Vanilla to match the lip scrubs plus a honey lipbalm which is great for those who don't like heavily fragranced things on their lips, just something natural. Cherry contains added shea butter and Vanilla contains cocoa butter to make them extra rich.

So if you like what you see here go over to my website www.clarise-cosmetics.com and have a proper look as I have some gift sets perfect for little stocking fillers and will be adding more over the next couple of days!

Alyssa xx

2 more new makes...

When I got in from work my body butters were set finally. I know they take well over 24 hours to become solid but I'm just too impatient! Here are the ones I made, they are about 75- 100g each which is a really generous size. They look similar but I can assure you they smell completely different!

 I call this one Sweet Angel and its a shea & cocoa butter bar infused with vanilla with a layer of soft brown sugar for a little bit of scrubbiness. Smells heavenly (pun intended!)

This one I love as the smell is a bit more subtle. Again it is shea & cocoa butter but it has a cinnamon and almond scent which is just a hint of Christmas I think. I like to call it the Winter Warmer body butter.

Got a huge parcel delivered today filled with more ingredients for making soaps, scrubs and butters and couldn't wait to collect it after work, I had to crack open the box straight away! Watch this space for more goodies.

Alyssa xx

Handmade Scrubs

Just a quick one today to share two pictures. I am currently in the process of relaunching Clarise Cosmetics with some more luxurious products and here are two things I created yesterday but they don't yet have names! My house smells absoulutely amazing though...

This is a coffee and vanilla scrub bar. The coffee is invigorating and will be great to wake you up in in the morning.

And this one is a raspberry scented sugar scrub bar. It almost looks edible, even my dad asked if he could try some. I'm already taking orders for these and they aren't even up on my website yet!

 I should have some more to share this week too,

Alyssa xx

Review: Lush Aqua Mirabilis

Just a quick review whilst it is still fresh in my mind. I was bought this Aqua Mirabilis from Lush a while back but have only just found it in the back of the cupboard still in the packaging, the main reason being I'm not a huge fan of Lush products.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it so I had a guess and took it in the bath with me. I scrubbed it all over my arms and legs and body. It didn't lather up so I was concerned that maybe it wasn't to be used on wet skin? It sort of went on like a really thick cream bar. It had lots of gritty bits in sort of the consistency of sand which I'm assuming is for exfoliation but the whole experience was a bit confusing as it didn't make me feel clean, just like I had been scratched. After getting out the bath, it was still on my skin and ws a bit sticky. I'm thinking if I leave it, it will soak in like a body butter and be very moisturising as my skin does feel quite soft. And if you are wondering, it has a strange sort of biscuity-herby smell which you will either love or hate. As it goes I actually don't mind it although it is a bit strong for me as I prefer things to be very subtle. At £5.50 for 95g I don't think I will be re-buying this unless someone tells me its purpose?

Alyssa

Eyeshadow Confession...

I have a confession to make...I only own one eyeshadow palette. And I use it every day.

You probably think I am either mad or lying but its true. It is my perfect eyeshadow palette, it has all the colours I ever want to wear and it is the perfect shimmer and pigmentation. I can't rate it highly enough. I have tried others in the past but they are poor in comparison to this!

It is a no7 eye compact and contains the colours Vivid Violet, Lilac Sky, Tender, Island Sea, Comet, Innocence, True Gold & Truffle. My favourite colour is Tender (top right) as it is very nude but shimmery at the same time, perfect for work. My second favourite is true gold as it is still subtle but adds a little more colour.

If you havn't tried no7 eyeshadows I reckon you should as I think they are very underrated. And if you are wondering, tonight I am wearing Truffle!

Alyssa xx

Thinking ahead of myself...

Modern Egyptian Living by invisiblesquirrel featuring tote hand bags

I mentioned in my previous post that I am in the process of buying a house and thought I would share our story.
This summer Ando and I decided it was time to move out of our parents houses, we had saved up a large deposit and so we started looking. We didn't want to go too far from where we currently live and after looking at various houses around we decided on the area we wanted to be. We then had viewings in all the houses on that estate. The reason we chose the area was because it is near enough for me to walk to my parents house as I don't drive and close to the bus route for work, it also had a really nice quiet feel. All the houses are ex-council so they are spacious and very well built.

The 2nd house we saw there we fell in love with and were planning to put the offer in there and then but they took it off the market after a week and we were a little bit gutted. But we kept looking, there was one house that we kept dismissing when we saw it on the internet as it looked a bit run down and in need of some serious modernisation. Eventually as we had run of of houses to view we went for a look and to our surprise we both fell in love with it.

It is a semi-detached on a sunny South facing corner plot, has a drive and garage and a little garden. It is 3 good sized bedrooms, a 22 foot through lounge and generous kitchen plus side porch and workhouse. There is tonnes of space for us, in fact I believe it is bigger than my parents house! I havn't told you the best part though, it looks out onto a huge park, there is nobody in front of you at all, it feels so light and open.

The downside to the house is that it is a little bit run down as it has been uninhabited for a year and it did belong to an old man so the decor is a little dated but nowhere near as bad as I expected. The main work to be done is outside but when we made our offer we generously allowed for this work. Luckily after a bit of negotiating we got a great deal, knocking nearly 12 grand off the already reduced asking price.

So last week, once the offer was agreed I set about arranging the conveyancing solicitors and looking at mortgage options. Now we just need to take the plunge and put our application in which we need to do as soon as possible to make sure we get this house.

I'm already excited about moving in and knowing that we don't have a huge budget for decoration I have been thinking of ways to work around the current decor including furniture that our parents are passing on to us. My favourite piece being a gorgeous oak coffee table inlaid with an egyptian motif (promise I will get a picture!). The living room carpet which is already there is a plainish dark jade colour so this is what gave me the inspiration for the modern egyptian theme. I already have some other pieces such as lamps etc but this mode board was just to give me an idea.

The colour palette I chose is dark teal, rich cream, dark oak wood plus gold accents. The room is big and light so I can use darker colours without making it look dingy.

What do you think to my first piece of interior inspiration?

Alyssa xx

Avon Review

I remember when I was little my mum was an Avon lady for a short time. I loved the fact she gave me all her little sample lipsticks and perfumes. (I once drunk a perfume sample, but like I say I was little!) When I was older Avon seemed to fall out of popularity and had the reputation as a brand for old ladies. I tried a couple of things in my early teens but I reacted quite badly so decided that they weren't for me. Anyway, I have noticed recently that more and more young people are going back to Avon. I recently got a book through the door and my mum and I spent at least an hour pouring over the pages mesmerised by the great deals and the innovative products. I was wary of trying them as my sensitive skin had reacted in the past but I thought I ought to give it a go and here are a couple of reviews of things:

1. Avon Supershock Mascara in Black Waterproof

When I first tried this I was amazed at this product, It had been recommended to me. It was a very rich black and the brush coated your lashes evenly. It also didn't seem to smudge off. However, after a week or so, it seemed to get a bit gloopy and now ended up in a load of lumps which is disappointing.

2. Avon Supershock Mascara in Intense Violet

This is the range if colours of the Supershock mascara. I got the intense violet as I love purple but was gutted when I opened it to discover it wasn't lilac at all but grey! I actually use this mascara on a daily basis now as its great for work as it just separates the lashes and isn't too dark like the black. BUT it shouldn't be advertised as Violet. If you have tried any other colours please let me know!

3. Avon Ultra Color Rich Extra Plump Lipstick

 This product is Ok, I think I just picked the wrong colour for me. I picked shimmering apricot and it wasn't what I was after really. It smooth to apply, makes your lips feel soft but the tingling sensation is horrendous! I think it is the lip plumping ingredient getting to work but it feels too weird for me.

4. Avon Colour Trend Lip Colour Duo

I picked this as I thought it was quite fun, Colour Trend I think is more teenager type products but it was cheap. It has a small lipstick at one end, then a wand with gloss at the other end which I thought was the perfect design so you can have mat or shiny lips. The product itself is fine but the taste was so chemically and bad that I had to get rid of it.

5. Avon Planet Spa Face Masks

I actually really love this product. You can purchase the full size bottles of the facemasks but I decided to go for this set which has4 single-use sachets of 3 different Planet Spa face masks: Japanese Sake and Rice Smoothing Face Mask, Dead Sea Minerals Facial Mud Mask and Mediterranean Olive Oil Hydrating Face Mask. I can't quite decide which is my favourite one but I love the smell of the Japanese Saki and rice one! The sachets are very generous and the mask glides on really smoothly. It dries a little whist its on so you feel it is working and when you rinse it off you feel so clean. I recommend these to anyone

I have a few other products to share with you but I will save that for next time! Not sure how often I will be on here as I am in the process of buying a house but I will try my best to keep you updated!

Alyssa xx

Quick OOTD...its been too long

Not done an outfit post in aaagggeeess...so here is tonight's date night outfit. We arn't going anywhere special so its just a comfy casual outfit. I just got this skirt today in a swap from Big Wardrobe, The top was also a swap from about a year ago but I still love it! My total outfit cost £0!!!

Lace Vest Miss Selfridge via BW

Tie Dye Maxi Skirt Unbranded via BW

I'm not wearing any shoes or a jacket yet so obviously my outfit will have cost something!

Back again soon for another OOTD

Alyssa xx

Most-Precious Bespoke Designer Jewellery

Hi everyone, sorry its been a while.

Just a quick update to let you know what I've been up to. My latest project has been branding and web design for a young woman who I have known a while and has been on lots of our specialist jewellery making courses. She has finally decided to take the plunge and set up her business and has named it most-precious.
She specialises in bespoke jewellery made from hand and foot prints, drawings and personalised designs and she is also a Wedding Day Silver designer turning flowers from wedding bouquets into silver keepsake jewellery.
The website is not yet complete but I will let you know as soon as it is, but for now here is the logo I designed for her and some of her work.

For the dad who just loves his 'mini'!

Ben's robot doodle turned into cufflinks

A gerbera flower from a wedding bouquet

A handprint mobile phone charm

Tiny silver stud earrings with cubic zirconia