Irregular Choice Advent Adventures: Days 21 - 24

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Today I have the final images from the Irregular Choice Advent Adventures boots.  You can view previous posts here.  This lot contained Svetlana, the matryoshka doll that has featured across many styles and several seasons, alongside the SS13 cowgirl. 

Flashback Beauty Friday 4: Lancôme Precious Carat Lip Gloss Jewel

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I had to choose something a little special for Flashback Beauty Friday today given it's Christmas. You can see the ice-cube packaged Estee Lauder eyeshadow here last week. 

Irregular Choice Advent Adventures: Days 16 - 20

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Here's my penultimate set of pictures from the Irregular Choice Advent Adventures, from Day 16 to 20.  You can view my previous post here. 

Irregular Choice Advent Adventures: Days 11 - 15

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Hello my lovelies, I have the next 5 advent pictures for you from the Irregular Choice Advent Adventure boots.  You can view the last lot here if you missed it.  This time the images took us across both boots, with Day 13 starting on the left foot.  I have to say I'm really enjoying the ease of finding numbers and them not being muddled up!  After years of different beauty calendars, I know what works and doesn't (a mix of digits and named numbers is particularly taxing on my brain). 

Irregular Choice Collection: House Bags

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I'm back with the next instalment of my Irregular Choice bag collection series. I call these the 'house' bags, but you might also see them referred to as lunchbox bags, a name given to similarly shaped earlier styles. It wasn't really until the house variation launched that I took notice and then when the gingerbread house came out, I had to have it.  I thought I wouldn't get much use out of a very festive themed bag, but you know what? It's one of my most used bags overall and definitely the most used of this shape. I bring it out every year and it always gets lots of compliments.

Flashback Beauty Friday 3: Estee Lauder Pure Color Eyeshadow

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It's Friday, so time for another look back at some old makeup.  Like last week (Too Faced Gossip Gloss), this item wasn't limited edition, but this style of packaging no longer exists.  These are the Estee Lauder Pure Color Eyeshadow and not being funny, I thought this compact was the epitome of cool back in the day. As did everyone!  You really earned beauty street cred (is that a thing?) for owning these. 

Irregular Choice Advent Adventures: Days 6 - 10

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I have the next 5 days pictures from the Irregular Choice Advent Adventures boots I bought recently to show you today. You can click here to see the previous days.

Flashback Beauty Friday 2: Too Faced Gossip Gloss

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It's Friday and that means a trip down makeup memory lane, for Flashback Beauty Friday.  Last week was the first post in this series; the beautiful Lancôme elephant bronzer.  This week, I had a rummage through my lipgloss stash and unearthed these, which I'd completely forgotten about.  

Irregular Choice Advent Adventures: Days 1 - 5

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Irregular Choice had the most amazing Christmas release this year, definitely my favourite for several years. One of the styles I bought were the very unique Advent Adventures, which are an advent calendar in boot form. Yes, really!  Down the outer side of each leg, you have 12 doors and a different picture behind each one. You can see how they look on the leg here, along with the usual advice on fit and heel height etc.

Flashback Beauty Friday 1: Lancôme Poudre Elephant Teint

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By now you probably know that I love collecting makeup, especially pretty, special packaged, limited edition pieces. I don't want to call myself a hoarder, because I do enjoy looking back at brands that are no longer available or products that at the time were really innovative for whatever reason. So over the past 20 odd years I've amassed quite a collection of things, a lot of the prettier ones unswatched, because I often struggle to 'ruin' these designs! So, I thought I'd start a new feature where each week I share an old beauty product and if you're a long-time follower here, then there will probably be some things you recognise. With M.E. my memory is patchy, so I may not be an encyclopedic knowledge each week, but it's supposed to be an enjoyable look back over some special bits that you may also reminisce about or they may be entirely new to you. Disclaimer, because I'm sure I'll get asked...these will all be from my own collection, which is not for sale and as I'm choosing older items, they are unlikely to be available online or in stores now, so I don't know where you can buy them! 

Shoes I've Worn In 2020

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2020 for me started off pretty rough.  I'm not intentionally being vague about why, it's just that's not what this post is about.  In a bid to ease what was going on, Mum took me out a lot more than is usual for me.  It was clearly excellent foresight, given what was coming in Spring!  Since the pandemic hit, Mum and Dad don't go out much, my sister has to work and I haven't left the house at all since March.  Most people think that's too unbelievable to be true, but it is.  I'm accustomed to not getting out much, so in all honesty, it's not been too hard or different to my usual life.  I'm not saying it's easy, but after 18 years of it, you adapt to continually missing out.  Anyway, I thought I'd share the shoes I have worn so far this year, actually mostly boots as I was in a right phase in January/February.   

Irregular Choice x Care Bears: Hug It Out Clutch

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My sister has a lot of these Irregular Choice clutch bags, but I ordered this on launch day unsure of whether I wanted to keep it for myself or not! I realised when it arrived that as much as I loved it, it was more her than me, so she got it.

Irregular Choice: Maleficent Bag (Disney Princesses)

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Just a quick post tonight of something I bought back in early Spring. I'd had my eye on this Irregular Choice Maleficent bag since the preview, prior to the launch of the Sleeping Beauty collection in the Disney Princesses series last year. Shape wise though, it's really not practical for me, so I didn't get it. Fast forward to March and it was ridiculously cheap on eBay, so I couldn't resist! I posted it on my Instagram Stories at the time and I'll say what I said there, this will be a display piece for me. It's not often (if ever?) I buy something that I don't intend to wear/use.  For the past few months anyway, she keeps guard in the spare room (where I spend all my time) on top of this shelving unit that is housing some of my IC bags.  Obviously she has to go on the top shelf because of her shape.  She's always catching my eye throughout the day.

Irregular Choice x Care Bears: Oh Happy Day Purse

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After my Irregular Choice Care Bear box post the other day, I thought I should begin to tackle the (many) item reviews from this collection. My sister was really excited about this collection (sadly her feet are too small for the shoes) and although she'd been furloughed all those months, the one day she had to go in for training was 12 o'clock on launch day, typical!  Having not seen the full collection prior to launch, I had no idea what she wanted, so I ordered a whole bunch of stuff and if she didn't like it, I could send it back.  This item was a possibility for her and whenever she saw it, she said there was no way she'd return it, so we were off to a good start!

40th Birthday Shoes: Dolce & Gabbana

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You might remember my post last year about my new-ish tradition of buying myself a pair of designer shoes for my birthday.  That and watching the Korean zombie film, Train To Busan (on my own because nobody else in my house would like it)!  Last year I bought the Charlotte Olympia t-bars and the previous year, Vivienne Westwood suede boots.  This year I turned 40, so I decided (pre-Covid) that such a milestone called for a mega treat of 4 pairs throughout the year, one for each quarter of the year (not so minted that I could buy them all at once!) and four seemed apt (and more manageable/sensible than 40!) to represent 40.  A lot of my friends had lavish holidays (multiple) planned throughout the year to celebrate their birthdays, which isn't something I could do with being ill and as a family we were struggling to find something I could manage to celebrate, so we had no plans before Coronavirus hit.  I figured before and after, that this was a longer lasting memento than a holiday or party anyway and was in keeping with my previous birthday treats. 

Irregular Choice: SS20 Sale Bags

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I've had a good few weeks of ticking some Spring/Summer 2020 handbags off my Irregular Choice wishlist. I've been overspending the past couple of years, so I'm trying to change my buying habits this year and not dive in the moment I see something and wait it out until sale time (unless it's very special/limited). Of course there's the risk it sells out, so it's stressful and doesn't always work, but I am trying!

Swatch: L'Oreal Color Riche Lipstick Balmain Instinct

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It's a long running joke in our house that each lipstick I buy is the same shade...erm, do they not know that every nude is different? Not that my family read here, but if they did, the lipstick I'm swatching today would surprise them as it's...green. Yes, really!!
The L'Oreal collaboration with fashion house Balmain isn't a new one, but I found this lipstick online earlier this year and it just so happened to be the colour I was really intrigued by at the time of launch. I don't get out often to Boots or Superdrug to test their makeup brands (well with Covid, nobody does now), so I don't buy much in the way of drugstore/high street brands these days and after initially eyeing this collection, I'd forgotten all about it, until I stumbled upon it here.

Irregular Choice x Care Bears: Box Design

I'm aiming to blog every day throughout September. A bit of a big challenge for me, but I have so many photos I've taken and never had time or energy to write up, that I still want to share and I thought if I gave myself a bit of a push and stuck to this, it would greatly help that backlog!  Hopefully I can keep it up all month! Yesterday I started with a Beauty Lately post, but today I thought I'd share the fabulous Care Bears box/packaging from the Irregular Choice collaboration a couple of months back.  

Beauty Lately...

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Beauty Lately is a selection of mini reviews on beauty products I've been using lately; good, bad or meh, I include them all! You can find my post from last time here and today I have 6 items for you. Sorry it's taken so long to finish this post, but my back 'went' the other week and I had to drop everything and rest until it was better.  It's completely back to normal now, so I'm happy to be standing up straight and walking again (crawling like a hunchback to the toilet is no fun!), so let's get straight into the beauty bits.

Irregular Choice: Paint A Friend (unicorn heels)

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I thought I'd write a quick post on my new shoes that arrived on Monday (you get no blogs for weeks, then loads at once)! Irregular Choice surprised us all with the latest in their "paint your own heels" collection last Tuesday. Earlier in the year I'd bought the bunny heeled Paint A Flopsy, which I know how I want to decorate, but haven't mustered up the courage to do so yet (not really sure I have decent paint to be honest). The new release is the unicorn heel called Paint A Friend (after Eternal Friend). I was having a bit of a stressy day when these were released and for once wasn't online, so I almost missed them, but thanks to Tomi, got them in time! They sold out in every size about 10 or 15 minutes after I bought mine, so I was dreading getting an 'order can't be fulfilled' email, but thankfully they are here.

Comparison Swatches: MAC But Ain't Got No Manners Lipglass (Teyana Taylor)

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I ordered a few bits from the new MAC Teyana Taylor collection last week and they arrived today. I'm absolutely loving the look of everything, but haven't swatched them yet until I take proper photos for a blog post (and I didn't have the energy today). I did however, look out a couple of glosses that I knew I had in my stash that might be considered similar to But Ain't Got No Manners.

Beauty Lately...

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I'm back resurrecting a blog series from several years ago. I started Beauty Lately... in the summer of 2017 and I don't quite know why I never posted again, perhaps because the period that followed was filled with gallstone attacks (!) I don't know, but I want to reinstate it. If you didn't read my blog back then or can't quite recall the post, it's basically mini beauty reviews; good, bad or indifferent (skincare, makeup, fragrance, body, hair) that I'm currently using or have used lately. I have my next post almost ready to go and have used a few new things for the post after that, so let's get stuck into this one and I have 5 items for you today.

Irregular Choice Collection: Pouches

Hello, I hope you're all well just now.  The weeks have been flying by lately and I've not been very productive, but I hadn't realised my last bag collection post was in January. I do recall not having photos ready, so took these in March/April, but it's taken me a while to feel up to tackling them.  I'm not sure which style to work on next, there's a fair few bags on my wishlist this season (understatement) that I haven't gotten yet, so I don't want to take photos before I'm sure my collection won't be updated again!  There's a surprising amount of photos in this post (just under 50) considering I don't actually have loads of this style, so I'll try and keep the words to a minimum (but it's me, so you know I struggle with that)!

MAC Bronzing: Haul & Swatches (Summer 2020)

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I took a bit of a chance ordering the MAC Bronzing collection earlier this month. It's not launched in the US yet, I believe it came out here (UK) first and for me anyway, it was out of the blue as I hadn't seen any teasers and for some reason MAC don't email me newsletters of new releases (yep, I've ticked the box to allow it). I used to buy (direct from them) regularly and I think at some point the emails just stopped and my interest waned as I didn't stay on top of new launches like I used to. Marketing, take note!  As I've been saying on the blog, I'm really enjoying the MAC limited releases again. The second I saw this, I was intrigued with the packaging. It reminded me slightly of the water droplet (aka the best packaging ever) Alluring Aquatic range from summer 2014, so I ordered some bits. There were no social media photos or swatches anywhere. MAC describe their shades, but I don't find their arm swatches helpful...they're just a bit uninspiring and rarely accurate. Anyway, I was overall happy with everything I got and guessed my colours correctly! So settle down for lots of pics and swatches...

Irregular Choice Lightning Bolt: Galactic Thunder (IC Exclusive)

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Onto the second of my lightning bolt heels and these, Galactic Thunder, were another Irregular Choice exclusive colour. They also came in a bright, multi colour or a darker combination, but I was drawn to the pink leopard print.

Comparison Swatches: MAC Gold Glitter Lipgloss

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I keep mentioning that I've gotten really into MAC makeup again and I've been buying quite a bit from their limited edition releases. This used to be my method all those years ago, I can easily be swayed by pretty packaging! I've been very aware lately of always opting for the sparkly gold gloss in releases, so I've put together four of my most recent ones, including one from the new Bronzing collection for Summer 2020. I love that release by the way. I popped a quick pic up on my Instagram stories last week, but I'm waiting to take proper photos as I still have one item on it's way to me.

Irregular Choice: SS20 Box Design

I've been promising you a proper look at the Spring/Summer 2020 graphics from Irregular Choice and here is the fabulous box.

Irregular Choice: Luxovious (Super Fan Collection)

Post does not contain affiliate links or gifted items. Probably shouldn't begin a post with a negative, but I'm not entirely happy with these photos. You'll see a couple of different backdrops; I started with this planet one, but the colour and material of the boots wasn't shining like it usually does, so I switched to the other background, but it didn't improve much. I was photographing a lot of items this day, so didn't have the time to try again and as always my energy is low, so I just have to do what I can and I'd rather review them than not at all. The close-up photos are alright and I'll go into detail about the material anyway and am including an extra photo at the end so you can see them in all their glory.  I'm more disappointed that I haven't done the material justice because it and the boots are better than they look here.

Review & Swatch Comparisons: Clarins v MAC Mousse Lip

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Before Christmas I ordered a couple of bits from the Clarins Spring 2020 Milkshake collection. At the time, it was an online exclusive so there were no swatches or info as nobody had bought it yet. To be truthful I wasn't quite sure what I was buying, as it's an entirely new formula for the brand, but I ordered one of the mousse lip colours. I've been getting more and more into MAC again recently, but missed the Pony Park K-beauty collaboration last Autumn. A few weeks ago, I noticed they had some back in stock, so ordered the highlighter and a lip product. Again this was pegged as a mousse formula, so I wasn't quite sure what it was going to be like. When it arrived, it immediately struck me that it was similar to the Clarins one I'd bought (and promptly put away because I wasn't that enamoured with it), so I've photographed and swatched them both to review.

Irregular Choice Lightning Bolt: Heavens Above (IC Exclusive)

Hello, been a little longer between posts than I'd have liked, but I had to buy a new laptop as my other one was dying and other than the backlit keyboard (!), I hate the new one. Everything is different and I'm exhausted trying to figure out how to work it (if I could murder the "help" section, I would, it's that frustrating). It's draining my energy too much and not doing anything for my mood, so I've just been avoiding using it altogether.  The biggest issue being the colours I'm seeing on screen, which is making blogging near impossible, as I don't know what to trust in regards to being a lifelike colour. I realise it can very between devices (my phone always looks way more saturated than my old laptop), but this is worlds apart and I can't seem to fix it. There's been tears more than once, but I just decided to bite the bullet and go for it with these photos I took at the weekend and fingers crossed, it works. I resized them and did nothing to the colour, because I don't know what to trust now! Now, it's the resizing that looks weird to me here, they're tiny compared to my old laptop, so if it looks strange, you know why. Ok, so Irregular Choice released a brand new concept heel last Friday, lightning bolts. It was a big collection (10 shoes in total) and although they all looked lovely online, they're even better in the flesh. I got two pairs of shoes and today have Heavens Above to show you.
There were 3 different styles; an ankle boot called Power Surge in 4 colourways, which I didn't get at all (but want!), Galactic Thunder we initially saw in the teaser, in 3 colours, the pink being exclusive to IC (which I bought) and then 3 variations of these Heavens Above courts, again I bought the IC exclusive pattern. Matching Galactic Thunder, is a handbag (again in 3 colours), 2 purses, tights, earrings and unusually, a hairclip, which I also bought. So, a big collection for a brand new style and I also want to mention that all of these are available up to a size 43 (starting at a 36).

Irregular Choice Collection: Round Bags

Last year I kicked off my Irregular Choice handbag collection posts with my square shaped bags. Today it's the round ones, which again there aren't masses of, so it's a little easier for me to tackle, as I know exactly how many I have and where they are situated.  I've been leaving the ones with the flap and also the double clasp, because every single time I photograph them, another one comes out. I think I've photographed both groups at least twice each over the years, before giving up last year as I knew there was a Jasmine (flap) one coming in Aladdin and then Belle (clasp) in the Beauty And The Beast collection (didn't know about the poodle one which I also got).  Anyway, round bags, drum bags, vanity case, whatever you call this shape, it's one of the oldest bag styles from IC. I don't have any of the older ones, but I remember being so excited when they brought this shape back with the furry frog one, because it's a style I'd always hoped to get. Granted it's not the most practical shaped handbag, being round and it's hard so there's no squeezing anything extra in-the size you see is what you get. As it's very stiff, it doesn't lose it's shape though, even with something heavy inside. Most of them come with a short fixed handle which goes from front to back, rather than side to side. It's great as it doesn't interfere with the zip and allows that picture front to be shown when carrying. They tend to also come with an adjustable longer strap, fastening at either side of the bag (not the top), but more recently they've been attaching back loops, so the strap can be threaded through and used as a backpack. They open with a double zip, close to the front so it opens like a lid and there's gussets at the lower sides inside. I find the flap opens quite wide actually, so access is easy and then the gussets prevent anything falling out. It definitely opens wider than the square bags last time. I have noted some of my zips whizz around easier than others though! A lot of my collection are Disney ones, as you'll see and they're all very different to each other actually when I see them altogether like this. I haven't thought about favourites within this style before...I am very, very fond of the frog and the Snow White one, it's beautiful and is slightly different which I'll get onto later.