February Beauty Favourites

Hello Lovelies! 

Time for yet another monthly favourites, I know February is the shortest month of the year but this month really has flown! I am so glad that we are in March now because I am ready for Spring to be here now! The past couple of days have really been lovely and sunny so I am hoping that Winter has gone and it's time for the pastels to be brought out now! My birthday is also in March so it is one of my favourite months! 

In other news I have changed the background of my blog pictures the past two posts, do you like it? I have been wanting to try something new for ages so please let me know what you think of this set up! And now on with my favourites...

This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray

I think this is my favourite product out of all my favourites this month. This stuff has been a saviour this month. I won't babble on too much about it because I have an entire post dedicated to it here. But basically I was having major problems getting to and staying asleep the past few weeks, and eventually I heard about this and decided to give it a go. Since getting it I have been sleeping so much better, I find it relaxes me so much and really helps me drift off to sleep. Not only that but I have been sleeping through the whole night and feeling so much more refreshed in the mornings which is always a bonus! 

Clarins Instant Light Perfector Lipgloss

I have been a massive fan of these lipglosses for almost a year now. Before discovering these I always dabbled in lipglosses but never being overly impressed and I always ended up wiping them off because of the sticky feeling. I bought my first one of these in London last year and have been slowly building up a collection of them since. I just love everything about them! The colours are nice and neutral, so perfect for everyday wear for me! They are not sticky in the slightest, if anything they feel quite moisturising on the lips and they smell amazing! I love the little applicator although not the most hygienic option its lovely!

Origins GinZing Eye Cream

 I have been dying to try this eye cream for ages now, I have had really bad darkness under my eyes (possibly related to the lack of sleep!) for awhile now and have read that this is meant to work wonders for brightening and getting rid of puffiness which is exactly what I was looking for. It feels nice and cooling when you first apply it and I have found over time the puffiness under my eyes has really improved and the dark circles are not as noticeable anymore! I have heard fantastic things about the GinZing moisturiser too which I am tempted to get so if you have used that please let me know what you think! 

MAC Springsheen Blush

Now I have a bit of a confession to make. I actually got this as a present for Christmas two years ago now and I think I have only used it once in a Face of the Day post. Shameful I know. But over this past month I have literally fallen head over heals for it! I think the reason I didn't use it much was because when you first look at it is appears as this really deep peach colour with alot of golden shimmer in it but once applied as you can see from the swatch above it is a perfect light peach colour with the slightest hint of shimmer running through it, which to be honest you wouldn't really notice one you have it applied. I have been wearing this pretty much everyday this month and I absolutely love it. I am quite ashamed of myself for not loving it before! 

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream

Again this is a product I have raved about this month before so I won't go on too much about it. But since getting my hands on the new Bourjois CC cream I have not reached for any of my other lighter coverage bases. This is just perfect for everyday use, it covers up any imperfections -redness, under-eye circles, discolouration etc. But as well as that it feels lovely on the skin. Similar to Chanel's Vita Lumiere Aqua foundation it feels really light on the skin but still gives decent coverage. It wears really nicely throughout the day too, it doesn't fade into a patchy orange mess which I found happened with other BB/CC creams on me so I think I have found a keeper!

Orly Rage Nail Polish*

You all know I am constantly on the hunt for the perfect Rose Gold nail polish. I absolutely adore all things rose gold so it is only natural to want it on my fingertips! I was recently sent this one from Orly by Fragrance Direct (which is an AMAZING discounted website, I am completely addicted now!) to try and ladies...I don't want to speak too soon but I think I may have found "the one". It is a tad textured which is not normally my thing but I will deal with that for the sheer perfection of the colour! It's not too yellow or pink which I found eventually alot of the others that I have tried ended up looking and it's not too copper-y either. It has the right amount of a "rose" tint to it. Also this was the first Orly nail polish I have tried and I was impressed with the lasting power, I put this on my nails on a Sunday evening and it lasted me through until Thursday with minimal chipping and that was with me at work typing, pulling at boxes, working on tills etc. So I think I may have found another favourite nail polish brand to add to my addiction!

So ladies, those are all the products I have been loving throughout the past month. I am heading up to Dublin tomorrow for the weekend and I am planning on doing some make-up shopping (obviously!) so please leave any product recommendations that you think I would like in the comments!

Read More»

This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray

Hello Lovelies! 

If you follow me on twitter you may have seen my tweets about my lack of sleep lately. I don't know what it is, I just have had serious problems with just getting to sleep and staying asleep. I've been waking up a lot and having a lot of dreams so that when I wake up it feels like I haven't slept at all, not cool! So after a couple of weeks of walking around like a zombie, I decided to look into trying something to help.

After seeing Karen from Lovely Girlie Bits mention this, I knew I had to try it! That woman could sell anything to me! And if you are reading this Karen, thank you thank you thank you for mentioning this and helping me get back to being a functioning human being!  After watching the video where she mentioned it I had it ordered within minutes! I was so excited to get it, I ordered mine off Beauty Bay so it took a couple of days to arrive but it was definitely worth the wait! The directions say to spray over your pillow and bed cover before sleep, I will admit I did go abit overboard the first night but I can report back it definitely worked! I was out like a light that night and stayed asleep the whole night! I felt so much better the next morning and this has been a firm staple on my nightstand ever since! 

It contains Lavender, Vetivert and Wild Camomile essential oils so it is so relaxing to breath in. Now I just do a couple of sprays on my pillow and one or two on my duvet and just settle down for an amazing nights sleep. I really don't know how it works because I have tried lavender on my pillow before and the results just haven't been as good as this! It is on the pricier side for a pillow spray but it is most definitely worth it! I have gotten to the stage where I'm afraid to use it as much because I'm afraid the effects won't work on me if I over use it!

Have you tried the Deep Sleep Pillow Spray and have you fallen in love with it as much as me? Available online here!

Read More»

Nude Delight | Nail Polish Edition

Hello Lovelies!

As spring arrives (slowly but surely) I have been changing my nail polish choices from the dark and glittery to the more neutral variety. I am always on the hunt for the perfect nude, both in nail polish and in lipsticks! But today I thought I would share with you my top five neutral nail polish shades that I love to wear at the moment. I really want to get my hands on Nails Inc Porchester Square because I have heard nothing but good things about it but until I can justify paying that much on a nail polish these will do! 

Barry M Vanilla

You all know at this stage how much I love these Barry M matte polishes, because I have dedicated not one but two whole posts to them. I love this shade and the deeper nude that there is. This is the lighter of the two and it is slightly grey toned. I just wish that the "matte" effect would last abit longer because I find that the polishes go to a dull shine after a day or so!

Barry M Lychee

Out of all of these nudes I think that Lychee is my favourite. It is a lovely yellow toned nude but not only that it is part of the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine range which I am obsessed with! They last for ages on the nails and are so lovely and shiney! Plus this has apparently been compared to Chanel's Frenzy, gotta love a good dupe! 

Essie Buy Me a Cameo

Not nessessarly a nude but you all know how much I love my rose gold, so it was only natural for me to have a rose gold nail polish. I picked this up while I was in London last year and have been loving it since, it does apply a tad streaky but I am willing to forgive it because it is the best rose gold shade I have found so far! If you know of any other good Rose Gold polishes please let me know because it is something I am always on the hunt for!

Essie Sand Tropez

 I picked this up in a random chemist for something ridiculously cheap like €2...Essie for €2, I couldn't exactly leave it (or the other five) behind! It is quite similar to Lychee but a little bit more brown. Unfortunately it is the old Essie formula so it chips if you look at it funny! 

Seventeen Mocha-tini

This is the most recent addition to my nude polish collection. I have a whole post planned for this and the other two shades I picked up but I do love these polishes, similar to the Barry M Gelly Hi Shines they are really really shiny! I love the name of this one, so cute! This is one of the darkest neutral shades I like to wear and I normally tend to wait until I have a little bit of tan on before I wear this otherwise it is just too dark against my see-through white skin! 

So as I said I don't think I have found the perfect nude yet, so if you have any recommendations for me please let me know and I will definitely have to go try! 

Read More»

Collection Cream Puff Lip Creams

Hello Lovelies!

Yes another lip product post. I was wandering around the beauty aisles the other week and found myself at the Collection (formally Collection 2000) stand. Now I am a big fan of their Lasting Perfection concealer but I realised I hadn't tried anything else from the brand so I adopted some new lip products! 

The ones that came home with me were the Cream Puff Lip Creams. I have heard so much about the NYX Butter Glosses but I can't get my hands on them! So when I seen these I grabbed them in the hopes that they would be something similar.  The shades I chose were Cotton Candy, Powder Puff and Fairy Cake. My three favourite shades to wear- a light pink, a nude and a peach. 

These lip creams are definitely more on the matte side of things which wasn't exactly what I was expecting! They can be a bit drying on the lips so do make sure to moisturize your lips before and after applying them. I do love the pigmentation of these, one swipe on the lips and you are done and since they are so pigmented and matte they do tend to stick around which is always a bonus! I really am not the biggest fan of the smell, they are very sickly sweet which thankfully doesn't linger once you apply them but the first initial smell is not very pleasant!

I wish there were some other shades in this range because overall I do really like them and I find myself applying them more and more frequently, and popping them in my handbag throughout the week! 

Have you tried these Lip Creams from Collection? If you have tried both are they comparable to the NYX Butter Glosses that everyone is raving about lately and if you live in Ireland please let me know where I can get them!

Read More»

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream

Hello Lovelies!

I have recently taken the plunge and dipped a toe into the BB/CC Cream arena with the new Bourjois CC Cream. I have always been a little bit apprehensive of these sorts of make up bases, for the same reason I am with tinted moisturizers - I always fear of the orange face since there is usually a lacking in the shade range. But in saying that I have always been a massive fan of Bourjois, I would buy almost anything they sell so when I spotted this new CC Cream I decided to give it a go.

I picked mine up in the shade 31 Ivory. I don't personally think the shade range is excellent, if you are extremely fair you may be stuck because the lightest shade which is the one I have is still a little two dark for me. If I have a layer of tan on it's the perfect match. It does oxidize slightly so just be aware of that too! I have used both my buffing brush and my fingers to apply this CC cream and I find that I prefer the finish when I use my fingers. I can work it into the skin quite easily and make sure it's all blended nicely. My skin hasn't been on its best behavior lately and even though I want to hide all the nasties I do want to try and cut back on all the heavy duty foundations and give my skin a bit of a break. Saying that I was pleasantly surprised with the coverage it gave. Now it's definitely no-where near my Revlon Colour Stay but it covers all redness and scars from any blemishes. It's just the right amount of coverage to cover redness but still looks really natural and lets your skin shine through! You can also quite easily build up to a medium coverage without it feeling too heavy!

As for the longevity, I wouldn't get through the whole day without touching up but that's to be expected with such a light base. I just carry a concealer with me for top-ups throughout the day if needed. I really do love this CC Cream and it has definitely changed my mind about the whole CC/BB fad! This has become a firm staple in my makeup bag lately and don't be surprised if it makes an appearance in this months beauty favourites post! 

Have you tried the new CC cream offering from Bourjois? Are there any other CC creams you would recommend? 

Read More»

Budget Buy | W7 In The Buff Palette

Hello Lovelies!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been thinking of starting a new little series on my blog all about the best Budget Buys I have found. Now we all know I love my bargains and love spending my time wandering around the "drugstores" looking for dupes of more expensive products or just something that is amazing at what it does and that doesn't break the bank! 

So today I have a little dupe for you. Now one of my friends tagged me in a picture of this the other day on Facebook and told me I needed to get it, now who am I to say no I don't and within 24hrs I had it in my possession. Now you all know by looking at this palette what a striking resemblance it has to another palette that we all know and love, and you would be correct in saying it is pretty much identical to the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette! I didn't actually realize how alike they were until I brought it home and put them side by side. Literally no difference in the shades at all! So you can basically get a carbon copy of the Naked 2 palette for...wait for it...€5! €5 for 12 gorgeous shades of eyeshadow!

The shadows are amazingly pigmented for the price but compared to the Naked 2 palette the quality of the shadows are definitely not as good, they are slightly more powder-y so there can be abit more fallout so just be aware of that if you are planning a dramatic eye look that you might have a bit of a mess under your eyes to clean up after you finish blending everything! I never apply eyeshadow without a primer so I noticed no difference in the length of time that they lasted on me. I use the Urban Decay Primer Potion (love!) which really makes the difference.

I would definitely recommend you give this a go if you are thinking about getting the Naked 2 palette, it's the perfect way of seeing whether or not the shades suit you and if you will get the use out of the actual Naked 2. If you don't you won't have just spent over €40 on something you won't use! Plus you really can't go wrong for €5!

So that is my budget bargain at the moment! Let me know what you think of these sorts of posts, and if you have any products that you think is an absolute bargain that I should try!

 

Read More»

Blogger Organization

Hello Lovelies!

As you might have noticed I have been finding it hard to get into a routine with my blogging, so as part of my new years resolutions which I posted about here I have challenged myself to become more organized! So when I was recently sent a bloggers "Survival Pack" from Viking I knew that it was the perfect opportunity to get started. The pack came with everything from notebooks to a USB stick so I got straight on it and started putting everything to good use! 

I thought I would share with you some tips that I have found really helped me get back into more of a routine with my blog posts. 

• Write lists- From monthly favourites to shopping lists I write it all down. I love making lists and even that makes me feel more organized. Especially with monthly favourites it can be hard to keep track of the products from the beginning of the month to the end that you have been loving so when it comes to writing up the post you can just look at your list and know exactly what you wanted to write about.

• Take pictures in bulk- If like me you struggle with getting proper daylight to take nice pictures the best option is once you get a decent amount of daylight to photograph in use it to the max! Again with the lists, plan your posts ahead and know what products you need to photograph and be prepared. I recently bought lighting which is so helpful during these dreary days!

• Try and set a schedule for posting- May it be once every three days or even once a week, if you have a set day that you know you wanted to get a new blog post up on you are more likely to work towards that day and have it done in time. I personally try to post once every two-three days and I try to stick to that as best I can.

• Have back-up posts-There are times where I don't always get the pictures I wanted to take, or I didn't get a chance to write up what I wanted. But I always try to have a couple of posts saved in my drafts for a rainy day. I might just be feeling uninspired but I still want to post so I keep something from when I did have a bit more motivation and post it whenever I feel the need to!

• Don't stress! Blogging is meant to be a bit of fun and if your not enjoying it, it will definitely come through in your writing and it will all seem abit forced.

So those are my tips for staying organized when blogging if you have any other tips that you think other bloggers may find useful please leave them below! 

Read More»

January Beauty Favourites

Hello Lovelies!

Is it just me or was January the slowest month ever? It seems like a lifetime ago since Christmas and I am so glad January is finally over! I tried alot of new products throughout January, there was so many new releases in the "drugstore" brands I just felt like I needed to try everything! So with that in mind here are my January Favourites!

Charles Worthington Texturising Spray

I recently raved about my love for the new L'oreal Txt spray, but since then I have been doing some research and trying to avoid buying the coveted Orbe Dry Texturising spray that everyone has been raving about the past couple of months. I discovered that the Charles Worthington is supposedly a dupe for the Orbe one so of course I decided to give it a go! I picked this one up in a Christmas set in Boots at 70% off so I figured if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have spent the earth on it. I have since went back and bought two more boxes I love it that much! The difference between this and the L'oreal one is that the Charles Worthington one has more hold to it. So there is no need to start putting on the hairspray afterwards. Literally I spray this at my roots, ruffle it up with my fingers (or backcomb with a brush if I'm going for a more dramatic look) and I'm good to go! I just wish I could get my hands on a mini version so I can pop it in my handbag! 

Chanel Rouge Noir Nail Polish

Now I don't want to make any rash decisions but I've been starting to think this past couple of weeks that I may have found my all time favourite nail polish. I know big words but I literally can't remember a time before this nail polish was in my life. It is a gorgeous colour, a deep red- almost black. With a layer of Seche Vite over the top and nicely shaped nails you really can't go wrong. I've heard alot of bad things about the quality of Chanel nail polishes but I really haven't had any trouble with chipping or streaking, and I will definitely be repurchasing this when I run out! 

Elizabeth Arden 8hr Cream

This was one of my Christmas sales purchases, I ended up picking this up for €11 and it was the best €11 spent in a long while! I have the unfragranced version which I prefer because when I was in the airport coming back from London last year I tested the original and I really did not like the smell. But since getting this I have used it literally everyday for so many different things! I've had really dry lips the past couple of weeks and this has really helped clear that up and I've been also been applying it to my cuticles the past couple of weeks. It really does deserve all the hype it gets! 

Maybelline Baby Skin Primer

I have already written a whole post about this back when I first got my hands on it and since it has fast become a permanent resident in my make-up bag. I said it in my original post which you can read here that I think this is a good dupe for the Benefit's Porefessional. It completely blurs out all pores and imperfections and gives your skin a completely smooth base for you to apply your foundation to. I found it has made a difference to the longevity of my make up throughout the day too. I really recommend you give this a go if you are thinking of getting the Porefessional.

Just Cavilli

 I treated myself to this perfume just before Christmas with my Boots points and it has become my go-to perfume since! I am so bad at describing perfumes but the website describes it as provocative, mischievous and seductive. I'm not the biggest fan of the bottle but I can put up with it for the lovely scent!

Soap & Glory "Whats Nude" Eyeshadow Palette

Something else I have previously raved about is this neutral eyeshadow palette from Soap & Glory. I ordered this within minutes after reading Kayleigh's review on it and have been using it everyday since. It is just a really nice neutral everyday palette. The eyeshadows are nicely pigmented and easy to blend and you can create a perfect everyday eye look with this and you have the option to make it look smokier if you like! They are all matte shades apart from one shimmer shade, lately I have been using it with my new Wet 'n' Wild eyeshadow palettes and they have been working really nicely together!

So those are my favourite products for the month of January, what has been your favourite beauty product for this month?

Read More»