Studding it up! DIY Studs

Getting a bit creative lately and picked up a bag of 100 silver studs on Ebay for 1 euro!! They did take 5 weeks to arrive but the buyer refunded me my money because they took so long and once they arrived I just repaid her. I was heading to a PR event yesterday at the gorgeous Morgan Hotel in Temple Bar, and felt that  my boots just needed a bit of doing up.

My boots are two years old and are on their way out, can not really complain I bought them in the children's section in Penneys/Primark for 14 euro. Bit of a bargain if I say so myself. So quickly before I popped out the door I quickly threw a few studs into the boots.

Not the straightest of studding but the great thing is the studs are easily removed and placed again. I am now thinking of what else to stud in my wardrobe.

Ebay Seller: http://stores.ebay.ie/dresslink

Link to Studs: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/360529872925?var=630070192787&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_9358wt_1139

Speaking of Ebay I have three dresses for sale my Lipsy dress was only worn twice and Topshop dress once and the blue one still have tags attached. Feel free to make me an offer.

Lipsy dress: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/321126248052?

ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1203

Topshop Dress: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/321126252729?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1203

Stradvarius Dress: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/321126257073?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1203

Maybelline Fit Me Fits Me Perfect!

I have been in serious need of a new foundation for some time, I had been mixing and matching different shades out my kit for weeks because I did not have the right shade. I went on countless trips to Boots and Penneys hmming and hawing over countless foundations wondering should I try a new one or stick to the old reliable that is L'oreal True Match. 

So it was 7am one night after work and I was still buzzing from all the energy I had in work that I decided to catch up on my Youtube subscriptions. GossMakeupArtist had just put up a new video about Maybelline Fit Me Foundation and after watching it I was sold! The next day I was straight down to Liffey Valley Boots and low and behold it was buy one get one half price on Maybelline. I also ran out of powder around the same time as my foundation and I am still waiting for my mam to send up some MUA Cosmetics powders as she lives near a Superdrug. So I decided to pick up the powder also and with it been half price it was less then five euros!

Fit Me Foundation 120 Swatch

To say I am in love with it would not do this product justice! I want to refill my makeup kit with this foundation. Its coverage is perfect (medium/full) which can be sheered out with a beauty blender, its finish is satin and I was a matte girl before but this just gives me a glow and no cakyness in sight.

Fit Me Foundation 120 blended out

It comes in a collection of shades and in yellow and pink tones which is great for a drugstore foundation. Its packaging is simple and chic which I love because I really do not fussy bottles. I have heard people refer that its a take on a MAC bottle frankly it is similar but it does not bother me. Oh and it is less then 12 euro!!

Fit Me Powder 125 swatch

The Fit Me powder it has not blown me away like the foundation but it does its job, there is no really bad word to say about it. It is light in coverage the box has a little handy mirror and a puff which I never use just because I prefer a brush. I got half a shade up from the foundation as I taught the 120 in the powder just looked a little too light compared to the foundation and 125 matches the foundation better in my opinion anyway.

Girls if you have not tried this foundation yet I can not stress how much you should and let me know your thoughts on it. 

Two makeup looks which you saw in the last post of me wearing the foundation and powder.

Updated skincare routine!

For my New Year's resolution I vowed to take better care of my skin, to remove my makeup every night and to follow all the basic steps i.e cleanse tone moisturise. I have been doing pretty well theres been a few lazy not so sober nights where the routine has gone down the swaney but 99.9% of the time I have been really good. I found by taking care of my skin, I stated to notice more what goes on with my skin and how it reacts to certain products and how makeup sits on it. With noticing all these things I realised the products I was using were not performing aswell as they used to and I need to change completely. I started to do alot of research online on different skin care brands and peoples reviews of them, when it stuck me I had no clue what skin type I was. I knew some days I was oily and some days dry but I was really oily or dry, I knew I was combination but on what side of the combination was I?

Brands are bringing out more and more skincare ranges now with more products added for more skin types then there actually is and more products then we actually need that skincare has now become this confusing mess that women now buy because of advertising rather then what their skin actually needs.

I recently went along to two Dermalogica partnership days one here in Wexford and one at the IDI(International Dermal Institute) in Rathmines in Dublin. It really opened my mind to stop following what everyone else is raving about and reviewing and to use what my skin actually needs. On my second partnership day I received a complementary skin mapping and analysis and found out my skin was really dehydrated also that I was right I did have combination skin but only slightly and most my face is of normal skin type. F.Y.I Dry skin is a skin type that your born with. Dehydrated skin is a skin condition that can be fixed.

I picked up a few products to fit in with some products I already had.

Special Cleansing gel you only need a pea size amount that yo mix with either hot or cold water to wash your face, I repeat this step first cleanse to remove my makeup and second cleanse to clean my skin. I do this every morning and every night.

 I already had this product and I was tempted to buy Demalogica Micoexfoliant but I hate wasting perfectly good products. I use this every morning to exfoliate my face. This has really Small beads that soften when moisturized so its not harsh on the skin.

 This toner is my new best friend, how I lived without it I will never know. Its a mist not a spray two pumps and your face is toned, the smell is devine and it also can be used over makeup. If you powdered too much or your face is starting to feel a bit tight mist it on and your fabulous again!

Moisturizer, it aimed for combination skin, like mine only contains a small amount of oil not too much, again a little goes along way with this. I use this morning and night.

I got this free with my toner, bu I was on the look out for a new masque as my other masque were aimed at more oilier skin types and were drying out my skin. I use this once a week.

Protect, Protect, Protect. As you all know I am very protective over my ghostly pale skin and the last thing I want is to grow old too fast. I apply this over my moisturizer and under my foundation also down my neck and onto my chest area. I know I am going over to Portugal now and I am going to tan no matter what I do I can not avoid the sun, but I will be tanning the right way and the protective way.

I am only including this because I am using it, nothing to rave about it.I bought it to see if it would remove my Inglot gel liner (which is bomb proof) and it did not live up to the job. As I a going to Portugal I am hoping to pick up the cult product Bioderma so just using this till it ruins out.

Look how Dehydrated I am!

Returning Items and Rimmel Lipsticks

Why do we Irish have such a problem with returning items? The fear comes over us when we realise somethings needs to be returned and the feeling of dread looms over us until we pluck up the courage to bring it back in!

Lets take the weekend just past as an example while shopping for birthday presents for my friend Sarah I decided to take advantage of Boots 3 for 2 for myself. Now if I could have I would have picked up some Real Techniques brushes but for some reason Boots decided to put them in Gorey Boots ( which is 40 minutes away) instead of the main Wexford Boots. So I picked up some hairspray and pots for my pigments and haircare stuff as well as some Rimmel Lipsticks.

Everything was fine and dandy till I went to do pictures for a blog post on Sunday and I removed the sellotape off the outside of the packaging and the lipsticks were destroyed inside. Pink Blush had been completely attacked with a women's nail and then had been spread all over the inside of the packaging! Then I remove the sellotape on the second lipstick, Coral In Gold , and this is half the size its supposed to be and all mushed up in the lid. My blood was boiling and the blog post went totally out the window! Why can people not use testers!

Then it struck me I had to return these, and the whole scenario played out in my head and it was not in my favour! I could just imagine the store assistant giving a look from head to toe that says "I know you did not buy these like this"! And then question after question about when you bought it, who served you, was the sellotape on? are you sure the sellotape was on? It just fill me with dread every time, its the same with returning anything!

Maybe its due to the fact that were not allowed return items once we try them at home, unlike our American counterparts who can just walk into MAC and say "This foundation does not suit me I want a different one!" if we did that in Brown Thomas we would just be laughed at!

So how did returning the lipsticks go, well; SA= Store Assistant
Me: Hi, I would like to exchange these lipsticks?
SA: You know you can not return makeup?
Me: Yes I know that, but I have not used them, because when I opened the packaging they were destroyed inside.
( At this point she gave me the stare!)
SA: When did you buy these?
Me: Saturday
SA: It's Tuesday now!
Me: Yes, I know its Tuesday I have not been in town since Saturday  and I only opened them Sunday!
SA: Are you sure the sellotape was on them?
Me: I would not have bought them otherwise!( I am getting really annoyed at this point!)
SA: Ok wait here!
SA:  (5 minutes later)Are you sure the were not opened? You can only get the same color if I exchange these!
Me: Yes I am sure and I only want them colors!
SA: Ok well we do not have Pink Blush anymore so you have to choose a different color!
Me: Ok I will choose another one! ( In my head: What was the point of explaining I could only have the same colors if you knew you did not have Pink Blush!)
SA: We made an exception for you, we would not normally do this!
Me: Eh, thanks!

Now you see why I hate returning things!

Now for the lipsticks I actually ended up with:

I ended up with Amethyst shimmer as Pink Blush was out of stock, but I was able to replace Coral In Gold, no for one thing I hate the packaging on Rimmel's ordinary lipsticks( not Kate Moss lipstick), it is just so cheap looking and the lids never sit right on the lipstick.

But the formulas are great and they so have a great color range and are really pigmented!

Now excuse the uneven lips, I just slapped these on for picture purposes!

As you can see Coral In Gold is not orange orange but actually a gorgeous coral shimmer you can apply another layer or two to get them more orangy if you want some stand out lips!

So does anyone else have some returning nightmares? Do you feel the same dread when you have to return an item? Would love to hear!

OOTD- Wind Blown

Last week I was announcing the Irish summer on the blog as I said it lasts a week and then were back to crappy weather. Well its now snowing in parts of Ireland I know crazy rite? 

There was like gale force winds this morning so my very pretty doughnut bun got destroyed in the winds, so excuse the hair! Got a tripod for my new camera yesterday and I am still trying to figure it out hence the tilted pictures and still trying to figure out the camera hence the closed eyed pictures but I took a few and these showed the outfit best.

Top: Penneys

Grey string top(underneath): Forever21

High-waisted jeans: Vila

Scarf: Penneys

Sunglasses: Dunne Stores

Picked up this scarf for 1 euro during the week BARGAIN!

Another Bargain from Penneys got this at Christmas for 0.50cent

 This arrived on Monday I am so in love with it will hopefully have a haul up on Friday so I'll tell yous all about it then!

Face of the Day!

Mac Face and Body C1

Makeup Artelier Concealer Palette

MUA Pressed Powder Shade 4 (contour)

Rimmel Pressed Powder Clear Complexion in Transparent

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Eternal Gold

Inglot Gel Liner in 77

Avon Perfect Eyebrow Pencil in Blonde

Avon SuperExtend Extreme Mascara

17 Lip Pencil in Valentine

Maybelline Lipgloss in Freshly sliced

MUA Blusher in 2

A New Way To Do Nails!!

Well I think it's new and I only found out about it this week so it is new to me. Introducing Water Marbling!

I love nail varnish but believe me I am the worst person at painting nails, actually no my friend and fellow MUA Amy is so I am the second worst. We just were not blessed wit stay within the lines ability and usually spend more time cleaning around our nails then painting them. So I was thrilled when I saw this post on another blogsite.

 After watching this video I was mesmerised  and knew I had to try it for myself. And in my opinion I did not do half bad for my first attempt. I did not achieve the perfect swirl most of them did not achieve the swirl at all but practice makes perfect and I am happy with them. I followed the video but there was some thing she did not mention to do so here's how I achieved these nails:

1. Paint nails white all over I just used the white from my Boots french manicure set.
2. Wrap all fingers in tape as shown in video you will not be able to do it after you do each nail it will just get too messy.
3. Only use an old glass or your mam will kill you ha ha!
4. Use warm water if it's too cold it will not work.
5. When your nails are dry or nearly dry that's when you can begin.
6. Always drop the darker color in first( I used Avon's Nailwear Pro in Midnight Plum) for some reason white does not spread well unless there's another color in the glass.
7. Once all your circles are done make your swirl and place your nail in flat on top of the water and the submerge it in hold there for 1 min and and then remove nail varnish circle from around the finger.
8. Take out of the water it may or may not b dry so do not touch for a few minutes.
9. You can use the same water for every nail!
10. Once all nails are dry then use a top coat, I used E.L.F matte polish to give them a matte look.

So there you go, really it's not that hard and I only watched the video once to know how to achieve the look, so anyone can do it!

Straight after

The morning after  with top coat

Not swirly at all but I still like them

One of my favorite nails

I Can Not Live Without This!!

I first discovered Batiste when I was in Secondary School so a long time ago and forever since I have never been without a bottle. It is literally my best friend, I use it at least once a week and it has never let me down. If you do not know what Batiste is Where Have You Been???

Batiste is a dry shampoo spray, not only does it absorb the oil from your hair but it also give your hair a bit of a boost. Ever wash your  hair on Monday and you wake up Tuesday morning and its greasy. Your not the only one it happens I find my hair goes like that when  I play with my hair alot or I am in a smokey room or after a night out. I refuse to wash my hair everyday because

1. Its a vibrant color and washing it alot strips the color
2. My hair gets dry when its washed to much
3. I have not got the pennies to buy more shampoo and conditioner twice as much as I already do
4. I can not be bothered takes to long to wash dry and style it and I am a busy women!!!

So this is where Batiste comes in handy at only €3.50 a can and really available everywhere( even ALDI now!)
its a steal and last a good while too depending on how much you use it. Over the years its grown as a brand and now includes sprays especially designed for brunettes, blonde's and light browns which is great because sometimes if I was in a rush some of the white spray I missed would still b noticeable in my hair and with the brunette spray now I never have that problem.

They have just launched a gold shimmer spray here in Ireland which not only cleans your hair but gives it a gold shimmer which is great for Christmas. Truthfully I do not know weather this one is for me as I would only spray this is my roots and would rather not have people know I used Batiste so having some gold shopping around my roots would be a sure giveaway! But each to their own!

If you do not own a can of Batiste go get one now you can even buy a travel size for your handbag for €1.50!

A Few Little Stocking Fillers- Part 2

Front Cover have been doing Christmas sets for Boots for the last few years now and I have always made sure to pick one up for friends and myself, as their great value for money and highly pigmented with a wide selection on colors. This year they have released a wide range of Christmas sets ranging from nails to lips to this full everything in one kit as shown above.

This is defiantly the set I have on my list to Santa not only does it contain 13 eye shadows and 6 lip glosses it also has 2 loose pigments and 2 blushes as well as shadowline a liquid that turns eye shadows into eyeliners. It does not stop there it contains 6 makeup brushes, mini eyelash curler, mascara and a double pencil sharpener. All you could need in all the one place and all for €47 that's less then €1.50 an item. But you better be quick these are already sold out online and will easily sell out in stores the sooner it gets to Christmas !