Music Tag

- Vicki 2 Comments

I never do tags but I thought The Music Tag looked fun and I love music – here are my answers.

Gig

Some of my old gig tickets

What are your 5 favourite songs right now?

I listen to so many songs during the day & I tend not to listen to new music I am a creature of habit and like listening to old faithfuls and music that holds memories. So a few songs I have been enjoying lately are, Biffy Clyro – God & Satan, Tool – Parabol, Ben Howard – Black Flies, Metallica with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra – Hero Of The Day, Eddie Vedder – Rise and Jay-Z – Run This Town

 

Who are your favourite bands of all time?

Oh gosh where do I begin ….. I love

REM, AFI, Prince, Belle and Sebastian, Tool, Bon Jovi, Kid Rock, Puscifer, Metallica, Stone Sour, Silverchair, Elliott Smith, Type O Negative and I just couldn’t live without Porcupine Tree

 

What is the most played song in your iTunes?

My most played song is Potions by Puscifer

 

What song can you not get out of your head?

I’ve been singing Band on The Run by Paul McCartney and Wings all day – I heard it whilst out shopping this morning and I keep breaking out into song and singing the chorus. (love that song too).

 

What was the last album you bought? 

This would have been a long long time ago as I don’t think I have bought a physical album for a while. If I remember correctly it would have been ‘The Very Best of Prince’.

I love Prince and his Diamonds and Pearls album was the first CD I ever bought back in 1992 it had a holographic cover and all the lyrics in the sleeve I used to listen to it all the time and learn the words to each song.

 

What was the last single you downloaded?  

I don’t download singles very often but the last album I downloaded was Ben Howard – Every Kingdom

 

What is your favourite band right now?

I love Biffy Clyro and Ben Howard

 

What is your favourite type of music? 

Looking at iTunes I’d have to say metal and rock

 

In your 25 Most Played list, what is #10?

Dirty Magic by The Offspring

 

What was the first gig you ever went to?

I was 14 and the year was 1994 (disclaimer) I saw Take That in Essen Germany. I went with a school friend and we had an amazing time. DReam were supporting and we thought we were the bees knees. Our parents let us go on our own. I must have screamed from start to finish. I was the biggest Howard Donald fan. German fans were mental and full on crazy.

 

What was the best gig you’ve ever been to?

I love seeing live music and my husband and I went on our first date to see Blink 182 back in March 2000 at Manchester Academy  That was a good gig but not my best. I think my best ever would have to be REM at Glastonbury 1999 or Red Hot Chilli Peppers Reading Festival 1999 – that was a good year for me and music. I saw so many amazing bands. I really did party like it was 1999.

 

And finally, if there was one band/album/song you would recommend everyone listening to RIGHT NOW, what would it be?

I would recommend Stone Sour Zzyxz Rd

If you have done this Music Tag let me know I’d love to read your answers. I got the questions from Terri’s Blog – Hello Terri Lowe 

Sonia Kashuk Travel Set

- Vicki 8 Comments

I had so many people telling me that whilst I was in San Francisco I had to buy some Sonia Kashuk brushes. So I had to hunt some down and see what all the fuss was about. They sell Sonia Kashuk in Target and I managed to find a small City Target in the centre of San Francisco. I loved it in there.

They had a great selection of individual brushes but I opted for 4 piece brush set. It is the travel brush set & the brushes are shorter than the standard ones which is exactly what I was after. I needed makeup brushes that I could easily fit into my makeup and bag and take away with me. I love the set I bought they are bright and summery.

Sonia Kashuk Brush Set

Brush Set

I bought the Brush Couture 4 piece travel brush set & they are so cute and the bristles are very soft. I love the design, very bright and fun. I don’t have anything like this in my collection. You get  a Duo Fiber Multipurpose Brush, Medium Eye Shadow Brush, Domed Crease Brush and Angled Liner Brush.

I don’t use gel eyeliner  so I want to use the eyeliner brush to do my eyebrows. It looks perfect for that.

Sonia Kashuk Brush Set

 

Sonia Kashuk Brush Couture Set

 

These were a complete bargain at $12.99. They feel very well made and Sonia Kashuk brushes get rave reviews, I’m so happy I bought them. It’s been a while since I treated myself to new brushes and I know that all 4 of them will get a lot of use. I did buy a duo eyeshadow from Sonia Kashuk too – this will be in my USA haul post. Do you have any Sonia Kashuk brushes in your collection?

San Francisco Instagram Round Up

- Vicki 3 Comments
sfdowntown

I know I bombarded Instagram whilst I was in San Francisco but I had such an amazing time. Just to annoy you a little further here is a roundup of them. I have been to San Francisco once before 7 years ago so we tried to do different things this time and visit new places. The weather was really nice the whole week and I would go back in a heartbeat.

San Francisco 2013

Virgin Atlantic / Hotel Diva / Alcatraz / Ice Tea / City View / Products / Financial District / Crossroads / Huge Strawberries

San Francisco

City View / Painted Ladies / Tram / John & Me / Fog / City Hall / Vegan Salad / Me / Alcatraz Sign

USA

Alcatraz / Sunny Day / Public Transport / Haight Street / Hilltop / American Diner / Japan Town / John & Me

San Francisco

China Town / Museum / Sephora / Pitt Stop / Lombard Street / Bike The Bridge / Local Beer / Golden Gate Bridge

San Fran 2013

USA goodies / Amoeba Music Shop / Palace of the Arts / SOMA / Classic Car / Very hungry husband / Vegan Ramen / Street View / Beautiful Houses

I have a post going up over the next few days with more detail about places we went, ate and would recommend. Have you been to San Francisco? Let me know where you went & what you loved. What a City – amazing and I had a blast.

Lift Away The Years Beauty Wand

- Vicki Leave a comment

I’m turning 35 in October, and keeping my skin looking the best it can is a daily mission – or you could say battle. It’s taken me a long time to really work out my skin and what it needs and likes. I’m someone who has never been interested in cosmetic surgery, it’s just not for me. I know people say ‘never say never’ but I’d like to keep my skin looking its best through diet, exercise and skincare.

God bless Caroline Hirons and her no-nonsense approach to skincare, she’s really changed the way I take care of my skin. I know I’m not alone on that. I’ve been shopping smarter and really purchasing products that have long-term benefits rather than quick fixes, and thanks to Caroline’s blog I now have a skincare regime I’m almost 100% happy with. Being a blogger and all round beauty junkie, we’re always looking for the next big thing or lusting after one product or another. So I don’t think I will ever be 100% happy.

At the beginning of the year I was invited along with some other lovely North West Bloggers to the Crystal Clear Event in Manchester and unfortunately due to the bad snow I was unable to make it. But I was contacted after the event to see if I wanted to test out their ‘Lift Away The Years Wand’ and I jumped at the chance. I’d seen a British Beauty Blogger’s review of it back in February, and she quite liked it. So I’m very excited to give it a whirl. Crystal Clear took 30 women and their study showed a ‘27% reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and a 45% increase in skin firmness.’

Lift Away The Years Wand

Crystal Clear recommend that in order to see the best results to use the wand both morning and night. The wand works by using gentle vibrations to stimulate your facial muscles and this will help, tone lax skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines. I do have fine lines around my eye area, so I’m most excited to see how much they reduce.  The wand itself is light and very easy to use. Super compact if you wanted to take it with you when travelling.

If you’ve read my blog for a while you will have noticed that I rarely put photos of myself on, but I thought in order to show you the real results I get from using this wand I’d put a before photo on and in a couple of months show you my progress. So please be nice. I want to try to reduce the lines around my eyes and also my mouth.

Me

* This product was sent to me for my consideration, any reviews are 100% my own