Miss Selfridge: Barbie 'Comic' Range

Oh my freakin' dolly, what is this? A FABulous new collection of Barbie garments at Miss Selfridge, that's what! I actually OMG'd out loud when I saw these. I'm generally loving all the comic inspired, 'pow' bodycon dresses and things appearing on the high-street right now (I just wish they came in bigger sizes), so a Barbie themed comic range is making me tres excited. I'm hoping if/when I eventually get some money that I'll be able to buy some of this, in the meantime I'll live vicariously through anyone that owns this (show me your pics if you do)!
Like I said, there's definitely a comic feel not only to the prints, but the style. So there's a lot of bodycon and it's hard to judge online just how snug the fit would be and how thin/thick/stretchy the fabric is. The cute mini skirt above is £22 and...
if you were feeling very brave, could wear it with this bra top £24, for a Nicki Minaj feel. I'm so excited to see the Barbie range progress from just t-shirts to leggings, then this.
The comic stripe tee £24 above, offers more coverage and...
it also comes in a dress £32! A dress!!!! A BARBIE dress!!! It's moments like these that I wish Miss S just went a size or two larger. I really want this!
There's also leggings £28, in the all-over print, which I'm wondering if they would work with the mini skirt? It would be a lot of print, but crazy-good perhaps.
I'd love to add this black tee £22 to my collection, even if it is on the cropped side.
There's also this vest top £22, which if you look closely at the Barbie logo incorporates the comic faces/design. It's also got the split strap or duo strap feature that the bra top has.  The whole collection just feels so fresh and exciting (I realise I've said 'exciting' a lot in this post), there's a definite Nicki Minaj, fun, bright feel to the range and I think it's brilliant.  
Finally, Miss Selfridge ran a little competition recently where you had to vote for your favourite Barbie t-shirt and the winner would be produced. Sadly the least inspiring (I think) of the bunch won. It's very similar to previous tops and all the others had something different that we've not seen before at Miss Selfridge. I voted for the 'plastic fantastic' (2nd) one, which would have worked brilliantly with the comic collection and I also loved the first one.  I'm sad these won't get made : (  You can however, buy the 'pretty in prom' vest £22 (3rd image) now.

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Monster High Monday: Venus McFlytrap

We missed MHM last week due to snow, but I braved the weather today (actually it wasn't too bad, just little snow flurries) for a rather tricky Monster High doll. I've been worried about replicating this makeup ever since I started Monster High Monday's. I mean, fuchsia eyeshadow is never going to be an easy look to pull off, unless of course you're a green skinned plant, like Venus! I even attempted to ease myself into it, by wearing bright pink eyeshadow mid-week (albeit only on the inner corners and with lots of smokey pewter to blend). I wanted to get her out of the way though, because I knew I would just keep leaving her and hoping I never had to attempt it!
Venus is one of the newer characters and I don't know too much about her, besides that's she a venus fly-trap and a little eco-warrior. I haven't seen much of her in the webisodes or movies, but then I haven't watched a lot of them lately.
Besides the pink eyeshadow, she has bold lips, which I originally thought were also pink, but upon closer inspection are actually red. I was going to mix a bright red lipstick with a deeper plum to recreate the shade, but actually found a lipstick that was the perfect colour (that I didn't even know I owned!).
So how did I do? Well for the face I mixed Lancome Teint Idole ultra 24H in 005 with Pout 'Love Glow' Illuminator (been mixing this with my foundation since Robecca week) and some Dainty Doll concealer in 001 under the eyes and 002 on blemishes. I finished with a little MAC Cream Soda powder blush (Venus doesn't wear any) and Clarins Ever Matte Mineral Powder Compact in Transparent Opal.
For the eyes I blended Stuf Duo Eyeshadow Pencil in 06 Miss Universe (the pink end) over Too Faced Shadow Insurance, just up to the crease. Over that I wore Givenchy Prisme Again! in 1 Zen Pastel (the pale pink shade). For the bright pink I applied a shade from the Givenchy Prisme Again! quad in 3 Purple Emotion. I really winged it outwards and upwards, then tidied it up. I decided it was a little over the top, despite Venus winging hers all the way to her hairline-I didn't think I could quite pull that off! So I made it a smaller wing...it still looked slightly crazy in the flesh!
I finished with Lancome Hypnose mascara and lots of YSL waterproof eye pencil with a little Lancome Artliner for the flicks.
I lined lips with a pale pink liner and applied Lancome Rouge Absolu Creme in 164 Rouge Tentation. It's difficult to describe this shade, because it's relatively muted but falls somewhere in between raspberry and wine. It looked identical to Venus anyway, which is all that mattered. I also filled my brows using the Jelly Pong Pong Wakeup Makeup palette and that was me finished!
I actually quite liked it, after the panic beforehand! Definitely not one of the worst looks, despite my reservations. Here is The Shoe Girl Diaries post without blue eyes : )

Haul & Swatches: Dainty Doll + More

Prepare yourself for a long picture heavy post! I keep banging on about 'watching my spending' then show you a haul post, but my defence here is, it really wasn't expensive and part of it was necessity rather than luxury. Now, thanks to the lovely government (if you don't note the sarcasm there, then we're no longer friends), I'm currently living off £20 a week. Let me tell you, £20 can't buy you s***! £80 (every 4 weeks) doesn't even cover what I give my Mum for living here every month, so I'd be in debt without even spending anything! It's totally depressing and yet another reason my life sucks right now, but I'm trying not to dwell on it. So currently there really is no spending, necessity or not. Anyway, you may recall I reviewed the Oxy seaweed skincare line last year. I got on well with the products and have been looking for the balm and emergency spot gel ever since. For months! I thought I had nothing better to do than browse Boots or Superdrug and buy a couple of tubes, but it seems around here anyway the line doesn't exist. One day I decided to 'properly' search for it online and discovered Superdrug had the gel (3 for 2) and happened to have free shipping that weekend, so I ordered three tubes. I then tried to track down the moisturiser and found it on Fragrance Direct. I used to buy from there quite frequently, but due to curbing my spending haven't checked them out for some time.  I'm glad I bought the balm when I did, as it's no longer available, so I think I got the last three tubes.  While browsing the site, I noticed they had the Dainty Doll brand by Nicola Roberts (made for fair complexions)....like loads of it and super, duper cheap too! It's all the current range and I was a bit sceptical on whether it was genuine or not as I bought a few MAC things from FD years ago and now question their authenticity.  I didn't hang about long, because at those prices it seemed worth trying and...the above photo happened! I bought lots!
I have several products from the original line (foundation, lipgloss and blush duo), but the products have been revamped and are now also more widely available than they were before (Boots and Debenhams have them). Sadly the liquid foundation had sold out and that was the product I wanted to try the most. The original foundation had this strange powdery-mousse consistency that didn't always wear very well, so I've been keen to see how the new liquid one compares. However at £22 a bottle it's a bit pricey to try without testing beforehand or buy 'blind', so I'm kicking myself for missing out on it at a reduced price.
The Concealer Hot Pour in Abracadabra (yes the name really is that jumbled and strange) was available in all shades though, so because I wasn't sure whether or not I'd need light or very light, I ordered both (they were £1.99 instead of £14.50). I initially thought these concealers looked very dark in the compact, but once I swatched them, you can see underneath the top 'layer' they are actually much lighter.
001 Very Light is actually the perfect shade for my hand as you can see in the swatches further below. My hand is a shade or two lighter than my face though, so I've been using this as an undereye concealer this past week. I love that it isn't really yellow, pink or beige but white based.
002 Light is probably better suited to my face when I'm wearing foundation and I've been very impressed at how effortlessly it's concealed blemishes this week. The concealer isn't too thick but doesn't feel oily or greasy either.  I'd say this shade has more of a yellow base.  
And with the sun shining on my hand.
The Loose Mineral Foundation was also available and this time, I decided to just guess at the correct shade and went with 002 Light (£2.99 instead of £19.50). Now I have issues with this product before we even start. It comes in one of those self-contained brush things. The brush feels very soft. However, it's impossible to get the lid back on without ruining the bristles. There's no plastic section to pull up over the bristles while putting the lid on so they catch and get bent under the lid.  I thought that clear plastic bit around the centre pulled up, but I've broken two nails trying to and it hasn't budged. It's a pity because it's a brand new product and already looks tatty before I've even used it.
Besides the issue with closing the brush (I've just left the lid off for the time being), I'm not sure how freely the powder will come through onto the brush and how easily that will apply to the face from there. I suspect I'll screw off the powder pot from the bottom and use the powder directly from there. The powder itself looks rather orangey, but as you can see from my swatch, it's actually quite light. It's also worth noting it's an excellent match for the corresponding concealer.
Next up are a couple of eyeshadows. Now I don't really need any more eyeshadows, so even although they were only £1.99 each (usually £11.50), I just bought two.
I got 008 Jungle, which I can remember eyeing when it first came out, as it's a gloriously bright and shimmering emerald green. The metallic sheen on this when swatched is so vivid and it's just as bold as it looks in the pan.
I also got 002 Treat Her Like A Lady which is a taupe-nude. I've been reaching for neutrals a little more than I used to, so I thought it might be a nice everyday addition.  The subtle shimmer you see in the pan is even more sporadic when swatched and there's no sheen like Jungle.  
They come in similar compacts to the concealer and are supposed to have a mirror inside the lid, but one of mine was missing. For £1.99 you can't really complain can you?
Next are blushers! I had my choice of cream or powder, but to be honest I don't use cream and I'd heard the quality wasn't the best on these anyway, so went with the powder blusher and purchased all four. I'm a sucker for a pretty blush and these all looked fabulous.  They were £1.99 for a 7g compact instead of £13.50, so I could afford all four for around half the retail price of one!
001 Hippy Shake is a lilac shade and I think I only own one other lilac blush. It's quite pale, so I'm hoping it shows up more than just a highlighter.
002 My Girl is a soft pink which will be a great everyday/go with anything shade.
003 Money Talks, is a little different as it's described as bronze but looks quite taupe-ish in the pan. I've sometimes seen Nicola Roberts wearing a blush this shade and thought it looked a little 'muddy' on her, so I think a light hand will be required for this.
004 You Are My Sunshine is the one I was most excited about as it's a beautiful bright, shimmering peach. It looks so fresh and vibrant, I can't wait to try it. Just look at that beautiful gold shimmer!
The powders feel very soft and smooth and the colour was easily picked up when swatching, although I haven't tried them on my face yet with a brush. They also swatch true to how they look in the pan.
The sun was shining in the window when I took these photos, so I held my hand directly in the sunlight to photograph this next one.
Finally, I bought some lipsticks. You know I love a good nude lippie, so I was so, so excited that these three shades were still in stock.  Usually £12.50, they came in at £1.99 each, bargain-central!
006 Baby Love (left) is a pinky-nude, erm hello MAC Creme d'Nude! It's beautiful, I might make this my lipstick next week...or save it for when I need something really pretty? Decisions, decisions!
007 Stripped (middle) is lighter than 006, it's a pale gold-nude. I wasn't sure about this in the tube, because it looks quite goldy (had my fill of gold frost lipstick, wearing MAC Sunsonic all week), but it looks pretty in the swatch.
008 Storm In A Teacup (right) is the darkest of the three, a pale brown. I'd say in all my lipstick images, they look a little darker than they do in real life. I'm happy with all three and the other choices were reds and I don't really do red enough to justify buying one of those. This reminds me though that I have a pale pinky shade that I bought from Dainty Doll a while back (either Material World or In His kiss, I sent the other back), that I haven't used yet. I'll have to find it and swatch it too.
The other lipstick in these swatches is a Rimmel one, I also picked up with my order as I thought it looked pretty and wasn't one I already had.
It's from the Rimmel 'Kate Moss' collection of Lasting Finish lipsticks and is shade 26. It's quite orangey based, which is a little unfortunate, but I'm sure I can make it work with some gloss or lightened with another lipstick.   
My only wish for the DD range is that the gorgeous doll on the box was worked into the actual product packaging rather than just the box.  She's so adorable but the packaging is rather plain and bland without her.  I believe there is limited stock left on FD of these things, at such great prices they've just gone. So altogether including the three tubes of moisturiser and Rimmel lippie and 2nd class postage, my order came to £34.25 (I also used a 10% off code). The Dainty Doll stuff alone came to £24.88 (well actually £22.39 minus my 10%)-the same products would have cost me £163 in Boots. Quite astonishing really and considering I would have been £17.97 for the three tubes of moisturiser that I was shopping for in the first place, I think it's safe to say I got a good deal!!