Merry make up - xmas ideas

Palettes are a great idea for a gift, they look great and combine enough make up products to get a full look into a relatively small area. This Christmas the major players have really stepped up their game, coming up with eye catching original palette design with striking colours perfect for the party season.

1 - Nars Andy Warhol Collection - £39.50

www.narscosmetics.com

I nearly clapped and jumped in the air when I saw this in Space NK. The Silver Factory collection includes the self portrait eye shadow palette below (a collectors item - surely - £39.50) printed with Warhol’s silhouette. Even the product names evoke his unique world - Soup Can and Chelsea Girls to name a few. The full product range includes special edition tins featuring Edie Sedgwick’s face and mini nail polishes.

2 - Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemera - £45

http://www.shuuemura.co.uk/collections/karl-lagerfeld-for-shu-uemura/karl-lagerfeld-for-shu-uemura-smoky-velvet-palette.aspx

The eagerly awaited KL collection does not disappoint - quirky kitsch cartoon logo meets great quality and amazing colours. The eyeshadow palette (£45) is a must have and has velvety smooth textures inspired by luxurious fabrics. It comes in two sets - Smoky Velvet (above) with khaki green, sparkly black and crimson red shadows, or Prestigious Bordeaux with more gold and rust tones. The eyelash curlers, brush set and false eyelashes are gorgeous as well and would certainly make my day at Christmas!

3 - Guerlain Liu Eye and Lip Calligraphy Palette - £48.60

www.guerlain.com

The stunning palette is inspired by traditional Asian beauty rituals and calligraphy, and features molten metal eye shades (bronze, copper and white), which look amazing with the intense pigment of the pink red and the blue red for that special occasion. The Liu perfumed shimmer powder spray is worth a mention as well - it looks like fairy dust when you spray it and looks wonderful with your christmas outfit on hair and the decolletage.

4 - Bobbi Brown Atomic Pink Lip & Eye Palette £36.00

www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com


With on trend colours perfect for Christmas parties and an affordable price tag, this palette guarantees quality, brights and sparkle all in one. The Atomic Pink lip gloss is perfect with the quad eye palette in gold, silver, bronze and grey which creates the quintessential smoky eye. The mini lip gloss clips handily into the palette and is great for touch ups.

5  - Topshop Eye Palette in Prism - £16

www.topshop.com


For the “budget” option this is very futuristic and directional with silver, pink and black shades with raised prism surfaces. This can be used wet to intensify the colour. The packaging is cool  - prism lines over the sleek black surface.

Merry Xmas and enjoy perfecting your perfect party look!

November/December Events round up

November and December events round up

Ouseburn Open Art weekend

http://www.ouseburnopenstudios.org/

The weekend of 24^th to 25^th November sees the opening up of creative studios in the Ouseburn Valley for those who are after some alternative and original Christmas gifts. You can find quality innovative home made products at ‘British by Design’s’ pop Up shop at the Toffee Factory, and the Biscuit Tin is showcasing great veggie food, an impromptu writing group, affordable art and vocal performances. There is a free shuttle bus from Gateshead Quays so you can leave the car at home, and get stuck into the mulled wine. Other venues involved include Northern Print, Mushroom Works, The Biscuit Factory and 36 Lime Street.

Winter Fair @ St Mary’s Sat 24th – Sun 25^th November

Get over to Gateshead for arts, crafts and traditional local food loveliness. Glass, pottery and textile stalls will be dotted between bread, cake and cheese stalls.

Continental and Christmas Markets - Newcastle (near Monument)

Need some diversity in your lunch break choice or looking for interesting offerings for xmas hampers? Check out the Continental Market near the Monument until Saturday 1^st December for European delights. I'm usually there practising my French on poor unsuspecting Gallic boys and girls who can't get a word in edgeways. Then there’s not much time to wait until the Christmas Market (Wed 5^th to Sun 9^th Dec) for local treats – think beers, homemade jams and stupendous cakes. Hey, I can’t not get into the Christmas spirit if I can see mulled wine and roast chestnuts on offer! I always get things early in an attempt to make a hamper for the parents but we end up eating it straight away and I have to go back and get more. It's a tradition. 

December Events

Festival of Fools – Alnwick Garden 18^th  - 30^th December

http://www.alnwickgarden.com/events/111/festival-of-fools

Bored with the usual Christmas market option and want something a little bit more challenging that doesn’t involve spending a tenner on a few pastries, even from a cute French guy/girl? Put your thinking cap on and hop over to Alnwick for a treasure hunt with a difference. Solve the riddles hidden through a beautifully illuminated winder wonderland, courtesy of Northumberland Lights.

Enchanted Parks, Saltwell Park - Wednesday 5^th – Sunday 9^th December (4.30pm – 9.30pm).

http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/winter-festival-2012/enchanted-parks

My favourite bit. Saltwell Park. Light installations. Unnatural sounds assaulting your senses. A Victorian fairytale. In the dark. Trees with faces. Silhouettes. Saltwell Park Towers will pay homage to the creator of its magnificent stained glass windows with a light and sound show; choirs and brass bands will evoke the sounds of Christmas and we can all get merry on hot alcohol. Can’t wait.

Skating @ Life

http://www.life.org.uk/whats-on/skating-at-life

I'm trying to drag my workmates to go skating at the rink which comes to the Life Centre every year, they keep laughing it off, even though they are young and more agile than me! I think it should be in the middle of the square but it looks like they are putting market stalls or something there. You can't have Christmas without skating, especially after a bit of a drink, so when you topple over it doesn't hurt so much. I always vow to buy my own figure skates every year so I don't have to wear the big blue ones that hurt, but something else always comes up. My vision of myself one day being able to do jumps never matches up to the reality of the situation - hanging on for dear life to the barrier. You can't deny it's a good laugh and a bit scary/challenging at the same time, especially if you only do it once a year. 

Boulevard Christmas Show

http://www.boulevardnewcastle.co.uk/contact

I love Boulevard, it gives me a warm feeling in my stomach or is that the large amount of wine I've poured down my neck before the show's even started? Not sure. For the price you can't deny it's a great value night out - almost three hours of entertainment for £7 if you can stand up for that long. The routines are great and if you're into musical theatre you're in for a treat - great show tunes both familiar and not so well known. I love the portraits of old Hollywood greats around the place and the huge Fred and Ginger on either side of the stage. Nowadays, you might just see Faye from Steps!

Christmas at the Tyneside  

www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/whats-on/christmas-at-the-tyneside

Cinema goers can expect a choc full calendar of events to cater for all tastes over December. The place makes me feel warm and at peace with the world, I could stay there all night (that's possible for their all nighters - the upcoming Lord of the Rings nightfest is sold out). There's quizzes, free festive films (Elf, Scrooged), a xmas arts and craft market and showings of the ultimate Chrimbo faves ever - It's a Wonderful Life with the equally wonderous Jimmy Stewart and Home Alone - I will never get bored of them. I'm there every year.



Cotton headed ninny muggin!

Winter Festival - New Year's Eve 

http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/winter-festival-2012/new-years-eve

Pre fireworks at the Civic Centre at 6pm, hopefully the weather will hold out for the Viking themed Winter Carnival Parade. Internationally acclaimed outdoor arts company Walk the Plank is behind the celebration, which sees a giant Serpent snaking through the streets, and a flaming Viking Longship sailing up Northumberland Street. With amazing costumes and dance routines, the night promises to be nothing short of spectacular.

Have a wonderful Xmas and New Year  - please support the campaign against cutting arts funding in Newcastle.

Doing something different at the Killers...

I was just going to do the usual thing. Turn up about 8, skip the support and hopefully make it for the first song. I'd been out the night before, got up late and was a little hung over. I had to go and get my ticket from the venue because of an online ticket mix up. I used my sister's card details and realised that they probably wouldn't give me the ticket without my card. Luckily she was up for the weekend so I went at about three to get it, with a plan to go back to town for coffee and more shopping. I was too early for the box office and ended up chatting to some of the die hards waiting with their tents, blankets and cushions, playing the music and talking animatedly about their favourite track. To be honest I was a bit scared but I think somewhere I wanted to get inside the mind of a superfan. Also any excuse to talk to some new people, even if they did seem a little obsessed.

I talked to mainly women of a variety of ages and some younger teenage girls. The older women were very interesting. After finding out that they'd seen the band at least 15 times I tried to understand how and why they felt compelled to go to the same tour four or five times and spend the time and money doing that. One of them said "this is the only crazy thing I do in my life." Certain fans seemed to know each other and delight in making plans to go to the next gig and seeing each other at the barrier, and spent time showing each other their videos and photos from the last gig. Two Scottish women told me that they had been there since 4am in the cold and rain, and also seen them twenty times, and been on the same plane.  There was about fifteen people behind them in the queue so I didn't quite get why they were doing it. To get barrier, was the answer I got. 

"Why do you like the Killers so much?"

"It's Brandon - the way he connects with you. If I'm not at the front then I can't connect with the band."

The seventeen year olds were slightly more logical, preferring to spend all of their money on gig tickets and seeing this as another band to tick off the list. They told me about endless gigs they had been to this year, and were obsessed with applying red lipstick every five minutes. What the hell have I been doing, I thought? Their enthusiasm was a bit infectious. I decided to stick with them and for a couple of hours try to regain my youth. I told them about going to see Oasis, Pulp and Blur here and they were in awe. It started to get funny. The security guard was on a power trip so I got one of the girls to pour my whiskey into a coke bottle when they went to the loo so he didn't pour it onto the floor, like the one litre vodka bottle he had just removed from someone and gleefully dispatched into the concrete.

So is it about the songs, or Brandon, or being first for something in a life where that can be quite difficult? Or does where you stand really affect the quality of the experience all that much?

I decided to find out. I decided to wait with these fans and try and get barrier, as they call it. I decided to become militant. I had done something similar seeing Brandon at T in the Park, and was determined to get to the front of the tent, which I eventually managed. I had forgotten about the thrill of being as close as possible to something that had affected your life so much - the music that you loved and helped make sense of things.

They said that you get to touch him at the end as he walks along the front of the stage and goes in the crowd. I started to feel increasingly sick. Where should I touch him? His face, definitely his beautiful face. Can I actually bring myself to touch his face? Shit. I decided to forget about that and focus on what was happening in front of me. I could see the set list and tried to be surprised. It all went by in a bit a of a blur. The start was weird, Mr Brightside with all of the lights on, surely someone's bright idea to illuminate the crowd or "do something different." The blend of old and new tracks was perfect, my favourites being "Read my Mind" and "Somebody Told Me." I remembered why I had decided to stand out in the cold and get determined, it really makes a difference being so close and seeing the detail, especially the guitarists who sometimes stare at people incredulously. 

There was fire, flames and Killers themed confetti, which I stuck to my face. The German hipster-looking sound engineer standing opposite me didn't look too impressed. I didn't care. I was a superfan and could do whatever the hell I wanted. The energy, coupled with Brandon's voice which left me dumbstruck at times, and his occasional total delight in what he was doing invoked the same feelings as being high. I understood the money, time and travel the "victims" threw at this. 

I left feeling pleased I had gone with the flow and done something different. And if you're wondering, I ended up bear hugging him. And annoyed I didn't think to grab his arse like the seventeen year old next to me.