New Years Eve Beauty Hacks with Diet Coke & L'Oreal Paris

Did you know that a bottle of Diet Coke could help you transform your make-up look for that all important party on New Years Eve? All you need is a 500ml bottle of Diet Coke and a L'Oreal Paris Super Liner Blackbuster Intense.

Line it up

To transform your daytime eyeliner into a bold evening look, simply peel the label off your bottle of Diet Coke and turn the label upside down and with your eyeliner, mimic the dramatic black ribbon underneath the logo. 

Perfectly winged eyeliner is a great way to glam up your Christmas party eyes, and it can be frustrating when it goes o ff track. To avoid any mishaps, grab your liner and simply make four small dashes along the lash line. Then carefully connect the dashes and allow to dry. Or for the perfect flick hold your Coke lid in place at the corner of your eye where you want the flick to sit and using a slim eyeliner tip trace along. The result: a smooth and subtle curved wing tip.

Plump Your Lips Up

Did you know you can make your lips look larger just by using lipstick and a Diet Coke bottle? Apply your chosen shade all over your lips, then choose a shade in the same colour family but slightly lighter. Use the bottle lid to mark where the centre third of your lips is - that’s where you need to apply the lighter shade of lippie.

Voila, a gorgeous, full festive pout.

Clever concealer

Believe it or not, you can use lipstick as an under eye concealer to neutralise dark circles - just the thing if you're partying hard this festive season. Make sure you pick the right colour to suit your skin tone – try a peachy or pinky hue if you have fair skin and an orangey-red for darker complexions. 

Apply the lipstick under the eye, let it set for about a minute and then apply your usual concealer.

GET EXPERIMENTAL WITH YOUR MANI

Embrace texture
Textured nails can take your mani to the next level if you need them party-ready, but some looks require super steady hands to pull o . You can achieve a sophisticated textured look with one tool you’d never dream of: your Diet Coke bottle lid. Huh? Simply apply a base level of polish and let it touch dry. 

Then lightly brush another polish into the ridges on the side of the bottle lid. Once you have done this, it’s time to get creative. You can create track marks by pressing down on the nail (try creating a track mark down the middle of your nail) or rolling the lid across the nail.

Freeze-dry your mani

Nail polish dries more quickly in cool temperatures and you can freeze-dry your polish in place in just 5 minutes. Before painting your nails, fill a bowl with ice cold water (ice cubes included). 

Once you’ve painted your nails, let them air dry for 2 minutes before submerging them in the icy water for 3 minutes. Voila, your nails will be ready for their next outing.

So there you have it.  Have you tried any of these Beauty Hacks or do you have any of your own to share?

Winter Wonderland with My Purrfect Gift Box

The Christmas My Purrfect Gift Box landed on the doorstep with a thump a few weeks ago and it is safe to say I had three cats all wondering what was for them inside the box.

Opening up the box inside there are gifts and treats to remind us all of the festive season.

The first item I pulled out of the box was a knitted beanie, but not just any beanie, it is a pale pink cat ear beanie with sequins and is so soft and smooth to the touch and is incredibly cute.

It retails for just £13 in here.

The second item is a Cat Shelf Sitter which has been handmade by Rose Cottage Pillows in the USA These adorable cats are in a red snowflake print and are adorned with satin bow, bell and cute button tail. 

Mine sits next to the cat urn I have for Asbo and it is a really lovely touch.  Priced at £15 you can find them and others in this Etsy Store.

I love the cute and quirky card cards which are the third item in the box. They come adorned with pictures of cats with bright green envelopes making them perfect for sending a quick note.

These cards can be found here in the Bubblecat Etsy Store and are priced at £12.

This Woolen Kitten Charm comes next and it is currently sat on my Christmas Tree but can be used to decorate your handbag, phone or anything with a zipper on.

Handmade using wool and felt, they retail at £4 and can be found in the Etsy Store InfiniteFluffs.

The final gift for the adults is this absolutely stunning customised 925 sterling silver cat necklace which has a pretty snowflake also on the chain.  I love the delicate detail of the cat and how well it sits when wearing.

You can find this necklace in the gift shop of My Purrfect Gift Box for just £15 and it is a perfect gift for any cat lover.

Included within these boxes are also treats for your furballs and this is where the excitement usually occurs with my three.  The first item out of the box was a felted Gingerbread Man which was heavily scented with catnip and it did cause a bit of a fight until Dude was the eventual winner.

Next came a snowflake collar from Cool Cat Collars and it has Silver sparkle snowflakes on an white background and is fitted with a breakaway safety buckle and a bell. Priced at just £6.99 you can find these collars right here.

The final item out of the box comes a tub of natural cat food from Meowing Heads. Gone Fishin' as it is named is fish & chicken complete cat food has been gently steamed to keep its delicate fishy flavours locked in. Unsurprisingly it was very popular with my three cats who between then devoured it.

Once again, this is another amazing Purrfect Box and with something for everyone, we have a very happy household. If you like the look of these products, there is a shop to treat yourself or your little ball of fur right here.

If you have never come across this box before then here is a little background as to how and where the idea came from. Kim and Juan Kniveton the founders of My Purrfect Gift Box are dedicated cat lovers, so much so they moved back from the USA to the Isle of Man to set up and run their own idyllic countryside retreat for cats - Boodee Beg Boarding Cattery, something I dream of doing (if I ever win the lottery). With their onsite gift shop not doing as well as they had hoped, Kim and Juan decided to start My Purffect Box and each month they choose to focus on a different cat charity, rescue centre or shelter and highlight the work they do through their social media sites and through information that comes in each box. They then donate 5% of all our profits from that month's box to that chosen charity of the month.

*this post contains PR samples unless indicated otherwise