Thursday 12 April 2012

Small Hiatus!

Hello everyone!

This is a post I wrote yesterday to tell you all that as of today the blog will be on a very small hiatus until Tuesday as I will be away from home with no laptop!

I will still be able to read all of your wonderful comments although responding won't be an option until I'm home. I'm going to Kitacon!

I'll still be tweeting! You can follow my Twitter here or you could just read the box in the side. I'll most likely be tweeting and perhaps posting pictures so you can totally see what I am up to!

To make up for going on hiatus, here is a really cute video!



Until next time!

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Duffy

It's hard to believe it's been over a month since I visited Disneyland Paris.

I suppose it's time to show you my Disneyland Paris haul which was really small because Paris is very expensive. The cost of an average meal was almost as expensive as a decent lipstick!

Crazy, right?

At Disneyland Paris I bought...



A Duffy Bear!

I was really excited because I wanted him forever and I could finally purchase him! I also really wanted a Shellie Mae but Disneyland Paris didn't sell her!

If you're unfamiliar with Duffy Bear, Minnie Mouse made Mickey a bear because he was going on a voyage and she didn't want him to be lonely. So, by making him a bear he would never be lonely.

Cute, right?



Here's his Micky mark! He is so adorable and I kept carrying him around with me after I bought him.

He's also really soft and cuddly to touch, I actually sleep with him in bed. Yes, I am a 20 year old woman who sleeps with stuffed animals. Judge me all you want, I don't care!

There's a funny story about me looking to buy him everywhere and I couldn't find him; after I purchased him I saw him in every shop and I saw his face character wtf

Other than food, he's all I bought and I am so glad I bought him!

Monday 9 April 2012

Review: Dainty Doll Mascara & Eyeliner Duo

If you're a pale girl like me you'll know how much of a nightmare it is shopping for cosmetics. I am ghostly white and even the lightest shades look orange on me.

So not a good look.

That's why I was delighted to discover Dainty Doll.



Dainty Doll is the brain child of Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud. The range was originally launched back in 2008 as a result of a TV show called 'The Passions of Girls Aloud'. I was excited about it back then but avoided it as I'd heard it went on like theatrical make-up.

Since then, the brand has had a image rehaul and many of the products relaunched to much better results.

I was lucky enough to win the Dainty Doll Mascara & Eyeliner Duo in shade Shape Up Little Suzie and I'll be reviewing it today for you guys!

Please note although I won this item, I am reviewing this fairly. All opinions are my own.




The packing is pretty nice. The box features the Dainty Doll herself and the actual make-up duo is fairly unordinary. It looks smart and sleek, if anything.

The Eyeliner

The shade I received, Shape Up Little Suzie, is a dark brown colour. With pale skin black can look too striking so I was pleased to receive this!



The brush itself is fairly small and one of the better eyeliner brushes I've had. As it's quite small it's quite easy to apply the eyeliner and correct any mistakes that you make. However, I did find that sometimes it was a little too small and the plastic upper part often hit my eyes which meant that I had to correct the eyeliner several times.

It was quite easy to apply and I was able to line my eyes with dual-wings easier than I had ever before. I was quite disappointed as it went on rather black without any hint of brown.

I placed a swatch of it on my arm and a swatch of Rimmel London's Glam Eyes for comparison and took a snap of them 45 minutes later.



I was really surprised to see how quickly Dainty Doll's eyeliner had faded in comparison to the bog-standard drug store eyeliner! I had even accidentally placed a thicker swatch after having some brush issues. Whilst applying the eyeliner I also found that I had to re-line the eye to ensure a thicker line; the formula is quite weak.

Overall, the eyeliner was quite a disappointment!

Pros:
❥ The brush was perfect for accuracy when it came to this eyeliner. Little mistakes were easy to hide.
❥ The formula was quite quick drying. As I have hooded eyelids this was perfect for me!

Cons:
❥ The formula was quite weak and the eyes needed relining. This means that a lot of product would be wasted fixing something that should've been right from the start.
❥ As great as the brush was, it was a little fiddly to use sometimes.
❥ Not quite as brown as it would lead you to believe.

Therefore I give the eyeliner:
♥♥ღღღ

The Mascara



The mascara is one of your bog-standard mascara brushes. There's nothing too remarkable to report about it to be honest!



I applied two coats before taking the 'after' photograph. After being so disappointed by the eyeliner, I was quite surprised at how well the mascara worked! It lengthened more than it built up volume. The mascara didn't clump whilst applying and application was rather smooth.

With a few more coats the lashes would have definitely been lengthened a lot more!

Pros:
❥ Lengthens your lashes quite a lot and defines them!
❥ Suitable towear everyday depending on how many coats you use.

Cons:
❥ When I first used it, the very first time, it did clump a little bit. Subsequent uses seem to have sorted that out completely though.

Therefore, I give the mascara:
♥♥♥♥ღ

Overall

Taking into account both of the scores I rated these, I would give it a overall score of

♥♥♥ღღ

If I had bought this with my own money I would have definitely been disappointed with this; I'm so glad I won this in a competition.

Dainty Doll can be bought at Harrods, Boots and other good retailers. I believe even ASOS stocks it!
This combo set is sold for £17.50


Unneccesary picture of my face ftw.

Sunday 8 April 2012

Blog of the Week: The Thoughts Basket



Welcome to Week 5's Blog of the Week. This week I'm going to feature The Thoughts Basket.



The Thoughts Basket is run by Linny and I can honestly say it is one of the cutest blogs I have ever had the fortune to lay eyes on. The layout is absolutely adorable and the blue is a refreshing change from the copious amounts of pink I use, plus her posts are really varied!

Linny often does beauty posts and product recommendations which I'm sure we all find useful! If you're curious to see what she's recommended try reading this post on L'oreal Paris' Exclusive Silver Collection.

As I've previously mentioned Linny also does really cute posts which often make my day when I have a look at her blog. In the world of beauty blogging it's so easy to get lost in cosmetics and reviews so it's really refreshing to see cute posts. In a way, it's a reminder to us to stop being so serious!



One of my favourite features on her blog is her Tip Card series of posts. Every so often, Linny posts a 'tip card' which is a useful handy hint that sometimes, we forget about. I forgot to take care of my hands and since being reminded by her third tip card, I've been moisturising and taking better care of my hands!

I haven't seen a series like this on anybody else's blog and it's really useful and unique. I'm sure we could all use a reminder once in awhile!





To conclude, this week's blog of the week is The Thoughts Basket.

All images are screencapped from her blog and do not belong to me; they belong to her.

Saturday 7 April 2012

Random Pictures: Volume 1

Hi guys!

Nothing too serious today; let's have a look at some random photos I've snapped so that they can stop taking up space on my hard drive. :D If you follow me on Twitter you've most likely seen a whole bunch of these.



Not my flowers. I wish they were though. Someone needs to buy me flowers.



Clothes from Lipsy~ I love this blouse and although these aren't the shorts I wanted, they were very similar! These are lace shorts; the shorts I wanted weren't lace. I can't wait to wear these!



Jeez guys I dunno, do you think they used enough stamps?



Mum made my nails look really smart for work. I think I'm gonna keep them looking like this for when I need a neutral nail type. They've grown so much since the Family Meal!



HAPPY APRIL, IT'S SO SPRINGTIME LIKE. Not.


Now we have some Instagram photos! I barely know how to use Instagram but my name is Claranee on there. Follow me if you want!



My Disneyland tickets! I still have these in my purse.



I was bored waiting for the bus home. I don't know why the bus is dark blue with flowers, I don't know about you but those two things don't go together.



Minnie-mops being the most sleepy dog in the world at my grandmothers. She's so cute!

I'll be back tomorrow with Blog of the Week! Tomorrow is Week 5 and I already have Week 6's blog picked out in advance. Look forward to it!

Friday 6 April 2012

Eye Candy Lens

Hey girls!

I had a completely different post scheduled in for today but upon stumbling across a few blog posts regarding the quality of lens from Eyecandylens.com, I thought it would be best to bring awareness. Whilst I don't personally wear circle lens (my own choice; I'm no good at getting them in plus I've heard horror stories like these before) I know that some of you girls do and should read this.

Hysterical Mint: How Circle Lens Damaged My Eyes
Cindy Tang: Not So Sexy Eyes Anymore

If you're a circle lens wearer I'd definitely recommend reading these posts, especially if you have purchased any lenses from Eye Candy Lens.

See you later!

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Family Meal

On 10th March I attended a family meal. 2012 has been a big year for us: in one week alone we had a 80th, 50th and 18th birthday! The entire family gathered to celebrate in the one way we all know how; eating a traditional dinner and drinking ourselves silly!

This was my code for that day:



Dress: Versace
Bracelet: Versace
Shoes: No idea.

As there was lots of family there who I hadn't seen in a long time I wanted to look smart and like a nice girl. I had lower lashes all set out to put on but I thought it might've been too in their faces.



I also painted my nails. I know they look super short and stubby but this is the longest they had been in ten years so I was really excited. The polish is the same one from this post.



The meal was really nice! There was so many people we filled two very long tables! I took a few snaps on my iPhone and edited them when I had a few free minutes.




I took the drink picture with PuddingCam.



My sister and I went to the loos together and ended up bumping into people and talking to them for ages! Of course, when everyone left we decided to camwhore.

If you guess how old she is, you win a prize (not really).



This little girl is one of my family members! She kept stroking my legs and ended up taking over 100 photos of herself on my phone which was fun to delete.

Not.

Here's one of the photos she edited herself with an app on my phone.~



I think she'll be a future camwhore in the making hahaha.

Overall, it was a really fun day but so tiring! I couldn't wait to get home and go to sleep and I was one of the early birds who left. Long weeks at work, y u tire me?!

If you're wondering why some photos are watermarked and others aren't; the photos taken on my iPhone (bar the eye one) have been left how I edited them with Xiamen. The ones taken from my camera are watermarked.

Monday 2 April 2012

Kaa-tan

Kanae Watanabe. Have you heard of her? No?

How about Kaa-tan then? If you're gyaru you've probably heard of her or at least are familiar with the name.

If you're not gyaru she's practically the front girl of ganguro style.

Move over Buriteri, in the West this girl is probably most recognisable than you. Even if you don't know her by name you will definitely recognise her by face.



When it came to manba, back in the early 2000s Kaa-tan was your front girl. She modelled for Egg magazine back in it's glory days and became quite a prolific manba. After gracing the cover of Egg in July 2004 it looked as though nothing could bring her down!

That's when manba began to decline in popularity.

As popular as she became her descent was rather quick; by 2005 she was fading from the pages of egg and by 2006 you'd be lucky to catch a glimpse of her.

What now?

Kanae Watanabe did not leave gyaru style! She moved on to model for another magazine; Koakuma Ageha.



She also has her own blog called COMPRENDA. It's really nice to see that she hasn't completely abandoned gyaru! She's also really pretty underneath all of the manba make-up.






I'm sorry I haven't blogged about the older gyaru for some time (the last one I did was Buriteri back in August 2011 eek!), are there any others you would like to see?

Sunday 1 April 2012

Blog of the Week: Miss Banny



Welcome to Week 4's blog of the week. This week I am going to feature Miss Banny.



Miss Banny is run by a lovely girl named Banny, if her blog title wasn't too much of a hint!

I really love her posts. She does review products but she also updates us on her life by writing really nice posts and taking amazing pictures. The photos in her blog are always edited really nicely and they really are a lovely bit of eye candy!

Like any good fashion blogger, Banny also posts her latest purchases and co-ordinates. Her fashion style is absolutely amazing and she always puts together good co-ordinates. I really wish I had her fashion style. Her make-up is also really well done too!



Maybe you're thinking, "Yeah, yeah, so does every other fashion blogger blah blah."

But wait a moment.

Does every other fashion blogger have an adorable bunny as a pet?

Exactly.

Banny also has a bunny called Buneary who is adorable and I love seeing pictures of her. She's too cute.



The cuteness of Buneary alone should inspire you to read Miss Banny. She updates frequently and I genuinely enjoy seeing her posts popping up on my dashboard.

To conclude, this week's blog of the week is Miss Banny.

All images are screencapped from her blog and do not belong to me; they belong to her.