Empties | Skincare Products I've Used Up.

It's been quite a while since I've done an empties post... My little box that I keep used products in has been overflowing so I said I'd do this one dedicated to 5 skincare products I've tried and most importantly... if I'd repurchase any of them!

Empties #3 - Mini Reviews.

I know it seems so boring, but I really love a good empties post. I never knew looking through people's rubbish could be so fun - it's probably the easiest way to do it without getting a restraining order. I thought I'd share with ye 5 products I've used up completely, what I thought of them and most importantly; if I would repurchase them in the future!

Empties #3

FOTD + Step by Step How To | Uninterrupted Mythology.

Finally, here is an autumn inspired face of the day! I've been itching to put this much makeup on my face and photograph it for you guys. This is a halo/spotlight type look, with the colour lightest in the centre. I like to call this a sort of "pretty grunge" look, because it's using some red and bruise toned colours in a very blown out shape but still manages to look made up and girly. I've really been enjoying this lately because it looks great even without winged liner and can be blown out quite a lot around the edges. Saves a lot of time and looks really nice with those kind of colours. I did a post all about some of my favourite eyeshadows for autumn/winter (link here) - you could easily take other shades similar to those that I mentioned and recreate this look to your taste. It could be made less burgundy and more brown, less rose gold in the centre and more gold or bronze, it's really up to you! I also gave the options of a dark lip and a nude lip, and I'd wear this look with both depending on my mood but, of course, you could opt for the nude lip if you preferred! Let me know which lip you would wear with this look down below! :)

Favourites | Autumn Eyes.

I wasn't really sure what to call this post, and I'm still not fully sure how to accurately describe it but sure we'll go for it. Autumn is such a great time for bold, but still somewhat neutral eyes. I find a lot of inspiration in nature when it comes to autumnal themed makeup... if it looks like a colour that fell from a tree, then I want to put it on my eyeballs. I've done a favourite blushes for this time of year, and will be doing a lipstick follow up post too. I wouldn't necessarily say that these are my "Top *definite number* eyeshadows for fall" because they're not all eyeshadows, it's a mix of products and it's more of a general guide of season appropriate colours that I love to incorporate into my makeup during this time of year... make sense? It did in my head, I swear!

I'm going to be showing you some great colours that look particularly lovely this time of year, and different ways of wearing them. I think those of you who are all about eye makeup and aren't feeling dark vampy lips will benefit most from this, but I think there's something here everyone can take from it. I've been wanting to do some autumnal inspired FOTD posts, and sorry they've been slacking, but I've been trying to deal with terrible lighting in my college home and just finding the time to sit down and actually do my makeup during the day! Another thing I realised is that I do a lot of different variations of the same looking during this time of year. In the sense that I'll use a lot of plums, browns, maroons and golds and use them differently on the eye (for example with or without winged liner, with gold in the inner corner or on the centre of the lid etc). It's using the same products, but give a different effect. So, I naturally had to include the stand out products that I've been using on all, or most of my FOTD's in this post :)

France Haul: Makeup & Skincare | Kiko, Sephora, Yves Rocher.

Although I personally like to watch/read haul type posts, I know they're not for everyone. That being said, I thought I would lump all the things I purchased on my trip here, because a lot of these are brands and items you can't necessarily get easily in Ireland. I always think it's interesting to see the makeup and skincare bits people pick up when they're abroad and gives me an idea of things I might want to purchase on future trips! I picked up quite a few things from Kiko and included swatches because Kiko is something that's a little easier to get if you live in England or are travelling around Italy, Portugal, France, Spain. In addition to that, I think a haul is the only real way to show you these things... I'd be here for years reviewing everything singularly! ;) You'll all be happy to know that my french makeup vocabulary has improved significantly!

The bottomless pit of makeup and skin care goodness!

Favourite Face Brushes.

I realised that I talk day and night about amazing makeup products but never touched base on what I use to apply them with - I knew that had to change! Makeup brushes can sometimes be an investment in your personal or professional makeup kit but I honestly believe that if you have some good makeup brushes, then they can make the world of difference as to how your makeup applies, high or low end. Note that I said good makeup brushes - not necessarily expensive! While I own quite a lot of MAC brushes, I haven't bought any new ones in ages because I've found some really amazing brushes elsewhere and for a much reasonable price.

I think that makeup brushes can be a tough one to crack - so I thought I'd do a post on some of my favourite ones that I think are worth having. I remember working at Urban Decay and a lot of people would ask if brushes were absolutely necessary, or even admitted to just neglecting brushes altogether because they were too expensive. I've found that you don't always have to spend an arm and a leg on a nice brush! I'm not saying all of these are must haves for everyone, but there was some brushes here that do several different jobs and it just depends on what you're looking for! You'll notice that I don't have a traditional, flat paddle foundation brush included in this post - purely because I don't like to use them for foundation but that doesn't mean you won't prefer that to a buffing style brush! I have found them to be useful for cream contour and highlight, though.

When picking out makeup brushes for personal use, try and stick to having one for foundation, powder, contour (if you do contour), blush and highlight (again, if applicable). Once you have those key, basic brushes then the rest are merely extras. Look at the shapes of brushes and how you think they would work best on you - just because a brush is sold as a foundation brush doesn't mean it can't be used as something else so keep that in mind! I really do hope this is helpful to some of you, because brushes can be pricey! If an eye brushes follow up post is something you'd be interested in seeing then please let me know :)

Alrighty, first up are stippling brushes. For years, they were my favourite method of applying foundation. I've since moved on to a more dense 'buffing' style brush but if you want a more natural, but still 'airbrushed' finish then a duo-fibre 'skunk' brush is your man. Typically, and in the case of the 187 by MAC, the bottom hairs (black) are natural and the white tips are synthetic. The mix of natural  and synthetic hair gives a flawless finish and means it works well with both powder and cream. The 187 is far more dense than the ELF Stipple Brush, so I favour the MAC one for foundation. I also like to use stippling brushes for applying light dustings of setting powder, bronzer or very pigmented blushes. The ELF one is quite flimsy, but works well for applying these cheek products - especially if you often find you overdo it with blush. So, depending on the use of your stippling brush: I would highly recommend the 187 for liquid foundation and the ELF one for blush and other cheek products.

Next is the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I hear so much about Real Techniques but this is actually the only makeup brush I own from them. I definitely want to try more, and you can often find these on special offer in Boots. All Real Techniques brushes are synthetic and I find that the Expert Face Brush makes a fantastic buffing brush for liquid/cream foundations. Its very dense and gives a very fully coverage. I often use this with my Bourjois cream bronzer, too. This brush is quite small and works well getting into the contours of the face.

You'll probably be able to tell, but I try most of my face brushes as foundation brushes first and if I don't like them, I generally find another use for them. The ELF Powder Brush makes an amazing foundation brush for both powder and liquid. It's very similar to a brush by Sephora and works the same as all the flat top kabuki style brushes. Like the RT Expert Face Brush, this gives a flawless finish and covers a larger area since it's bigger. I have one of these for liquid foundation and another for mineral/powder foundation. This works amazingly with a MAC MSF or the Studio Fix Powder. The ELF Studio line make some amazing brushes and they are so inexpensive. From the few that I've tried, I love all of the ELF brushes - I've only placed one order with them and many of their best selling brushes were sold out so hopefully in the future I can do a whole post on their brushes when I add to my collection.

I know it is terribly boring, but the 129 by MAC is honestly the best blush brush I have ever owned. I won't lie, it sheds quite a bit and is pretty pricey but oh lawwwwd is it soft. It just applies blush like no other blush brush does. I know it sounds dramatic, but this is honestly just a great standard blush brush which I think everyone should have in their collection. It's not too big or too small and is a good shape so it can be used for powder or bronzer, too. MAC also offer the 168 brush, an angled blush/contour brush which I considered including but I think the 129 is overall a nicer brush. However, it might be worth going into MAC and comparing the 2 together to see which one you personally like best.

Inglot's brushes don't get enough love online and I can't understand why. I've only tried a handful of their brushes but I think they're excellent and can't wait to invest in more. The Inglot 4SS is technically marketed as an eyeshadow brush, but I would never use it on the lid unless I was sweeping one neutral shadow from lash line to brow bone. However, as a face brush this works amazingly! This can be used this for a multitude of things - contouring the cheeks for a dramatic look, nose contouring, highlighting, setting small areas of the face (chin, nose) and finally, setting concealer under the eyes. It is very small, but you could even use it as a blush brush if you were in a pinch. Although it's unusual looking and you'd probably take one look at this brush in the store and go "sure what would you use that for at all?!" but it is probably the most multi-functional brush I own!

Lastly, is a round top kabuki style brush. This brush is the Mineral Powder Brush by Sephora and is incredibly soft. Just as it says on the tin, I use this for setting my foundation and getting more coverage out of my powders. In the summertime, I bring this with my MAC Studio Fix powder and I'm good to go foundation wise. It's very soft and dense but I also use this for dramatic cream and powder contouring some times. This is really just a rounded version of the ELF Powder Brush, so I don't necessarily think you need both for powder but I think either/or is great to have!

I would love to know some of your favourite face brushes - especially if you have any ELF or Real Techniques recommendations. You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram or Blog Lovin' to keep up to date with new blog posts and such :) 

Get Ready With Me: College Ball.

Last week I went to Kilkenny city for a dinner/dance ball type thing for my boyfriend's college. It was such great fun... good music, good food, good company and above all, a really good excuse to get my roots done (eventually!) and get dressed up. I wasn't going to do a post like this, but I thought it was a nice way to make my blog a bit more personal, whilst still keeping it on the beauty spectrum. I also got a couple of questions regarding my dress/makeup etc on the night so I thought it would be a good idea to lump it all together and show you everything; jewellery, makeup, nails. Essentially, an OOTD, FOTD and NOTD post all in one. I think these posts could be good for special occasions and might even give people a few ideas for debs/prom/wedding season coming up. Hope you enjoy! :)

Shane borrowed an American's hat and thought he was the next Dirt Nasty.