blogger contest

The Beauty Spark is having a wonderful contest on her blog and the prize is an Urban Decay Preen Palette and Mini Primer Potion.

The rules are very simple:

1. Follow her blog and twitter (www.twitter.com/thebeautyspark)

2. Comment on her blogspot and link her to your blog

3. The contest is open internationally

4. One entry per person

The contest will be over on Feb 10th at Midnight.

Come on ladies... this is a great offer

Lush Soap Storage

I was at a friend's house recently and noticed how badly she stores her Lush soap. She keeps them all in a box, rubbing off each other, and they have all started to smell like each other and become discoloured. I recently got some new soaps and I decided to use them to show my friend (and all you ladies) how I store my soap.

Top: Rockstar, Chox Away

Bottom: The Godmother, Porridge, Honey I Washed The Kids

Step 1: Take the soap and cut it carefully into small chunks.

Step 2: Place the chunks in a plastic, freezer bag,

Step 3: Seal the bag

It couldn't be simpler!!

I store each soap in a separate bag. This really helps the soap to keep its individual scent and colour. Instead of having the full sized soap out, I just have one little chunk in my shower, and another one on my sink. The soaps lasts longer this way, and I can change up the soap I use more often!

I have all the bags of soap stored in my bathroom, in little cardboard containers, like this one:

Hope this helps some of you ladies xx

Perfume Haul and Review: Euphoria by Calvin Klein

It was my 22nd birthday this weekend *sob* but my lovely little brother made it bearable. He got me the lovely Euphoria gift set by Calvin Klein.

As you can see, the box contains a bottle of Calvin Klein's Euphoria perfume and a bottle of the Euphoria Bath and Shower Crème.

Scent

This perfume was brought out about 5 years ago as a fun, playful scent. The fragrance is contains pomegranate, persimmon, lotus blossom, black orchid, amber, violet, cream and woods. Though the perfume is quite strong at first, it is an incredibly sexy, fresh scent. I usually steer clear of overly floral smells but Calvin Klein have got the balance right with this one.

Lasting Power

I sprayed myself (on the wrists and neck) yesterday morning and when I went to bed last night I could still smell its delicious, fresh scent. My boyfriend swears he could still smell it this morning, which gives it a lasting power of at least 24 hours (if you are to believe him!!)

Bottle

The bottle, as you can see below, is stainless steel and really cute. The sides of the bottle are glass, so you can easily see how much (or little) is left. This will come in handy when I want to repurchase this gem.

  As my clever little brother bought me the Euphoria gift set, I got a bottle of the bath and shower crème too. This creme smells almost exactly like the perfume, and has a similar lasting power - I used it this morning and I still smell lovely (in my opinion). It also left me feeling really fresh and clean, which a lot of "designer" shower creams don't do.

I really, honestly, love this perfume - my brother is quite the gift buyer. He knows me too well.

Rating: 9/10 (minus 1 point because I believe it was expensive... but my brother might be a bit of a cheapo)

Review: Lush's BB Seaweed Face Mask

Today I was feeling lazy and a bit unwell so I decided to treat myself by trying out my BB Seaweed face mask. I picked this up with my Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes box because this is supposed to work well for my oily/combination skin.

The Lush website says this:
Relaxing and reviving, mineral-rich mask to cleanse, soften and beautify all skins. This blend, inspired by the sea, contains fresh and nutritious seaweed and seaweed absolute. Cleansing kaolin, antiseptic honey, calming aloe vera and rose absolute make this a great mask for everyone.

I decided to try this out at night (just before bed) because my skin always seems to go red after I use face masks... is this just me, or does it happen to other people? However, that didn't happen to me today - my skin stayed... well, skin coloured!! This is the first Lush face mask I have tried, and I will probably be trying out some more, because I am impressed with this!! It left my skin really soft and moisturised but not greasy.

One thing I noticed about this product was how difficult it was to fully remove. The Lush website says to rinse it off, but I had to use a face cloth and rub it off in some places!! Is this normal for Lush face masks? I know that other face masks I have used have been easier to wash off but the consistency of BB Seaweed was much thicker than any of those. I do like a thicker mask but this mask is kind of lumpy, which I'm not too fond of.

Another possible downside to this product is the scent. The mask smells quite strongly of honey, so if you don't like honey then this is probably not the mask for you. But I really love honey (to eat and to smell!!) and I use the Ultra Bland cleanser (which smells similar to this) every day!!

Rating: 8/10

Haul and Review: Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Polish

I have always had brittle nails, and tend to shy away from painting my nails because nail polish remover makes my nails unbearably dry and flaky. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one with this problem.

I am a huge fan of Sally Hansen fake tan, and when a friend of mine said that she uses their nail polishes, I was more than willing to try it out for myself. I went to Tesco yesterday and checked out the selection. Most of the nail hardening polishes were in the region of €8-10, but I didn't want to blow that much money on a thus-far untested product!! Instead, I picked up the "Maximum Growth" polish which was €5.

The polish says it provides "powerful protection for short, problem nails" and that describes me to a tee!! I am dying to have long, strong, pretty nails that I can paint :)

The bottle is pretty big - bigger than your average nail polish bottle. I tried it out this morning, even though I was in a bit of a rush, but it applies easily and dries really quickly. It is not runny, like some nail polishes can be, and the brush is stiff enough to give you good control of the application.

The polish comes with instructions, and they tell you to layer on the polish over regular nail polish (I used a clear colour) for 5 days, and then remove it all and repeat the process. As I only started using this today, I have not used this long enough to test how well it works... but I'll keep you all updated on how this works out for me.

For now, here is a picture of my ugly, but shiny nails (please excuse the hands - I sprained my fingers on Monday and they're still swollen and gross. Bending my fingers really hurt, so I'll be waiting until I'm fully better before I try to photograph my nails again!!)


Take care my lovelies xx

Weekly In's and Out's

I've been really busy with college for the last week because it's my last ever semester as an under-graduate and I have to study, study, study... so I'll try to do these In's and Out's as often as possible!!

IN

• Handy Gurugu: My hands have been so dry lately because of the cold, windy weather, so I've been absolutely loving this little treasure. It's a life saver!! If you haven't tried it already, I strongly suggest checking it out.

• Lemony Flutter: Again, cold weather equals dry hands. I'd be lost without this bad boy. I love the scent too - lemon/citrus scents always smell so clean and fresh to me!!

• Hepcat Eyeshadow: I picked up some Hepcat eyeshadow this week and I'm in love with it. It's a gorgeous dark pink/ purple colour. I've been wearing it with some Embark and Shroom to tone it down a bit - it's gorgeous!!

OUT

• Cold Weather: enough already - I want summer!!

• Reality TV: Maybe I'm finally growing up, and becoming sensible, but I'm really sick of reality TV at the moment. I watched about 5 minutes of Celebrity Big Brother last week and wanted to cry at how pathetic they all are. Then, having heard good things about the dating show "Take me Out" all week, I decided to watch it but the girls all seemed so desperate and sad. Is it too much to ask that TV shows have some form of entertainment value? Grrr...

• Getting Old: I'm turning 22 on Friday (Jan 29th) and I'm bummed about getting older. I know 22 isn't that old but it feels like a huge jump from being 21 to turning 22 - I will have to be a mature, sensible grown-up next week......... fat chance!!

• Popstar to Operastar: Vanessa from The Saturdays (easily the best singer in the line-up) was voted off last Friday - just the second week. It's a total popularity contest, and the dude from McFly is gonna win by popularity alone. Eugh!

I reckon that's all for this week - hopefully I'll be able to do another one this weekend.
Until then, hugs and kisses xoxo

Lush Haul - Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

It's my birthday this weekend, so I decided to treat myself in Lush. I went in to get a tub of Handy Gurugu, because my hands are so dry lately from the cold weather. When I was in there, I decided to splash out and I picked up some Angels on Bare Skin too because everyone seems to rave about it.

I walked up to the counter to pay and noticed the special offer that's running at the moment and obviously convinced myself that I needed it!! Lush are running the "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" collection at the moment. Basically, you get 9 products (and one extra - which I didn't actually get!!!) for £12.50 or €15. This is an amazing offer, and you can read all about it on the Lush website.

Basically, you get any full sized fresh face mask (I picked up BB Seaweed), any sample sized moisturiser (I got Vanishing Cream), a sample sized Lemony Flutter cuticle butter, a sample sized Handy Gurugu hand cream, a sample sized Pied de Pepper foot lotion, a mini sugar scrub, a full sized Big shampoo, a Vitamin C toner tab, and an Each Peach massage bar. It all comes in a cute little cardboard box, which you can see in my photo (below).

As far as I'm aware, you're supposed to get a tenth free thing, which I seem to have missed out on.... but the lovely girls that work in my local Lush gave me a free Chox Away soap and free samples of Yummy Yummy Yummy shower gel and Retread Conditioner all because it's my birthday on Friday!!

Basically, I got ALL the lovely stuff in the picture (above) for €30 - bargain!! I love Lush <3>

Review: Toni & Guy Dry Shampoo

This is a review of Toni & Guy's Refreshing Dry Shampoo. I have very irritating hair that I have to wash almost every day or it looks greasy - not fun. I am always on the look out for something that will sort my hair out, and I was absolutely delighted to find this little bad boy!!
The directions are simply written on the bottle - shake can well, hold about 20cm from your hair and spray liberally. It also suggests concentrating on the roots, as this is the greasiest part of your hair.

I really liked this product but I did have to use quite a lot of it to get a desirable effect (my hair was really greasy though, I left it for two and a half days to test this out!!). For the amount that I used, I think this was pretty costly - I can't remember the exact cost, but it was in the range of €8-10, I believe.

The smell of this particular dry shampoo is quite like other Toni & Guy hair products - it reminds me of going to the hair dresser, and I love that feeling!! I have tried other dry shampoos and the smell was a total turn off, so this was a big bonus.

Another great bonus of this shampoo is the finish it leaves on your hair. I have dark hair, and often the white colour of dry shampoos gives my hair a nasty, grey-ish tint which is NOT nice. This dry shampoo, though white in colour, does not tint your hair in any way.

Pros: the smell, colour and texture are much more appealing than cheaper brands
Cons: more expensive than other brands

Rating: 8.5/10

Peace ☮

Weekly In's and Out's

I absolutely love ready Elle and Laura's "In's and Out's" lists and so I decided that (almost) every Friday I am going to make my own In's and Out's list for you to read (hopefully). Here is this weeks:

IN

• Tea: With all the bad weather of late, I've been enjoying my cuppa's beside the fire very much!!

• Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter: I have become somewhat of a Lush fiend since Christmas, and I am totally addicted to Lemony at the moment, to protect my poor hands from the harsh, drying wind,

• Desperate Housewives: Season 6 has finally started on Irish TV, and I am officially hooked... AGAIN!!

• Vaseline: Another winter savior - I don't think I need to say anything more.

• The Southern Vampire Mysteries (aka: True Blood books!!): I love these books so much. I am reading the 8th book at the moment, and cannot wait to get my hands on number 9!! I am completely head over heels in love with Eric and am dying for him and Sookie to get back together (which I think they do in book 9 - but I'll have to wait and see)

OUT

• Snow: We've had so much snow since New Year's Eve here in Ireland and it was such an inconvenience. Planes, trains and buses stopped travelling and most people stayed at home for days. People's water and heating pipes burst and they were without heat and water for the week. Even the country's salt supplies began to run out and the governmeny had to place an emergency order for more!! Thankfully, it started to thaw yesterday, but life has a bit chaotic this week!!

• School: I am back to university on Monday, and I am not looking forward to all the work. I am in final year at the moment, so the pressure is really on! Not gonna be fun...

Ok, so that's my first attempt. I guess they'll improve with time. I hope you enjoyed reading this.

Peace out ☮

What's In My Purse?

I'm about a million years too late doing this tag, but I enjoy watching youtube videos and reading blog spots about this... so here goes:

This is my beautiful, black Longchamps Tote bag that I bought in Paris last year. The material is really good quality and the bag only cost me €60, which is most definitely worth it, in my opinion. I have certainly gotten my value for money as I use it every day and I love it VERY much.

These are the contents of my beautiful bag. I'll start at the top left hand corner and work right and then down. Hope it's not too confusing!! If you need any clarification on anything, just leave me a comment.

• In the top, left corner is my leopard print makeup bag, and beside that is the book I'm reading at the moment (it's one of the Sookie Stackhouse books - From Dead To Worse).
• Underneath my makeup bag is my wallet (from River Island) and then a bottle of Her/Elle by Armani.
• Underneath the body spray is my digital camera in its case, and then my Benefit mirror and two pairs of gloves (one cream cosy pair and one brown leather pair).
• Underneath my camera is my container of Lush's Lemony Flutter cuticle butter, and beside that is my Sephora hairbrush, and a bottle of Chloé perfume (which I am currently in LOVE with).
• On the next row are some Wagamama vouchers and a train ticket I used on my trip to my boyfriend's house yesterday (gotta throw that in the bin).
• Under these is a full bar of dark chocolate, a ticket stub from the cinema (I went to see Sherlock Holmes this week) and the headphones for my iphone.
• On the bottom row are my keys, my coin and change purse and a pair of earrings.
• In the bottom righthand corner are a pair of 3D glasses that I got when I went to see Avatar this week!!

I decided to show you all what I had in my makeup bag (I have put away most of the actual makeup as I change what I carry every day, but these are what I always have with me).

• In the top left corner is my trusty vaseline, spare tissues and a small bottle of deodorant.
• Underneath the vaseline are some teeny-tiny nail files that my Mummy gave me.
• Underneath these you can see my travel-sized collection of bobbins and hair clips, and beside them are some Palmers lipbalm, a travel tooth brush and some hand sanitiser.
• My panadol are beneath the hairclips, and under them are some safety pins, chewing gum and a pen.
• Beside the pen is another lipbalm (I have a problem!!!), some tictacs and my inhalor (I have asthma - it's not that bad but I carry this just in case.)

Obviously I always have my iphone with me too, but I used it to take these photos because my camera is still out of action. I really hope you enjoyed my little tag. I tag anyone who hasn't done this yet!!

Peace out ladies and gents ☮

Review: The Comforter Bubble Bar

I absolutely adore the berry smell of The Comforter - it's possibly my favourite bubble bar to date. You can easily get three baths out of it because it's huge and it breaks and crumbles really easily. It makes lots of lovely bubbles and turns the water pink, which I really enjoyed! And, after my bath I noticed that my skin was super soft and moisturised.

Pros: wonderful scent, pink water
Cons: can be hard to find

Rating: 9/10
Peace out folks ☮

Mac and Lush Haul

I have another haul for you ladies (and gents)... enjoy!! Reviews will follow :)

Shy Girl Lipstick
I decided to pop into Mac for a quick peek and I ended up falling in love with the Shy Girl lipstick, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe I don't already own it. Mac's website describes it as "Creamy neutral coral beige" - It's more coral/orange than shown on the website, I hope you can kind of see that from the swatches further down. Oh, and its a cremesheen, which are my favourite lippies!! Bonus :)

Mulled Cider (Limited Edition) Eyeshadow
My main reason for calling into Mac was to look at the Warm & Cozy Collection, as I thought they'd really suit my colouring. I ended up just getting one eyeshadow - Mulled Cider. It's a satin eyeshadow and I really love it - it's a beaut!! I'd recommend getting this little gem before they sell out.

Swatches - Mulled Cider (L) and Shy Girl (R)

Star Melts (Limited Edition) Bath MeltsAfter my mini-splurge in Mac, I decided to have a browse in Lush. I was looking at Zoe's blog last night and she strongly recommended getting these limited edition bath melts. When I asked in my local Lush store, they informed me that they had two Star Melts left.... so I bought them both!!! They smell gorgeous - really sweet and yummy. I'm just mega depressed that I could only buy two!!

The Godmother SoapI love this soap. Unfortunately, my Lush was sold out of Snow Fairy shower gel but this soap is the next best thing! This soap gives you really soft hands and skin and I bloody love it already!! Yay!

Again, sorry about the shoddy photos - still waiting for my beautiful camera. I hope these poor attempts will suffice for now. Have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening/night - depending on where you are in the world!! I'll be back soon with some reviews.
Peace out ☮

Lush Haul

Today I went to Lush and had myself a little splurge. I picked up some Porridge Soap, Candy Cane Bubble Bar and The Comforter Bubble Bar. I got a free sample of Each Peach (And Two's A Pear) Massage Bar.

Porridge SoapHere's my yummy slice. I absolutely love this bad boy. It's my second favourite Lush soap (after Rockstar, of course) and I love using it to exfoliate in the shower/bath. It's awesome!!

Candy Cane Bubble Bar
This is my loverly Candy Cane bubble bar. The packet says it's "sweet as candy" and I have to agree. It smells just like Rockstar soap, which as I mentioned earlier, is my favourite Lush soap.... I just cannot wait to use this bubble bar in my next bath!!

The Comforter Bubble Bar

Then I picked up this bubble bar. It is described as on the Lush website as creating a "warming, fruity, fluffy bath to bring you comfort." It smells like yummy blackcurrent, and is honestly good enough to eat. I loooooove it, so much! Yum :)

Each Peach (And Two's A Pair) Massage Bar
I also got a free sample of this massage bar. I have never used a massage bar from Lush before, but supposedly it warms up due to your body heat and melts into a creamy liquid. It is also a moisturiser, so you don't have to wash it off. Lush's website says the following:

"We make the Each Peach Massage Bar with fruity avocado and mango kernel butters, mixed with our cocoa butter and shea butter base for an extra nutritious, softening treat. Essential oils of Persian lime, red grapefruit, sweet orange and mandarin help to encourage a sunny disposition."

Sounds good to me. Now all I have to do is bribe my boyfriend into giving me a back massage. I cannot wait!!

Once I try out all these products, I'll get back to you all with reviews and ratings. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this haul. Oh and I'd like to apologise for the photo quality - I used my iphone, because I stupidly left my camera in my apartment over Christmas... ooops! Photo quality will be better once I get my camera back.

Peace out ladies ☮

How I Store My Earrings

I got this handy little container in Muji, a Japanese store in Dublin. I has two drawers and lots of separate compartments for my earrings. I store all my "small" earrings in this container:

The "large" earrings (ie: the ones that don't fit in my container) are just stored in a little cloth bag.

I love my earrings. But then, what girl doesn't?!
Hope you enjoyed this post - click the photos to enlarge them, if you want.
Peace out ☮

A Fresh Start

Though I already have a blog, I use it to write about all my travels and holidays, as I spent last year studying in Paris. So, I have decided to start a new blog, where I am going to channel my makeup addiction. This blog will be mainly made up of reviews, hauls and maybe a few tutorials here and there.

I really hope you enjoy reading all my ramblings, and if you want to subscribe, feel free. I will also put my twitter link and my email address in the sidebar, so if you have any requests or questions, feel free to drop me a tweet/email or just leave me a comment.

Peace out folks ☮