Life lately...London and other news

I love Life Lately posts-mainly because I am the nosiest person in the world!

If you follow me on Instagram then the fact I was in London last week is pretty much old news (but you might want to read on to see some previously unreleased exciting photos) but I had the most amazing week so I thought I would do a little post about what I got up to!  Most people will know I am from the UK originally but I have lived in Dubai for 9 years and I love going home for a holiday!  My parents live in Cumbria so I just saw my mum on this trip and spent some quality girlie time with her.

Dubai-London Heathrow, Emirates, A380 / Flying in over the Thames, felt like the opening credits of Eastenders / Who doesn't love a free bar in business class on a plane?

First purchases in London, Space NK included obvs / Cocktails at the Hawksmoor with my bestie Danielle / Lola's cupcakes, fairy glitter included

The Mad Hatters afternoon tea at the Sanderson with my mum, highly recommended, we loved it and all the well thought out details

Edible chocolate tea cups filled with white chocolate and green tea mousse at the Sanderson / Trip to the theater to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels-just fantastic, we loved it / Bumping into Rufus Hound after the show

Saw some celebs!  Didn't post these on Instagram but David and Victoria sat RIGHT BEHIND US at Dinner by Heston-got a sneaky shot of Victoria (we were asked to be discreet by the restaurant manager) whilst she waited for David to arrive and then the back of his head lol!  Look how close my mums chair is to his!!!  /  The next day Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne were having afternoon tea at Claridges whilst we were

The most incredible meal at Simon Rogan's Fera at Claridges-we had the 19 course tasting menu and received a tour of the kitchen and Simon was in there!!  I am a massive foodie so it was bliss! / Beautiful flowers at Claridges / Great (and huge) hotel room for mum and I at the Mayfair in London

Perfect day for breakfast at The Shard / A little treat for passing my first set of exams / Gorgeously wrapped Turkish Delight from Lokum Instanbul in Knightbridge-a gorgeous little boutique well worth a visit

Another incredible meal at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental-and literally the best seat in the house overlooking the kitchen, Hyde Park (and David and Victoria)

Best dessert ever at Dinner by Heston / Gorgeous gorgeous dessert at Gaucho Piccadilly / Raspberry Cronut from Harrods-OMG!!!

Spent the afternoon and evening with the absolutely lovely Vanessa from The Other VW

Honestly felt like I had known her for years and had a great time shopping and eating / The reason I was in the UK-to get my brand new passport.  Only had my (48 page) one for 3 years but because I travel a lot its full already / A massive fashion fail on the way home, spilled a whole bottle of Lucozade down me and by a terribly lucky coincidence my pj bottoms were in my hand luggage as I forgot to throw them in my suitcases when leaving the hotel!  Had to walk all the way through the airport in them-the shame!

Breakfast at The Wolseley with my mum, highly recommended if you like a busy, 20's Gatsby vibe / I totally caved and bought some new arm candy-a medium Givenchy grainy leather Antigona in medium red.  I didn't think I wanted one until I saw Danielles in person and I couldn't stop staring at it!!  Total lust and an almost immediate Selfridges purchase / Leaving a cold and rainy London after a week of uh-mazing weather

And some of you saw on instagram that I posted that I had to have surgery yesterday now that I am back in Dubai.  Following a long overdue smear test I had to have a procedure called a colposcopy about 4 weeks ago to have a closer look at my cervix when the test came back positive.  Following that procedure I then had to have a cone biopsy yesterday, where I was told they would remove a quarter of my cervix (about 1 cm all the way around the cervix) to cut out some abnormal cells.  However, during the procedure the surgeon found a 2cm by 2cm tumour which he thinks he has been able to remove in full but what should have been a 20 minute operation became almost 90 minutes.

Mike wasn't with me when the surgeon came to see me to say what he had done (they even asked if I wanted to see the tumour he had cut out) and over the past 24 hours we have realised we have lots of unanswered questions about this tumour as it was somewhat of a shock when he came in and said he had managed to cut it out when I was expecting something a bit different to happen.  But I was groggy from the anaesthetic so just nodded and smiled.

I have four weeks to wait now but I have private medical care (it's the law in Dubai for your employer to provide medical care but because I work for a multinational I am lucky to have BUPA) so I am going to email the surgeon today and push for a faster turnaround and ask him some of the questions we have.

I knew my beloved mum and dad were back in the UK worrying so as soon as I came round I send them this very dodgy selfie with a thumbs up to say I was ok. 

I haven't slept at all since the operation-so I have been awake for about 33 hours now-It's not because I am anxious or anything like that, I just don't feel tired, just restless.  I am feeling the after effects today though-am tired and sore all over, my throat is sore from the breathing tube and I just feel urgh.

I was really unsure whether to post about it but I really feel if I had gone for regular smear tests this may have been spotted and prevented from getting this far much earlier.  If it makes just one person pick up the phone and book an overdue smear I will be over the moon.  THANK YOU so much to everyone who commented and wished me well on instagram yesterday, even complete strangers were so kind offering well wishes.

I know smears aren't the most pleasant experience but please please please think about going for one regularly and get any symptoms (bleeding in the urine was my symptom but also unusual discharge or any pain down there) checked asap and they are literally over and done with in 5 minutes!

Oh and finally it's Mikes birthday today!  We're not able to do anything today because of my operation yesterday but I have managed to get a Hummingbird Bakery cake delivered and it looks amazing!  Hurry home Mike!

YSL Swarovski Couture Palettes

Go on, admit it.  If you like a bit of bling are you not just dying at the utter gorgeousness of these limited edition YSL Swarovski encrusted couture palettes right now?

I don't know what happened to my beauty radar but I knew nothing of these launching until I innocently logged onto Selfridges one morning at work and saw these beauties in the 'new in' section.  This is how all of my #feelingspendy episodes occur-they all start so innocently!

So here's the deal-these palettes have been created especially for Selfridges month long Beauty Project and are named after 5 iconic cities.  They're exclusive and limited edition and if you want one you pretty much need to act right now.  And shell out £69.50 each (the small print)

L-R 2 London, 3 Dubai and 4 New York

I bought three (I know I know) and I bought them blind without even researching swatches.  Pure impulse buying at its best.  The ones I liked the look of most happened to be named after my 3 favourite cities, London, Dubai and New York.

Matte lovers look away now because these palettes are shimmery which is what I love.  YSL shadows are buttery and pigmented and a dream to blend and I am more than happy with my purchases.  I am writing this up pre-swatchfest and I am not sure if I can actually bring myself to swatch them yet!

(I swatched them today-but they're heartbreakingly beautiful-all the swatches are 'dry' swatches but you can also use these with a wet brush)

No 2-London

The London palette is a mostly cool toned palette of taupe and bronze.  All of the palettes have the five colour format with a nod to the Mondrian pattern.  The bottom left and top right shades are exquisite.

Palette 2 London-swatches clockwise from top left corner with centre shade last

No 3 Dubai

The Dubai palette is much warmer tones with bronze, pink and gold.  It looks really summery and I can't wait to get a bit of a tan.  The top two shades are maybe a little warm for me but I love the bottom and middle shades.

Palette 3 Dubai-swatches clockwise from top left corner with centre shade last

No 4 New York

Palette 4 New York-swatches clockwise from top left corner with centre shade last

The New York palette is relatively similar to the London palette on first view and is again mainly cool toned.  This is the one I will reach for most often and I really love every shade.

No regrets at all on buying these, I can't wait to have a proper play with them.  We all need a luxe treat now and then right?

18/7/2014-A little update

Yesterday I was contacted by Sara from Color Me Loud who had been contacted by one of her readers to say that these palettes were exactly the same as the newly launched palettes (down to the same numbers) but with a hugely inflated price tag because of the Swarovski packaging.  They're 1.5x the normal price.

I think its prudent to note that on the Selfridges website these are marketed as limited edition, special edition palettes with city names-I bought Dubai, London and New York as they're my favourite cities and I thought they would be a lovely collectors piece.

I was disappointed when the palettes came and there was NO mention of the cities on either the outer packaging or the palette itself but at the time I didn't really question it.

Now it turns out that (taken from Sara's blog)

• Dubai is the same palette as #03 Afrique (reviewed here)
• Hong Kong is the same palette as #09 Love (swatched here, review coming up soon)
• New York is the same palette as #04 Saharienne (swatched here, review coming up soon)
• London is the same as #02 Fauves (reviewed here)
• There seems to be another palette which is missing at Selfridges website at the moment, it might be sold out. The name was Paris and it is the same one as #07 Parisienne (reviewed here)

I think both Sara and I feel disappointingly mislead by Selfridges that they have not stated on the website that these are in fact standard palettes but with Swarovski packaging.

A note on the packaging-this is a huge disappointment to me.  Having owned the palette for about a month it turns out the 'swarovski crystal' packaging is merely a sticker over the top of the palette which is actually peeling away at the corners.  For the £69 price tag this is not what I would expect from a brand like YSL

Selfridges haul

For me, no trip to London is complete without a trip to Selfridges to blow my hard earned pennies in the beauty hall.  It's by far my favourite department store beauty hall in London and between Selfridges and Space NK Hans Crescent store, all my beauty needs are more or less covered.

You may have already seen my Charlotte Tilbury here which I picked up also from Selfridges at the same time, but here are the rest of my Selfridges goodies.

Whilst I was in London, Selfridges launched their limited edition Beauty Box in conjunction with Elle.  And in my opinion it's their best beauty box yet.  For £30 you got the latest copy of Elle, Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist, Topshop lipstick in Charmed, Ciate polish in Cupcake Queen, Ellis Faas E401 mascara, Eve Lom Kiss Mix, Perricone MD Neuropeptide Firming moisturiser and Sacha Juan leave in conditioner.  The reason it appealed so much is that these are all products (apart from the Ciate polish which I already own) I have never tried so it was a perfect opportunity to get my mitts on some new goodies.  I am most excited about trying the Ellis Faas mascara!

You may have read my review about the new Giorgio Armani Rouge Ecstasy lipsticks here.  I picked up 5 from the range and gave them an ok review but I am seriously falling in love more and more with them daily.   At least 3 of them have worked their way into my handbag and I was wearing 305 Brick in the office yesterday and my boss complimented me on how nice my lipstick was!!

I also got colour matched for a Lasting Silk foundation.  I have read so many good reviews about this foundation so I can't wait to try it.  Everything I have owned from the Armani beauty range I have loved.

Omorovicza is a brand I have had my eye on to try for ages.  Every time I go on the Cult Beauty website there is a Queen of Hungary mist sitting in my basket but at over £40 I just kept wondering 'is this worth it'.  Then I read some rave reviews about their cleansing balm but again, so expensive.  I spotted this trial kit and snapped it up!  It contains 2 minis of the Thermal Cleansing Balm, a 20ml Illuminating Moisturiser, a 30ml Queen of Hungary mist and a 20ml Rejuvinating Night Cream, plus a washcloth.  Part of me almost hopes I don't fall in love with these products as it would be an expensive habit to maintain!!

I spotted the Dior Airflash Matte Touch Long Lasting Airy Powder on the Sephora US website and wanted it immediately-but couldn't buy it because it was an aerosol which couldn't be shipped internationally.  I tried Sephora in Dubai but no luck.  When I saw it in Selfridges I nearly fell over myself to buy it!!

It's a setting spray you apply over foundation or to touch up during the day which apparently gives a flawless finish.  Reviews coming soon!

A haul wouldn't be complete without a nail polish or 3!  I am really into nude nails at the moment and picked up Yummy Mummy and Tea With The Queen from Butter London.  I really like the Butter London formula and they do some amazing shades-one of my favourites is Trout Pout, a peachy coral.  I am wearing it right now but smashed the bottle at the weekend after I applied it so that will be a definite repurchase next time I am in the UK.

I already own the pink version of the Azature nail polish but saw my friend Antonia from Mac and Cheese wearing the gold and I was like 'I need that!'

Finally I had a little splurge in Tom Ford.  I knew I wanted the new Orchid haze palette but when I saw Seductive Rose in real life I fell in love with it as well.  They're both so wearable and great additions to the range.  They all contain shimmer which is my preferred formula over matte.

I still have hauls to show you from the duty free and Boots which are coming soon!  I've also just found out that due to the second Eid holidays our office in Dubai will be closed all next week so thats 9 days off in a row!  Finally I hope I can catch up with myself blog wise before the busy downward run into Christmas!

Charlotte Tilbury haul

So as you can see I amassed quite a haul when Charlotte Tilbury launched her much anticipated make up line earlier this month!

Being 3 hours ahead in Dubai has it's advantages sometimes-whilst the UK were sleeping on the launch date, I was on the Selfridges website clicking 'add to basket' like a lunatic.

It's been a very hectic couple of weeks-we were on holiday when these launched and I had them sent to Danielle's so I could collect them whilst I was in London but then it was straight back into the madness of work and I have spent the last 5 days in Cairo working.

So the upshot is, this is a photo heavy, haul post to show you what I picked up, because I haven't had time to play yet.  You can read two really good reviews though on Vanessa's and Antonia's blogs (who have both actually met the lady herself) on the bits they acquired.

My initial thoughts are I love the look of everything.  The packaging to me is overall very 'Gatsby-esque' but does anyone remember the old Rimmel packaging that was brown and cream?  Sadly some of the packaging is reminiscent of that.  The lipsticks and the Filmstar Sculpt and Glow have the best and most expensive feeling packaging-they feel most deserving of the price tag you'll pay for Charlotte's first foray into retail cosmetics.

So here is what I picked up.......

Have you picked up anything up from the collection?  Leave me your link to any reviews you have done as I would love to read them.   If you've not purchased anything yet, what would you like to see reviewed first?