Busy Sick Busy Sick

I haven't been updating for a while because I've been alternating between really busy at work and then getting ill, normally with just the sniffles and my normal ailments, but last week I started to get a pain in my throat which became a full-blown virus.

I've been on a lot of bed rest. I took a day off work and - except for the day this week where I did 10 hours - I've been allowed to come in late or go home early.

Right now I've got a bit of a headache, sniffles, wet cough, sweating, reduced appetite and weirdly passing a lot of water. Perhaps overshare but meh. So I'm trying to keep my fluids up even if I'm not eating much.

Tomorrow is a 12 hour day at work, I need to be there an hour earlier than usual too. Which sucks for someone like me who is not a morning person. I'm fine with staying late, but coming in early is bad for me. But it can't be helped, it's the big meeting for the grant I've been handling the paperwork for. It's going to be a long, long day and I might have to go for dinner with the attendees of the meeting afterwards too.

My CoE is on its way from Japan, so soon I need to go to the embassy to get my visa. And I received a card from the staff at the school I'm going to be working at, so I need to send them a card in return. And finally write a card to my former student. She sent me a Christmas card but I was far too busy/disorganised to send Christmas cards this year, despite buying some.

I got a new lipstick last week, Shu Uemura, a lovely purple one which I can wear to work. I'll hopefully wear it tomorrow. Need to look all pretty for the meeting. In fact, I think I'll do my nails. Maybe I should write the cards before I do my nails... but I'm not sure I have the mental capacity to write cards atm. This entry itself is just rambling!

So tired

Had a bit of a rough week, although my mid-week post didn't really highlight that cause it wasn't such a problem then.

I'm actually too tired to write properly, but I've had a really good day. I met my colleague's girlfriend this morning and we all went on a tour of a disused London Underground station - which was interesting - and then for lunch - which was yummy.

Then I ended up travelling back to my local station when I got a text from a friend saying she was going to do some window shopping for her Christmas wish list so I hopped back on the train and went back into central. Bought a nail varnish and then sat with a chai latte in Starbucks watching Grey's Anatomy on my Kindle Fire (yay!) until it was time to meet her.

Ended up buying an Yves Saint Laurent concealer cause apparently they're really good. Will see...!

Now am just curled up on the sofa with what looks like a ridiculously bad film on in the background and under my aviator throw until I can muster the energy to do some washing up and then might actually head to bed for an early night~

Things I want vs things I should be doing with my money...

Things I want:

• Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick. Ideally two, in Raven (red) and Icon (purple-red)
• 4 dresses from Oasis. I don't want to buy all 4 (yet), but I at least want to try on all 4. And knowing my luck I won't buy any. I tried on 2 that had been on my wishlist for a long time at the weekend and they both looked really bad on me. Wrong tailoring for my shape.
• Clinique Chubby Stick Intense. Yes! Shortly after saying I wanted to get a red (and maybe more) in the normal, the intense shades came out! I really want the red. It's a lovely red. I only need a few more Boots points to get one for free... I think Mightiest Marachino is the shade I want.
• Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. Black Honey is probably my favourite Clinique colour ever. Ever. I almost cried when I broke my Black Honey gradient blush palette on the bathroom floor (it shattered) because I waited too long to buy a replacement (trying to be a "good girl" and saving money) and couldn't find it anymore
• Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura painting liner

Things I should be doing with my money:

• Replacing the money I took out of my savings when money was a bit tight last week.
• Adding more money to my savings
• Gradually buying things I need for Japan e.g. suits, smart tights, shirts, shoes, shoe polishing kit...

As you can see, with the purchase of 4 different MAC eye products over the last couple of months, I now want to indulge in beautiful autumn/winter lip colours. For me, autumn/winter make up colours are reds and purples. And now I want purple/red lips. Granted, I do already have some red and purple lipsticks, I guess I should make more of an effort to wear them. My Voluptuous Violet Chubby Stick is getting a lot of use these days - I feel like proper lipstick might be a bit too much for work...

I caved!

I was supposed to be being good and not buying anything superfluous until December - my recent shoe escapade ended in me buying two pairs of ankle boots - one I am kind of kicking myself over. More on that another day...

For work, I've only been wearing my tinted moisturiser, unless my skin is incredibly blotchy or troublesome, which, thankfully, hasn't been that often recently. So I use my Illamasqua peach pigment to cover discolouration from acne and then top with tinted moisturiser all over my face.

cream pigment in "emerge". It's actually a tad brighter than in this photo

This hasn't been working as well as it used to. Originally I used an egg-shaped sponge to apply the pigment - it's a cream pigment - but found I was tugging the skin under my eyes too much, so switched to a concealer brush. The concealer brush irritated my eyes a little because it was prickly when I used it and would make my eyes water. So I've been using my finger.

Using the middle or index finger to cover the blemishes on my cheeks and chin is fine - there's not enough coverage for the under-eye though.

And, to be blunt, on its own it's just not enough to cover the dark patches. I'd gotten to the point where I would feel glum every time I saw myself in the mirror - I would instantly focus on my chin and the dark bags under my eyes which my eye cream is doing nothing to fix.

After being intrigued by a concealer from NARS yesterday, I decided that on my lunch break I would pop out to my local Space.NK to try it out.

And decided to buy it.

stick concealer in "caramel"

The plan is to use the peach pigment first, then layer the caramel-coloured NARS concealer on top, and finish with my tinted moisturiser.

I'm a bit concerned that the concealer may lack when it comes to applying it under the eyes - the woman in the shop said make sure to warm up the concealer before applying it under the eyes, so I might have to rub it on my hands and then use a brush to apply it. Which feels a bit time-consuming and potentially wasteful...

I'm hoping to have the time/energy to do a photo-entry of the process, but for now, it's just the shop photos...

• Emerge - peach cream pigment from Illamasqua, £17
• Caramel - concealer from NARS (bought at Space.NK), £17.50

Quickie

I got bitten by the shopping bug a couple of weeks ago, and my weekend indulgence (post to follow!) has satisfied some of the cravings...

Just checked my bank balance and my money for this month is in. Do I indulge further..? Logic is telling me not to!

Though... I do have my eye on this:

Clinique's chubby sticks! I already have voluptuous violet (#16) and oversized orange (#12), but I have my eye on a red one, either two ton tomato or chunky cherry...

I'll let you know if I give in to temptation...!

Product review - Clinique Pore Minimiser

One of my major skin concerns is open pores - namely on my nose and on my cheeks just at the side of my nose, so pretty much an extension of the vertical of the T-zone.

I've been searching for ages for something that would treat them. I used to use the old Clinique Pore Refining cream, which came in a lilac tube.

Sadly, after using it for months, I found it hadn't done anything except discolour my skin slightly, making it lighter than the rest of the skin where the product hadn't been applied, so I stopped using it. I eventually found a cosmetic solution from Benefit, their Porefessional (will do a separate review for that).

Then while windowshopping recently I saw Clinique had discontinued their previous lilac-packaged serum - it had more of a lotion consistency so I don't really count it as a serum... - in favour of the gel-cream green-packaged new version.

I immediately decided when I had enough money to spare for it that I'd get it. Everyone has been telling me pores become worse when you get older - especially my mother, for whom pores are also a concern.

The new serum has a pretty hefty price tag for me: £38.00 But boasts quick results, "in 2 weeks, pores look 58% smaller. Guaranteed." as the website says.

And I have to admit, even though I was doubtful, it's true that the pores do look smaller. Blackheads are removed, there's not nearly as much dead skin collected there which I used to get, despite washing my face thoroughly twice a day.

The downside - the serum makes my skin so smooth that it feels greasy. I can't use it under make up, and if I use it when I'm wearing glasses I get frustrated at just how much more my glasses slide down my nose. It's rather annoying. On days when I'm going to be wearing make up, I just use it at night after my nighttime washing routine.

And of course the other downside is the price of it. However I've found you only need to use the tiniest amount of it to thoroughly cover the problem areas, so hopefully it'll last for a long time (I think I've been using it for about a month or just over a month now)

But, the important point, the pores are smaller.

Verdict: 7/10. (lost one point for the price, two points for the super slippery feeling)