Six Steps to a Flawless Finish

Every once in a while, you’re bound to have a bad skin day. Whether you wake up with racoon eyes from partying too hard the night before, or you’ve had a sudden break-out at the most inappropriate time. With these six steps, you’ll never need Photoshop again.

To prove these products work, I’ve included some photos of my own face. Before, during and after.

This is how I look before I start
.

So first of all is foundation. Be sure to choose one that’s closest to your skin tone – orange is for oompa loompas. I used Revlon ColorStay mineral mousse in fair. Apply a sparing amount across the face with clean fingers (because it’s more hygienic and easier to smooth out) and ladies, remember to blend under your chin to avoid tidemarks. A little goes a long way with the foundation.

For problem areas, apply a liberal amount of concealer, then smudge in with the fingers. Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral does a really good job – you can even use it alone if you’re feeling bold.

Ok, so now my face looks patchy, yes?

Never fear. Powder over your whole face for a shine free, blended finish. I use Revlon ColorStay pressed powder for this.

If you’re feeling a little pale, apply a touch of blusher on the apples of your cheeks. Also apply a small amount across the bridge of the nose for a natural glow. Dab the applicator brush on the back of your hand first, this ensures you look natural, not clowny. Ted Baker of London makes a really nice blusher.

To finish off your look, make your eyes and lips defined. Apply mascara to both top and bottom lashes (I’ve used Define and Lengthen mascara from The Body Shop) and slick on your favourite lipgloss. For me, it has to be Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker.

And there you have it. Six products, one face and an airbrushed finish.

Revlon ColorStay pressed powder - £10.49

Revlon ColorStay mineral mousse – £9.99

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker - £8

Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral - £5.99

Ted Baker of London B’lush kit - £6.36

The Body Shop Define and Lengthen Mascara - £10.00

Featured Song: Slow Motion - Third Eye Blind

Continuing on the theme of all things weird...

'Miss Jones taught me English, and I think I just shot her son.'

In the interests of full disclosure, half of that statement is true, and I'm not allowed to talk about which half it is.

But anyway... this also happens to be the opening lyric from Third Eye Blind's Slow Motion.This is a weird and wonderful song, with lyrics so insane that I can't even begin to describe them. I was first introduced to this song as a cover version done by Panic! At The Disco [or more specifically, the wonderful Brendon Urie - not that I'm biased], and I think it's a song everyone should hear at least once in their lives.

If you don't embrace the crazy it will tell someone else to come and get you... so just save yourself the hassle and give this song a chance to blow your mind.

Slow Motion by Third Eye Blind, from the album 'A Collection.'

Also performed by Brendon Urie here.

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse - Robert Rankin.

Here at Tantrum we know that being so effortlessly cool can be a bit of a bore, so sometimes we like to kick back and enjoy something seriously quirky.

My personal book de jour for this very purpose is 'The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse' by Robert Rankin. If you didn't gather it's a little on the strange side from the name, no doubt reading isn't your thing anyway. However, if you enjoy reading about the murder of fairytale characters and the story of a boy and his detective teddy bear sidekick, this might just be for you.

Any fan of Rankin's would be able to tell you his style isn't so much thinking outside the box as it is living in a universe where the 'box' is actually a wizard hat for a flamingo, but it's well worth giving a go. Full of running jokes, some [admittedly awful] puns and a massive dose of insanity, if you don't love this book you should probably check you still have a pulse...

Black is the new Black

Everyone has heard the saying ‘black goes with everything’. It’s timeless, mysterious and elegant; so why not kick it up a notch with a sexy, inky pout this season? Anyone can rock the dark shades, and here at Tantrum, we’ve found the top three so you don’t have to.

If you want a feisty look with jet black lips the way Beyonce does it, try Mac’s Style Black range.



Coming in at £10.99, Midnight Media will make any girl look dangerously hot.


For a sumptuous, deep crimson kiss like Megan Fox’s, why not try Clinique’s long lasting lipstick line.

At £14, it boasts my personal favourite shade, berry freeze, and as an added bonus, lasts all day long.



And for the girls who like the daring deep violet shade like Rihanna wears, try Revlon’s superlustrous lipstick in va va violet. Live on the edge for a tidy £7.29.


Whatever your shade, any girl can be bewitching this season.

The Bitch Goddess Notebook - Martha O'Connor

This book starts off packing a punch and never really lets up after. The story surrounds three girls and the three women they become, the teenage girls of the 'Bitch Posse' and the women divided by one night and one secret.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking - well, that's not entirely true, unless you're thinking the same thing as me - stop messing around with little tantalising clues and get to the point.

The only problem is, I can't without spoiling what is truly a compelling story. I have read this book a million times and each time I find something new that I love. It has a bit of everything, and is miles away from those stories with perfect heroines who have some mild crisis before getting their happy ending.

Now, this is not a book for the faint hearted, easily offended, or anyone who doesn't like their fiction to bring home real life - but it's utterly irresistible to the rest of us.

Say it aloud: Screw fairy tales and chick lit and all forms of lying.

Alphabet Bags spell it out for you.

Tote bags = So overdone. Right?

In a short space of time they’ve become everyone’s cheap and easy go to, with everywhere from Mulberry to Tesco trying to shift their canvas carriers onto us. But whilst browsing the net aimlessly, as I so often do, I came across the site Alphabet Bags, after clickityclicking through their online shop, I’ve got to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Alphabet bags offer a fresh twist on the ol’ cotton tote bags by printing theirs with single letters of the alphabet. They’ve also collaborated with Anna Lou of London to create letter totes embellished in diamantes, so you can bring the bling to your bag without breaking the bank.

All of their bags are hand-stitched and screen printed in London, and they use top-quality heavyweight cotton so you have no worries about your bag fraying and breaking after using it only once.
As well as the ‘letter’ bags, Alphabet bags also offer totes printed with ‘text speak’ like ‘OMG’ and ‘LOL’, bags printed with silhouettes, numbers and even punctuation, along with some new summery styles featuring beachy phrases like “Oh I do like to be beside the seaside” (which automatically makes me picture myself singing that song whilst skipping along in a polka-dot dress)My absolute favourite from Alphabet Bags, however has got to be this tote, printed simply with black and white wands and the phrase “Bag of tricks”. I think it sums up the Alphabet Bags concept nicely, it’s just pure, simple, magic.



Black Letter Bag - £12
Natural Diamante Letter Bag - £10
$ Bag - £10
Beside The Seaside Bag - £10
Bag Of Tricks – £10

All available from www.alphabetbags.com

P.S Alphabet Bags offer worldwide shipping, so you lovely international readers aren’t missing out!

Do the Truffle Shuffle.

Us Tantrum girls are suckers for anything with that retro feel, especially distressed, worn-out t-shirts, bearing logos of bands and brands that have a habit of making us nostalgic for an era we were never a part of.

T-shirts are a basic staple in everyone’s wardrobe, and that means you have to go a little step further to find ones that will make you stand out from the crowds of the same old boring tees found all over the British High Street. The lovely folks over at Truffle Shuffle, however, are saving us the bother of trawling through vintage shops and Ebay to find the perfect retro tees with that ‘lived in’ look. We’ve included a few images of some of our favourite t-shirts, but honestly, there’s such a wide variety, it’s hard to choose just a few!

Stocking brands such as Amplified and Junk Food, Truffle shuffle is the one stop online shop for everything quirky and kitsch. Aside from having one of the coolest clothing selections online, they also sell accessories, jewellery by Anna Lou of London and Disney Couture and all sorts of gadgets and gifts - meaning you can spend lots of hours (and money!) pouring over their amazing selection of products!



We suggest that you bookmark Truffle Shuffle as your new favourite online store – we definitely have!


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt by Mighty Fine - £24.99
Clueless t-shirt by Fame & Fortune - £20
Run DMC diamante t-shirt by Amplified - £30
Slush Puppie t-shirt by Famous Forever - £24.99
Edward Scissorhands t-shirt - £24.99

Gold key necklace by Anna Lou of London - £20
Gold plated chunky charm magic castle bracelet by Disney Couture - £25.00

All available from www.truffleshuffle.co.uk

Featured Artist: I Blame Coco.

Here at Tantrum some of us are having a... well, tantrum, over the fact that one of our lovely writers got to see the glorious Coco Sumner of I Blame Coco.

Some of you may have heard her voice gracing the airwaves next to Robyn in Caesar, but for those a little less mainstream-minded, the alternative on her myspace, Self-Inflicted is just as good, if not better. With a killer synth, and vocals which Florence and the Machine or Marina and the Diamonds would sell their souls for, this could well turn out to be our track of the moment... and we think it should be yours too!

As if this all wasn't good enough - discovering an artist who (to quote the lucky Tantrum-ette that we shall not speak of) has a voice just as incredible as her legs - she's offering a free download of her new song Please Rewind from her up and coming album The Constant.

The album will be released late summer, so get in the queue - behind us of course...

Check our her myspace here for the songs mentioned and the free download link.

Bottle top

Recently I was at Cornbury Music Festival and was wondering around all the ‘festival stalls’ you know the usual ones that you always get, then I see this bag…wait “that’s made from ring pulls…right?” and to my amazement not only did I find a stall full of these amazing products including bags, purses and belts it was this an incredible charity! The company support grass roots education projects that empower young people.

Mainly based in Brazil and Africa the charity focus on quality and craftsmanship which lets them provide employment in poor parts of the world. This inspiring charity creates beautiful projects and improves lives by earning money and learning new skills.

With supporters such as David Bailey, Bob Geldof, Bill Clinton and many, many more we should all get on the band wagon and support this inspirational charity!

‘Maybe next time I have a can of diet coke I should think of keeping that damn ring pull!’

Acaraje coin purse - £12.00

Bellani bag - £85.00

Kibe belt - £35.00

All products are available at www.bottleshop.org

And you can also donate to the charity at www.bottleshop.org

Me & Zena.

The tagline at Me & Zena is 'Jewellery for the unruly'. We like that. We're unruly, and we dig jewellery, so it's perfect for us. Also, it rhymes, and everyone knows rhyming is cool.

Here at Tantrum, we like the kind of jewellery that has an edge. We're bored of seeing the same old flowery pieces with dainty little doves and swallows and pearls. We need jewellery that's beyond cool, something that stands out from all the High Street stuff that everybody else has.

That's where Zena comes in.
Zena McKeown, the clever clogs behind 'Me & Zena' is making sure that we're the envy of, well, everyone around us with her amazing retro-inspired jewellery collections. Ranging from Robot lockets to UFO pendants and old-school TV sets on chains, Zena is out to change the way we see the sparkly stuff, for the better!



Her latest designs take into consideration the general vampire-fever that seems to have infected the entire universe. Featuring a set of gorgeous gold (or silver, if you prefer) fangs, with red crystals depicting blood, these beauties are due to be released on July 9th, coinciding with the release of Twilight Eclipse.



So, what are you waiting for? Head over to Me & Zena and get your fix! With her affordable prices, quirky designs and celebrity seal of approval (Ellie Goulding's a fan) There's really no reason why Me & Zena shouldn't be bookmarked as your fave new jewellery site! It's definately ours!


UFO necklace - £28
Robot locket necklace - £28
Fangs necklace - £14

All available in gold or silver at www.meandzena.com

Street Style Sundae

Street Style Sundae: A delicious concoction of pure, unadulterated style. With a cherry on top.

Here’s the cherry on top of this weeks seriously sweet sundae:



Seriously, how cute is this girl? Totally scrumptious enough to be our treat for the week, don’t you think?

Featured Band: Two Door Cinema Club.

Get your oversized Skullcandy 'phones at the ready and prepare to hear the newest band gracing the Tantrum airwaves.

Two Door Cinema Club are a three piece band with self-admitted 'thirst for anything quirky.' Bringing melodies reminiscent of the glory days of the Editors and the natural lyrical and vocal comparisons to bands like Death Cab For Cutie, TDCC have created a winning a winning formula, bottled and sold in their debut album Tourist History.

Opener 'Cigarettes In The Theatre' is a fast paced guitar thriller which will bring back memories of the excitement of meeting strangers in smoking areas, with promises both kept and left unfulfilled. This is our recommended track, taking the old advice that the best place to start really is the beginning.

Other personal highlights include 'What You Know' and 'Come Back Home', but with so many great tracks to choose from, why just stop there?

Tourist History by Two Door Cinema Club.

Check out their myspace [here]

Plump Up The Party

Plump Up The Party

Get sexy plumped up lips without the plastic surgery.
Let’s face it, who doesn’t want that perfect pout that oozes glamour yet still feels natural? Well at Tantrum we’ve tried and tested some of the hottest lip plumpers around so you don’t have to and boy did we find some amazing cheaper and safer alternatives to the not-so-fantastic plastic. These babies will ensure you’ve got the most lush and kissable lips on the block this summer.

First up is Too Faced Lip Injection. Don’t let the name fool you, ladies; applied as a clear gloss, within seconds your lips will feel and look fuller with an added natural shine.


Next is Urban Decay’s Big Fatty Lip Plumper. With a beautiful gold sheen (and a fun and funky name) this plumper is thin enough to go over your favourite lipstick, making the plumping effective against your favourite kissable colour.



My personal fave is Soap And Glory’s Sexy Mother Pucker range. In a range of natural colours this bad lad packs a punch with a zingy tingling feeling leaving lips feeling fab and it carries a sweet, chocolaty taste.


So get that craved, classic look this summer without the price tag and the pain.

Sexy Mother Pucker at boots - £8.00
Big Fatty Lip Plumper, Urban Decay – £11.50
Too Faced Lip Injection - £11.50