Holly Berry Red Company

I have some very exciting news for all of you! I am in the process of setting up my own little shop!

This has been coming for a while now, I have been making little illustrations and scanning them in to make cute designs for things like t shirts and phone cases, it's a slow process but I have finally got the starting base for my graphics pieces.

The company is called Holly Berry Red (I've used this name for a while for things like my tumblr and more recently my blog) with my name being Holly and all. I love finding little quirky sites with illustrated goods on, and one day I was like "why don't I make some myself?!" and so it begun.
Heres a few of my designs for you to check out:

f you wanted something custom made or were interested in one of my designs, pop me an email at holly.astle@hotmail.co.uk (or tweet me etc) I am doing custom designs a lot right now and if I like the sound of yours I am most likely to do it FREE! (I need all the inspiration I can get at the moment!)
Check out my society 6 website here (where you can buy some of my designs)
Lots of Love, H x

Makeup review - the great and the gorgeous, ted baker

I received this late Christmas gift just yesterday and let me just start by saying it is up there as one of my favourite presents this year. It came packaged in a beautiful Art Deco inspired box of rose gold, baby pink and a deep purple. It is obviously aimed to grab the attention of "the great gatspy" fans after the film came out, and also the fashion of the time, which I absolutely adore. 

The box includes (from left to right) 2x nail polish, shimmer eye cream, eye glitter, false lashes, bronzing compact, liquid eyeliner pen, 2x lipstick crayons and 2x illuminators. (Also includes set of 4 cosmetic brushes.)

It is priced at £20 from boots (down from £40) so is reduced massively. Full price it's a bit pricey but for the amount you're getting and the quality of the products I would say it's well worth it. 

 

My favourite product is probably the deep lip crayon colour - I sampled both above, it is super pigmented and rich and looks absolutely gorgeous on my lips. I also love the pink one of course, but I have lots of loved pink lip crayons for it to compete with before I decide if it makes the cut.

My other favourite is the compact bronzer, I love rose gold anything so this product immediately caught my attention by the packaging alone. When I opened the box though it was a different matter - I am completely in love. It has a lot of shimmer so is ideal for a night out, and the colour and design of the whole thing is just stunning! I can't even begin to describe just how much I adore it. I have been opening and closing it all day just to admire it some more, it's become a little obsessive.

It is such a luxurious, gorgeous collection and I am utterlly smitten, so if you have £20 spare anywhere definitely go buy this! I love every single one of the products in there and all of them are of a high standard. 

Lots of love, H x

Happy New Year

I absolutely loved this new year, I was surrounded by some of my favourite people and we had such a fun night full of drinking, dancing and a few cheeky games. I am of course one of those who makes my New Years resolutions, so I thought I would share some with you!

1. Look after and love my body.

I have taken recently to eating whatever crap I want to, don't get me wrong a good treat is exactly what you need sometimes, and I'm not cutting out a good opportunity of a fast food chicken burger any time soon, but I am definitely going to be more restrained when it comes to snacking on chocolates and cakes. For many years I have struggled with low body self esteem, and last year I think I overcame the worst of it (which led to all the junk food eating as I decided not to give a crap how many calories were in what) so this year is about actually choosing to love my body but to care for it properly: lots of fruit and veg, less alcohol and to stop the petty habit I have seemed to pick up of smoking on occasion.

2. Get experience and figure out some career goals of mine.

I have recently aquired an interest in all things graphic design and advertising, I don't know if this will last but at the moment I am truly excited at the prospect that I might have found a potential career path to go down. This year is about finding experience, working my butt off and hopefully having a lot of fun with it!

3. Read more books!

This one is a last little goal to have on the side. It's nothing big and it's not tricky, but I think reading is one of the best things you can do in free moments. There are so many good books out there which I really really want to read, so it's time to get my head down and start discovering some of the ones on my list! 

Hope all of you have a fabulous year! Make 2014 a good one! Lots of love x