I'm sure you're all super bored and completely over seeing this palette by now but I've only just got around to talking about it so I really don't care. I actually picked this little beauty up a few days before it came out but I'm super lazy/ ridiculously busy with uni work so I've hardly been able to blog about anything at all. I'm sure you're bored of hearing that excuse too. Anyway this isn't so much a review, just my thoughts about the palette and the shades I've used so far.


The first thing I want to talk about is this incredible packaging! Seriously, who ever designed this needs some major £££. The whole concept has been really thought about and it's just gorgeous. Yes there might be a lot of unnecessary things, like the butterfly and a few crazy patterns but thats what you get when you buy high end makeup! The only thing I don't love about the packaging is the fact that its made from cardboard. I have the Gwen Stefani Palette and the quality of that is just amazing compared to this. Also because it is cardboard, the tray that contains the eyeshadows is a little bit loose and I'd worry about it falling out if I took it on my travels.


I haven't had chance to try out all of the shades yet (not even close) but I do have some favourites already. The shade I wear most often is probably 'Duchess'. It's not the most out there shade but it is very pretty. It's also quite pigmented so you don't need a lot of product to get a vivid colour, which can't be said for some of the other shades unfortunately.

Another shade I'm in love with is 'Royal Flush'. This again is quite a simple shade but this makes it super wearable. I usually wear this on the inner corner of my eye, 'Duchess' in the centre and 'Kingdom' on the outer edge to create a sort of warm smokey eye look.


One shade I was really disappointed in is 'Reflection'. I love a good matte eyeshadow, I literally lived in the L'Oreal Nude Rose Palette over the summer so I was happy this palette also contained a couple of none sparkly shades. Unfortunately it just didn't live up to my expectations as it had virtually worn off within an hour of me applying it, even though I had primed my eyelids and I hadn't touched them. 

There are some other really amazing shades in this palette (Cake, Salazen Grum, Dream On) which I literally cannot wait to smother on my eyelids. I do think a lot of the shades in this palette however are a little bit too crazy for me and it will probably take a special event for me to be brave enough to wear them. 


Even though this palette isn't as wearable as I thought it would be I'm still super glad I picked it up and I'm hoping it will encourage me to be a little more creative with my eyeshadow choices. I'm going to be doing some more fun 'face of the day' looks with this palette, maybe I'll even be tempted to use some of the more wild colours!

Have any of you picked this little treasure up? I'd love to hear your thoughts/ see your makeup looks!

Thanks for reading!

xxx



The Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette + Swatches

I feel like its been forever since I wrote a proper restaurant review and honestly I want to get back into it. I love going for meals and I try to go somewhere new every few weeks so I might as well start reviewing them again! Anyway a few nights back me and Sean went for a little Meal at Ebb & Flow in Solihull. Neither of us had eaten here before so we were excited to try something new!



Price - As usual I'm going to start with the price. Most meals average out at around £9 - £10 which is pretty standard but might seem a bit on the steep side if you're used to good old Wetherspoons, which I am. Drinks again are pretty standard with a pint of coke priced at £2.10.

Service - When we ate here the place was dead, like completely empty aside from two other couples. I always like this because it often means service is pretty good. We didn't have to wait long at all for our food food to arrive and our waiter was also pretty friendly, bringing over whichever condiments we wanted. But that's the last we saw of him. No-one came to clear our plates or asked if we wanted any desserts which was quite surprising considering we were the only people eating at this time.



Food - For our meals Sean and I both chose burgers. I chose the chicken in sesame seeds while Sean opted for the ultimate burger, they both sounded amazing. The food arrived on two lovely platters with our coleslaw in little pots and our chips in a mug. The presentation was perfect. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy my chicken, and neither did Sean. I can only assume that it just wasn't to our taste as Sean really enjoyed his burger and we both loved the chips! Another bad point was that when I ordered our meals we we given a choice of either a plain bun or one with sesame seeds on, Sean wanted plain and I ordered sesame seeds. When the food arrived they got this mixed up which wasn't a huge deal however all of Sean's sauce was on his bun so we couldn't swap them. Like I said this wasn't a big problem but if you have allergies its worth making sure they have the order down right.
One last thing I will mention is that the menu on the website is completely different to the menu on the tables so don't pick your meal before you arrive like I did!



Cleanliness - Apart from our plates not being cleared the place was pretty much spotless. The whole restaurant was really well presented/ beautifully decorated and I have no complaints about how clean it was.

Location - Ebb & Flow is located in central Solihull directly opposite the entrance to the Touchwood car park. There are also several other car parks within walking distance and a number of bus stops just around the corner. It's incredibly easy to get to and would be a perfect place to stop by after a long day of shopping around Solihull.

Overall I did enjoy my time at Ebb & Flow, even though the Chicken wasn't to my taste I would love to come back and try some of the other meals of offer. 



Thanks for reading!


Ebb & Flow Solihull Review





Okay so I know I skipped my April wishlist but honestly I've been so busy with college and work that I just haven't had time to blog properly. I finish college in just over a month for the summer so hopefully I'll have more time for my fave hobby then.

Anyway, I'm going on holiday in just over a week so this wishlist is a bit of a jumble of things I'd love to be able to take away with me. I'm really in love with trainers lately. I've always been a 'girly girl' who loves her ballet flats but over the last few months I've developed a taste for trainers and pumps. I've already ordered those fab pink ones as they were only £15 and remind me of these gorgeous converse I fell in love with last week!

Hope you've all had a good weekend!

Thanks for reading!

May Wishlist

Last Saturday I was invited down to the Miss Patisserie Spring Event in Cardiff to take a look at some new releases and sample some of their gorgeous products. I'd never been to Cardiff before so this really was the perfect chance to check out a new city and lust over some amazing goodies. I arrived at around 10am and after a quick dash to the loo (2hrs in the car without a service stop is not fun) I was given a brief tour of the shop. Everything in store was 100% Instagram ready and I honestly had to stop myself from posting 400 snaps of the place. 


One of the lovely girls quickly offered to demonstrate how a few of the new products worked, starting with one of their gorgeous Bath Shards. Unfortunately I never got a photograph but it can be used like a Bubble Bar; you just crumble it into you bath and mix it in. 

The next product I got to see in action was the Water Melon Sugar Scrub which smells absolutely incredible! I put a small amount on my hands, rubbed it into my skin as if I was using soap, I then rinsed it off under the water. Not only does it make your skin super smooth, it also leaves behind its glorious fruity scent. After washing my hands I tried out one of their Body Souffles which also comes in a range of beautiful fragrances. 

The last product I got to see in action was the Pink Clay Face Mask which I had seen online before the event and was curious as to how it worked. The face mask is actually a powder which you add water to to create a paste. You can then apply it like a normal face mask and wash away after 10 minutes or so. I really liked the idea of this product and thought it would be great for popping in your hand luggage when liquid restrictions are tight!


After testing some of the best selling stuff out I wandered around the store trying my hardest not to spend all of my student loan as everything was just so tempting! I did come away with a few goodies though so let me know if you would like a haul post!

I had a really fab time and met some gorgeous blogger girls, some of which I'd been following for quite a while. Right now you can get 10% off everything with the code GRACEBEE10 until June 30th 2016.

Have you bought anything from Miss Patisserie before?

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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Miss Patisserie Spring Event + Discount Code

This is my final Whittlebury Hall review post and its all about food. If you haven't read the other two yet you can find them here and here. Whilst on our Spa Break at Whittlebury Hall we ate three meals; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

The first meal we ate was lunch which was scheduled for 2pm on our day of arrival. We rolled up to lunch around 20 minutes early but were seated straight away by a member of staff. Unlike our night time meal, lunch was presented as a 'help your self' buffet which I usually like when I stay at hotels as I can choose exactly what I want on my plate. 


There was a nice selection of cold food (Salad, CousCous, Cheese, Rice, Cold Meats and Dips ect.) which were all on one table in individual bowls. The hot food was on a central table which on our day consisted of Mushroom Ravioli, Fish, Baked Potatoes and Beef Chilli, none of which I actually like which was a shame. The final table featured Soup, Bread Rolls, Fruit and Yoghurt. Luckily for me today they were serving Potato and Leak Soup which is one of my all time favourite Soups and this one really was delicious! I wasn't overly impressed with lunch but I was very excited for dinner.

Our night time meal was served in a different room from Lunch and this one was much more luxurious. Our dinner was 3 courses and we had a nice selection of things to choose from, however little miss picky (me) really struggled with what to eat for my main. I was happy with my Soup Starter and I knew I wanted a Chocolate themed dessert but I didn't really fancy anything on the main meal section. I eventually picked the Stir Fry after being promised it was very mild, it wasn't. It was incredibly tasty but the spices blew my head off. Luckily a very helpful member of staff took my meal back to be remade without any fuss at all which was nice. 


So Dinner wasn't exactly perfect either but I had high hopes for my favourite meal, Breakfast. Breakfast was served in the same room as dinner but this time it was another buffet. We were seated very quickly again and our waitress bought over teas and coffee for each of us. I found that breakfast had a huge selection of things to choose from. You could either pick up a full english or grab some ham and cheese for a continental or a bit of each if thats what you fancied. One of my favourite things about breakfast was the selection of pastry items (Croissants, Pain Au Chocolats ect.) all of which were beautiful. I left Breakfast feeling very full and very happy that I finally found something I enjoyed!


There is only one other bad point that I want talk about and that is how slow the table service was once we were seated. At all three meals we had to wait for quite some time to have our plates cleared and on one occasion we actually had to move them ourselves as we wanted our next course. That's not something I would usually moan about but as it wasn't very busy the weekend we stayed I couldn't see why it was taking so long.

As you might have guessed I wasn't overly impressed with the food however that is mostly down to me being one of the pickiest eaters I know and no-one else with me had any complaints about the food. My Mom thought the food was delicious and was really impressed with the selection.  
If you love food I'm sure you wouldn't have any problems picking out some really tasty meals here however fussy eaters like myself will find it a little harder. With that being said I would return as I really enjoyed the overall experience. 


Thanks for reading!

xxx


Whittlebury Hall - The Food

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