Scents of summer #1…stretching warmer days to autumn evenings.

Hey guys and gals,

I don't know about you, but there are just certain scents and smells which make me think of summer. Probably picked up from particular holidays, friends or sisters' choices along the way. Some of these I don't wear everyday, as my tastes have changed over the years towards slightly deeper fragrances.

As August draws to a close - and I expect I lie nursing a slight sore head and much more painful feet from my first night on the tiles in Ibiza - I am sure I will be wondering how to make summer stretch out just a few more weeks after my return to London climes. If I can't actually bring the sun back with me, why don't we just bring back memories of sun and the scents that invoke them….

Summer days, for me mean...

L'Eau de Issey by Issey Miyake

I remember first picking this up on a family holiday to the States when I was about 16. It's just such a classic, light perfume but really feminine without being overly floral. I love this one - if the pocketbook won't stretch you can pick up something really similar in Isis from Marks & Spencer.

Talon Tips #4 - Nail of the Week

Morning guys and dolls,

Happy Hump Day!

For this week's mani I'm very excited for my upcoming break to the White Isle and in honour of that have decided to make my mani white hot this week.

Polish used is Rita Ora 60 seconds nail polish by Rimmel (shade: White Hot Love #703), two medium thick coats, with Leighton Denny's all in one base and top coat.

Friends of Josephine….introducing Spaghetti Styles!!

Hot on the heels of Ella Bella, here's a second friend of the blog…although more interested in alternative make-up looks than her bigger sister!

The younger one of the two bounciest sisters in all of Kent…..this is Spaghetti Styles!!

As before, we used The Mindy Project guide to naming alter egos i.e. favourite singers and food stuffs across the world.

So here's a little more info on one of the world's future comedy stars...

Friends of Josephine…..introducing Ella Bella!!

Hello guys and dolls of the blog-o-sphere!

Happy Notting Hill Carnival weekend!

Today I'd like to introduce you to a little firecracker who reads the blog and has made an early start to a fascination with make-up. Introducing one of the two bounciest sisters in all of Kent…..Ella Bella.

In the time honoured tradition of The Mindy Project those are of course alter ego names chosen from favourite singers and food stuffs across the world.

We are having some brownie and Bank Holiday fuelled fun today with some of the more colourful elements of my make-up bag which I've packed up and brought out of London with me. So here's a little more info on one of the world's future make-up stars...

In my make-up bag: Day to Night make-up

Greetings beauty addicts,

For any girl with weeknight plans it can be a challenge to go from desk to dance floor without carrying a suitcase of products around all day, so here are a few key items I regularly use.

For daytime I like to use a foundation with decent coverage in a tone which matches my skin. I've got bad under eye circles so I also use a peachy toned concealer (Illamasqua Skin Base Lift - Light 1) and set with a light dusting of powder. A duo fibre brush gives a more natural finish.

Talon Tips: Nail of the week #3

Evil Queens of August

This one is a little late….apologies! And the eagle eyed amongst you will notice that there was no #2, which is mostly because I've ended up going unpolished for a great deal of the month. Shame on me.

In any case, last week I was rocking some Liz Earle Colour Polish in Pure Poetry, giving in to my inner darkness a little recently - but I promise a flavour of summer will be coming up soon!

Illamasqua sale haul - summer 2014

Greetings Kitty Kats!

Per my post last week, I was mucho excited about the Illamasqua sale. However I did try to hold myself back a little on the eyeliner and foundation front as I've already gotten far too many to ever get through!

I grabbed a back up of Beguile pure pigment, because it was just too pretty not to and have included a picture trying to capture the sparkle a little better than the website swatch in my emergency post last week…

In addition, I picked up a coffret set with Freak EdP 75ml, a lip gloss, liquid metal and nail polish which was reduced to £40. The UK website states it used to cost £104, but the assistant in the Beak Street shop said she thought it maybe been £80. In any case, with a bottle of the perfume retailing at £75 it's a pretty good deal whichever way you look at it.

I also had the chance to try their Freak Scarab Extrait de Parfum. It was delicious, really rich and 6 hours later it's still wearing really well from just one little spritz on my wrists. It's expensive at £85 for 75ml - at least for someone who's not desperately into their perfumes like me - but that is firmly on the Santa request list. Sorry Mummsy and Daddsy Sparkles!

What have you bought in the Illamasqua sale? Have you tried them before and if so, what's your must have product? If not, check out their website and beautiful images for each collection. Absolutely stunning artistry even if you're not into such extreme make-up on a day to day basis.

Until next time

xx Josephine xx

Summer Survivors - favourite products for summer skin

Hail Evil Queens,

As promised, this post will go through summer skin care - apologies in advance for the French pharmacy theme here. Essentially since a trip in March where I came back with a suitcase which weighed as much as lead, I've been in French product heaven. But all of the products are available in either good independent pharmacies here in the UK, or online.

Cleansers

For an in shower cleanser, I massage on an oil cleanser while waiting for the water to warm up and just rinse off.

Sale bargain alert! Illamasqua pure pigment in Beguile

Despite my love affair with make-up really being all about the eyes, I've been quite light touch on that throughout the blog to date.

However one of my favourite party products is this loose, shimmer pigment. It's so beautiful and the shimmer multi-coloured....snap it up for 50% at only £7.50 here!!!

Killer Cheekbones - Contouring for Evil Queens

Salutations Your Majesties

Thanks for popping by again for your Humpday make-up update. Per requests, today's post is a "How to" for one of the most essential weapons in the arsenal of any beauty queen - some cheekbones second only to your wit in terms of sharpness.

As beautifully illustrated by Mr Williams the key here is to make the cheekbones stand out through highlighting the top while creating a shadow underneath, to emphasise the bone structure. This pictorial is for a much more subtle look than that sported by Kim Kardashian - but I think that's ultimately better given that we don't walk around everyday under a million flashlights.

Talon Tips #1 - Nail of the Week

Happy Mani-day beauty addicts and evil queens!

Well, slightly late but I hope you'll forgive the irresistible pun - and to be fair I painted my nails on Monday evening so I think it's a valid use.

Normally in the summer I like to experiment a little with brighter shades and alternatives to the classics, but I've been craving a postbox red recently - up steps L'Oreal's Color Riche nail polish - shade 401. It also felt like a fitting start to my first Evil Queen nail of the week post.

Evil Queens….Josephine needs YOU!!

Calling all Inner (and Outer) Evil Queens…

These amazing and downright righteous illustrations
are by the wonderful, up and coming talent that is
Hayden Williams - if you're on Instagram follow him
for some amazing, fashion-based art on the tag
@hayden_williams. If you're not on Instagram, I don't
want to be impudent, but why on earth not - get on there
and discover a wonderful world of pretty girls, gorgeous
guys, artists, poets and REALLY gorgeous kittens and
puppies.
Oh, I'm on there too….if you're interested ;)

More specifically I need your comments, ideas and requests to make sure that you're getting everything that you want from the blog.

How can I be more valuable than your Magic Mirror? What makes you want to throw me into an Endless Well of Doom?

Give me the good, the bad and….oh, on second thoughts spare me the ugly - life's too short for that!

No spell request, curse conundrums or troublesome young, upstart-based issue too large or small to be tackled by me, Your Most Scarily Fantabulous Majesty!

And I'm just dying to get a couple of your royal visages involved as volunteer models to give the wider world what it needs….VARIETY!

Smokey Eye Looks: Colourful version

Greetings Guys and Gals,

So I started the smokey eye series back in February when I first started on the blog and actually never quite finished before disappearing into my rather dull day job for a few months. Now I've re-surfaced and joined the blogging world again I thought I'd finish the original eyeshadow series.

For my skin I applied Illamasqua Cream foundation (#133) on my cheeks, centre forehead, chin, upper jaw and centre of my nose. I then used MUA Cosmetics concealer on my temples, under my cheek bones, edges of my chin, lower jaw and sides of my nose. I set that all with translucent powder and went to work on the eyes.

FOTD: RuPaul DragRace Inspired Colourful Cut Crease

Happy Saturday Beauty addicts!

While we all love to find a natural and pretty look - a la the eyeshadow quad in my last post, it has to be said that I adore nothing more than the transformation of drag make-up and the explosion of colour that usually ensues. Obviously not for everyday wear (least of all for the exciting accountants amongst our number!) I do love playing around with bold looks.

When I got the e-mail from Netflix announcing the launch of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6, I literally squealed with joy.