The Body Shop .co.uk Haul!

The Body Shop always carries me inside there Grafton Street store in Dublin, and recently after watching Essie Buttons review on the honey bronzer, I had to pop in to check it out. This bronzer comes in 4 matte shades, two with pink undertones, and two on the yellow side and seems perfect for the pale skin. It was 19 euro in store and I couldn't pull out that kind of money without purchases the other items I eyed up, so I decided to do an online shop since they had 40% off sitewide - amazing!!

I used parcel motel, which is a shipping service that you can get your items delivered to their UK address, and they drive them down to your closest parcel motel station. You enter the text code, and boom the locker opens and you have your package. Only 3.50 per stay and its easy to use.

It all arrived in this little box and the entire order was only £20 (sterling)! Defiantly made a lot of savings compared to buying in the Dublin store I usually browse.

I ordered a new eye cream, as I just finished my Benefit 'Its Potent', which did not impress me at all, as I didn't see any difference in the appearance of my circles or tired eyes. This is very light and has a unique fragrance to it, that i'm not sure i'm a fan of, but excited to try it! Contains 15ml.

Rainforest Volume shampoo, which I was drawn towards because it contains no sulfates, which I recently learnt are bad for your hair, espcially if its coloured, which I got mine done last week. I didn't realise that I ordered such a small size (oops, always happens online), but at least I can try it twice from this little 60ml bottle. 

Since i'm a major germaphobe I wanted to try out a hand gel that didn't smell like I had just drank a bottle of vodka. This smells extremely strong of mango, wow! It's very over powering, but better than that alcohol smell anyway.

This soaps were only £1.20 each, which seems like a bargain and had looooads of great reviews. I purchased the Satsuma, Strawberry, and Chocomania soap smells. I cannot wait to try these (especially the chocolate one :p)

Saving the best for last, the Honey Bronzer. This product is what made me do an online order as I have heard too many great things about it and that it suits pale skin really well. This is very matte and velvety      to touch. I got shade 03, as I found when swatching them in the shops, that there was not much colour pay off for shade 01 as it was very pale, and shade 02 had a slight pink undertone. I will review this if I love it, and coming into spring summer I think that it will be perfect. 

Recent Purchases Feb 2014 / March 2014

New things :-)

Recent purchases from the past 6 weeks that I love! I bought some of these online and the rest in Boots and at the Irish beauty show, which again was a huge success and great fun to attend for the third year in a row. 

Marc By March Jacobs cosmetic bag from iOffer

 The first purchase I made was on ioffer.com. I've heard loads of bad things about this website, such as ordering an item and getting something completely different or an empty package. I was very skeptical about ordering so I chose something small and sweet for my first purchase and I am defiantly impressed! I ordered this Marc By Mac Jacobs cosmetics bag. The only downside to ordering was the wait, they say anything from 2-6 weeks and mine arrived in nearly 4 weeks. Very happy with this cosmetic bag, how much it can hold and the overall quality.

Cocoa Brown Lovely Legs

I've been a Cocoa Brown tan fan since it was first released. At the Irish Beauty Show is where I stocked up last year on my one hour tan and it was time to get more. I picked up 4 bottles of the one hour tan and then two of these new releases. Lovely legs which is an instant tan makeup for legs (similar concept on Sally Hansen, but I find the consistency lighter and a better colour). 

Suddenly Diamonds by Lidl

This was a random purchase when I was food shopping in Lidl last week. I had seen on many irish beauty blogs that a Lidl perfume resembled a Chanel for a fraction of the price and wanted to check it out. I definatly was not a fan of the Chanel dupe as it reminded me of 'old lady' strong purfume that caused me to sneeze! I then tried this and really like it, its a light fresh, floral scent and for 3.49 you can't go wrong. Going to keep this in my handbag for when on the go!

I have been seeing texturised hair on blogs a lot on celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, and wanted to try out a sea salt spray for that texturised beach hair effect. This was a good purchase from Boots, costing between 5/6 euro. I spray it in my hair when it is still damp and dry the rest. I leave my long hair wavy and reduces frizz. 

Placed my first order on beauty joint.com. As I watch many youtube beauty gurus online, Lauren Beauty always recommends Jordana best last extreme so I made my order and it arrived within a week along with some Jordana brow powder. I really like both products. The mascara is quite quick on the brush so I tend to wipe off the excess before applying and it holds the curl nicely all day long. This brow powder doubles as a good crease colour for adding depth to my eyes. 

I purchased two 'BlankCanvas' eye brushes at the Irish Beauty Show in the RDS. I really want to order more as they are brilliant for blending compared to my sigma blending brushes that I already own. 

Olay Cleansing System

I've been eyeing up this system ever since I saw the Clarasonic in action (and can't justify buying that quite yet with its big price tag). I noticed this on special on Boots.ie after christmas, then last week it was even cheaper 29.99 compared to 45.99 and had to get it! It came with the system, a brush head and a small sized cleanser. 

The difference in the texture of my skin is unbelieable! When turning it on I expected there to be more pressure or speed but after one minute on my face, it felt so smooth, my pores looked clean and smaller and my moisturiser sunk in faster! 

Overall very happy with this device and will continue to use it over the next month and see if my skin will continue to improve 

Wet n Wild Cosmetics Come To Ireland!

Excuse the bad quality phone pic I had to snap

I've been reading a few posts this week that Wet n Wild had replaced Essence and Catrice in Dunnes Stores and being delighted with the news, went to my local Dunnes, thinking it might of just been Stephens Green store stocked up, but Woo! they had it in the cosmetics isle.

There were quite I few people eyeing up the new stand, so I picked a few items quickly and so far am pleased with what I bought. I have used Wet N Wild products before while make-up shopping in the USA and the products I had purchased in NY and Chicago were on the shelve here. The pricing was decent, everything being under 6 euro, slightly more than the American conventions but still reasonable!

The first thing I picked up which i've heard many many good things about, but never tried was the Mega Last nail polish  in 'I need a refresh-mint'

I tried this polish out this morning, and the brush is amazing, and one coat was so opaque I barely needed a second coat. This formula isn't compareable to any polish I own and will certainly re-purchase more colours. This was the only spring colour that stood out to me, so hopefully brighter colours will come out as the months get warmer. Priced at 2.99

Secondly, I picked up this mascara, as the morning I went to Dunnes I was watching a Youtuber mention this in her favorites video. This is the Mega Length in Waterproof. I am instantly in love with this mascara! I generally dont gravitate towards 'cheaper' mascaras, and my lashes are so long and straight that I find Maybellline usually does the trick (usually around 12 euro). This mascara seperated my lashes so well, didn't clump and kept the curl. I am highly impressed, and can't wait to use it more. Priced at 4.69

Lastly I picked up the Ultimate Brow kit, which looks really cute. It comes with two shades of powders (this set was the only colour that was layed out), a brow wax, a mini tweezers and also a small angled brush. I generally use a brow pencil daily, but I have used this twice in a row now and am pleased with how it looks and is handy to keep inside my bag! Priced at 3.99

Overall I am impressed, and looking to try out some of their lipsticks and blushes next week when I'm shopping again!

Avene Thermal Spring Water -Review

Avène Thermal Spring Water claims to soothes, softens and calms skin. When skin feels dry, tight or warm spray on for hydration. This was defiantly my favourite thing to carry in my bag during 2013, especially during the summer. Even in the weather is hot, the water mists out at a cooling temperature, which was great during holidays and hot weather to fresh skin and cool down your body and face. I also found it good for spraying after makeup removal which can sometimes irritate skin depending on how much make-up was worn throughout the day. 

Laura Mercier Body Crème and Scrub - Review

I recently picked up this gift set from the Laura Mercier counter in Brown Thomas, Dublin. It was part of their Christmas sets, and I've heard Tanya Burr mention these many times throughout her videos. The body cream is aimed to moisturise your skin without being too heavy and greasy. The scrub claims to gently exfoliate your skin whist also protecting and naturally conditioning the skin. Although these are pricey to buy and quite high end` (I got a good deal being a Christmas set) they are most defiantly worth it. This will be a product that I will use sparely until empty and re-purchase.

There are 5 scents to the collection of creams and scrubs which are:

          - Ambre Vanille

                      -Almond Coconut Milk

        -Creme Brûlée

-Fresh Fig

               -Creme de Pistache

I choose my body cream in Almond Coconut Milk, which has a strong long lasting scent when used, even hours later which every body cream should do! It's the first cream that has lasted on my skin also, without feeling like my skin is greasy as it absorbs fast.

The texture as you can see is very thick, but also creamy and soaks into the skin fast.

I choose my scrub in the Vanilla scent, Ambre Vanille, which is sweet smelling. The exfoliating beads and small and are crushed vanilla seeds which are gentle on the skin leaving it silky smooth. The scent like the cream, also lingers on your skin which is nice and refreshing to smell during the day as it is long-lasting. 

Each jar contains 150ml / 6OZ of product which is a generous size, especially to try out! I defiantly recommending if you have been questioning whether to splurge and go for one of these that they are worth the price as the quality of the products are very high and my favourite thing is the long lasting scent that is left on your skin hours after applying.

New year - New hobby

Since I found my previous makeup blog I'm embarrassed by the quality and quantity of the posts so I am starting off fresh this new year here!