More Space At Home?!

Hey you guys!

You may remember back in April that I was saying moaning about how little space we have in our two bed semi?

Well ... Nathan and I have been having a little chat and we realised that early next year we'll be entitled to buy our home at a discounted price (we're currently council tenants). As we have a lot of space at the side of the house that we don't actually use, we thought that if we buy the place we could build an extension!

Obviously it's going to be a long job, not to mention having to hope and pray that we'll get planning permission, however, should everything go smoothly we think we'll be able to add two new rooms - one upstairs for Oscar and one downstairs.

The downstairs room I would love to have as a makeup/dressing room. I've always wanted one as I have more clothes, shoes and makeup products than I know what to do with, but another reason for this is that over the last 4 or 5 months my little blog has gone from strength to strength and I'd now love to make a living from it. It would mean that I'd get to spend more time with my two beautiful children and always be home at the weekend.

Image from House to Home

In my mind I know exactly how I want my makeup/dressing room to look! I'm thinking gorgeous white furniture, a full length mirror and plenty of storage space. I would also use the House to Home website for inspiration as their feature on 'How to create the perfect dressing room' is fantastic. You should definitely take a look!

Image from House to Home

Image from House to Home

Of course, if I'm going to blog as a career, I need plenty of light. All of the windows in our house are fairly large so I'd want to stick to that sort of size. Web-Blinds sell some wonderful made-to-measure Venetian Blinds and I like these as you can control the amount of light that comes into the room - perfect for those of us who blog and like to take our own photographs! It would also be a great place to film in should I ever start filming for my YouTube Channel (I know, I know, it's been almost a whole year since I said I wanted to do that isn't it?!)

Image from Web-Blinds

I would love to know what you guys think of my idea. And if you have a dressing/makeup room in your house I'd love to hear about that too!

Thank you so much for reading.

Until next time, take care.

Louise xxx

*This is a sponsored post

Guest Post: Carrie from CazmosWorld

Good afternoon you lovely lot :)

It's day 23 of 'A Guest Post a Day Through the Whole of May' and today we're joined by Carrie from CazmosWorld.

Carrie is a beauty and lifestyle blogger from Scotland who lives with her husband and their kitten, Gizmo.

I'm sure that Carrie would be over the moon if you guys popped along to her online space to say a big hello!

Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo

"First of all I would like to say a massive thank you to Louise for giving me the opportunity of writing this guest post for her blog and of course a huge CONGRATULATIONS on the birth of your baby (I have typed this prior to baby being born so I don't know what baby is).

Today I want to speak to you all about the Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo. These have been around for a while and as always I am late to the table with trying them and reviewing them. I did buy mine a while ago but I like to use my products for a while and get a proper feel for them before I commit to blogging about them. I have got four color tattoos and have of course had a play around with them all but the one I have used the most is shade Pink Gold. I would describe the shade as maybe a dusky pink and there is the tiniest particles of gold shimmer throughout as well which add to the beauty of this product but you really do have to look for these close up in the pot to see them.

Image Courtesy of Carrie

Image Courtesy of Carrie

Image Courtesy of Carrie

Image Courtesy of Carrie

As a rule I always use a primer underneath any eyeshadow as I can suffer from occasional oily eyelids during the day and can also suffer from the dreaded creasing... grr! I apply the color tattoo with my pinky finger and just press this onto my lid until I am happy with the application. In my picture you will see that I have got a very light coverage on and this is what I tend to use for going to work and everyday wear when I just want something on my eyelids but not anything too heavy. You can apply as little or as much product as you want and it works just the same way.

The thing that most impressed me about this product is the staying power. It's obviously called 24hr Color Tattoo and to be honest I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if this did last for 24 hours. I apply this in in the morning before I have left for work which is around 6:45am and it doesn't matter at what time during the day I look in the mirror this product is still completely intact. By the time I get home around 5pm this product is still there and in the exact same way in which it was applied. I don't tend to remove my make up as soon as I am home from work and by the time I am removing my make up which can be anytime from 7pm until 10.30pm this product hasn't budged. I am very impressed with the staying power of this and am a little bit in love with the Color Tattoos. Even if this colour isn't for you I would recommend that you look into the other colours in the range and I am sure there will be something you will like. They all work in the same way and are excellent value for money. I have used mine quite a lot of times and you can see from the picture that there is hardly any product out of the pot. As I said previously I have four of these at the moment but I will definitely be buying more of these little pots of wonderfulness!

Carrie x"

My Gold Advertiser will be featured here. If you would like to know more about advertising on Confessions of a Secret Shopper, then go and check out my 'Sponsor' page up at the top!

Oro Gold Cosmetics

What do you think of when you hear the words 'Caviar' and 'Gold'?

Although I have a couple of different products in my stash that contain caviar, I rarely associate it with beauty - I'm much more likely to imagine a group of young royals dressed to kill at a dinner party. Very stereotypical I know, but I guess that's the way we're brought up.

Recently I was introduced to Oro Gold, also known as Oro Gold Cosmetics who include gold into their luxurious products.

The gold used in Oro Gold's formula is Collodial Gold, which is also known as 'nano-gold'. It's a suspension of sub-micrometer-sized particles of gold in a fluid, this is both invisible and visible to the naked eye.

The extremely small particles of gold are absorbed into the body through the pores and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It can also reduce the appearance of things such as sun damage and age spots.

So, this got me thinking: If Collodial Gold is as fantastic as many a website claims it is, which product (or products) would I be most likely to try from the Oro Gold Cosmetics website?

Image Courtesy of Oro Gold Cosmetics

As you guys know all too well, I am a big fan of the humble face mask, so when I came across the '24K Collagen & Caviar Mask', I knew that this would be the one I would want to try!

This mask is said to help firm the skin. This is something I think my skin could benefit from as I feel that as I've got older it's started to lose its plumpness. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want a fat face, but I also don't want to look old before my time!

The four main ingredients in this product are 24 Karat Gold, Caviar, Collagen and Aloe. Other than the gold, I have products which contain the rest of the ingredients and they all work really well so I feel that this would be a fabulous product on the whole.

I also like the look of the packaging of this product. I'm sure you're aware by now that I'm a packaging junkie! I like how simple it is, yet it screams of being a quality product. I can just imagine this sitting on my dressing table looking all pretty.

OroGold Cosmetics suggest that you use this mask once a week after cleansing, which is something I do anyway.

The 24K Collagen & Caviar Mask costs $498 (that's approx. £373 to us guys here in the UK).

Image Courtesy of Oro Gold Cosmetics

And as I'm in the market for a nice new serum, I now have my eye on their '24K Bionic Complex Serum'.

This serum is said to reduce the appearance of deep facial expression lines. I've been worrying about the fine lines that I've started to get for ages now so I'm thinking that something like this would prevent any major problems in the future.

The serum is for night time use and again I think it would look absolutely stunning on my dressing table.

The 24K Bionic Complex Serum costs $298 (approx. £196).

Unfortunately at the moment it's just wishful thinking as both products are out of my price range. However, I would most definitely try them both if I had the money.

Have you guys ever tried any of these products? Or any other products which contain Collodial Gold?

As ever, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

Louise xxx

*This is a sponsored post

For more information about Oro Gold you visit them online.

Oro Gold on Twitter

Guest Post: Sophie from Duck & Egg

Why hello there!

We are onto day 22 of 'A Guest Post a Day Through the Whole of May' and today is the turn of the beautiful Sophie from Duck & Egg.

Sophie has a wide range of interests which include beauty and fashion, books, baking and even candlestick-making! She currently lives in the East Midlands but would love to move to London. I also remember a while ago that Sophie made an appearance as Nexts 'Blogger of the Month'!

Sophie's blog is one that I've always enjoyed reading so I'm absolutely thrilled that she decided to write for me today.

Image Courtesy of Sophie

"Hello there everyone at Confessions of a Secret Shopper, and thank you Louise for having me over! Today I have a post on one of my favourite topics to blog about - nail varnish. Whether it's a new colour, texture or technique I am always on the hunt for the latest and greatest to make my tips look good.

Image Courtesy of Sophie

Milky, just-off-white colours have been very popular for a while now, and they are the perfect way to inject some Spring colour into your wardrobe. This very light, baby blue polish from Rimmel, 704 'Sweet As Sugar', ticks all the boxes for a Spring nail, as well as having a good wide brush for application and a long wear time. Perfect for toes and fingertips, this one is sure to be making a few reappearances as we make our way into summer.

Image Courtesy of Sophie

What do you all think of this sort of shade? Do you prefer something brighter or are you all over the pastel trend? Thank you for reading and thank you again Louise!

Sophie

www.duckandegg.blogspot.com

Rimmel Lasting Finish Polishes are 2.99 from Boots"

My Gold Advertiser will be featured here. If you would like to know more about advertising on Confessions of a Secret Shopper, then go and check out my 'Sponsor' page up at the top!