Happy New Year! (& belated Merry Xmas!)

Oh dear! Where did December go! I had good intentions, I really did! But the month disappeared in a haze of snotty tissues, liberal doses of cough bottle, & the ubiquitous antibotics for Cherub #2, chief germ factory that he is.

Anyhow, having got the Cherubs to bed, I have finally managed to sit down & make my final blog posting for 2009 - needless to say that "blog more" will be on the list of resolutions that I'll put together tomorrow. Most of the resolutions on the list will of course relate to Rock Face Minerals; the others will be -

1. lose half a stone - this is on my list every year, but maybe my new Wii Fit Plus will help this time
2. find some more me time - this has been on my list every year since having Cherub #1
3. let the Cherubs live on peanut butter sandwiches for days on end, if needs be.

Needless to say, I have big plans for Rock Face Minerals in 2010, & fingers crossed I get some time to start working on them. First thing will be a new, more interactive website, with some lovely new shots of the products. Also to come in the new year will be new products and shades, & yes I know I said that at Halloween......

Finally, I'd like to say a big "thank you" to all the customers of Rock Face Minerals in its first year of business. I hope you've liked the products, & I hope to hear from many of you again in 2010.

Happy New Year & Best Wishes for a great 2010!

Competition Time - New logo at last!

The turquoise squiggle finally is no more - this evening I have managed to upload a new pic for my logo. My siblings will be amazed to know that it is based on a pic taken by my mother, who frankly is not renowned for her prowess with a camera.

We collectively breathed a sigh of relief when she finally got a digital camera, & could snap away to her hearts content, without having to wait with baited breath to discover the content of the little package from Belmont Photo Service - & if, by some statistically insignificant chance, she'd managed not to chop everyone's head off.

If we are ever all together & pass a cherry tree, we stand in height order (I am now at the front) awaiting the command "LOOK NATURAL!!". It's a Pavlovian response.

Anyway, to celebrate the demise of the squiggle, I thought it might be fun to have another bijoux competition. Again, the prize will be a Rock Face Minerals eyeshadow, of the winner's choice.

Simple competition, just email me the answer to the following question -"where in the world was the picture taken?"

Competition will close on 30 November, & the winner will be chosen at random from the list of correct answers. Happy guessing!

Happy Halloween!

Well, it's school half-term here, and the weather has been pretty miserable, just like the last week in August was. I thought I'd post a pic of my very impressive pumpkin patch, & the one & only tiny wee pumpkin that grew! Cherub #2 is having great fun playing at making pumpkin soup - he has a bit of a saucepan obsession.

On the Rock Face Minerals front, I'm pleased to say that the latest stock order has arrived, & so tyrella beach and mourne heather are back in stock. The full sizes of the :spice foundation shades have also arrived, as have the samples for the :dusk shades. Fingers crossed, I'll get to take some pics and get them uploaded to the site soon!

Don't forget that there's a bijoux competition running on the Rock Face Minerals Facebook page - once we hit 50 fans, 1 of the fans will get an RFM eyeshadow of their choice! Please pop along and become a fan! Thanks!

New Stock has just arrived!

I'm pleased to say that Mourne Heather & Tyrella Beach eyeshadows are now back in stock, & the full size jars of the :spice foundation shades are here - just need to get them loaded onto the site. I also have a few new eyeshadows for winter - a beautiful deep brown, a sparkly pale violet (lovely with Mourne Heather) and a pale shimmery lemon yellow shade, which will be named Lemon Parade in honour of a friend of mine who is a very talented artist - you can see some of her work at http://www.lemonparade.co.uk/ .

Good Web Guide

Just to let you know that Rock Face Minerals has been entered for the Website of the Year 2009. I have absolutely no expectation of getting anything more than a guffaw from the judges as to the state of my website, but when it comes to online retail, you've got to put yourself about a bit!
So, if you do have nothing better to do for the next minute & would like to spend it telling these people a jackanory story about how great my site is, then click on the link below.
Thanks a mill!
http://www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk/awardfeedback

Competition Time on Facebook

A quick note to point you in the direction of the Rock Face Minerals Facebook page (if you haven't been already).
I've just set up a wee competition to drum up some more fans - apparently once it has 100 fans then you get a dedicated page (or something equally technical). Anyway, every little counts in the Dark Art that is Seach Engine Optimisation, so to get us on our way, once we have reached 50 fans, I'll get cherub #1 to randomly pick a fan to receive a Rock Face Mineral eyeshadow of their choice.
So, don't forget to tell all your Facebook friends - & good luck!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rock-Face-Minerals-Mineral-Makeup/95495916631

Spice Shades Samples now available!

A quick update - I have finally, finally got the pics uploaded for the Spice shades of Rock Face Minerals foundation. Full sizes will be available early in October, but in the meantime, samples are available to order. Hooray!

Old Dog & New Tricks

& yes it has taken me 2 hours to figure out how to embed the video.

I think I would have a greater sense of achievement if I didn't still need to load the dishwasher & make the lunchboxes.

Rock Face Minerals first video

Well I'm still working on cropping pics & uploading the new products, but in the meantime I thought I'd share this video with you. Both my boys have gone through the stage of raiding my makeup bag every morning, though cherub #1 is now more interested in complaining about having to wash his face & do his teeth. Cherub #2 is firmly in the "what's yours is mine" toddler stage, & at the moment he is the proud owner of a couple of empty jars & an old kabuki brush, which saves him running off with my blusher brush every morning.

This evening, after bathtime, he was busy "putting on his face" but of course, by the time I got the camera out, he had to have that too. By his standards, his technique in this video is a bit sloppy, but hopefully you'll see that applying mineral foundation is so easy, even a child can do it!

September already!

Well, that's the first day back to school over & if only it would stop raining! I was on holiday last week, in the hope that we could go camping again, but it just wasn't to be. But all was not lost - I spent Tuesday afternoon catching up on photographing some new stock for the Rock Face Minerals site. So hopefully this week, I'll get them uploaded & the samples for the Spice foundation shades will be available, as will my range of eyeshadow and concealer brushes.

Tuesday was designated "Rock Face Minerals" Day, (or RFM as it is known in our house) & I spent the morning discussing the site with a friend of mine, who specialises in design & photography. Hopefully he is going to come up with a new logo for RFM to replace the "squiggle" banner, & also take some professional shots of the products for me. Fingers crossed, in a month or two, the site will have had a bit of a makeover!

is it August already?

when I set myself the target of blogging on a weekly basis, I obviously meant monthly. I blame the summer holidays & two little boys who will not go to bed before 9pm. Anyway, I'm taking a couple of child free days next week to give my website a bit of TLC, & upload some more products which I have been promising for ages. Hopefully, by this time next week - let's say early September - I'll have a wider range of brushes, matte blusher, & the spice foundation shades available on the website (rather than just sitting in my spare room).
So... this blog is meant to be musing on mineral makeup & motherhood, & I haven't written much about mineral makeup. I do have great plans in my head of photos of swatches (I have learnt the lingo) & looks, but I'm not great at putting them into action.
But let's make a start, with my tried & trusted daily workwear, eyshadow combo. I can even do it without a mirror, which is just as well, as I am usually trying to wrestle my brushes, powders & mirror from #2 son. There's nothing like a well chewed blusher brush for even application.

Anyway, my combo is

• ballyholme bay as base shade across the eyelid
• chocolate toffee as mid shade on outer 2/3 of eyelid
• ruby murray as dark shade on outer eyelid
• bog meadows as eyeliner

Watch this space, I'll post a pic of swatches & made up face (if I'm having a good face day. But please don't hold your breath).

& hooray! I have a follower! thank you Alyson!

Summer Holidays

Well, I've missed my once a week blogging target again, & my excuse this time is that it's the summer holidays. This time last week we were camping in the Mourne mountains (lots of lovely mourne heather about), & having a great time dodging rain showers & being bitten by midgeys. In between the rain showers, we had glorious sunshine, & despite my factor 30 sunscreen, my arms came out in a very fetching heat rash. Of course, I still managed to look gorgeous with my trusty Rock Face Minerals products - I love the fact that mineral foundation doesn't slide off your face in the sun & the rain, & with natural broad spectrum sunscreens, it helps to protect your face from the sun. Unfortunately this pic of me is pre-makeup - my Mum took it (yes - now at the "holidaying with the parents" stage of life) of me catching a wee bit of shuteye while giving #2 son his bottle - he was teething last week too, bless him! Having a toddler throwing up at 3am just adds to the fun of camping, I reckon. All that & it was still the best holiday ever!

Mineral Makeup Application Video

I thought I'd share this YouTube clip with you as it takes you through the application of mineral makeup step by step.It's by an Aussie mineral makeup brand called Bloom, which has a similiar approach to Rock Face Minerals, in that the powder products are made from just mica & minerals, with no waxes, oils, fillers or preservatives. It shows you exactly how to apply your mineral foundation, & how you can use your mineral foundation powder as concealer too.

The Bloom range is named after the founder - Natalie Bloom. How lucky is she? "McCrory" just wasn't going to cut it as a makeup brand name, was it? One day, there'll be a Rock Face Minerals clip on YouTube, but until then http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuCGkjVHjH4 will take you through, step by step.

Failing miserably at the first hurdle

Well... I set myself the target of blogging once a week, thinking that would be easy - I'm a great believer in setting yourself targets that don't stretch you too much. But then #2 son got chickenpox, so last week didn't really happen much.

But the good news is that I've had an article this week in the local paper in the town where I grew up - the Bangor Spectator (or Speccie to its readers).

Which leads nicely on to explaining some of the colour names - Glenlola Girl is named after my old school, Glenlola Collegiate, as it is the same shade of royal blue as the school jumper. Boxpleat Cherub is a little tongue in cheek - being navy, it is named in honour of our regulation navy boxpleat skirts, to be worn with our regulation navy Cherub-brand knickers underneath.

We used to have competitions to see if we could stretch our Cherubs up to our armpits - a feat I could achieve well after 4th form.

Well... here goes!!!!

Time to stop procrastinating, & start blogging. I've been putting it off for months now, but have finally realised I will always be too busy, & the ironing will always need done. So time to make a start. I am setting myself a target of blogging once a week, cause there's a chance I could achieve that target, and it gives me a whole week to think about something interesting to write. I don't know how proper bloggers do it.
Anyway, this is me, & I shall hopefully be blogging about pure mineral makeup, particularly Rock Face Minerals, since that's what my fledging little business is called http://www.rockfaceminerals.co.uk. Rock Face Minerals doesn't contain any of the nasty stuff that some people's skin can react to - so no petroleum based products, talc, bismuth oxychloride, perfume or parabens. Just mica & minerals.
That seems like enough to be going on with; except to say that I'm very excited to be featured in the June edition of ni4kids magazine http://www.ni4kids.com, with a picture of me & the kids. It only took a whole weekend to try and get a decent picture, and of the 50 or so taken, this was the only one where Ross was smiling & everyone was looking at the camera.