April Favourites

Hello Lovelies!

Lets skip past the usual intro about how crazily fast the month has gone and how it feels like only last week I was writing out my March favourites and jump straight into the products I have been using most and loving this month! 

Bioderma Crealine H2O
This month the lovely and gorgeous Jess sent me some Bioderma goodies and since I received them I've been using the Crealine H2O every day to remove my make up. It is literally a god-send and deserves all the hype it gets and more! It removes every scrap of make up, including all things water-proof! I would normally remove all my make up with this in the evenings and then go on to cleanse with my Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser!

L'oreal Elnette Volumizing Heat Defence Spray
I bought this a few months a go and have been loving it ever since. I've used it every time I've washed my hair since. It's the Volumising version, there are two others - a curly hair one and one for straight hair. I obviously went for the Volumising one because I am literally obsessed with having big hair. Bit of a random side note on this, I love the spray  nozzle because it sprays out the product in a mist and not just a squirt which leaves a wet patch on your hair, not cool! It leaves my hair with lots of body to it and since using it I've noticed my hair getting a lot softer!

Tangle Teezer
Hailed by beauty bloggers and youtubers all over, the tangle teezer has become an everyday essential for me! I really don't know how it works because it is just a plastic brush but it completely tames my hair effortlessly and relatively pain free! It's also really handy for travelling because it's so compact. (And it's glittery! What more could you want?!)

NARS Laguna
This is a product I've used every day since I've got it but I don't think I give it the recognition it deserves (although it is again one of the most hyped products ever!) Before Laguna came into my life I was never a bronzer girl. I never knew how to apply it or where, but after watching (many) videos on YouTube I feel a bit more confident in the application and I really like the way it makes my skin look. I use my Real Techniques blush brush to apply this under my cheekbones and to the top of my forehead to try and achieve a sun kissed look! I am severely hitting pan on this and will definitely be repurchasing! 

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush
One of the recent editions to my makeup collection in a bid to make it that little bit more Spring-y is this blush by Maybelline in the shade 06 Berry. I love cream blushes but didn't really have a variety of colours. I picked this up on a whim and have been obsessed with it ever since! I apply it with my fingers and lightly buff it in with my Real Techniques Stippling Brush. It leaves a lovely natural flush on the skin and I've been loving it for a quick everyday look! 

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation 
Not the first time I've raved about this foundation, in fact I've done a whole post about it here. Again with updating my make-up look to a more Spring-time look I have replaced my heavier duty foundations with this and one other (Review coming soon!) I love everything about this foundation, and it actually looks so natural on the skin too! 

Revlon Lip Butter Creme Brulee
Randomly enough I've found myself reaching for this Lip Butter so much this month! We all love a good nude lip and this month I've been obsessed with how this looks! On days where I just wear foundation and a bit of bronzer it really helps with that bronzed look! It's also lovely and hydrating on the lips too! 

MAC Girl About Town
On the other side of the spectrum is one of the brightest lipsticks I own! I have been choosing this over a red lip lately and I really like the change! Such a gorgeous lipstick! Really long-lasting on the lips and again it feels lovely and moisturising! 

Barry M Grapefruit
This is the colour that has been on my toes all month! I am such a massive fan of the Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine's and this colour really stood out of the collection for me! Such a gorgeous bright colour, looks stunning with a tan and I can't wait until it's a bit warmer and I can wear sandals and show it off properly!

MaxFactor Midnight Bronze
Not going to harp on too much about this because it was in last month's favourites and I've dedicated a whole blog post to it here. Lets just say it's love and I have only change my nail polish once this whole month.

So those are my favourites for the month of April. No doubt May will go just as quickly and I will be writing another favourites post in no time! 

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The Anniversary Weekend

                           • Our hotel with a gorgeous blue sky! • Starbucks • MAC Lipstick Heaven • My New Love! • Racing Day • Anniversary Dinner • Big Smiles •

Hello Lovelies!

This weekend myself and the boyfriend decided to go away for two nights in Dublin. On Wednesday we'll be 5 years together and we wanted to celebrate a little. So we booked our nights away and headed off last Friday. Please excuse the quality of the pictures, I only had my phone with me! 

On Friday after we arrived we went for a walk around town. It was lovely and sunny and it was so relaxing just browsing the shops. I was a very lucky girl and got treated to a gorgeous new lipstick in Brown Thomas, a review will be up very soon! The next day we went out to Mondello Park because I bought Alex a voucher for a racing course day for his 21st so we booked that for the same weekend. He said it was absolutely amazing and he really enjoyed it, I have to say I'm completely clueless when it comes to cars so I'll just have to take his word for it! Saturday night we went out for dinner, (OOTN post coming your way soon!) and just relaxed for the rest of the evening. On Sunday we started our journey back, but not without a quick pitstop at Liffey Valley, where (shock) I walked away empty handed! 

Such a lovely relaxing weekend, and it was so nice to celebrate our Anniversary. Roll on the next 5 years! 

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Essie Fiji

Hello Lovelies!

Hope you are all well! Myself and my boyfriend are having a weekend away for our anniversary so I thought I would get this post up before I go! I wanted to share a nail polish love of mine as of late. Yes yes I know pastels for spring, talk about unoriginal! But I feel if it's not broken why fix it? Pastel nails are the perfect way to update your look from Winter to Spring and as you all know how much of a nail-polish lover I am, this is obviously one of the main things I would focus on for each season!

I bought Essie Fiji in Dublin a couple of months ago after lusting after it for ages! It is the lightest pink you could imagine, at a glance you could be forgive for thinking it is white. I have been loving this recently, it looks amazing with a tan and really compliments it! Since it's part of the Boots Essie collection it has one of the wider brushes which makes application all that much easier, one swipe and your nail is covered. It only takes two coats to achieve opacity.  

This is one of the more unusual colours I have in my collection and defintely one I would recommend picking up for Sping/Summer!

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Dainty Dolly Haul

Hello Lovelies!

Who am I to pass up a good hyped up product? I was in one of my local pharmacies lately and I just had to pick up some Dainty Doll products. I've seen so many bloggers getting some of these products off Fragrance Direct for next to nothing, and I tried to resist I really really did but once I knew that they were available in a local shop so I wouldn't have to wait for delivery and all that jazz, I just couldn't resist any longer! I caved. But in my defence I only spent €3.50! Yes I got a Cream Blusher and a lipstick for €3.50! 

I had heard about the Dainty Doll brand quite a while ago. Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud basically is the main girl behind it and she's designed it for fairer skinned ladies such as myself (trust me, under all the tan I'm practically see-through!) but since I'd never seen it in shops or online I had never really investigated further! Until now! I picked up a vintage red lipstick in Saucy Sailor and a baby pink cream blusher in Paper Roses.

The cream blusher is absolutely amazing! I have been alternating it with my Maybelline Dream Touch Blush which you all know I love, but on days when I'm not feeling the "berry" look on my cheeks I go for this. It's lovely and light, not at all greasy and lovely and pigmented so you only need the tiniest amount! The lipstick I would quite easily say is comparable to MAC quality except it cost me €1.50! Again it is amazingly pigmented, really long lasting and it feels nice and creamy on the lips. It reminds me of the Creme Sheen formula from MAC. 

I also think the packaging of these products is really nice. Sleek, compact and lovely..what more could you want? Have you tried anything  from the Dainty Dolly collection? Let me know your recommendations! 

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Instagram Catch-up!

• My Dainty Doll Purchases • My Make-Up Brush Essentials! • Spring • The contents of my bag •

• Myself and Michael Buble! •  Sunny Day! •  Breakfast! • Finally Got My Hands on the Bunny Replacements! • 

• Subway! •  Aero Mint Milkshake. •  My New Phone Cover •  Bioderma Goodies! • 

• FOTD • Quote •  Photo within a photo •  A happy day •  

Hello Lovelies! 

Hope you all had a brilliant weekend! Mine pretty much consisted of food, face-masks and sleep! I thought I should do an Instagram Diary style post as I haven't done one in quite a while and I've been loving Instagram lately! So as usual please leave your Instagram usernames for me and I'll be sure to follow you!

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Spring NOTD

Hello Lovelies! 

Just a quick post from me today, last night I was just in one of those moods. I'm just so sick of the weather here, it has been really up and down and to be honest I just needed a little bit of springtime cheer in my life. So I went to my nail polish drawer to see what I could come up with. I wanted some bright cheery nails, so I pulled out multiple combinations but eventually decided on this look. 

Models Own Balearic Cool and Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine in Pomegranate. I had bought Balearic Cool from ASOS before Christmas but never really had the chance to wear it (I'm sure we can all agree it's not the most Winter colour in the world!) up until now. I was originally going to pair it with Hedonist from Models Own but I decided that was a bit much so I took it back a notch and put Barry M Pomegranate on my "bling finger". 

I showed my mother my nails and she was not impressed..(blue nail polish just isn't her thing!) and I do realise this isn't to everybody's taste, and I probably will have to tone it down before I go to work on Monday!  Let me know what you think of this combination!

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Maybelline Dream Touch Blush | Berry

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you are all having a fabulous week! Honestly I feel like this week is dragging on forever! I'm going up to Dublin with my boyfriend next weekend so I think once I'm looking forward to something time seems to slow right down! Does anyone else feel like that? Anyway only one week and two days to go...not that I'm counting!

Recently I was in Tesco with my boyfriend and I don't know how it happened but I ended up in the "beauty" aisle! Our local Tesco has recently acquired a Maybelline stand! As soon as I seen it I literally pounced on it (even though Boots is across the road from it..) and started swatching to my hearts content! Does anyone else love when all the products are new and the testers are actually still in one piece? The clean freak inside me loves it! 

After swatching what seemed like everything, I spotted the Dream Touch Blushes in the bottom corner of the stand. I remember the gorgeous Beth mentioning one in her March Favourites post and she even mentioned that it was nothing like the Dream Matte Moouse Foundation (admit it, we've all been there, used that ladies..) which was a big seller for me! They only had two shades available which was a bit disappointing but I persevered and managed to make a purchase regardless! 

The shade I picked up was 06 Berry, which as the name suggests is a deep pink -berry- colour! I always tend to gravitate towards pinkier shades when choosing a blush instead of the peacher shades. I'm not sure if I'm right in doing this or if the shades even suit me but thats what happens! When I got home and swatched it on the back of my hand I noticed that it had a lot more sparkle in it compared to when I swatched in the shop (damn those artificial lights!) and I panicked a little! I used my Real Techniques Stippling Brush to apply it to my cheeks and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the finish of it. The formula is gorgeous and creamy, not at all drying and it's so pigmented so you need the tiniest amount of it! Once I had it on my cheeks I honestly didn't notice the shimmer in it! It leaves such a gorgeous natural finish, and I am in love with the colour! 

I think this will be a firm staple in my make-up bag for quite a while! It's so quick and easy to use and leaves such a gorgeous glow to the cheeks. Love! Have you tried the Dream Touch Blushes? Have you seen any other shades in this range because I would love to try some if there were!

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MaxFactor Midnight Bronze | The Rose-Gold Obsession Continues

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! If you have read my blog, follow my instagram or know me at all you'll know I have an obsession with Rose Gold! This started at the beginning of last year when those Micheal Korrs watches started to pop up left right and centre. I love all things rose gold, jewellery, handbags, accessories.. you get the idea. One thing I have been searching for since this obsession has started is a Rose Gold nail polish. I've never seen one in the "drug-store" and any of the others that I've seen were ridiculously expensive or not available in Ireland!

One random Thursday I was out browsing the Boots aisles and this practically jumped out of the stand at me. You know those scenes in films where the light beams down? Well on that day it was beaming down on this nail polish. I practically skipped up to the till with it and had it on my nails that evening.

The nail polish in question is MaxFactor's Midnight Bronze. I've never tried any of the Glossfinity nail polishes from MaxFactor before but if the quality is as good as this one I may have to pick up a few more! It applies lovely and evenly, two coats  and it's opaque. It's not streaky like I've found some other metallic polishes to be, and it lasts for ages! I work in an office so I would be constantly typing etc and it lasts a good 4-5 days before the tips start to wear!

I think I have finally found my dream nail polish, and if you know me you'll know that I don't ever get attached to a nail polish. However I feel that Midnight Bronze and myself may just go the distance!

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Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation

Hello Lovelies!

Hope you are all having a good weekend so far! I am so glad the weather has gotten a bit better! There is nothing more depressing than seeing all the Spring/Summer style clothes coming into the shops and it still raining (or even snowing) outside! I love the sunshine, I think it brightens everyone's mood and we don't have to carry umbrellas and massive jackets around everywhere we go now!

With this in mind I thought I would show you the foundation I have been using for the past while, during the "hotter" months I hate using heavier foundations and always tend to go down the tinted moisturiser route. So when I seen Revlons latest foundation offering I got really excited! I've never actually used a Revlon foundation before but they get so much hype and love across the internet I figured it couldn't be completely unjustified and quickly picked up the Nearly Naked foundation.

I was a bit disappointed at the colour range when I first went to purchase it. I went to a few different Boots and even a Superdrug to look for the paler shades but the lightest I could find was 130 Shell and from previous experiences I knew was more along the lines of the Ivory colours but alas I could not find it ANYWHERE! So me being me I gave up and bought the lightest I could get (yes I was that desperate to try it!) and to be honest I haven't noticed any major issues with colour differences yet! 

I have quickly become obsessed with this foundation, it is lovely and lightweight. It evens out the skin but is still sheer enough so if you have any freckles etc they would still be visible. I use the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer on any blemishes that need to be erased off my skin! Even though it's a lighter foundation I still find it lasts on my skin. I would normally apply this in the morning, a few touch-ups at lunchtime and it still looks decent at home time!

I would thoroughly recommend this foundation if you are interested in a lighter coverage foundation for the Summer months! Let me know if you have tried or are going to try it! 

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Nivea Express Hydration Primer

Hello Lovelies!

How nice has the weather been this week? As you can see I took advantage of the sun and grabbed some products and my camera and got at one with nature! I literally can not wait for Summer, I am so sick of the Winter months its not even funny. Roll on the long evenings and the sunshine!

Can I just say before I review this product I did NOT buy it because of the (slightly cringey) YouTube adverts that have been doing the rounds, it was actually on a half price offer in Tesco of all places and decided to go for it! I am normally a big fan of primers, I do whatever it takes to help my makeup last that little bit longer. But in the mornings after I apply my moisturiser I sometimes find it difficult to apply my primer and foundation after because it just doesn't sit right and sometimes seems to slide off my face if that's possible?

Anyway on to the purchases. Nivea Express Hydration Primer. Now to be honest I haven't heard too much about this in blogging land and after buying it I came home and googled it to see what other peoples experiences were (this is where I came across THOSE adverts) and I was happy to see that the majority of the reviews were positive! First impressions of using this product was that it felt lovely on my skin. It has a gel-like consistency which is so lightweight, so it would be perfect for the Summer months too! I used it after coming out of the shower and I thought it felt lovely and cooling on my skin when I applied it, it also absorbed into my skin really quickly so I didn't have to wait around waiting for it to sink in. It made my skin feel lovely and refreshed. When I applied my foundation it went on so smoothly and seamlessly it was amazing! During the day I always tend to get drier areas down the centre of my nose and on my cheeks but since using this I haven't noticed any problem areas! (Woo!) I did also find that my makeup lasted really well throughout the day on my face also! I use a primer everyday anyway so the difference wasn't outstanding to me but compared to other primers it definitely does the job! 

I really enjoy using this! If like me you want your makeup to last longer throughout the day but you are prone to a bit of dryness I think this is the product for you! I've got the version for Normal/Combination skin but there is also a Dry/Sensitive version too! 

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The Liz Earle Obsession

Hello Lovelies,

It will come as no surprise to any of you that I am a Liz Earle fan. I made my first purchase early last year and haven't looked back since. Before my obsession with Liz Earle I really didn't have a concrete skin-care routine, I would switch up products quite regularly and even (shudder) would use face-wipes on a daily basis. Since the introduction of Liz in my life I have become more loyal and careful with my skin-care, I tend to stick to the same products if I find they work for me and it takes something groundbreaking to make me move away from what I know. These are the products from Liz Earle that I always find myself reaching for and if I didn't have them in my life I would be a little bit lost!

Cleanse & Polish
This was the first product I've ever tried and I will admit it was because of the insane hype surrounding it! Let me tell you the hype is completely and utterly justified! This stuff is a miracle worker for my skin! Since using it my skin has completely settled down. Before I started using this on a regular basis, I was prone to breakouts a lot and my skin just didn't look good. But now breakouts are kept to a minimum and overall I think my skin looks brighter and healthier! If I ever stray away from the Cleanse and Polish I instantly regret it because my skin instantly changes. I can say quite confidently that I will be buying this for as long as I can! 

Instant Tonic Boost
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this is possibly my favourite product from Liz Earle! I am such a massive fan of toners and I use them on an everyday basis. But this is a cut above the rest. When you apply it, it instantly cools and refreshes your skin. It feels so nice on my skin I used to fly through bottles of it up until recently when I bought the spray from a blog sale and I've found it to last so much longer! I even spray it on during the day to refresh my make-up and to stop it from looking too cakey!

Skin Repair Moisturiser
I would usually use this moisturiser for during the day, because most days I like to put on a moisturiser before make up. I don't like putting on a heavy duty moisturiser (like my Lancome Hydra Zen) because my foundation just doesn't sit right on top of it. I find that this moisturiser sinks in really quickly, hydrates my skin and I can apply my foundation perfectly on top! These little pots last ages because a little goes a long way! And don't even get me started on the smell!... divine!

Let me know if you like these products and if they work for you, also if you have any recommendations for any Liz Earle products you think I would like please let me know! 

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