Feburary Favourites

Feburary was packed with lovely nights out and blogger events, but man was it stressful. I didn't blog as much as I hoped I would either. The terrifying news in Feb that Blogger was going to make private and take down any 'sexually explicit content' by mid March has been revoked so I don't have to jump ship and start on a new website. I might have had a celebratory lie down and bawl moment. Thanks so much to everyone who messaged, tweeted and IG me to say that the decision had been rethought! Your all little stars.

I feel like Feb was the month of hair and nails, which is the continued trend into March. After a lovely hairdresser verbally bashed my hair I've been conditioning it and using hair oil like its going out of fashion. (Although it wasn't until the woman actually touched my hair that she commented quietly about it not being nearly as bad as she first thought. But of course the damage was already done to my self esteem! Think before you speak and all that jazz.) So Aussie 3 minute miracle mask has been my go to. That along with Tresemme expert selection keratin smooth beautifying oil. Even though my hair is almost down to my arse, I only need one pump of this oil to get it right down to the tips. I'd say this is a medium oil, runny that drys in within a few minutes. I'd recommend this to someone who only needed their hair a little maintained, but I was using a lovely dry oil that was thick and dried into my hair super quick so I could be bias of this one. Unfortunately the lovely oil was only a sample and I forgot to write the name down before throwing it out. 

If anyone has suggestions for different hair oil please do tell me!

Next is the gorgeous smelling Yummy Mummy shower gel by Lush. Its in their limited edition Mothers Day range and I reach for it a lot. I've even used it once or twice as a shampoo and I can't say enough good things about it. I'll be picking up another little bottle before they go out of stock. You can see this and more of the range over here in a haul review!

I've finished so many of my beloved Ziaja skin care things and haven't had a chance to pick them up again so I've been using this SuperDrug B.Pure micellar water that I got a few months ago and totally forgot all about. Its one that did the job grand this month and is small enough that you can throw it in your hand bag or car if your going away for the weekend. It was on offer when I saw it for just over €2 so keep an eye out if you happen to be in The Square. I'm just finished this, so its a trip to Boots for something new soon. I think the Garnier water will get a look in next.

  Another Lush love has been my pot of Dream Cream. I can't believe how many years I've been buying from this shop and haven't tried this stuff, its really the bees knees. It doesn't have a strong smell, it moisturises like no ones business and it sinks into the skin really well - theres no sitting onto of the skin and theres minimum residue left once its rubbed in. I've hared through this little pot and although its on the pricey side, I'll be picking it up again once I've made a hole in the mountain of other moisturisers I have waiting to be used. Big thumbs up.

Butter London top and base coat have been glued to me over the past two months and at one point have even lived in my handbag in March. They make any nail varnishes stay perfectly for about 3/4 days longer then they normally would when not used. They also give a better overall shine to my nails. These two products do cost a bomb for just bases, but if you have a birthday coming up or are a big nail person, then I can't recommend getting them enough. When these bottles are finished - no time soon though, they last so long - I'll begrudgingly hand over money to get two more. Then complain about the price while looking at my lovely nails. As any skint person would do. You can have a look at the full review here.

Over the last while I've not really been myself and had quite a down month. Stress and other issues have flared up my eczema and I've been having spells of brief panic attacks. I've been making a conscious effort to calm myself a lot more and one of the things I've been doing is burning Emmas Soy Candles in the evenings. I've been using a wax melt of the gorgeous Harmony blend and also neroli fusion. Lemongrass is my go to candle to burn - and it also gets rid of wet dog smells! I'll be making the trek to Meaghers Pharmacy on Baggot st in Dublin to pick up a big tumbler for mothers day and a few wax melts for myself this week. Highly recommend checking out their site here and getting a few things for mothers day. They do lovely gift sets too.

Now finally to what I've been wearing on my mug. Max Factor creme puff blushes have taken the beauty world by storm, everyone and their mammies have one of these. I've the full review for them over here.  And theres a really good reason why: they are just that good. They come in 6 different shades and are meant to be dupes for HourGlass, but for half the price. I've been using Nude Mauve for the latter hlaf of Feb and now on into March and I really love it. One I'll be getting again when it runs out, or I might pick up another shade - but they are hard to come by as they are normally sold out, so keep the eyeballs peeled! 

What have you been loving over the past month?

November Favourites

November has been the month of getting everything done before the madness of the Christmas rush. Its mostly worked quite well and now I can sit back and watch as everyone else panic buys socks and boxes of biscuits for loved ones. If your one of these people, do keep an eye out over the next week or so for different gift guides that I'll be posting up. There might be something for that one difficult aunt or brother that you can never get the right thing for.

I think its clear by now to see that I am a massive fan of candles, especially Irish ones that are made of only the good stuff. So you might be shocked to see that I have both Yankee candles and Emma So Naturals side by side this month. I'll tell you now, I used to be Yankees biggest fan and still buy them on occasion, but I've mostly used Christmas Cookie because it was a present and himself was giving out I wasn't using it. But also because I broke my beloved Emmas one - drink and candles do not go hand in hand, just let me say that now. Surprisingly enough, it lit for the photos and then died on me altogether not long after I went to pick out the pictures of this post. Little fecker, such a poser that Masala Chai. Luckily enough though, I picked up the largest candle size of this scent yesterday, so I am one happy camper. Have a read of the Emmas candles collection over here.

I know last month I featured this Christian Breton lipstick in the shade speak easy, but holy god its that good I had to include it again. I have never before got so many compliments as I do when wearing this. Its such a gorgeous purple colour and is something that I can't seem to find in any other collections. It lasts all day with the help of a lip pencil and adds serious attitude to any look. I'd put money on me finishing this lipstick before Spring - and I've never finished a lip product before. You can get this from The Cosmetic Outlet on Meath Street for €10. Just in time for the Christmas stocking, or a treat for yourself.

The Body Shops White Musk was every girls fragrance at some stage in her teens, but they brought out the more mature smoky rose scent last year. This month it has been my go to scent thats perfect for a little something heavier in the winter months. Again, I've had loads of people sniffing me and asking what it is. My bottle has been well loved and I can see myself getting it again once it runs out. Its not breaking the bank either considering its perfume and from the sometimes over pricey Body Shop. One for the wish list!

Glitter. All of the magical glitter that is allowed at this time of year. And because I don't do things halfheartedly, every single nail had to have Models Own top glitter coat, that doesn't actually have a name or number on it oddly! I am such a big fan of glitter and would wear it all year round if it wasn't so hard to take off my nails. This one is under Barry M Chai. 

Next is a bit of a surprise one for me. My Sleek vintage romance palette that I got back in October. I've been using all the colours in this, which I never thought I'd do. The pinks and purples are well out of my comfort zone but I decided to throw caution to the wind and slap it all over my eye balls for a lot of this month. I feckin love how pigmented these palettes are and the gorgeous selection you get in each one. Theres both shimmers and mattes in this, but the glitter has to always be caked on when I do it! How can you not have glitter when its acceptable to? This was €9.99 in Boots for 12 shades, a brush and a massive mirror. Bargain if I ever saw one.

Next is my lovely *Paese bamboo powder that I have become very attached to. I was so surprised when I started using this, a little on when first doing my make up to set the lot and that was it for the day. Normally I'm having to touch up my setting powder through out the day, but I hardly ever need to with this one. Its total magic I'm telling you! The one downside is that its loose so if your not careful it can go everywhere. (Or if your me, you'll accidentally inhale some and ruin your eye make up coughing and making your eyes stream. Sexy, right?) You can see my full review and more of the Paese range here. 

Lastly two of my most used things to date. I've had a long affair with Soap&Glory, but when their Orangeasm collection was launched I considered marriage. I've been using this body wash since I got it back in October and I've not fallen out of love with it yet. Using it every single day with 2 or 3 pumps and its only now hit the half way mark. Theres some gorgeous S&G sets out for Christmas that I have been begging for. I need them all in my life - and I'm just out of their body scrubs too. Perfect timing to stock up again! (Are you listening santy?)

My sister introduced me to a bundle of French brands after she went jet setting to France with her other half for a week. She came home weighted down with skin care and goodies for me to try. I'll tell you now, the sisterly bond was strong that day. This Bioderma cleansing milk is one she passed to me when she found it wasn't working for her skin. After trying it out for the entire month I'm almost booking her tickets back to France to buy more. This takes off the most caked make up, mascara (- but not Benefits They're Real. Feckin nothing gets that cray stuff off.) and all the most pigmented lipsticks going. I really love it and its not once irritated my skin. I've not looked this up as I really don't want to ruin the dream and find out how expensive it is, or how difficult it is to get in Ireland. But as its now two thirds gone, I'll have to burst my bubble soon. 

Thats it for me now. I'm sorry about the crappy blogging I've been doing in the last few weeks. If its not the awful light, its the lack of time! Speaking of light, apologises for the utterly horrendous light in this post. I've had nothing but weeks of poor lighting and said feck it yesterday. Downsides of the winter season! 

Empties #7

I think I'm getting better at doing these empties more often, thing aren't piling up so much! I only did one of these last month but since then I've had loads more odds and ends that I've been using up. Some of them I'm very sorry to see go and will be on the list must buys again soon, once all the Christmas presents have been bought!

First is my lovely Body Shop chamomile cleanser that was an utter dream to use on my skin. It took off all my make up and didn't irritate even my eyes. It was pricey at €15 and not something I will be picking up soon, but is on my wishlist of lovely things to get when I have a spare few bob floating about. You can read my full review of it over here.

Seventeen is the love of my make up life, we all know that by now. So when they brought this new foundation out a few months ago I couldn't have been happier. I'm now on to my third bottle of the stuff and use it daily. Its the perfect tone for my pale completion and can build up to have a totally flawless - slightly thick, but full coverage. Theres not much else in the make up section that could make me change my mind. This is just over €8 but all the make up in Boots tends to be on 3 for 2 so you can pick it up on the cheap. I need to get a back up of my back up for this one!

My Garnier micellar water is finally finished. When the internet went mad for those waters I naturally jumped on the bandwagon and bought a million different ones. This one is by far the best, purely based on the price. Its one of the biggest bottles at 400ml instead of the usual 200ml. So when I next run out of all my water, I'll pick this on up again.

Ziaja is amazing, theres not one product that I've tried of theres that I've not loved - which is a big thing for me to say. The Ziaja rose butter micro peeling face scrub has been my go to scrub for months now and I'm sad thats its come to an end. I'll be keeping an eye out for this again and buying a back up when I do find them. I used this about 3 times a week and it kept my skin soft while not being too harsh or stripping it. This was about €6 if I remember right and is worth every penny. 

My fall down with these posts are the crazy amounts of hair things in them. So I'll keep this one really short. We all know I love Dove and I buy this conditioner for coloured hair religiously. Big thumbs up. Next is a let down of a Dealz find, some random shampoo and conditioner that wasn't very good. I wont be getting it again.

Onto the hair dyes now. My Bleach London dye needs a full ranting, so heres the blog post for it. I just hate it so much! The other is XXL Live and that is the other end of the scale entirely. I use this all the time and love it so much. I lasts ages and gives such gorgeous colours once its washed out. You can pick this one up on offer in Boots all the time for about €5 which is perfect for me.

Two bottles of dry shampoo that I now use all the time. Batiste is an old favourite that I used a lot of especially around Halloween as it gives great texture and the white powder it leaves behind looks great too. But a new favourite is the Herbal Essence range and I have about 3 as back ups! They were on special offer in Tesco so I really stocked up. Best dry shampoo ever!

Few deodorants I really like is the Nivea no stains one and the roll on energy fresh one. Mostly the bigger bottle is about €5 in Boots but I always buy the roll on one in Dealz for €1.49 which is great for just before bed if you don't fancy having a stuffy room of spray left or if you have asthma and find that sprays irritate it. 

Next are two body scrubs, one is a mini from Soap&Glory. Sugar crush is by far my favourite scent along with the new orange one thats out. Nom nom nom, they smell so good! I'm asking santa for one of those sets for Christmas and in the mean time I might just accidentally buy one! The other is the raspberry body scrub from the Body Shop that loads of bloggers raved about. When I was in one day they had it on special offer so I picked it up but I wont be getting it again. It just didn't do anything for me and left my skin, unscrubed?

Once I found the dupe in Dealz for my Bourjoir nail varnish remover, I'm not going to be picking it up again. But this did work really well and if theres no Dealz near you then I'd recommend getting this one. Its about €6.99 so its not breaking the bank.

I really love Ghost and enchanted bloom is my favourite one of the collection. I have had this still in my shelf far too long but I could bare to throw it out. But considering its less then €30 I think I'm going to ask himself for it for Christmas. Perfume is such a lovely gift and an easy one once you know what type the girl or guy likes!

Lastly is one of the best Irish candles around, Emmas so naturals. This is one of their winter limited edition ones in masala chai. I think this is one of the nicest ones of all the winter candles out there. For €9.99 I think this is going to be bought again really soon. You can see all the other scents and full reviews over here.

Do you think empty posts are good for finding new things to try?

Emma's Candles

This isn't the first time I've blogged about Emma's candles, nor I doubt will it be the last. The first time I banged on about it was back in June and my love for these hasn't dwindled. Have a look at my first thoughts over here. In case your new to this brand, Emma and her husband are the two lovelies behind these beauts of candles. They are an Irish company to be proud of - as the loving Irish brands have been a little lacking in my last few posts, so it makes a really good change! 

I've been slowly but surely making my way through all of the scents they have on offer. A month or two ago I ordered a gorgeous candle of theirs in lemongrass that was made in a tea cup with a saucer. These are hard to come by and only pop up every so often. I was really delighted to get one but I haven't been able to bring myself to burn it yet. However every time I pass this I get the lovely scent of lemongrass so I guess I'm not really wasting the candle too much. I think this in particular would make an amazing Christmas present for a mammy or granny. I know both of mine are always commenting about how nice my room smells or how beautiful the cup candle is. Make sure to follow them on Twitter for updates on the next batch, you might get lucky!

Recently for my birthday I asked for one of their Christmas scents that they have just come out with, a candle in Masala Chia and also a regular wax melt in Neroli Fusion. They kindly gave me another Christmas scent wax melt in Mint Crisp as well. I've been using all of them, I can never decide which one I'm going to use! Each tin candle is €9.95 while the bigger glass candle is €18.50 and a wax melt is €4.95. They also do great multi buy special offers that all come packaged up with ribbons. Not that they need it really, as the packaging is all designed by Emma herself. Each design is suited to the candle can be really detailed, its a lovely touch.

The tin candle in Masala Chia is proper scent that reminds me of Christmas and one of my favourite drinks, chai lattes. This has ginger, cinnamon, clove and cardamon spices blends to make you feel warm and excited for the cold season thats starting to appear.

The Neroli Fusion wax melt is something totally different then I've ever had. I think any wax melts give off a much stronger scent that fills more of a room then most candles. It has orange oil, lavender and neroli oil. I think this would be an either love it or hate it scent, but so far everyone whose had a sniff loves it. I also really like the little white flowers that are on the packaging for this. 

Lastly is the *mint crisp that has to be my favourite out of the lot. This is another Christmas scent thats only out for the season. I had a dreadful head cold when I first used this, and at the time nothing was properly clearing up my head at night so breathing was hard and sleeping half upright wasn't ideal. I started to melt this as a little pick me up while sulking away in bed and found that my head started to clear up! Its like Vicks but one that you can melt and feel Christmasy while you sniff it. I really recommend stocking up on this if you have a cold. I can't use Vicks so this is the perfect substitute. Total love at first.. Sniff!

Emma's has recently updated their site to include a brand new look and easier to navigate. Make sure and have a goo at it over here.

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here. 

June Favourites

I've been crappy at posting in June, tis' a woeful situation altogether lads. I'll try and be better this month. I've lots of lovely things I want to post about, I promise I'll kick myself up the arse and get to it! Right now though, lets talk favourites. I've been a little fish this month heading into the pool a lot and as a result the hair is about three days short of a full on strike. Also I have been stocking up on the books which I'll have a post about soon, love me some reading!

First off I am going mad overboard fancy here - well for me! I recently ran out of my Benefit They're Real and decided to go rooting for a new mascara. Boom! I found this in my draw, a long lost Christmas present. Lancome Hypnose in black. Its a lot wetter then what I was used to with Benefit and when it drys theres no hard layer of can't-open-your-eyes-for-the-weight. In short, I feel classy wearing this. Bit of a bitch if you like fast drying mascaras, but the end result is gorgeous lashes. Not worth almost €30 though. 

On the other end of the money scale (and back to my normal kind of thing!) is a bargain grabbin' €1.50 argan oil hair treatment from the pound shop. As I said, the hair is in dreadful condition so I picked this up in hopes that it will do something. Your instructed to use 3-4 drops and distribute throughout the hair, but I just lash it on and hope for the best washing it out a few hours later. Its worth picking up as I can feel the softy soft results after using it.

As I am an absolute tool I forgot to take a photo of the pink exfoliate gloves from the top picture, but I still need to tell you about them. Penneys best, €1.50 and everyone needs a pair. I have gotten big into my body scrubs lately and what better way to maximize the scrubby goodness then with a pair of gloves to help remove sandpaper skin? These ones replaced my much loved WaxPerts gloves, which I will talk about soon. (Me blogging a lot sounds great in theory!)

If your new to the party, I wrote about the book Guilty Pleasures a little while ago, and after about 14 of them (theres something like 20 in total) I gave up and ranted to anyone who would listen about the awful story line. And after a few months of not reading the books, I'm beginning to miss it again, so when I found some graphic novels of the books I pounced on them. They are everything and nothing like I had imagined in my head, but thats always the way! I'm so tempted to go back and read a few more awful, sex filled, vampire books... Actually it doesn't sound all that bad!

The most exciting thing about my showers recently has been Garnier Ultimate Blends shampoo and conditioner. Man these bottles smell so damn good! (Hey, its the little things in life) I'm slowly making my way through their entire range and this is my favourtite so far. I smell my hair all day and look like a loon because of this stuff. Softy soft hair is also a major bonus from using this too. There all on offer for under €3 in Boots at the moment if you fancy grabbing a few.

Lastly my Emma's soy candles. I'm still in love with these and I did a post about them here. When I get sad I light these and they make me happy. My asthma has seriously been getting worse the past while and they don't effect it at all. Little jar of happiness that you can enjoy being around and still being able to breath? Yeah, we like that kind of stuff! They are Irish, hand made and come in so many different scents. You need at least one.

Emmas Soy Candles

Twitter is alive with the rave reviews of Emmas Soy Candles at the minute. Loads of bloggers have been getting on board the shop local and support Irish businesses band wagon - and what a fine thing it is to see! Not only am I a massive lover of candles, but of good home grown businesses that you can be proud of too. It just so happens that both of these boxes are ticked in todays post.

To start with, I have to mention the packaging. I'm a lover of shiny, pretty floral designs and these candle tins send the aul heart a fluttering. I was lucky enough to meet Emma's husband who not only was a mind of information but also gushed over his lovely creative wife Emma! He told me that she thought up and designed all the packaging herself, how cool is this lady?! The hardest thing was choosing a candle after smelling how good they were and the enthusiasm for the brand caught me like wildfire. 

Emma's candles have no artificial dyes, synthetic fragrances, paraffin or parabens in them, so what your burning is really some good quality stuff that wont upset those of us that might be sensitive to overpowering chemical smells. Also I'm a big fan of burning these candles as they don't effect my asthma the way some candles can. (The all fearing moment when you light a new candle and hope you don't keel over before you can get your inhaler 10 minutes later.) To top it all off these tin candles (€9.95)  have a burning time of about 20 hours while the bigger glass tumbler (€19.95)  has a massive 50 hours. You can also get lovely wax tart melts (€4.95), it doesn't say how long their burning time is for on the site but I'm sure its enough time to help you unwind with the gorgeous scents.

The first tin I had my eye on was the lavender scented one. I really like sweet scents but never try out the more relaxing ones so this was nabbed pretty quickly! When its lit it has the most gorgeous light scent of real lavender up close, but it doesn't fill the whole room for about 40 minutes which means your not overpowered and need to blow it out quickly. The thing that really stumped me was the day after burning it, I could still get the lavender scent when I walked into my room! It lingers so much longer then any other candle I've ever used and anyone who walked into my room that day asked if I had sprayed something or put fresh sheets on the bed. I think this candle (no doubt a repurchase by then) will be great for the winter months when windows aren't opened and you need a little freshening up in stuffy, warm rooms. Speaking of which, will I be shot if I mention that these are on my Christmas shopping list? Both my mom and sister really liked them so... I'll just be quiet now.

The second candle was the *lemon grass scent which I would have normally never tried out. I'm really surprised at how much I'm enjoying burning it and like the lavender one, it isn't overpowering and doesn't hit you with a strong scent once its lit. I think this is the perfect scent for the summer and on my next internet shopping trip I'm going to try lemongrass out in their wax melts!

Have a look at the whole range on emmas.ie.

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here.