Backstage Model Essentials free at Boots

Spend £15 or more on MaxFactor at Boots and receive a free Backstage Model Essentials Kit. The glitzy clutch includes, 15ml Lasting Performance Foundation in Natural beige 106, mini Colour Collections Lipstick in Midnight Plum 710, Earth Spirits Eyeshadow in Onyx 110, mini Khol Eyeliner Pencil in Black 20, 900 Ruby Fruit Nailfinity Nail Polish, a mini mirror and dvd.

MAC Holiday Collections

Cremesheen lipsticks from MAC are finally available from today in the UK. It seems like we have been waiting ages for these. I managed to buy Fanfare a couple of months ago though and adore the texture. It's really thick and creamy and has a semi matte finish. I'm not overly keen on the colour for me (mid-tone yellow pink), but I'm definitely going to purchase a few more, Creme d'Nude is top of my list.

Also out are the MAC Holiday collections (seems much sooner than last year). I pre-ordered mine last weekend and got them yesterday. Don't be put off by all the names of the collections (Adoring Carmine, "Red" She Said, Passionately Red etc), just concentrate on the actual product names and I'm sure the assistants will know what you mean. I bought the 3 Neutral Lips which is a little red purse with Soft Spot and Real Treasure lipsticks (in shiny red packaging) and a little My Dear lipglass. The colours look really nice, I'm also keen to try the Rose Lips.

I also picked up the repromote 'Date Night' Dazzleglass (gorgeous), I like the new one 'Miss Dynamite', but think it may be too orangey for me. I also got 'Quiet, Please' lipstick (sheer frosty pale beige lustre) which is really similar to the lighter one in the Neutral pack. I think I'll also get Pomposity and Soft Pause.

Tuxedo Glam

This Karen Millen dress is really gorgeous and unusual too. It's so well tailored and smart looking, with a real 'tuxedo' feel to it from the front (hence the name 'Tuxedo Dress'). However turn around to the back and there is a sheer, lace panel which is really wow and instantly gives it a different look. This could be the perfect work-to party outfit (wear with a smart jacket for day), although I never could quite understand why anyone would want to wear the same thing all day and night! It's £180 from Karen Millen stores and online.

No7 GWP

The No7 GWP is finally here, yay! Remember I showed you the preview from the Boots Christmas catalogue? Well spend £20 and you get the little gold clutch filled with goodies (see below for details). The new winter colour collection is out too, so I'll definitely be buying the shimmery Highlighting Star Palette. I seem to have a gazillion £5 off No7 vouchers too, which I'll probably use to buy basics like cleanser, toner, eye makeup remover and concealer. The gift contains, Lash 360 mascara 4.5ml in Black, Liplicious lipgloss in Marshmallow 5ml, mini Stay Perfect eyeshadow in True Gold, full size Stay Perfect nail polish (shades will vary), Protect & Perfect Day Cream 10ml, Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum 5ml, Stay Perfect Eyeliner in Jewel 2ml.

Paypal not my pal!

Hi! I'm still here. I'm sorry I haven't posted much over the past couple of days. I have just been having the worst time ever.

I need to verify my email address with Paypal and every time I try it, I get an error message (stack overflow at line:80). You have no idea how many help topics I've looked at, emails I've sent and I've been on the phone to paypal 3 times now. I cannot believe the lack of knowledge that the operators have, it's shocking. The terrible thing is, most of them don't actually listen to what you are telling them. They seem to pick up on key words, like 'email' and assume I'm not receiving emails or something.

The worst came today when I eventually spoke to the supervisor and she told me that she'd manually verify it at her end. All good I thought, nightmare over. Wrong! She told me that all five supervisors were also getting error messages when they tried to verify it for me!!!

I wouldn't be so stressed about it, if it weren't for the fact that I have all these Paypal payments awaiting me, that I cannot claim. Time is of the essence (I only have 4 weeks to accept these payments) and it only appears to be me who knows that. An apology from the Paypal staff (which they have done over and over again) is useless to me. They have no idea of the stress it's caused me. I can't get it off my mind and have spent hours each day emaling etc. I'm then not sleeping at night for worrying about it. It's so hard to email them and patiently wait for that response and then to get it and it doesn't even answer your question. I can honestly say that this is without a doubt the worst customer service I have ever received. If I had the choice, I would happily never use Paypal again. Ever!

P.S. If anyone can shed any light on this problem for me, please leave a comment or get in touch. I have already tried deleting cookies, defragmenting, restarting etc.