Whoever said money can't buy happiness, simply didn't know where to go shopping - or the Wise & Avid lot!

[OllieWollieWoo]

Stamp on the new thread (quote from Bo Derek btw!!!)

Oh, I love the Janice dress but they don't deliver outside UK . Does anyone know how Coast Sizes come up? May order the teal dress to console myself.

Am back
Terrible arvo - DD1 been crying (about nothing and everything iykwim) ALL afternoon since school pick-up. Think she might be sickening for something as yet to manifest. DD2 had me up at 3.30am last night (and indeed has had me up for 4 nights at least out of the last 7) due to unspecified "bad dreams". To top it all off I spent 2 hours today trying to be a good mummy and making the most delicious "lasagne" style dish with a proper made from scratch ricotta bechamel and a layered filling of onions, grated courgette, bacon, spinach and cooked shredded chicken breast. Oh and fresh lasagne sheets. The ingredients alone must have cost me £15 or more. And the DD's both refused to touch a morsel. Not even the tiniest lick just to taste . In desperation I ate a portion myself and it was bloody lovely! DH had better be bloody apprreciative of my culinary efforts when he gets in or they are all having turkey twizzlers till the end of time

So, I am off to buy something to cheer myself up (natch).

Cake - did you see that GP lace dress I linkied for you?

Tracey - is shellac the same as minx ? £30 sounds good. I think Nails Inc do some sort of UV bonded nail colour but it is much more ££££. More like £60 which is why I have never had it.

Carciofi - I did indeed order the Mitzy Messenger last night with my £50 off at M/W. I also forced encouraged DH to use the £50 voucher I had sent to his email addy to buy me this (Those of you who were at meet-up will know that I like a great pile of tat statement necklace around my neck.)

Esher, don't even mention teatime trauma. I arsed about today making salmon fishcakes and a yummy vegetable gratin, to be met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Strangely, me shouting like Mummy On Verge Of Nervous Breakdown did little to help.

I can't spend the rest of my life doing 101 Ways With Sodding Mince, much as they would like. Gah!

plum and esher Sorry about teatime stress! Hope DCs are fast asleep and you can relax now.

Esher - loving your purchases. And I feel your pain regarding dinner - I went through a stage where I may as well have just chucked £20 notes straight in the bin as I was throwing away so much food.

LTEC - right janice is in my basket and am also rather liking this necklace. Not buying of course - just putting them in my basket

Shellac is I think like the bonded nail colour. Am going to investigate.

Esher - just checked and yes nails inc call it the 3 week manicure and charge £55 - think its cheaper in smaller salons though.

Tracey, little salon near me does the UV nail gel for around £25, last around 3-4 weeks, depending on how quickly yr nails grow. I have had it on toes before, for hols. Is SO shiny!

Plum - I so feel your pain. Mine only want variations on mince too but with the added complications that DD1 doesn't like "creamy sauces" and DD2 doesn't like mash. So that will just be the mince then will it? AAAAgh!!
I am also trying to avoid the scenario where i am cooking 3 or 4 different meals to accomodate everyone.
Was evil mummy tonight though as made both dd's go to bed without any tea as they refused to even try what was on offer. I feel bad about it but at the same time I cannot have the scenario where I spend hours and £££ cooking only to give in and allow a petit filous and hotcross buns/toast tea which I do all too often

I like the Janice but I want some sleeves so I've just bought myself a Bertha
WHO names these dresses?

Fritzi - I think both my two may well be sickening for something as despite no tea they were both out like lights at 6.30pm (usually go to bed at 7/7.15pm)

hi dexter! - being of the poire persuasion myself, I would say yes, good for pears - the sleeves come down the shoulders just far enough to balance out the hip.

Fritzi may I order one and send it to you? I owe you a fashion fairy favour for the 7s!! and if it's no good we'd have plenty of time to send it back to me? Let me know, do you still have my email addy?

Would just like to make sure that vino gets the credit for the discovery of the Janice - and to say thanks for bringing my attention to it.

Esher I did see - and like! - the GP dress but I was worried perhaps a bit too body con for me? Also something about the long sleeves took me back to my days of dressing like Madge ... no bad thing but I just wasn't 100%. Hope the girls aren't poorly and that you get an unbroken night tonight!

re thread title I was thinking "Wearing it Today? We were wearing it months ago!! WIT is no match for (Avidity and) Wisdom"

Petty, non?

sorry for teatime disasters esher and plum. Thankfully we don't have eating probs with our 3 but other dinner issues instead - dd excruciatingly slow, ds1 appalling manners etc etc. Tonight they had steamed cod with broccoli, carrots, avocado and baguette (was out of potatoes, couldn't face clearing up rice).

ooh, nice Bertha, esher. LOL at names.

I was quite drawn to this in the store. Think it would have mucho staying power.

Oh I LIKE that jacket Cake.

When you were in store, did they have sale stock? There are a couple of things on the sale page I'd like to try, but have got extreme returns-fatigue at the moment.

they did Plum, 2 rails worth.

Now. esher and plum. Make up tutorial please. What do I need? Atm is only a smudge of kohl on upper eyelid and a slick of mascara. Day and night, no change.

what should I do?

Ooooooooh make-up!
Well as you know I am from the less more is more school of maquillage so here is what I consider my basics:

I think, like me you are fond of a dewy finish so I would use a decent tinted moisturiser (I put on top of normal moisturiser but depends on your pref/skintype). No powder. I use Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser.
Then either a creamy blush (NARS the multiples in Orgasm is good) although i am currently eschewing blush in favour of this stuff which I rub all over cheeks/nose (sparingly-ish!!). Gives lovely glowy finish. Apparently Clinique do a similar product which I keep meaning to upgrade to.
Eyes, kohl and mascara is good - I love a full dragqueen eye for evening but quite often skip that for day. I usually don't bother with mascara in daytime but have lashes tinted instead.
I personally need some under eye concealer - I use www.spacenk.co.uk/product/shop+by+brand/by+terry/touche+veloutee.do this which is merveilleuse.
I also use a good eyebrow pencil to darken up brows - Laura Mercier.
I have recently got back into lipstick in a big way but a more vivid gloss would also be good. If you want a red lipstick, I tried this in SpaceNK - I found it a bit too understated (more of a stain) but it was a very wearable and apparently suits most people.

I do a lot of my make-up shopping at Space NK - find it much more pleasant than most cosmetics halls and I think the sales assistants know what they are doing/give good advice.

Not that I am suggesting that you NEED make-up btw!!!

I just love the stuff. Obviously.

Last word on the thread title - didn't even stop to think about how it may come accross to non W&A's and now am a little bit mortified! I knew you all would 'get it' tho! I hate any sort of controversy in RL - so lets just hurry up, fill this thread up and move on to Cakey's super title!

I will commence with lots of useless Daily Mail links forwith (and also scan the rest of Talk for any snidey comments, whilst considering a name change and hiring of top PR company to do damage limitation!)

Esher - I got the orgasm illuniator for my birthday and thats good for glow too

I need to learn how to do a good smokey eye - may do make-up counter session before next meet-up and scare you all

Talking of meet-up - are we any closer to fixing on a date?

Re Phase Eight Janice - do you need toned upper arms to wear it iyo LTEC? I'm never quite sure about that shapped sleeve on me.

I was half considering the Veronica due to sleeve length but plum not one of my 'colours' - even tho it looks more grey based.

ltec, I could send you Nars Orgasm if you want to try it. It's too corally for me. I've hardly touched it.

Ah, just lost a long post....

Wanted to say hey and sorry for missing meet up and not being around much on our thread. I've been feeling run down and a bit at solo parenting all the time. I feel so exhausted and have put on a lot of weight so did a pg test yesterday but no more little monkeys just yet. Must be the weather.

Love the Bertha and the Janice though sadly no call for more going out gear in my life atm. We usually go out with dd early evening so I never have a chance to change and just wear my day outfit. I have been trying to wear my new things all the time though and not keep them for best.

Cakey I had a LOL moment when I read your "dressing like Madge" post - it must be the Aussie link but I furrowed my eyebrows wondering why you'd dress like Madge Bishop until I realised my mistake .

I wore my All Saints Post Commander jacket for the first time yesterday. I'd had an awful feeling that I'd made a mistake with it but really enjoyed wearing it. It does need a nice scarf and decent bag to go with it though. I love the A Wang ones with all the blingy hardwear but I can't even contemplate spending that kind of money. I am not really a bag person so don't know where to start.

I have a little podgy dd who is very into food but even so the constant cycle of cooking, washing up, tidying up is trying. She eats so much I feel like I am always cooking / peeling / chopping.

I've been doing lots of shopping and returning. I am still searching for the perfect cashmere roll neck. I've tried Pure Collection and Uniqlo but they were both itchy. I want one like the Petit Bateau cashmere dress I got in Italy but without the ££ price tag. I got a few nice bits from Asos (trying to link is crashing laptop) inc an animal print pussybow shirt that I've worn a few times already with jeans and a navy Vila shirt with little white/cream flecks. I liked it until I wore it and realised it's very similar to the uniform of a high street store .

I've ordered the IO peglegs but they won't arrive for another month.

I also want some black shoeboots to go with jeans and dresses. Not too high, not too exy, pref leather (not suede) and quite low cut on the foot (fussy, moi?) Any suggestions?

Makeup the Bare Minerals range is the best I've ever tried and I am a beauty product junkie.

I'm on laptop in bed already so am going to switch to iphone & read last few pages of the last thread I missed (have been reading when I get a chance)

Buona notte belle .

Somone has posted a Phase Eight code on the codes thread - Phase Eight 20% off full price items - AWINTER21 ends Oct 31st. (Sorry LTEC!)

Cake-aroo, I agree with Esher on all things naturally, but esp. on make-up.

Some kind of base is good, either a tinted moisturiser, or a really good, light reflective foundation like Giorgio Armani Luminous Foundation. Is exxy, but you only need a weeny bit and is utterly magical. Gives me skin like a Disney Princess.

Whether or not you go for a base, cream blush applied onto apple of cheeks, with fingers, is a must, especially for olive birds like you and I. Makes me look much more awake and happy than barefaced cheeks. I like MAC cream blush in Ladyblush. Try some that are much brighter/pinker than you think you need-the colours are usually quite sheer on the skin, so much less alarming than they look in the tube. Bobbi Brown do a good one in a twist up stick too.

Plain old Vaseline on lips is fine, or a nudey-gold gloss if you fancy. Suspect you'd find lipstick a bit weird to wear, at least to begin with-get used to blush first.

You still want to look like you though, not like you're about to open a show in Vegas. Bit of blush, bit of base, schmear of gloss perhaps, your usual eye-job and you're done. Cake, but with slightly fancier icing.

traceybath, I was kicking myself for not booking a mac makeover on Saturday before meet up. I watched them for ages. I will definitely do it before next one. When else would I get the opportunity to really go for it? I love a heavy eye make up.
esher, you mentioned before that maybe you wore too much make up. I was expecting someone with the same degree of make up as Jordan to turn up! I thought you looked great, not overdoing it at all!

This has been on my wish list for a while - similar to Janice but better for me sleeve shape wise I think Planet dress

Evening all,

From the codes thread:

Phase Eight 20% off full price items - AWINTER21. Expires 31st Oct

ollie, I saw that dress in rl last week and really liked it!