The Heel Condom-The Only Reusable Condom!!

OK something different for today readers, not only do I have a makeup obsession I also have a shoe and bag one. I am always on the look out for a pair of amazing shoes and I think my whole shoe collection has cost more then my entire wardrobe. On my last count I have around 80 pairs of shoes from flats to sandals to heels to skyscrapers that I have yet to master how to walk in!Unfortunately I do not always have the money to be going out and spending €50 plus on a fab pair of shoes, so when I came across this site I was delighted.

Introducing The Heel Condom , yes that is its name its all to do with publicity and to get people talking about them and it has certainly done that. Created by 24 year old entrepreneur Sandrysabel Ortiz, these beautiful designs have already been mentioned in magazines Glamour, In Style and many more as well as numerous online blogs. Just like other Fashion Houses they create a new collection each season and there is literally a condom for everyone.

Ranging in price from $10(in sale album) to $40 in the new collection($40= €30 $10=€7.50) and postage to Ireland is only $12(€9) these are very reasonable. There is two styles to these first there was the Panty style- The evolutionary condom that fit all heel types weather their thin or thick, high or low. Secondly there was the Condom style- the original condom that protects and decorates the heel, made to fit heels ranging from 2-5 inches. Some of the ribbon design condoms can be worn in many different ways -  Check it out here! Another great feature of them is that they can be cleaned , I have often got a mark of one of my favorite pairs of shoes and they have never been the same afterwards.

Most of these condoms can go with every color of shoes, so every time you walk out the door you can be walking out in a new pair of shoes with out burning a hole in your pocket! These condoms would also be great over a pair of Penney's €10 heels.  So which condom will you choose ??

Stock lists:
 www.theheelcondoms.com
 www.Prettypinktoes.co.uk
www.glamfoxx.com

This Winters Chapped Lips Saviour!!

Ireland has been getting colder lately and the talk of the dreaded snow is among us!! My friends and family seem to be dropping like flies with colds and flu's, luckily (fingers, toes and everything else crossed) I am still sniffle free! The one thing I do suffer from though is chapped lips. For years I used to leave the lips sticks and glosses behind and carry a tube of Vaseline in my pocket dosing my lips every hour trying to get rid of the flaky skin. It was only this year I was told that Vaseline does not work it actually dries them out more!! So I went in search of a new product and alas I found one!!!

On one of many random shopping trips with my beautiful friend Noelle, she told me about an article she read in one of the many fashion magazines about a exfoliating scrub for the lips and that u did not need to carry a lip balm around all day with you. The minute she said LUSH made it I knew it would be Divine!!. So we popped into LUSH on College Green in search of this wonder potion.

The wonderful LUSH store assistant pointed us in the right direction as we looked like two lost puppy's in search of a bone. This lip scrub comes in 3 flavours Bubblegum, Sweet Lips and my favorite Mint Julips. All handmade and made from natural ingredients. These scrubs main ingredient is sugar so their edible and its kind of hard to resist having a little taste! They taste as delish as they smell!!!

These little jars work out around €7 but last a life time. All u need is a pea size amount each morning to scrub into your lips each morning, after giving them a good scrub just wash off the scrub and then apply your favorite lip balm. By the time your finished applying the rest of your makeup your lips should be flake free and nicely moisturized so you can apply your favorite lippy. So girls and boys forget about those previous years chapped lips and say hello to kissable lips all year around!!

First Makeup Tutorial-Smokey and Nude

Sorry for the lack of of posts over the last few days but I've been away on training and had no Internet. As promised, I have done a makeup tutorial post I really did not know what look I was going for when I sat down to do this so seen as its Saturday I decided to do something for the weekend!

I went for a firm favorite with us Irish girls , the Smokey Eye. Since Kim Kardashian has braced our television screen her signature smokey eye has become a must for the Saturday nights makeup regime.I added a flick just for a little twist and a few individual lashes at the edge of my lashes to open my eye up more

I went with a nude lip as this look is really about the eyes and I did not want to take away from it. So I just with a nude lip and a pink gloss in the center.









So here's how I achieved the look and the products I used:

1. I applied Rimmel Match Perfection in shade 100 Ivory with a flat head foundation brush. €11.95

2.I used Maybelline 24hrs Concealer in fair under my eye and a tiny bit on my lid and any other blemishes or marks around my face.I applied this with my fingers as I believe concealer works better warmed up with your fingers. €8.95

3. I sealed my foundation Rimmels Clear Complexion Pressed Powder in shade 021 transparent.I applied this with a big powder brush.€5.95

4. I contour my face with no.17 pressed powder from Inglot Freedom System with an angled powder brush.This is firm favorite of mine, but at the start I was really scared of it at the start as it is pretty dark but a little goes along way with this and good blending is needed. €26 (for 2 powders and palette)


5. I used an orange color from a 120 eyeshadow palette I got from Ebay. The color would be a peachy orange ( column 3 row4). I only dabbed my angled powder brush in this color once as I only wanted a natural flush of color and not umpa lumpa cheeks! Around €9 price varies.


6. Next I filled in my eyebrows with the brown out of the Catrice duo palette  HELP! I'm Stranded. Using a an angled brow brush. Not too sure on price but you can get Catrice from Penney/Primark and pharmacy nationwide.


7. Again I used the Catrice duo palette but i used the gold shimmer on my eyelid with a flat eyeshadow brush for packing the color on my eyelid.


8. I applied this light brown color in the socket line and blended 3/4 of the way in and upwards with tapered blending brush. Also using a a pencil brush I applied this under my eye.


9. Using the black in the bottom right hand corner of the palette I applied this into the socket line and blended.

10. To do the flick I used Maybelline Gel Liner in black, using a thin angled eyeliner I started in the corner of eye with a thin line to the outer edge of the eye. Then using the point on the angled brush I created the point on the flick and joined the flick to the liner. I created a thick flick but you can do it as thin or as thick as you like.€10.95

11. For mascara I used Maybelline Falsies in black on top and bottom lashes. I applied 3 12mm individual lashes to the edge of my lashes to open up my eye. These lashes were also from Ebay . Mascara €8.90 Lashes €1.95 for box of about 40 lashes.


12. As a highlight I used Vanilla Ice from Frontcover Eye Spy palette box from Christmas 2009 range. Frontcover release a Christmas palette every year and this highlight is always the first shadow and appears in it every year sometimes with a different name. I applied this on my brow bone in the corner of my eye and on my cheek bones. Palette €47


13.On my lips I used Natural Nymph from ELF mineral lipstick range and Maybelline lip gloss in Freshly sliced. Lipstick €4.00 Lip gloss not to sure as I got it free with other Maybelline purchase.


Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!!! xx
 X6K8THBB3UK3

Cleaning Brushes 101

The dreaded brush clean, we all have to do it but its one of those things we just keep pushing to the side.We make excuses of it takes to long, we do not know how to clean them and they do not dry for when you need them the next day.Not cleaning our brushes can have major effects on our skin, you may have a religious skin care regime and a healthy diet but yet you get them dreaded spots, did you ever consider its you brushes??Not only does color build up but dead skin cells, oil and bacteria build up on them too.

If your a daily brush user I would definatly suggest cleaning them once a week, depending on how many you use depends on how long it takes. Here I have just a small portion of my brushes(18) and it took me max about 15 to clean so really its not time consuming. Drying time depends on the brush and where the brush is left to dry. Smaller brushes take only about an hour where big brushes take about up to 12 hours. So your brushes can be drying while you sleep and be ready for you in the morning. The best place to dry them is in the warmest place of your house i.e the kitchen or sitting room, I would not suggest the bathroom as it never gets really warm and can be damp. So how do you clean them, well its simple you just need two inexpensive items:

Most people would only need the to use the baby shampoo, but if you use gel eyeliner or really pigmented lipsticks you would know their a nightmare to clean with just shampoo! So lets begin:

1. Squirt a pea size amount of shampoo in your hand, run the the brush under the hot water and rub into the the shampoo until it becomes lathered, now rinse your hand NOT THE BRUSH under the water. This will save you from wasting the shampoo. rub the brush in the palm of your hand again until it lathers up and rinse your hand again repeat this another two times and then rinse the brush. Depending on how dirty the brush is depends on how often you need to reapeat this step.



2. For hard to remove makeup i.e gel liner( especially bomb proof inglot gel liner), pigmented lipstick and really dirty brushes, baby oil is the only way to bypass spending ages on trying to get them clean. After completing step one, pour some baby oil in a bowl and dip the brush in the oil the makeup should just dispearse from the brush. Reapeat step one again.





3.Once all the brushes are cleaned make sure to squeeze them of excess water and place them on some kitchen towel and leave them to dry, as I said above dry them in a warm place and also out of reach of children!! Also if you use short handled kabuki brushes place them upside down or else they wont dry the water will just remain in the handle.(Yes their my lovely pjs in the pictured this was just before bed!)




So thats it its not to hard or time consuming and could even be done through the breaks of X Factor on a sunday night.

As a MUA I can not do this in between clients so I disinfect my brushes with surgical spirits I buy a big bottle in boots and put it in a small spray bottle that I carry around in my kit. Before I move on to another client I would spray some tissue with the surgical spirits and rub my brush into the tissue until no more color comes off the brush.This gives you disinfected brushes and your not putting your client at harm. This is also a good tip if  you are prone to spots or cold sores, you should disinfect you foundation brush, concealer and lip brush after every use if you do not have time to wash them this will help with healing and prevent further spreading.






I hope this post will encourage you to clean your brushes as not only does it help your skin but helps with the longevity of your brush.
Brushes shown in this post are a mixture of LA Makeup, Inglot, No.7 and Crown

ColorSensational, a Sensational Let Down!!!

I recently picked up the new Maybelline ColorSensational Lip stain for free when I bought other Maybelline products. I have always liked the idea of lip stains, and I am a regular user of Benefit Benetint under my red lipsticks. So when I saw this I taught great a lip stain in a range of colors , it would be great for my clients who are looking for long wearing color on their lips.

Boy it was a complete let down! If I had of been spending my own money on it I would have done my regular checks on them in store, which would include checking the applicator, pigmentation and texture. So when I got home first thing I realised was I would never use this on a client. The felt tip applicator is one of the most unhygienic applicators I have seen since they put brushes on foundation bottles. At least they can be slightly cleaned by running hot water, this applicator can not be cleaned at all. If I did want to use this on customers I would have to break off the lid and put it in another container. Really I am not that bothered! I decided I would use it on myself. Oh I forgot to mention I got number 350 in Blushing.

After the whole application diabolical I noticed the smell and I can not lie it smells DIVINE!! The smell of berries actually over powered the whole room but unfortunately it does not make you lips smell divine , does not make them smell of anything. Color wise I was happy enough blushing is a deep pink verging on purple and looking great under light pink glosses, it gave an extra bit dept to my everyday lip color. There is one thing that makes me stay loyal to Benetint , the fact its smudge proof or as other people like to call it kiss proof ! It stays on no matter what your up to! That's the whole purpose of lip stains! Rating the longevity of Colorsensational on a scale of one to ten is a big fat 0! It last max about 2 hours , not what I would label a lip stain at all.

I bought this 2 weeks ago now and have used it about 4 times and now I can no longer use it! I have already mentioned about the applicator well not only is it unhygienic it has now completely dried up and I can only get a dribble of color out of it. I really had high hopes for this product as I do like other Maybelline products and I could see me using it in my kit, but this is defiantly one for Maybelline to go back to the drawing board on and for us to leave on the shelf. I would love to know if any of you had bought one and had a similar or different experience to mine.

Brushes a must have or complete waste of money!!!

Many a times I have asked by friends do I really need to use brushes, my answer is always yes!!! But do you need a gazillion no not at all! My friends would see my ever growing brush belt when I am applying their makeup of a Saturday night and every week the same question is 'What do you use them all for?'. Truth is I only would use max about 9 on one face at a time , the reason I have so many is their duplicated I have about 2 of every brush some I have about 6 of some brushes.

So your question now is 'Do I buy a brush set?' again my answer is no! If the only persons makeup your applying is your own then you defiantly do not need a 42 piece brush, you will never use all the brushes and some of them you might not even know what to use them for! Though they do look all shiny and new and us girls been like magpies can't resist do we really need to burn that big hole of €295 in our pocket or our boyfriends this Christmas. So how many do you need, well my answer will be 5, just 5 no more no less!

1: Foundation brush, the type of brush you use is totally up to you- types available are kabuki, flat head, stippling.
2: Angled blusher brush, this can be used to apply powder contour and blush
3:Blending eye brush, this is a must have you will never achieve the perfect smokey eye without one!
4: Angled eye brush, this can be used to apply the perfect cat eye flick with gel eyeliner or if your an eyebrow girl then this will be your saviour for creating that structured brow
5: Flat eye brush, perfect for packing on the color before you use your blending brush in the socket line!

In my opinion these are all the brushes you will need to create that flawless look and save you them much needed pennies! It also means that you can get your boyfriend to spend the rest of the money he would spend on the brush set on some fab makeup for your collection. Around this time of year many makeup counters are doing some fab small brush set and most of them come under the €50 mark. Though some of them do not carry all the brushes listed in my 5 must haves so here's my list of brushes that you can buy individually:

Foundation brush: Mac 187, Mac 130,Mac 188, Mac 190,Inglot 27TG, Inglot 21T,Crown C406, Crown C404, Crown SS003, Crown SS009

Angled blusher brush: Mac 168, Inglot 3P,Crown C104, Crown BK04, Crown B04, Crown SS013

Blending eye brush: Mac 217, Mac 224, Inglot 4SS, Inglot 6SS, Crown BK30, Crown BK38, Crown C200,Crown C429, No.7 Eye contour brush( buy for free with No.7 Boots Voucher)

Angled eye brush:Mac 208, Mac 263, Inglot 31T, Inglot 17TL, Crown B08, Crown BK45, Crown C207

Flat eye brush: Mac 249, Mac 239, Mac 242, Inglot 28PO, Inglot 29PO, Inglot 16PP, Crown BK39, Crown C202, Crown C417

Mac available in Brown Thomas Grafton Street and BT2 Dundrum
Inglot available in Jervis Shopping Center, Dundrum Town Center, Liffey Valley, Blanchardstown Shopping Center and Cresent Shopping Centre Limerick.
Crown available at http://www.crownbrush.co.uk/

Kate Moss first Lipstick for Rimmel London

It's hard to believe Kate Moss and Rimmel London have been working together for ten years. It's hard to believe Kate Moss is 37 years old actually!! To mark their decade anniversary Kate and Rimmel have joined together once more and launched Kate's debut lipstick collection. Available in 7 shades in a sleek black packaging with Kate's signature in red, shows that this range is aimed at all ages and pockets. Ranging from 4.95 -7.95 depending on where you buy it, I believe its a total bargain!

I recently went out and purchased shades 01 and 05 for my makeup kit, but me been me I could not resist trying it on myself. 01 of course is a deep red a staple color on Kate Moss lips.This is defiantly a blue tone. 05 is a bright pink shade. Both have a tiny bit of shimmer to them probably from the black diamond ingredient according to Rimmel gives them incredible new levels of light reflective elements. Smell wise (yes I smell all makeup and hopefully I am not the only one) slight fruity smell off them but have that normal lipstick smell otherwise.

I wore shade 01 all day today and the only time I had to retouch it was after eating , I did not use  lip liner or lip stain under the lipstick and even after eating all the color had not been removed from my lips which I was rather impressed with! The color went completely matt after application so if your looking for a moisturising lipstick this is not for you! I was really impressed with the depth of color and felt it really suited my skin color(though I do not really like to admit it I am pretty pale I would wear NC15 for you Mac lovers!!). I swatched the 05 shade on my hand and I am afraid to say I do not think this color is for me, I used to love wearing pink lippies and glosses when I was younger but I feel now when I wear them now I look younger!! So I think this is one I will save for my clients and I will have to buy another 01 for my clients as I will be keeping this one for myself! On my next haul I will defiantly be picking up shade 03 and 04 , 03 been the nude and 04 been the purple which I hear is a dupe to Mac Cyber but I have not judged for myself yet so I will keep you informed.

xMegan-Rosex