Me Time Treats

I have been having a few tough weeks at work since the Christmas and New Year break and have also been feeling a little under the weather. I realised that I had no me time in my busy schedule and all my efforts were being spent on my home, my family and work. It was time to spend some time on me and which one of us ladies feels so guilty when we do this?

So first of all I had my hair done and my colours done at my local salon on Saturday. I spent some time on Sunday going through my make-up to make sure it fitted in with my new colours and I also made an appointment to get my nails done at my nearest Nails Inc studio. I have been going to them for around 3 years now on a fairly regular basis and always get a 3 week manicure. The staff are just lovely and always look after me making sure that I get any offers and freebies that they have. I went for a muted Jermyn Street which is described as a perfect taupe.  It is the third colour from the left in the photo below. I buy the matching nail polish to the gel they use on my nails for the 3 week manicure. I then paint my own toe nails to match unless they have an offer on for a free or reduced price shape and polish for my toes in which case I have them done at the same time as my finger nails. 

The Nails Inc studio is in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre so I thought I would make use of my time there and get some other items that I wanted. My sister had sent me a link for a freebie at the L'Occitane shop, so I called in with my phone to show them the link and was given a gorgeous tin containing two cute sized tubes of hand cream. They are 20% Shea butter and are two different scents - Vanilla Bouquet and Delightful Rose. They are the perfect size for popping in your hand bag or taking away when I go on holiday. The link had come via Facebook if you liked the L'Occitane page. As well as getting these for free the assistant gave me four samples of repairing shampoo, divine face cream and precious eye balm all tucked up in a lovely paper bag with scented tissue. I love the fact that these were all free.

My next port of call was the Nars counter in Selfridges to buy two particular products. The first is the Pro Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base which costs £19.50 (Ouch!) but which had been recommended in an article that I had found in the free Waitrose magazine. This can be used on the eye lids, under the eye for underneath eye liner and also on the eye brow for underneath an eye pencil. I have been using a cream eyeshadow base from Boots No7 for the last 3 years but found that my eyeshadow was still creasing by the end of the working day. This article written by Jo Fairley said that the Nars base was one of the best she had found so I thought I would have a change and give this a try.

The second item I bought was a blush in the naughty name of Orgasm. This shade matches my new make-up colours and again I had read that this is a cult classics colour which just about everyone can wear. It has a slight shimmer to it that made me wonder whether it was suitable for day wear but when the assistant put some on my cheeks it just gave them a light lift and glow. I was sold on it and bought it there and then. Another shock to my purse at £23 but as I scrimp so much on so many other things I thought it was time to treat myself to a few luxuries.

Well I think that is my blow out on myself for some time and back to being frugal but life sometimes life becomes dull when we cannot spend a little time and money on ourselves.

Colour me Beautiful - Make Up

I have always wanted to have my "colours" done and when I recently changed hairdressers I noticed that they provided this service at the salon. David who works at the salon is a  Colour me Beautiful  consultant. I booked an appointment straight away and yesterday I spent some time at the salon having my colours done and as a result having my hair colour changed. More on this in another posting. 

I have found out that I am a "Soft" with some "Cool" and "Light". I also suit silver, platinum and white gold rather than yellow gold. I sat down in front of a mirror and David placed a large white sheet around my shoulders under my chin and covering my front and so covering up my clothes. Different coloured fabrics were then placed under my chin and covering my chest so that I could see in the mirror how the different colours either made my skin and eyes look fresh or drained the colour from them. After starting with the silver and gold cloths we moved onto various other colours to establish my predominant colouring. 

This turned out to be "Soft" so there are lots of  muted shades of camels, taupes and chocolates. There are also sage greens, periwinkle blues and purples. There are no oranges or yellows or hot colours. The "soft and cool" colours include lavender, soft fuchsia and rose, and the "light and cool" colours include bluebell, powder pink and icy grey.

As part of the session I had my make-up reviewed and was given a colour palette to use when buying my make-up showing which are the best colours for my skin tone, eyes and lips. Before going out to buy a whole new vanity case of make-up I decided I would have a look at what I was already using and what I had stored away.

I think I have done a good job in matching up what I was already using and what I had to hand. So here are the results and please let me know what you think.

I started off with the "Soft" colours and then also looked at the "Soft and Cool" colours to try to get as many near matches as possible. What I found quite interesting was that many of the eye shadow colours I was already wearing. I was not quite as good with lip colours and had to visit my stocks to see what matches I could find. All the make-up matches are from Boots No7

Colour Me Beautiful                      Boots No7

Eyes
Fawn                                                 Truffle
Cocoa                                                Wheat sheaf
Peach                                                 Sorbet Shine
Dusk                                                  Mink or un-named (free gift)
Melon                                                Starry Lights or True Gold
Pewter                                               Un-named (free gift)

Lips
Soft Mauve                                      Pink Crush
Pink Shell                                        Lovely or Glaze
Silk                                                  Plum Beautiful
Breeze                                              Smile

Blush
Sienna                                            Honey

The only colours that I lacked were blues and greens for my eyes. I haven't got any of these colours as they have never appealed to me. I think it reminds me of my early teenage years in the late 1970s when everyone seemed to wear these colours so I thought they were old fashioned. I may visit a No7 counter and have a look at what colours are available that are subtle rather than the gawdy colours I remember. I have a fear of looking like a pantomime dame if I use them.

It is suggested I use a coffee coloured eye pencil and I already have a chocolate eyeliner. I use a  Lancôme waterproof one to stop the panda eye look by the end of the day. It is expensive but lasts a long time so works out a good price per wear. I use a black mascara to give my lashes some definition. I have tried other colours but they do not suit me aswell as a black one.

I will post details of my changing wardrobe in the next week so you can see how I have taken on board the colour rules and picked out what clothes I have already that match.