December Favourites 2018

A happy belated New Year to ye all. I am going to make this intro very short and sweet, today I am going to be discussing the products I have been loving in the month just gone.

First up is the Super Facialist Vitamin C Cleansing Oil. For the last month or two I have really been into double cleansing. I am loving using this cleansing oil for my first cleanse. It feels so lovely on the skin and OMG that smell. It has an amazing citrus smell. It has Vitamin C in it.. (Duh) which is great for brightening up your complexion. When I use it I just pour some onto my hands and massage into my dry face. Then I get my damp face cloth to remove it. I got mine in Tk Maxx for €5.99 but if you can't find it there you can get it in Boots for €15. I would definitely recommend for those who love a good double cleanse.

Sticking on the theme of face, my second favourite product this month is the Lacura Clearing Mud Mask from Aldi. I have mentioned this loads over on my instagram but it deserves every bit of it! This is a charcoal purifying mask that helps clear up breakouts as well as exfoliates the skin. It has  physical and chemical exfoliating properties. The chemical exfoliants in it are glycolic and lactic acid which is great for shedding the top dead layer of skin. This is said to be a dupe for the GlamGlow supermud which usually costs €40 euro where as this mask from Aldi cost a little over €6. Bargains! Seriously though, check out Aldi's skincare range because you are sure to find some gems.

Another skincare item I am loving is The Ordinary's Salicylic Acid 2% Solution. My diet around the christmas is always so horrible so in turn my skin freaks out and I end up with a pizza face. The salicylic acid solution is perfect for those of us with oily skin. It gets deep into the pore and treats the spot. I dab it on a spot at night time and then the next day the spot had dried up. I got mine in New York but there are various websites you can get yours from such as Meaghers Pharmacy. Total saviour this month.

Another saviour and will be a favourite ever month is the Lush Cosmetics Soak and Float shampoo bar. This has transformed my horribly sore scalp. Before using this I had a dry, itchy and cracked scalp and now it is totally back to normal. It has cade oil in it which is used to treat psoriasis and eczema. I also love how these shampoo bars are packaging free and last up to 100 washes. I got mine from the Lush store in Grafton Street, Dublin for about €10. I will definitely be repurchasing this!

My final favourite this month is the Phyto Paris Phytokeratine Thermal Protectant Spray. I got send this from the lovely folks over at Cosmetics Online Ireland. Normally after blow drying my hair it feels brittle and straw like but when I use this my hair feels so soft and shiny and it just sits well. Also my hair looks thicker since using it. I normally dont use heat protectants (bad I know) but I am converted now. This is another product I am going to repurchase. You can get it from CosmeticsIreland and check to see if they have any special offer codes going, because normally they do. 

If anyone has any questions about any of the products mentioned please don't hesitate to ask. Here is  to a new year of happiness and health.

Byeeeeeeeee :) 

November 2018 Favourites

Hello everyone! I really wanted to write a blog for you guys today but my creative juices are flowing as well as I would like them to do lately. With that I decided to a monthly favourites post, these are  not the most creative posts but I enjoy reading writing them as well as reading them. I have a good aul mixture to discuss today, from perfume to skincare to bodycare. I'll stop rambling now and just get on with it. Enjoy!

The first of my favourites this month is the Dermalogica Special Cleansing gel. I got this in New York whilst I was over there. I wanted to try this cleanser every since doing my beauty therapy course where we learned about the different Dermalogica products. This cleanser would be more suited to Oily/Combination skin types. It's a soap free foaming cleanser that leaves your skin feeling clean without that awful squeaky tight feeling. It smells mildly minty and a little goes a long way. You can buy it in the majority of beauty therapy salons or online. Currently www.beautyskincare.ie have it on sale for €32.99 for 250ml. I would highly recommend for anyone with oily/combination skin to try it

Keeping with skincare my next favourite is from the french brand Uriage. It's their water serum. I have seen this brand everywhere so I decided to give this serum a try. It's a hyaluronic acid serum made with thermal spring water to hydrate and brighten dehydrated skin. I am obsessed with this stuff! It feels so light putting is on so I know its going to reach the deeper layers of the skin and my skin has been looking more hydrated since using it. Its normally €25 but I got mine on sale in Bergins Pharmacy Newbridge for €12.50. If you are in the Newbridge area check them out as the water serum is always half price there.

Next up is a hair product. I got a little Kerastase travel set off my partner and brought it with me to New York. It's the mask from their Discipline range that I have been loving. This is designed for anti-frizz and is full of keratin. My hair isn't frizzy it just has a mind of it's own, so when I use that I feel that my hair is more relaxed and manageable. You can get a bigger 200ml pot from Feelunique for €26.50 on sale from €38. I know this is pricey but like skincare you pay for what you get and what you get is fab hair.

On to the body now. Ok so I know it is probably pointless showing you this as it was limited edition but I am loving it loads so... Its The Body Shop Vanilla Pumpkin shower gel. This scent is heavenly, it's a mixture if sweet vanilla and spicy pumpkin. A small bit lathers up your whole body and its such a creamy moisturising lather. You might be able to get it online still at thebodyshop.com. If not they have their christmas range out and that looks fab too.

Lastly for my November favourites is a perfume from the Brand Jenny Glow. This is an Irish brand inspired by the fragrances of Jo Malone. The fragrances Jenny Glow have out smell exactly like Jo Malone just without the extortionate price tag. I have been wanted to try the Myrrh and Bean fragrance for weeks before it's release and I finally got my hands on it. I loved Jo Malone's Myrrh and Tonka but could never justify the price, so I would only dowse myself in it at the airport or BT's . The myrrh and bean from Jenny Glow smells identical! I got my 80ml for €14.99 in my local pharmacy and Brown Thomas are selling the Jo Malone version for €90 for 50ml.. I mean come on.. You can get them online in sam mccauleys. Give their other fragrances a look too as you might see other well loved Jo Malone dupes there too.

So that was my November favs, I hope you enjoyed reading them. If ye have any questions about the products mentioned drop me a message. Also let me know what you have been loving this month. 

Byeeeeeeeeee :)

Updated Haircare Routine

Hey guys! So it's been a while since I've did a hair care blog post and over the past few months my routine has changed quite a bit. I still get my hair bleached quite often so my main concern is still dryness and damage. Even after switching up my routine I still get lots of compliments about the condition and thickness of my hair. It must mean it's working!

I shampoo my hair 2/3 times a week. I alternate between a moisturising shampoo and a purple shampoo. For my moisturising shampoo I use the garnier ultimate blends. I just finshed the coconut one which I loved but I needed something thicker so I got the honey treasures one. I'm actually so impressed with the ultimate blends range. It moisturises without weighing down my hair and it's perfect for my very sensitive scalp. If a shampoo can pass my scalp test then we are on to a winner.

For purple shampoo I'm still with my one love, the provoke touch of silver. I mentioned this on my blog a few times. It is the only purple shampoo I've used that I can see a difference with only one use. I leave it in my hair for 10 mins while I'm in the shower and then rinse. If you didn't want to commit to a big bottle straight away, Dealz do little bottles for €1.50. They're so handy.

As I mentioned in my last haircare post I don't use conditioner. Instead I use masks and I use them every time I wash my hair. I'm using the honey treasures mask from garnier. I still love the Toni and guy reconstructer mask but if you're on a budget this will do just fine. The smell off the honey treasure range is gorgeous and it leaves my hair super soft.

I'm still obsessed with leave in moisturiser and sprays. The one I'm loving at the moment is the protein spray by Label.m. This product has been raved about by my partner who is a hairdresser. After hearing so much about it I had to try it. Lads, it's amazing! It's gives my hair shine, softness, and gets rid of that bleach blonde porous feeling. When I get out of the showers I lash this into my hair scalp to tip and leave it dry. I got mine from Studio20 in Naas, Kildare but you can get it online too. It's my new fav thing.

So those are the new items added into my hair care routine to keep the aul mop happy. I'm still using and loving the lee Stafford hair growth serum, I just didn't want to bore ye all with that again!!

Anyways thanks for reading and if anyone has any questions please ask!!

Byeeeeeeeeee

Empties 2017 pt. 2

Hey guys. I hope everyone is well and hasn't melted in this heatwave we are having. Today's post is my second empties of the year. I try to do one every 3 months and with the year half way over we are due another post. As usual I will give ye a little description on the products as well as my thoughts and if I would purchase or not. Enjoy!

Hair care

Lee Stafford Hair Growth Serum

I have mentioned this product in my April favs (link)) If ye have read that you will know I loved that product so much. I'm devo that I ran out, I would buy more but I'm on a spending ban (for now). This lasts me about 3 months and I put 2/3 drops in damp hair after my shower and massage it into my scalp. No joke baby hairs started sprouting around my hairline. I have thick hair but this made the thickness go to another level. I got the boyf into it too and he loves it.

Repurchase: YYYAAASSSSSSSSSS

Lush Cosmetics Sea Spray

This is a sea salt spray from Lush that is supposed to give you textured hair. You can spray it into wet or dry hair and scrunch for wavy hair. I took me well over a year to get through that. I worked for lush for a few years and I have used it on and off. I dislike this product so much. I kept giving it second chances but for €15 a bottle I'm giving up. It made my hair hard and crunchy but without even putting waves into it. Also on a few bottles I bought the sea salt clogs up the nozzle and the spray just squirts out, not fun. I recently bought the Penneys texturising spray and I love it. Also it's €2.50, I mean come on..

Repurchase: hell to the naaahhhh

Skincare

Benefits It's Potent Eye Cream

A lot of people don't know that Benefit Cosmetics have a skincare range. It was only when I worked for Benefit that I came across this eye cream. Retailing for a whopping €32.50 it's pricey. I bought this mini in boots for €6 and it has last me about 6 weeks. Hands down this is the best eye cream I've used. It improved my dark circles so much I looked more rested than sleeping beauty herself. I would recommend getting the mini first to try but you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Repurchase: Yes! And if anyone wants to buy me the full size one I won't stop ya!

Balance Me Restore and Replenish Cream Cleanser.

This is a Cream cleanser suitable for all skin types promoting collagen in the skin and leaving you feeling soft and not stripped. I bought this in Tk Maxx for €9.99 but it retails normally for €25 and you can get it in M&S. In typical Tk Maxx fashion I haven't seen another bottle since the one I bought. It last me about three months and I loved every bit of it. It improved my skin so much and I had such soft and clear skin from it. Apparently Emma Watson uses it and if it's good for Emma it's good for me.

Repurchase: Yes!

Evoluderm Hyaluronic Anti Age Toner

Another Tk Maxx purchase. I recently have been interested in anything that is anti aging so when I saw this I thought I'd give it a go. It's a toner in an aerosol form. It was so handy to use. I love toners that spray out rather than the liquids you have to put onto cotton pads. It made my skin feel nice but nothing spectacular. I didn't see any anti aging happening after using it but I know these things take weeks to show improvements and I only had it for a few weeks.

Repurchase: yes but probably for convenience more than anything.

Penneys PS Love To Glow mask.

This is going to be brief as I have a blog post about this (link). I finished it a few days after my last empties post so I kept the packaging till now (blogger problems). We all know I love this and it's comparable to the L'Oréal glow mask. Cheap as chips but effective AF.

Repurchase: duh..

Body Care

Lush Cosmetics Snow Fairy Shower gel

Such a cult classic for Lush. Every Christmas it comes out. When I worked for lush I hated it with a passion but since I left I love it and it brings back happy memories. It's vibrant pink and smells like bubblegum, every 10 year old girls (and mine) dreams. The boyf bought it for me for Christmas and it has lasted me since then. I should have got more to last me the year.

Repurchase: it will be on my list to santa.

So that has been my empties for the 2nd quarter of 2017. I'm already finishing up a good few products as we speak so the empties might be back sooner than you think.

Thank you so much for reading!

Byeeeeeee :)

Mini Penneys Haul + Review

Hey guys! Hope everyone is keeping well. Today's post is a little penneys haul I did plus a review of the things I bought. Ye seemed to love my last few Penneys' posts so I said id pick up a few bits, show ye what I got and do a review. I bought these items 2 weeks ago now and I have trialed them all fairly. I know I keep saying this but Penneys is upping it's game when it comes to beauty products, they never cease to amaze me. In the mini haul I bought Vitamin E eye patches, the PS Love Your Hair texturising spray and the Wake Up energising spray. I'll give a brief description about each one and Ill give you my thoughts on them!

Vitamin E Eye Patches.

I was all over these when I see them in Penneys. They claim to reduce under eye puffiness and god knows the last time I had a decent sleep (probably when I was in the womb). I think they were €1.50, I am such a bad blogger I ripped off the price and tore right into those bad boys the minute I got in the door. Vitamin E as we all know brightens the skin so that would help with dark circles. You get 15 treatments for the pack which is great deal.

Ill start off on what I didn't like about them and get that out of the way. The packaging is not that practical for my liking. As you can see from the pic they are all just inside stuck together and you have to peeled them off one another yourself. It just makes me think of dirt and dust getting in there. On a more positive note I did see a slight improvement in the darkness of my under eye. I leave them on for 20 mins and they genuinely look a little brighter. Now the results are not miraculous but for €1.50 it's worth it. I would purchase these again but Penneys hun, please sort out the packaging.

PS Love Your Hair Texturising Spray.

I'm not usually a fan of texturising or surf sprays, I just find that they don't work for me and leave my hair hard and sticky. It was €2.50 and i thought to myself I had nothing to lose. It comes on a lovely little black spray bottle and smells divine. It has sea salt and seaweed in it which is suppose to give you that beachy wavy look. You can use it on damp or dry hair and leave it dry naturally or blow dry it.

Lads.. I'm shook! I fecking love this stuff. It actually works for me and doesn't make my hair hard or sticky. I used to use the Sea Spray from Lush for €15 for years and It always made my hair crunchy and rotten looking. I use it by spraying onto damp hair after a shower, scrunching my hair a couple of times and then leave it to air dry. I am definitely going to repurchase it when it runs out.

Wake Up Energising spray.

These were all over facebook a few weeks back and I was mad to try them. When I went to Penneys all they had was this one but I didn't mind because as much as its hard for me to get a good nights sleep, it's twice as hard to get me up and going once I have nodded off. Not gonna lie i'm a bit devo because I thought it was a face mist when in fact its a body mist. It actually says not to spray it near your face. It's a ginger and lemon spray that you spritz onto your pulse points to help you wake up in the morning. This product was also €2.50

I'm trying to find good points on this product and all I can say is that it smells nice. To be honest I do think this is a bit of a gimmick. I felt no difference at all spraying this and it didn't make getting out of bed any easuer. I probably wouldn't repurchase this again but I would try the lavender pillow spray from this range.

So that was my little Penneys Haul. If anyone wants me to try out something and review just leave me a comment. Thank you!

Byeeeeeeeee :)

April's "Totally Alright or Pure Shite"

Hey guys! Today's blog post is gonna be the start of a new series for me. It's my Totally alright or pure shite of the month. I've picked out a few things I've been using over the past month and I'll tell ye if I love it (totally alright) or if I hate it (pure shite). I was getting bored of just talking about products I liked and I wanted to keep it real with ye all too. I'm not here to bash brands but if I don't like something I'm gonna say it. I find some bloggers hype up products to get the brands attention and the product turns out to be pure shite and we waste our money, so hopefully this series of blogs will help you save your money for the stuff that works.

The Totally Alrights

The Ordinary's Advanced Retinoid 2%

Of course this is in the favourites list of the month, I wouldn't be putting it into a giveaway if I hated it. Even though it purged my skin a bit at first I love love love this product! As I'm not a spring chicken any more I'm starting to look into anti-aging products. I heard great things about the advanced retinoid and had to give it a try. It's a derivative of retinol (vitamin a) and is known to be anti-aging. This is a wonder product as it gets rid of fine lines but also because it clears up blemishes and breakouts. I use it every second night before my moisturiser and when I wake up I don't even know myself my skins that good. Definitely a repurchase for me.

Lee Stafford's Hair Growth Scalp Serum

I've had this a few months and I've only used it constantly this month and my holy mother of god obsessed is not the word. I recently went from silver to brown (yet again!) so my hair wasn't as thick and lustrous as it used to be but after 2 weeks of using this I had baby hairs sprouting up that I never had hair. It claims to grow, strengthen and volumize hair, and it does exactly what is claims to do.  I totally recommend it to all the hair dyers out there.

Superfacialist by Una Brennan Salicylic Acid Wash

Do you know when you try something great from a brand and immediately want to try the rest of their range? Well that's me with Superfacialist by Una Brennan. I've heard about the brand but never tried it until I came across this face wash in Tk Maxx. Now this is a cleanser that will leave you feeling squeaky clean (which I love), so dry skin types be warned. I used this at night time and I love it because it get rid of all the dirt and oils from the day. It has salicylic acid in it which reduces blemishes. My skin after a few uses looked more clear. I love the smell off it, I think it's the elderflower in it but I could be wrong. If you're in the market for a new cleanser I'd recommend this one to my fellow oily skin people of the world

The Pure Shites

Garnier's Anti-Blemish Clarifying Tonic

I had such high hopes for this product. I bought this because I kept seeing youtubers give it amazing reviews. It is supposed to be this gel toner that soothes the skin whilst tightening pores and ridding the skin of blemishes. First of all this product was so difficult to use. I put some onto a cotton pad and them applied to my face, but it was hard to spread around as it completely sank into my skin on contact.  I didn't see any tightening of pores as well seeing no change with my blemishes. I've been using this since February but no results have been seen after using this. To me this has to be a pure shite item.

Charles Worthington Colour Enhancer Purple Shampoo.

I bought this when I was silver after I ran out of my trusty Touch of Silver shampoo and thought this would do the job. This was not my cup of tea at all. When your hair is dyed silver and gets brassy easily you need your shampoo to be the deepest darkest colour of purple. This was so light and no comparison to the touch of silver, I used it going on three weeks and had to stop, it did nothing for my hair. It was getting brassy even with using it. Thank god I only got a travel size because I'd be pissed to have spent almost €10 on something that didn't work. Now in saying that I recently saw they have a new purple shampoo in their range called the ultra violet and it looks to be a deep dark purple but after using this one I'm hesitant.

Earth Therapeutics Rejuvinating Collagen Sheet Masks

We all know I love a good face mask and especially I've been enjoying sheet masks but this one didn't make the cut. I bought these in Tk Maxx and any other sheet masks I have bought in there have been superb. These ones claim to leave your skin plump and rejuvenated but I absolutely saw no difference at all. There is five in a pack and I've used three and I can't see myself finishing the pack. The sheet mask is so hard to unfold it's like completely stuck together. Without fail everytime I put one on my face and tried to adjust its position it ripped on me. There is nothing worse when you're trying to get ready for a selfie in your sheet mask and it rips... not cute. I will not repurchase from this particular k beauty brand again. 

So that's it for the first months installment of Totally Alright or Pure Shite, I hope ye enjoyed and remember, if something doesn't work for me doesn't mean it's not going to work for you.

Byeeeeeeeeeee :)

Empties.

Hey guys! Today's post is all about my empties for the year so far. If you don't know what an empties post is about, it's where I go through all my used up or "empty" products and give mini reviews on them. So these are my empties from January to March. Enjoy!

Hair

First we have Lush R&B. Ye are probably sick of seeing this on my blog but its amazing stuff and it still doesn't get enough credit. I takes me a year to finish a 100g pot of this so when I finish it I feel like it's a great accomplishment. I'm not going to bore you with the details, if you want to see a review of this just go to a previous hair care post it's definitely there.

Repurchase = YES

Next is another Lush product called Retread. This is Lush's heaviest conditioner. I bought a small pot when making an order online but I only think it comes in 250g pots in store (correct me if i'm wrong). I use to love it when I worked for the company as it suited my thick hair but the packaging makes it hard to use. You have to pour the pot onto your hand in the shower and it's hard to control how much product comes out. Also if you get water in it you're screwed. It's expensive too, which makes me mad if I accidentally spill some out of the pot, it's like money going down the drain, literally.

Repurchase = NO (unless it will start coming in a bottle).

Last hair care item we have is the Aussie Miracle Dry Shmapoo. It took me ages to finish this up but I persevered. It did the job but it wasn't anything spectacular. I loved the smell at the start but after a few weeks it made me feel nauseous. It's a bubblegum candy smell like they have in a few of there products. 

Repurchase = NO.

Skin Care

First skin care item I have is the NIP+FAB Glycolic Cleansing Fix. I love it! I'm already halfway through a second bottle. It has 2% glycolic acid which helps to brighten the face. It left my skin tone looking so even and brightened. I wouldn't use this everyday because it would be a bit stripping but every second day is fine. It smells so lemony fresh too. An all round good cleanser.

Repurchase = YES.

Sticking with the NIP+FAB theme we have the Glycolic Fix Serum. This has 4% glycolic acid in it. I'm not going to lie I saw no difference after using this product. I was very disappointed because I used it religiously until I finished it and saw no change in my skin. I really wanted to love this because I love the brands other products.Who knows maybe it might work for others.

Repurchase = NO.

Next up is the No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Lotion. I bought the beautiful skin mini set in the christmas sale and instantly fell in love with this so much so i went and bought the full size. I have raved about this on another post, however since then I'm not such a fan. I think when I bought this my skin was a little drier but not i'm oily AF again. It does nothing for my skin at all. I don't feel cleansed, I just feel like my skin is weighed down after using it.

Repurchase = NO.

Another mini from that set I finished is the Beautiful Skin Radiance Exfoliator. It was a good little exfoliator, it did the job and wasn't stripping on my sensitive skin. I've used better but I have also used worse.

Repurchase = YES (only if it was on sale).

Last from No7 is the No7 Men Anti-Shine Lotion SPF 15. I bought this last year for my holiday to Gran Canaria. I needed an SPF but I hate putting sunscreen on my face. A lovely lady in boots recommended it to me and it really worked. I didn't burn and I got a nice tan. Even for day to day use here it was brilliant, it mattified my oiliness and kept it at bay.

Repurchase = YES

The Simple Oil Balancing Moisturiser is another product I finished up lately. I have used this multiple times and I like it. It keeps me hydrated and mattified. If thats what you want from a moisturiser then this is the one for you, its simple but effective. I'm looking for something more now, I feel my skin needs a bit extra. All good moisturiser recommendations appreciated!

Repurchase = YES 

Last empty is the Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Optimizing Skin Serum. I love love love Elizabeth Arden skin care products they just suit my skin so well. I got this mini in a set last year and I have been saving this serum for special occasions. It makes my skin look plump, hydrated and looking fresh. It's a lightweight serum so it suits my oily face. It smells divine. I'm going to start saving for a full size.

Repurchase = YES

So there you have it! Those for were my empties so far this year. I don't hold back at all, if I think something isn't worth the money i'm not going to recommend it. Hope you enjoyed and I'll have another one ready in a few more months when I get through my every growing product stash.

Byeeeeeeee :)