Before I start this post I have an awful confession to make... I used the makeup palette BEFORE I TOOK PHOTOS!! I'll never make it as a top beauty blogger will I? ;) I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I'm not an expert at applying makeup as you will be able to see further down the post. I like to buy subtle makeup which doesn't take five different brushes to blend or any kind of skill to apply but it's good to mix things up and I thought this post would be nice break from all the Cardiff foodie posts I've been doing.

The NARS Laser Cut Eyes, Cheeks and Lips Palette is the perfect pallette for me, it has loads of wearable shades and everything I need colour wise  for my eyes lips and face is all in one handy box. Great for weekends away or to slip in to my handbag.

The only things I needed to add to create a full make up looks was some eyeliner, mascara, Double Wear and my *must have* MAC brow pencil in Taupe.

Isn't this pallette a beauty? The packaging on the outside is very attractive and handbag durable but I love the double layers interior and how sleek it looks.


It includes:

• Eyeshadow - Neutral Vanilla, Café au Lait, Matte Army Green
• Cheeks - Daydream Blush, Laguna Bronzer
• Lips - Dolce Vita

The eyeshadows are all neutral and I find them very wearable. The blush is a limited edition shade in Day Dream and I have to admit, upon first glance I thought it was Deep Throat. The Dolce Vita muted rose shade lip gloss is possibly my favourite item in the pallette. I tend to avoid lip glosses but this one is easy to apply and is great for day or night.

The bronzer and blush duo meant I could try out some contouring for the first time, I brushed a little of the bronzer under my cheek bones and under my jawline and added a flush of the pink on my cheeks.

I picked up my pallette from John Lewis in St David's. Cardiff locals might be shocked to hear that St David's is now 5 years old, can you remember what it was like before it arrived? I have some distant memories of shopping in MVC and Renegades as a teenager...

Since opening its doors in 2009, the centre has attracted over 190 million visitors and put Cardiff firmly on the map as one of the UK’s best shopping cities. It has brought loads of iconic and popular brands to Wales for the first time, including John Lewis, Vivienne Westwood, Hamleys, The White Company, Boux Avenue, Tiger, Cosy Club and Jamie’s.Wahahca has just opened here too (I'm trying it tonight, post to follow next week) and it's nice to see so many big names coming to Cardiff.

What are your favourite make up pallettes? Are you more of a bold Urban Decay kind of girl or into a  more subtle Nars one like me?

I was tasked with finding the perfect party outfit for the festive season for under £100 by the team at St David's Shopping Centre in Cardiff. There are some great shops in the centre for finding glamorous dresses for sophisticated parties like John Lewis and Coast but my work Christmas party involves going to the pub and trying a new burger restaurant in Cardiff. Burgers and a posh frock aren't the best mix so I wanted to look for something comfortable but dressy.

I stretched my £100 budget to the max and managed to find three outfits that take me from day to night.

This is my outfit for my evening in the pub:

• Spend £100 or more at any of the shops in St David’s during the hours of 6pm and 8pm in one evening, Monday – Friday between 10th and 28th November
• Visit the Reward Station located on the lower level of the centre with your receipts on the night that you shopped and you’ll be rewarded with a £10 St David’s gift card ‘A Treat by St David’s’
• The value of £100 can be reached by using no more than 4 receipts (excluding those from restaurants and cafés in the centre)
• Receipts which include the use of a £10 Christmas Treat Gift Card are not valid for use in this promotion
• The gift card is valid from the day of collection until Christmas Eve (December 24th)
• 1 x gift card per household per night.

If you're not sure what to spend your £10 gift card on check out the St David's blog because they have put together a post giving you plenty of ideas.

How did I do with the shopping challenge? Are you feeling festive yet?

*St David's supplied me with a gift voucher to take part in the challenge

goodies in the photo below, I wish Wally's delivered this in a takeaway because I would some right now. 

On Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the first ever blogger event at The Celtic Manor Resort. It was an exclusive preview of their Christmas Afternoon Tea which was totally delicious and a really fun experience. It was also a launch event for their new blog which will feature guest posts from South Wales based bloggers and be a place you can go to see behind the scenes at the resort.

On arrival we were greeted with a glass of bubbly and led in to a very festive room. We go to learn a little more about the resort and Karl the Pastry Chef explained what went into making the afternoon tea and the inspiration behind the food. They normally serve 100 afternoon teas a week but in the build up to Christmas they serve an average of 250 - 300 festive afternoon teas. That's a lot of cake!

The food was absolutely divine and we given some delicious finger sandwiches, Caerphilly cheese & leek tartlets, miniature brioche with prawns and a miniature bagel with smoked salmon. 
The savoury treats were all amazing but there was more... A Penderyn whiskey and marmalade festive Bara Brith, Celtic Manor mince pies, a white chocolate Christmas pudding truffle. I was feeling pretty stuffed by this point so I took home the top tier of the stand which included pistachio marzipan cones, toasted sweet chestnut bouche Noel and glacé cherry & apricot Florentine.


We were also served a afternoon tea staple, scones with jam and clotted cream. Ours had a little twist and contained candied citrus peel.

The mulled wine was to die for and came served in a tea pot with a Christmas cosy, how cute is that?


I tried to dress for the occasion and wore my dress with a  tea pot and tea cup print on it and my favourite old Topshop shoes.



I want to thank India and Jess from the marketing team at the Celtic Manor for hosting such a lovely event. I had a great time and it was nice to chat and relax with some blogging pals in such lovely surroundings.

If you want to enoy the festive afternoon tea yourself it will be served from 1st - 24th December.

I had a really lovely week last week involving lots of good food, friends and fireworks. It really doesn't get much better than that. I missed out on all the big organised firework displays because Martyn had work on the weekend so I planned a little evening in the garden to celebrate bonfire night.

I made a obscene amount of food for two people including hotdogs, currywurst, mulled wine. baked Camembert and toasted marshmallows. Yum! Currywurst is my favourite, I wish takeaway places in the UK served it. The Germans are on to a good thing.


On Saturday I went shopping in Cardiff and headed to Spillers Records to see what new stock they had in and had lunch in Wallys. (post to follow on this)

Amy kindly invited me along to Cardiff Comicon with her on Saturday afternoon. I loved seeing everyone so dressed up and I'm definitely going to go as Osgood next time. I've never done any cosplay before but why not ey? It's pretty surreal seeing some of your favourite cast members from shows like Game of Thrones and Doctor Who in the flesh, I hope the Cardiff event grows. Doctor Who and Sherlock are both made in Cardiff so it would be great to see more panel discussions from cast and crew here like they have in the big San Diego Comicon.

We did loads of walking that day so I'm glad I wore my comfortable Clarks pumps. It's not easy trapsing around on the cobbles (I wouldn't dare wear high heels on them) but luckily all the main sights Martyn and I wanted to see were only ten minutes way from our lovely hotel.





My weekend trip to Bath with Martyn was lovely and I can't wait to head to Budapest with him for a week long adventure at the end of this month.