Essie Ballet Slippers – The perfect nude?

I was recently digging through my nail polish collection (over 150 in case you were wondering. I have problems!) and came across this beauty that I had actually forgotten about. I bought Essie Ballet Slippers months and months ago and while I wore it at the time I don’t think I properly appreciated its beauty until I wore it the other day.

Granted it is a bit of a biotch to work with- three layers to get the desired effect! But once you get there it is beautiful. It is the perfect nude pink with a little bit more opacity than a regular French manicure pink but not to the extent of Essie Fiji.

If you are in the market for a sheer pink nail polish I would definitely recommend Ballet Slippers from Essie…just look how pretty!

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Dream Dots | Spot Treatment

I was so excited to get my hands on the Dream Dots* and unfortunately my skin being the way it is, I was able to try them out instantly. Recently I have been getting alot of under the skin spots, you know the ones that are really painful and really red but never come to a head properly so you don't even get the satisfaction of giving it a good squeeze. (TMI,.I'm sorry!) So when these landed on my doorstep it really could not have been better timing as I have a wedding coming up and I wanted my skin to look good for it. So as well as taking the last couple of days make-up free I thought I would give these a good road test and see how they actually work.

Basically what the Dream Dots are, are tiny little gel patches that you put directly on your spot. The little patches themselves are so amazingly thin you wouldn't know you had anything on. I actually wore these out one day and nobody noticed! If anything they helped disguise the redness that was around the spot underneath which is such a bonus! You are instructed to apply on cleansed skin overnight and just let its work its magic. The little patches absorb any excess fluid there might be in the pore as well as any other badness that may be lurking around in there. It then creates a moist (gross I know..) environment to reduce the risk of scarring and scabs occurring. They claim to help spots heal 50% faster. 

 

So fast foward a week, how have I found them? I have had this whopper of a spot on my chin for the past couple of weeks. Nothing I have used worked on it, not even my beloved Origins Super Spot Remover was up for the challenge. So its safe to say I definitely put these to the test. I used them two nights and one day in a row and at the end of it the redness was dramatically reduced and the swelling was definitely taken down. I didn't have any pain with it but I will report back once I try it on one of those craters that will no doubt appear in about a weeks time! In my opinion these definitely do help. As with any spot treatment do not expect your skin to be perfect the next day but do expect it to be dramatically reduced in size! 

If you want to give these a go you can order them online here with free worldwide shipping!

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NARS Narissist Eyeshadow Palette

I resisted getting it for so long and of course as per once I decided that I actually wanted it, it was sold out. Everywhere. Sods law. So when I spotted it online on Brown Thomas’s website well...it would have been rude not to..right? About a week beforehand I finally got my hands on the One Night Stand palette which I had been coveting for months so I felt it was only right to get the partner in crime The Narissist palette. Just look at the beautifulness of it all! 15 shadows cased in the fabulous (but admittedly abit messy) matte black packaging..how is a girl meant to turn that down?! So of course I placed my order on payday and waited for baited breath for its arrival. 

 I have only ever tried one NARS eyeshadow duo in the past – Isolde and even though those colours didn’t suit me all that well the quality of the eyeshadows was out of this world- more impressive than MAC and softer than Urban Decay. So after that experience with them I was very excited to get my hands on this palette. There are a lot of mixed reviews about this palette – some saying they love it and others saying the quality of the shadows are not as good as the single eyeshadows or the duos.

So of course once the palette arrived it was straight on my eyelids (after taking pictures of course) and I have to say I am really impressed. I think this palette is the perfect one for smoky eye beginners such as myself. The colours are all perfect to create that look really easily with the use of only one or two shadows. I found that all the shadows were amazingly pigmented and really buttery and soft. I did read some peoples reviews saying that they found their shadows to be slightly chalky with a lot of fallout but thankful I have not had an issue with this. They all blend together perfectly and when I mean a little goes a long way I mean it! 

 As I said before there are 15 shades in this palette with a good mixture of mattes and shimmers with both cool & warm toned shades.  All shades are permanent apart from one which was previously released as part of a collection in 2013. So if you add up how much it each shadow would be worth individually this palette is definitely worth it!  The only problem that I have with this palette is that they haven’t put the names of the actual shadows on the packaging which is a tad frustrating if you want to know the name of the colour you are wearing but apart from that it is just sheer perfection.

I’m pretty sure it is more expensive now at €55 than it was originally but I was more than happy to pay it as I feel that I will use it so much and will definitely a lot of use out of it in the coming months. At the time of writing this post it is still available online at Brown Thomas so if you can, I 100% recommend you pick this up while it’s still available!

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"Drugstore" Makeup Starter Kit

Starting off in makeup can be a very daunting process, trying to find the right shades in foundation, the right finish, the right mascara for you, the list goes on and on. So with that in mind I thought I would put together a "Drugstore" make up starter kit to show you my personal recommendations from the lower end of the price scale! I would do a higher end make up starter kit but it would just mostly be NARS so there is not really much point in that!

So to start off with base, I find this the most difficult thing to get right. Because when it goes wrong it really really can go wrong. So I find the best way to go is to get a lighter coverage foundation and just use concealer for any blemishes you might want to hide. The "drugstore" base that I have been reaching for the most on an everyday basis lately has been the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, and while I'm not normally one to jump on the BB,CC Cream bandwagon I actually find this one to be really good. It cancels out any discoloration, gives decent coverage but still looks and feels light on the skin. For concealer I have picked my favourite from the past couple of months and it is the Seventeen Phwoarr Paint, this concealer is seriously heavy duty as it says on the packaging. It covers a multitude of sins and is perfect to pair with a lighter base! For powder I have gone for the Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder, this helps set your make up without making it look too cakey and it is so nice and compact so it is perfect for bringing out and about with you for touch ups. To add some colour to your skin I have picked the Maybelline Dream Sun duo. I haven't seen anything like this in the "drugstore" before where you get a bronzer and a blush together in the one set, it is so handy to save having to buy them separately. This set is not the most pigmented at first but is is really easily built up so perfect for beginners so you don't end up looking too tangoed! As for highlighter you all knew I was going to pick the No.7 Instant Radiance Highlighter, this is my all time favourite highlighter. It is so lovely and creamy and gives the most natural glow to the skin. Plus if you get it when the No.7 vouchers are doing the rounds it is such a bargain! 

Bringing things up to the eyes, starting with eyebrows. The Sleek Eyebrow Stylist has been quite a recent discovery and one I have really been enjoying using. It is so much quicker than using powder and it still gives a very natural but defined look to the brows. Moving on to eyeshadow I will admit I am a bit of an eyeshadow snob, but one palette I have particularly been loving the past couple of months has been the Soap & Glory Lid Stuff palette. It is a very neutral palette but it has everything in it for a day to day look that can be amped up for a night time look too. The shadows are really pigmented and for the price you really can't go wrong. Eyeliner is a no-brainer, it has to be the Rimmel Scandaleyes. Nothing compares to these beauties. They are soft so they don't drag on your waterline, they are amazingly pigmented so a little goes a long way and once they set they are not going anywhere so you don' t have to worry about the dreaded panda-eyes look at the end of the day. They have a fantastic range of colours too, so you can get everything from a nude to a purple! For mascara it is really down to personal preference as I find the majority of "drugstore" mascaras to be fantastic. The one I have picked for the sake of this post is the Maybelline Falsies. This is my old faithful mascara, I always end up picking up a new tube of it after a couple of months of not using it and falling back in love with it again. It gives amazing volume to the lashes which is the main thing I'm after. 

For lips I went with two options, a day time and a night time. For during the day it has to be the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Puker (Ooooh!) Gloss Stick in Nudist. These lip crayons glide onto the lips so easily and once built up they give the most amazing shine to your lips while still feeling like a balm. The colour is really natural and perfect for day time wear! For night time I have amped the colour up and chosen the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper. These are possibly the most amazing drugstore lip product I have ever tried. They are a liquid lipstick that drys to a matte finish and does.not.budge. Once it's on it's there until you decide to take it off. The colour is just amazing for night time (although I have worn this during the day too) and you don't have to worry about it smudging everywhere as the night goes on!

So that is my "Drugstore" make up starter kit complete. I hope it helps some of you that are starting out in make up, or maybe helped you discover some new products! Let me know what your favourite product from the "drugstore" is and I'll be sure to try it out! 

 

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The Non-Sticky Lipgloss Edit

First of all I want to apologize for the absence on my blog over the past week. I have been so busy for the past couple of days that I just have not had a chance to take any pictures or to write anything. But I am on my holidays for a week now so I am going to get back in the game and get really organized with my posts again. I really missed blogging over the couple of days that I couldn't do it so I am excited to get back into it.

Following on from my NYX Butter Glosses review which you can read here if you haven't already, I decided to do a post about the lipgosses that I have been loving the past while. If you asked me a year or two ago did I like lipgloss the answer would have been a very firm no. The stickiness and just the general feeling of the product on my lips was just not something I enjoyed and I just couldn't stand it long enough to keep the product on my lips a decent amount of time. I didn't even own a lipgloss two years ago, that just shows how much I really didn't like them. 

The products that completely changed my opinion of lipglosses was the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors. Longest name ever and one of the most hyped up products out there. I absolutely love these lipglosses. They feel so lovely on the lips and are really pleasant to wear. They are so lightweight that it doesn't feel like you are wearing anything on your lips and they are not at all sticky! The colours are really neutral so are perfect for everyday wear. Another thing that I really love about these is that they are really moisturising on the lips which is another bonus! These are definitely my all time favourite lipglosses ever!

One of the most exciting launches for me this year was when NYX arrived in Ireland. I knew straight away that I wanted to try the NYX Butter Glosses, like I said in my original post I felt that I would love them before I had even tried them. The name is literally the most perfect description of these glosses. They are so buttery and silky feeling, similar to the Clarins ones in the way that they are quite moisturising on the lips. There are definitely more shade options in this range, you can go for your practical nudes or some of the really lovely brighter shades that are amazingly pigmented! They smell absolutely amazing too which I think is an important factor when it comes to buying a lip product since it will be right under your nose!

Finally the most recent editions to my lipgloss collection are the MaxFactor Colour Elixir lipglosses. Honestly I bought these partly because the packaging looks so lovely. Thankfully the product is really nice inside! Again not sticky- very important factor when it comes to picking a lipgloss! They are not the most pigmented in the world but they are perfect for everyday wear and won't look too over-done. Out of the three I've mentioned these are definitely the most lightweight on the lips.

So those are the lipglosses that I have been loving over the past while, considering I hated lipglosses not too long ago it is quite a little collection! Let me know your recommendations for (non sticky) lipglosses and I will be sure to check them out! 

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An Ode to the Orange-Red Lip

So as the evenings are getting longer and the days are getting sunnier, most people tend to stray away from the bold lips and stick to either lip balm or a nude colour. But this Summer I have been doing the exact opposite of what I would normally do and I am embracing the brighter bolder lip colours. Specifically those of the orange-red variety. I have been wearing them both on nights out (which are a very rare occurrence!) and during the day to brighten up an otherwise boring look. 

When it comes to a bold lip in my opinion you need to go matte or go home. Matte lip products are just so fuss free. Long lasting and they stay where they were put which is the most important thing! You may have already noticed from the pictures above that the three lip products that I am about to speak about are virtually  This recent love affair with the Orange-Red lip originally came from the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper, a liquid lipstick which dries to a gorgeous creamy matte finish and does not budge. I am so tempted to pick up some of the other shades in these Rouge Editions as the formula is so impressive. 

After getting the Bourjois Rough Edition I ordered NARS Red Square. Again another matte orange-red which is incredibly long lasting. I would pick this over the Bourjois version purely for convenience. It is more compact and easier to touch up so on some days I would apply the Bourjois in the morning and bring this with me incase I would need to touch up throughout the day (which would be a very rare occasion!)

Finally is an oldie but a goodie, MAC's Lady Danger. This was the first lipstick of the orange-red family that came into my life well over a year ago now. It is the most vibrant shade so I would normally reserve this for a night out, and again it has the matte finish but still is very comfortable to wear. I think any MAC lipstick lover needs this beaut in their collection! 

And so concludes my ravings about the orange.-red lip...I will try and post a FOTD post to feature one of these beauties in action, but until then please let me know which lip products you have been loving lately, either bold or neutral because I am just addicted to buying lip products lately! 

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Summer Blusher Edit

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NYX Butter Glosses

I have a new obsession. If you live in Ireland you may have heard the fabulous news that NYX have finally reached our shores. People have gone crazy for this brand and I am unashamly one of those people. One of the main things that I was excited about getting my hands on was the Butter Glosses. I had heard so many rave reviews about them so I felt I loved them before I even tried them! 

When I eventually found a stand - I may have had to get my boyfriend to drive me to another town to get to one..desperate much- I grabbed four of them because I was that sure I would like them. The shades I got were Creme Brule, Eclair, Vanilla Cream Pie and Maple Blondie. Since getting these I have constantly had one in my handbag, make-up bag, pockets..everywhere I could possibly need one. You all know I am not the biggest lipgoss person, in fact before I discovered the Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfectors I would never use lipgloss. I would actually say these are really similiar to the Clarins ones in the way that they are completely non sticky and really creamy. They are really nicely pigmented considering they are just a lipgloss. 

They are not the most longlasting lip product in the world but I don't expect a lipgloss to last all that long at the best of times. They smell absolutely devine and are really nice to wear. If, like me, you are not traditionally a lipgloss girl then I would defintely recommend you give these a go. The thing that keeps me away from most traditional lipglosses is the feel on the lips and how sticky they are and with these that is not a problem! So if stickiness is a factor for you then give these a go and you may be converted!

Let me know if you have tried the Butter Glosses from NYX and if there is anything else that you would recommend from the brand!

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