New Years Eve Outfit Of The Day (Night)

It's my blurry outfit of the day! Props to my sister heather for taking it and props to Bianca for featuring in the pic!

Jumper: it's from Spain, (courtesy of my friend Kate) a company called Blanco. It's a knitted burgundy coloured jumper.

Jeans: skinnies with turn ups from topman. My go-to jeans

Shoes: nice thick-soled mock vanz shoes, burgundy colour from penneys/primark.

Accessories: a brassy chain with royal charms from river island

Hope everyone has a nice new years :)

P.S. Sorry about the pic quality i need a proper camera badly

Product Review: The Dermalogica Shaving Kit set

In this post i will be reviewing a shaving kit by the company Dermalogica. I have terrible trouble with shaving and i have gone days/weeks without shaving just to avoid the pain of it, but after using Dermalogica i am now  not afraid to shave anymore! I got this kit as a Christmas present off a close family friend, so i don't know exactly where it was bought and for how much, but i do know it is available from certain Irish websites such as http://www.kudosbeauty.ie/ . Some salons might stock Dermalogica too, so it would be worth while checking it out. Dermalogica is all about, you getting to know your skin and how to treat it properly. With shaving it aims to reduce ingrown hairs, redness after shaving, and cuts/nicks.

With this shaving kit you get 4 products. A daily cleansing scrub, a pre-shave guard, a soothing shaving cream and a post-shave balm. These 4 products are all you need because they cover all things you need to have a comfortable shave.

First off you get the Daily cleansing scrub in a 44 ml/FL OZ tube. I wouldn't recommend using it daily because you will run out of it fast, so i use my normal cleanser everyday i'm not shaving. Even though its only a small little tube it works amazingly! The cream has a slightly course texture from the silica beads in it to give  exfoliation, and a good exfoliation at that too! It gets rid of excess oils and dead cells. The cleansing scrub also help lift the hairs so they are raised the make for a closer, easier shave which reduces ingrown hairs. You simply use like another other facial cleanser by rinsing it off with warm water before you move onto the next step. I found this to be one of the best cleanser i have ever used as you get such a good deep clean from it.

After the cleanser you then use the pre-shave guard. Its 28.3g/1 Oz. It comes in a hard plastic cylinder tube with a twistable end to retract the product when done. Even though this is a small sized product, i can see it lasting me a long while as the product easily glides onto the skin. It has a nice menthol scent to it and leaves the skin nice and soothed before you start shaving. I can definitely see myself using this even with a normal quick shave.

Next in the shaving kit is the soothing shaving cream. It comes in a easy to use squeezable tube 74ml/2.5 FL OZ.  Unlike most shaving creams this does not foam up. It lathers up with water. I find this to be better because it gives you a closer shave. It has aloe vera and panthenol which are soothing and help to aid the skins post-shave recovery process. As well as giving you a close shave it moisturises your skin leaving no dry patches.

Lastly you in the pack you get a post-shave balm 10ml/0.33 FL OZ. Like all other post-shaving balms it reduces any irritation and redness. Since the three products before it did such a great job i didn't have any redness or irritation. It has a nice citrus scent to it which will give you that zing that will awaken your skin.

I think Dermalogica is a godsend for men with sensitive skin. I would recommend it a million times over. In this kit you get all you need to have a nice close, comfortable shave. I definitely give this product 10/10.

Any questions about this product you can email me pauliebray@gmail.com or visit the Dermalogica website http://www.dermalogica.com/us/

Product Review: BIG Shampoo by Lush

When is comes to my hair i always want to try out new and different products. So working in Lush Cosmetics i came across this shampoo in the hair care section. This is BIG shampoo. What makes it 'different' you are probably wondering, well its consistency that makes it so unusual. Unlike other shampoos that are creamy and liquid, BIG shampoo is a slightly coarse, translucent paste, that is semi-runny.

From the picture you can clearly see the sea salt. BIG shampoo contains coarse sea salt, coconut, and fresh lemons and limes to give hair such a perfect shine. Sea salt also helps to give hair volume, hence the name BIG. It has a scent of neroli and oranges, giving it that fresh smell to go with that fresh feel.

When using BIG you take a small scoop of the product out of the pot into your hands, you massage it into wet hair and it lathers up. What i did find with this products was that it didn't lather up properly the first time. So what i did was add more product then more water, and then it lathered up greatly. From the 330g pot you will get a lot of usage out of it.

Overall, i would give BIG Shampoo an 8/10. It is perfect for people with flat and grease-prone hair. It lost two marks for its difficulty with lathering.

Any questions on this product i will be happy to answer.

Thanks (:

I'm baaaaackkkkkk!!! *update*

Helloooooo,

So the last time i blogged was around September time. I thought i could balance college and doing a blog, i couldn't. :( 

As im in Cork almost full time more opportunities may arise! ;)

Also i recently got a job with the very nice company that is Lush Cosmetics, so be expecting a lot of product reviews from there.

And this time i promise i wont leave ye!

Product Review: L' Oreal Men Expert Hydra Energetic with Flash Bronzer

Tanning for men, seems like a bit of a taboo right? I am the same! I wouldn't go to the shop and buy a bottle of Sally Hanson, no way! So when i saw that L'Oreal Men Expert brought out a moisturiser with a flash bronzer i was skeptical at first but after much "humming" and "hawing" i was willing to give it a go. I'm naturally pale, and with living in Ireland i'm pretty much going to stay pale for the rest of my life, so why not try look a bit.... alive?





The product comes in a 50ml hard plastic pump-dispensing bottle as seen in this picture. The style of the bottle is very eye catching but stays true to the look for the Hydra Energetic range with is orange, black and silver colours.

The bottle comes with a safety lock which is so handy because you could easily hit off the pump of the bottle and destroy yourself in the product. You twist the top of the bottle to unlock it, once that you use the pump and put it onto your hands. The directions say only you 2 pumps (or if you want a more intense look, use 2 more) but if it's just a healthy glow you're looking for then 2 pumps will suffice. It comes out in a dark translucent gel as seen in the picture. What i do is i rub it between my hands and then all over my face quickly (if you don't do it  quickly it will dry into your hands.) The flash bronzer dries into the skin quickly and leaves no traces at all!

Ok so this a picture of me before i put the flash bronzer on, and im pretty pale and  washed out looking

And this is with one application (2 pumps) of the Hydra Energetic with flash bronzer. As you can there is a slight difference, mostly that my skin doesn't look so washed out like in the first picture.

This is with two applications (4 pumps) for the more "intense" look. My skin colour went noticeably darker, giving me a slight tan.






I would totally recommend this product to every man! For the little bottle it comes in, it lasts a really long while. I've been using it on and off for the last 5 months and im not even half way through it yet. Also it smells like the rest of the Hydra Energetic range, giving off that manly aftershave smell.

*Tip* Apply to the neck area also or else you'll have a big noticeable colour difference between your face and neck

Outfit Of The Day

So this is my first Outfit Of The Day blog post, hence i look all dazed. As i was in Cork City today i said i might as well get dressed up. I'll start off with my cardy. I got this cardigan in River Island on sale a few weeks ago. It's a burgundy colour and has buttons starting just below mid-length of cardigan so you can have it open or closed. I would recommend wearing it open like in the pic as when it is buttoned up it makes you look all frumpy and gives you no shape. Under this I wore a black Topman t-shirt with a plunging neckline. I love plunging necklines as they really extenuate broad shoulders, making them look broader, and for €5 how bad?. I then matched these up with a pair of grey skinny jeans from River Island. The grey and black compliment each other well and i tucked the ends into my boots. The boots are brown leather lace up boots with zips on the side. I got these in a store called The Josef Store in Cork on sale.

If anyone has any questions or this post just ask, or any suggestions for future posts also.

This Autumns High Street Fashion Favourites!

I for one love the Autumn/Winter seasons in regards to fashion. Don't get me wrong i love summer and all, but i just find myself constantly wearing t-shirts. Whereas with this time of year i am literally in my element! There is just so more choice, and i get to feed my addiction, Cardigans.. Yes i am a sucker for a good aul' cardy!!
So in this blog i  picked out  a few of my Autumn fashion favourites from the local high street shops. Enjoy!

H&M Leather Jacket

First up is this very stylish imitation leather Jacket from H&M. It's light weight so its more for style than practicality. Its comes in two colours, Black and Burgundy and is priced at €49.95/£34.99, which is pretty reasonable. As shown on the model, i would wear it with the zip open, and a nice grey or white print t-shirt. Chinos or a grey slim legged jeans would match it perfectly




http://www.hm.com/gb/product/03163?article=03163-B

My second pick i feel is a thing that is of conflict of opinion. Some guys hate chinos, some guys love them! As for me? I'm a chino wanker and proud ;). These chinos new to Topman are amazing! The colour of the turn-ups contrast the rusty colour of the chinos itself, but works so well. It's very eye-catching so i wouldn't recommend it to the fashionably shy men.. i would pair it with some slip-on pimsoll shoes to really show off the contrasting colours! They are €40.00/£32.00, which is the general price for a pair of chinos


http://www.topman.com

Long, fine-knit cardigan, no buttons.

I couldn't do my blog about Autumn fashion and not put in my all time FAV, the cardigan. They are stylish yet practical as they keep the chill away too. This long-fit cardigan from H&M only comes in black, which sucks, but black is a colour that can go with most other colours. I would wear this cardigan with slim bottoms, whether it would be jeans or chinos. It costs €29.95/£24.99.




http://www.hm.com/gb/product/03599?article=03599-A

For my last piece i said i'd do an accessory. I think every outfit that a man puts together needs an accessory, whether it be a chain or a bracelet. This i thought was hilarious! Nowadays everyone is always screaming YOLO at ya, so why not wear a bracelet saying it, to truly show off how much of a mad bitch ya are :P. It is priced at €10.00/£3.00, which is steep for Ireland buyers, but hey YOLO...

http://www.riverisland.com/Online/men/jewellery/bracelets/multi-coloured-yolo-beaded-bracelet-264476



Thanks very much for reading, the next post will be up in a day or two. If you have ideas about blogs or suggestions i'd be glad to read them
Paul