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 :) 

My New York Haul

Where to begin.. New York was amazing! My time over there was a unreal from start to finish. First of all I got engaged, am hello when did I become a full blown adult? We did some amazing activities while there so I might do a blog post on what to do in NY if ye want. Of course I couldn't go to times square and not do some shopping. I went to Sephora (obvs), Deciem/The ordinary shop in Soho, Blue Mercury a lovely cosmetics shop off Times Square and Target. So here are all of the beauty bits I got on my trip.

Sephora

I saw so many "Instagram" brands in Sephora and as much as I wanted to buy the lot, I couldn't justify spending $50 dollars on a face wash. So I bought some Sephora own brand products which were reasonably priced. The first item I got was the Sephora Rose Lip Balm. Look at that packaging.. I mean how cute is that. They had them in loads of flavours like, coconut, kiwi and honey, but I am a granny at heart and I love me aul rose scents. It cost $6.

The second Sephora product I bought was the Skin Detox Bubble Mask. They had a few types but after all the pigging out I did in NY I need a detox. I have never had a bubble mask before but I have seen so many people use them and they look gas. I will post pics to see if they bubble much. This also cost $6

Deciem

If you haven't seen or heard of Deciem or The Ordinary where have you been? The brand has literally blown up over the past 2 years. They're known for their cheap cosmetics, skimping on the fancy packaging to give you fine ingredients at a lower price. I knew going over that I wanted to visit their store, so after visitng Carrie Bradshaws apartment we went to Soho to give it a look. My first purchase from there was the Salicylic Acid 2% solution. A lot of people with blemish prone skin rave about this and since I’m still a pizza face currently I need buckets of this. This cost about $5.

The next thing I got was the vitamin c suspension 23% + HA spheres 2%... basically a vitamin c cream. I wanted to have vitamin c in my routine as it’s great for pigmentation and anti aging, and I’m not getting any younger! I paid around $6 for it. I forgot my receipts so everything is in or around the price. (I’m such a bad blogger!)

The last thing I bought In Deciem was the AHA/BHA Peeling Solution. This is a Chemical peel for the face. It’s for exfoliation. Again I bought this because of Instagram, I’m such a sheep following the herd I know! You put it on your face for 10 mins and wash off. With all these products I bought you need to hydrate your skin and apply SPF the next day as they are acids and can compromise your skin. I think this was about $10. I will review each product on my Instagram after a few weeks use.

Blue Mercury

I’ve never heard of this shop before but I’m glad I found it as it was a cute little Cosmetics shop that was very cheap. Think of a shop like Sephora but not as expensive. My main reason for going there was for Dermalogica’s Special Cleansing Gel. So after doing my college course and working with Dermalogica I wanted to convert most of my skincare to the brand. I chose this Cleanser as it’s suitable for oily skin. It cost $38 for 250ml. It’s the cheapest I found for Dermalogica products.

I also bought Mario Badescu facial spray. I heard great things from this brand but never bought anything because I couldn’t be arsed ordering online, like I hate ordering things online. It’s the waiting I hate the most! This spray was only $7 and it smells like rose! It’s great to freshen up your face!

Target

I think I went to Target everyday while I was in NY. Think TK Maxx and a supermarket mixed together and thats Target. While I was there I ran out of my trusty foundation so I had to purchase a new one over there. I couldn't find my Rimmel one so I went for the ELF Cosmetics Acne Fighting Foundation. I have used it already and have a first impressions on my instagram if you want to see what I thought of it. It cost $7.

So this isn't skincare I know but I always said if I go to America I am buying Crest Whitening Toothpaste. American's are known for their white teeth and a lot of them recommend Crest. I bought a single tube and loved it so I came back for a double pack which cost $6. I wanted to buy the whitening strips but they were $60.. maybe next time.

I hope you enjoyed my haul as much as I enjoyed shopping it. Stay tuned for reviews of all these products and if you have any questions about any products just drop me a message!

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 :)