Bargain Synthetic Kabuki Brushes | Sigma/Zoeva Dupes.

If you're into beauty or have watched a single Jaclyn Hill video, I'm sure most girls know about the synthetic kabuki craze. In fact, I'm sure some of you even own one or two! I love these kind of brushes, and have been using various different ones from Sephora, ELF and Real Techniques for ages. Sigma, Blank Canvas, Zoeva, Sedona Lace and plenty of online brush brands came out with a series of different shaped kabuki brushes (for both the face and the eyes). Although a lot of Sigma brushes are certainly cheaper than MAC, they're still bloody expensive - especially for their synthetic kabuki brushes. All of the kabuki brushes that these online brands have to offer are always the same, just with Sigma or Sedona lace on the handle. They generally consist of; a flat top kabuki, a founded one, an angled one and a tapered brush with matching smaller brushes for the eyes.

FOTD | Comfort Zone Smokey Eye (Wet n Wild Tutorial)

I bought the Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette (along with their Petal Pusher one) AGES ago, when I first saw they had come to Ireland. I swatched the shadows briefly, thought they were gorgeous and typical me stuck them at the back of a drawer never to be seen again. I recently saw someone mention Club eyeshadow by MAC in a tutorial and remembered Wet n Wild having an exact dupe of Club in the Comfort Zone palette. Club, and the definer shade in this palette are warm brown shadows with a blue/green shift which looks amazing when it hits the light at different angles. Club is easily one of MAC's best selling shadows - but I actually prefer the Wet n Wild one! It's more pigmented, shows up more "blue" and you can get the entire Wet n Wild palette (10 shadows) for about €6... a fraction of the price of a single mediocre MAC one! 

Anyway, dupes aside, I wanted to use this palette because I haven't featured any Wet n Wild shadows on my blog so far, I love them almost as much as their lipsticks! I think this is a great shade if you, ironically, want to get out of your comfort zone just a teeeeny bit. The palette itself is mostly neutral, with the blue/brown shade and a few olive greens. I think the blue/brown shade is such a fantastic way to wear colour if you're a neutral girl at heart. So, to truly bust out of the comfort zone, I used it in a smokey eye tutorial, taking you through all the steps to create this look which I think would be perfect for Christmas parties coming up! This look is really easy to create, keeping the dark shades on the inner/outer corners and using the blue/brown colour in the centre and lower lash-line. I used lashes for maximum impact, but they're always an option! Keeping it easy, I opted for no winged liner which means there's no excuse not to try this look for your next night out! When using such dark shades, I'd definitely recommend using a sticky base/primer and doing your foundation last! Finally, I kept the cheeks warm and peachy with some peach nude lips. Hope you guys enjoy! :)

FOTD | Airborne Unicorn.

So I'm finally back with a FOTD on my blog! I knew when my Lime Crime lipstick arrived that I wanted to do an all out purple look on both the eyes and lips. I was also really inspired by my friend's purple winged eyes at a gig we went to recently and decided to recreate my own version! This was done on a complete whim, at 5am because I had recently just bought a new light up mirror and could actually take semi-decent pictures with that as my light source! I included glitter in the inner corners, which is a PAIN to photograph (my crappy camera doesn't do it justice!) but you could also do a shimmery silver shadow instead. And, of course, if the eyes and lips are too much, you could opt for a neutral eye or lip and tailor it to suit you! Nonetheless, I wanted to do something quite bright and fun, since I haven't done my makeup for my blog in a while. I think the eyes would be perfect to wear to any parties or nights out over the next few weeks! Hope you guys enjoy! :)

  

Bloggers Christmas Tag + Galway Christmas Market.

Hi, my name is Grace and I used to blog on here about makeup type stuff that interested me. I've been so crap at blogging lately and I really have to apologise! I will absolutely be blogging more regularly this month and into January. I have SO many blog post ideas that I want to get done, but just haven't found the time yet. I'm super active on Twitter and Instagram so if you want to see some mini makeup hauls, sneak peaks of whats to come on the blog and other things in between my (sporadic) posts, then follow me on there! Last week I was tagged by Mary over at Miss Lucas to do the Christmas tag (make sure you check out her post, too!). I've been super busy with end of semester assignments and exams coming up but with today being the 1st of December, I thought it was appropriate to do the Christmas tag! I think non-beauty tags are a really good way to get to know someone a little bit more. I'm obsessed with Winter and especially Christmas. I mean, obsesssssed. Don't forget to comment below telling me your favourite Christmas movie, your favourite thing about Christmas in general aaaaand because this is a beauty blog, tell me your favourite Christmas makeup item; a glitter liner or a bright red lipstick, perhaps? :)

Galway Christmas Market, 2013.

Christmas Jumper - Topshop. Lips - MAC Cherry lipliner + Viva Glam Rihanna I.

Winter Nail Picks.

I love dark nails around this time of year. Black, burgundy, navy, greys. I love the way they look with a shiny top coat and a dark vampy lip. I also love glitter, too, so you know I had to include just a liiiiittle bit of that. Most of the glitter polishes I have are limited edition from different OPI or Barry M collections, but I will say that Barry M has the best range for fun polishes so definitely check that stand out first!

Review | Seventeen Define and Conquer Contour Kit.

It's not secret that finding a good contour product can be hard, but a good contouring product from a budget brand? Unheard of... until now! I'd seen this product pop up on a few beauty blogger Instagrams and with the inner drag queen in my always looking for new sculpting products, I decided to take up the Boots 3 for 2 offer and give this a go.

First off, I love the clever name. Lame, so lame, but I thought I'd mention it anyway! I also really like the packaging. Very Nars-esque but without the horrible dirt/powder attracting rubber texture. Sleek and compact with a good mirror. I approve already.

Inside are a highlight and contour powder duo. The texture is the same for both - creamy and pigmented, not chalky and definitely blendable. I already knew after one application that this would be a good one for beginners, it's so easy to blend!

10 Winter Lip Picks.

It's probably no surprise that I love bold, dark, vampy lips. So much so that this post was both a joy and a torture to write. 50% of me was so excited to share with you my favourite dark lip colours because well, I love talking about lipstick! The other 50% was dreading it because it was extremely hard for me to narrow it down to a) a particular number and b) permanent, readily available shades. I'm happy to say that all these colours are permanent, no limited edition ones here! I managed to restrict myself to just 10, otherwise I'd be here all day listing lipsticks! Most of these are more berry, purple and burgundy toned colours (although I did include a couple more subtle shades for you guys!) because I find them more readily available than the darker reds. That being said, I am waiting on a certain Lime Crime product that I'm hoping will prompt a follow-up post closer to Christmas around my top 5 holiday reds. Keep an eye out!

A lot of these are MAC, but I have a few budget/drugstore lipsticks here too that I love for winter and I hope you will too! These are just some of my favourite dark lipsticks, particularly the ones I've been using this year... if you want to see more lipsticks (and to see them in action on ma faaaace) then follow me on Instagram. I always post new makeup purchases on there and usually show them in a FOTD before they feature on ze blog!

My Inglot Eyeshadow Palettes + Swatches.

I've been a big Inglot eyeshadow fan for a few years now. I feel like it was such a small brand for a long time and lately has grown to be more popular than the likes of MAC among Irish girls. They're big into their Instagram and other social medias and have super talented makeup artists working on their counters so it's no surprise why they're getting so well known. It's so funny to me that when I first saw xSparkage mention Inglot, her and other beauty bloggers were talking about the struggles of finding Inglot stores (particularly in America) and now there are about 4 in Dublin alone! It's nice to see more stores popping up around the country (Galway needs one asap!) and with Inglot Ireland announcing their online store, I thought it would be a good opportunity to whip out my palettes and get swatching for you guys! 

In short; Inglot eyeshadows are pigmented, amazing quality and amount of product for the price and come in an array of colours and finishes. The high quality is pretty much the same for all Inglot shades I've tried. The only downside I have to Inglot is their numbering system - it's impossible to remember the numbers. That's the only reason why I refrain from using them too much in blog posts because I have to try and get them out of their palettes which is no fun for anyone involved! I would actually own more of their shadows if I kept a list of the shades I already own, because I'm always worried about getting doubles of the same shadow!

 

Numbers aside, they are amazing eyeshadows and that's what I'm going to focus on today, showing you the shades in my current collection and some of my favourites. They have a Freedom System whereby you choose the eyeshadows individually and put them into the Freedom System palette. These palettes come in loads of different sizes (2, 3, 5, 10, 20, even 40 eyeshadow slots!) and the Freedom System also extends into powders, blushes/bronzer/contour, lipsticks and concealers. These are SO ideal for both travel and makeup artistry. The prices of the palettes of course vary on the size, and are available on the Inglot Website. One thing I want to mention before I get into the shadows I own, is that Inglot also offer rainbow shades (in bright and neutral shades) which consist of 3 different shades of the same eyeshadow. I don't own any of these yet but will definitely be investing in some soon, it's worth looking online for swatches of those because I know they're super popular among Inglot fans!

Brow Game 101 | My Brow Routine - Products, Techniques, Tips&Tricks.

I've been meaning to do this post for a long time, but I was avoiding it for ages. Purely because brows are a personal thing, different for everyone and can be hard to explain in a written post. That, and there are so many different ways to fill in your brows depending on the look you're going for. This is going to be my own personal brow routine. I'm a big fan of a fuller, sculpted brow and that's exactly how I like to do my own. My brows are naturally dark and thick, but I thought I would show you guys a couple of different ways I like to do my brows. I definitely don't think my brows are perfect, and I'm constantly trying to make them better, but I get asked about my brows quite a bit so I thought I'd do this post for those who were curious! These methods and tips can be taken and tailored to suit your own personal brow style and I think there's a few things everyone can take away from this post, no matter what brow shape or style you like! I hope this is helpful for some of you; I've gone through some of the different methods separately so you have the option of reading all of them, or just focusing on the way you personally prefer to do your brows. I'm going in order of my natural evolution in brow products; I began with powders and soon discovered new and unique products to use - I hope you discover some new ones as well! This is gonna be a long one, so stick on the kettle!

Halloween Make-up | 1920's Flapper Girl // Great Gatsby Theme.

This is a 1920’s flapper girl look I did for a college newspaper article thingyyyy. I thought it would be perfect to do a blog post on this look with it being so close to Halloween – this makeup is so quick and easy to do and would make a great “last minute Halloween plans” costume. Throw on a feather headpiece and it’s the perfect Great Gatsby-esque look! Being a history student and makeup lover, with a particular place in my heart for the 20’s, I’m hugely interested in makeup through the eras and the Jazz Age was one of the most innovative times for makeup trends. This post is going to include a list of the products used and a little more information on makeup at this time if you’re interested!

The 1920’s is such an exciting period in the makeup world! A new century had brought new inventions, (like the traditional swivel lipstick in a tube we use nowadays!) and heightened feminist/ suffragette movements along with female employment in typically male dominated fields made women embrace their right to wear as much makeup as possible. The Great War had ended and makeup was no longer seen as solely for harlots, it became commonplace for the everyday woman. The look I’m doing is a very dramatic and stereotypical of a flapper girl performer at this time, most women would not have worn their makeup to this extent on a daily basis but the techniques applied for all of those who wore cosmetics! I think it’s important to mention that this look was really only sported in the states. I’m not sure about the UK, but I know Ireland was extremely conservative in regards to women and their looks at this time, so you can bet there wasn't a woman in Connemara rocking a smokey eye!

I chose not to photograph a step by step tutorial for 2 reasons; a) it is SO simple... seriously guys, the messier and more blown out the better – no winged liner and no fuss! And b) my most recent Autumn FOTD (linked here with step by step photos) is the exact same concept and placement. The only difference is with a 1920’s look, keeping the eye shape circular and rounded on the edges is key – blown out but not winged out! The desired eye look of that time was a very heavy down-turned, almost “sad” eye. This was aided by the very overly plucked, thin and rounded brows of the time. I chose not to glue my brows down and redraw them because thin brows just aren't my thing. You can of course keep yours true to their natural shape and it will still look good, but if you want to keep it historically accurate then that’s something to think about! Remember that you can always take different bits of this tutorial and alter them too suit yourself and your preferences… there’s no harm in a modern day flapper girl!

New | Maybelline Colour Tattoos + Velvet Lip Pencils.

I went into Boots for eyelash glue and came out with a bag full of stuff (plus eyelash glue). Oh well... it's all for the sake of the blog really, isn't it? Does any other beauty blogger tell themselves that after a beauty shop? Anyway, I noticed Maybelline had some new (ish) products out and I decided to give them a go. I'm not exactly sure how new these specific Colour Tattoos are, because I haven't seen any talk about them, but I know the Lip Pencils are a pretty recent addition to the line. 

First Impressions | Lush Cosmetics Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub.

It's not quite a shower gel, not quite a scrub. It's an even mixture of both products in one little black pot. I actually bought this for my boyfriend originally and decided to try it out myself when I was in his house last weekend. I actually found it to be a bit of a 3 in 1 product. Here are my first impressions!

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! :)

Collective MAC Haul | All MAC Everythin'.

Nope, your mind is not playing tricks on you. I am, in fact, uploading a blog post. I feel like the past month has been nothing but "ahhhI'veBeenSoBusyErhMaGawdSorry" but it's so true. I haven't been bogged down with many assignments or exams, but finding the time to blog when I have tonnes of reading to do is a struggle. I promise Autumn FOTD and FOTD posts in general are coming soon, very very soon.. I've been itching to put makeup on my face and photograph it for you guys!

ANYWAY. I went back home for my birthday at the end of September and this post is pretty much the result of several things. 1) I wanted one (ONE) eyeshadow from MAC for a long time and had tried 3 different MAC counters on 4 different occasions but the results were fruitless (more on that later!). 2) Having wanted only one (ONE) thing from MAC, I of course took my birthday as a good enough excuse to treat myself to said item and a lipstick (if you follow me on Instagram you'll probably have already seen my "Happy Birthday to me" self pity purchase). 3) My mother was going to Berlin and ended up texting me that she was in a MAC Pro Store.. and sure when your mother is in a MAC Pro Store don't you grab that opportunity to text her a list of "Pro only" things you'll reimburse her for?! 5) I had 2 fellow makeup junkie friends staying over for my birthday (one actually has the Youtube, so check that beaut out here) and we ended up getting into each other's makeup bags.. whoops.. terrible thing really. So, as a result of product enabling, I wanted several shiny new MAC things (also more on that later) and the girls wanted Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade... can't blame them really, it's pretty feckin' deadly! 6) I had a couple of things to Back 2 MAC and finally, 7) I had recently (ish) read a Viva Adonis post featuring some comfort shopping MAC items and decided that retail therapy was definitely a thing. Definitely. I hadn't bought quite a lot of stuff from MAC's permanent line in ages - I JUST WANTED TO OKAY :(

In short, this post could have been called a number of things; "Collective MAC Haul", "MACalackin", "I Am A Broke Student And Am Now Eating Baked Beans For The Next Month", "My Boyfriend Knows Exact Locations and Opening Hours Of Every MAC Counter In The Country" or "Product Enabling Is A Real Thing SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY" ... you get the idea.

I think you'll all agree the lipsticks look a lot nicer with the lids off! ;)

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 :)

Top 5 | Blushes for Autumn/Winter.

I know, I KNOW. I pretty much fell off the face of the earth this past week or so.. I'm so sorry! I moved into a new house on the other side of the country, started back for my second year of college last week and had a friend staying with me all weekend so I had zero time to blog. That, and I've had 2 novels and 19th Century French poetry to deal with since last week. I'm hoping I'm now back into a semi regular blogging schedule again. I'm finding it difficult to balance that and college, but I'll make it work! Anyway, onto the good stuff... blush! I did a post on my top blushes for spring/summer and decided I would do one for autumn/winter too. I tend to go for more muted tones on my cheeks at this time, and go for a heavy contour and highlight. With it being the season for dark lips, however, I still think it's important to have some bit of colour on the cheeks, to stop your face from looking very washed out.

FOTD/Get Ready With Me | Anniversary Dinner.

Hi everyone! My last Get Ready With Me style post seemed to be a pretty popular one so I thought I'd do another! I think they're quite nice to do for special occasions or events where you're putting a good bit of thought into your whole outfit and look. My last GRWM (link here) was for a college ball and so was pretty formal. This time round, I decided to do one for my 1 year anniversary dinner with my boyfriend. I had taken pictures of only my makeup and jewellery that night, because I didn't originally have the intentions of doing a GRWM post. I have no photos of the 2 of us, or the ridiculously good Italian food and cheesecake/gelato we ate which is ultimate sad face. I took pictures of the details of the dress and accessories the next day, so I'll definitely have to plan it better next time round if I had have been thinking. It'll be a wedding anniversary before I ever get around to planning anything half decently realistically. Butttt, because this is mostly a beauty blog, I figured the makeup was the most important thing really wasn't it?

FOTD/Step by Step How To | Urban Chaos (Urban Decay Electric Palette).

I have been dying to get properly stuck into the Urban Decay Electric Palette since I got it last month. I had no time to sit down and play with makeup between moving my stuff from Dundalk to Galway, but I finally got a chance to throw some of the colours on my eyes and this is what I came up with. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out - it reminds me of a (radioactive) peacock. Blues and purples are colours I love to wear together, and I decided last minute to include the pop of yellow/green in the inner corner. The lid almost reminds me of a water colour with the blues and purples merging into one, so I opted to skip out on winged liner because I thought it would make it slightly more 'harsh' and almost graphic looking. That being said, you could definitely choose to add wings if you feel a little naked without them like I often do! I paired this with subtle highlighting, a pink blush and some nude lips. I have a review with swatches of the Electric Palette here and a slightly more neutral FOTD using it here if you're interested in seeing more of this palette :)

That Thrash colour is insaaaaaaaane - it just glows!

Mini Reviews | 5 Products I've Used Up (Empties #1)

Before I get into this post, I have to apologize for slacking on blog posts since coming home from France. I hate making excuses, but I'd been super busy showing my friend around Galway and Dublin for the week, then travelling back up to Galway for house related/moving/college things and finally trying to see all of my friends from home before we go our separate ways for the college year again - phew. I thought it would be easier to fit blogging into that schedule but I was mistaken, I'll be much more prepared next time. It killed me not being able to blog for a little over a week!
In any case, this is my first ever Empties style post... I'm not sure how enjoyable they are to everyone else but I find them incredibly useful. The concept is a little weird, basically looking into the contents of someone's beauty bin but Empties posts are a great way to get an idea of someone's fully formed opinion on a used up product. Most importantly, you get to know if the person would buy it again... and sure isn't that the main thing?! I've decided to keep it to 5 products to try and make this post somewhat short and sweet.

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!

FOTD - Naked Freak | Electric Palette Tutorial.

Okay, so I know I said I'd wait until I got home from France to do tutorials with the Electric Palette but uhmmmm, that didn't really happen. I've played around with it a little since I got it, but want to wait until I'm home (to the comfort of false lashes etc) to do some reaaally bright looks. So, wanting to keep it (slightly, only very slightly) more netural, I came up with this. I kept the crease brown and used a pop of colour on the lid and the lower lashline. I think the neutral crease makes it a little more wearable but ultimately it's still quite bright. I included one picture in the pictorial of a really neutral look I did, using the Electric Palette only on the lower lashline. I didn't take any other photos of that look, and it's so simple that I didn't think it would warrant an entire post but I thought I would throw it in here anyway because it's using the same 2 palettes (Naked Basics and Electric Palette) as my other look. The only difference is I swapped the bright lid for a neutral, matte cream colour.

I (obviously) don't have false lashes on in this FOTD, and if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I lost my lash curlers whilst on the trip. It was pretty traumatic, but I've since bought a different pair so the republic still stands and the earth has started turning again. Basically, excuse the state of my lashes and I hope you enjoy the face of the day! If you want to see my review on the palette, with my overall thoughts and swatches then click here :)

Top 10: Permanent MAC Lipsticks.

As a follow up post to my Top 10 MAC Eyeshadows post (link here), I thought I'd talk about one of my favourite things in makeup/life; lipstick. Unlike their eyeshadows, I think MAC do some of the best lipsticks around... especially for the not crazily luxury style price. These are the traditional bullet style MAC lipsticks, which people are probably more familiar with. They also do smaller ranges (Pro Longwear, Mattene and Mineralise to name a few) but I wanted to focus on their standard lipsticks because they're my absolute favourite. They have a whole host of different finishes (glaze, frost, lustre, cremesheen, amplified, satin, matte, retro matte) and a massive range of colours - I'd find it hard to believe you couldn't find something you liked with so much choice. I wanted to include a good range of nudes, reds, pinks, purples and deeper shades in this post. These are my personal favourite lipsticks that MAC offers.. most of them are all time favourites and 1 or 2 have been current favourites for a little while now. Don't forget that MAC offer the Back 2 MAC recycling programme, whereby you can bring back any 6 glass or plastic MAC containers/products when you're finished with them and get a free lipstick... and who doesn't love free lipstick?!

Get Electric | Urban Decay Electric Palette + Swatches.

I thought I would do a (sort of?) in-depth post on the Urban Decay Electric Palette that I got in Sephora the other day (I was super bold and bought "un cadeau pour moi-meme" but I wanted it for ages so whateverrrr). I've only just bought it but I think with eyeshadows you can often get a pretty good idea about how you feel about it from swatches and first use etc, unlike a foundation or mascara. I have only used these shadows on my eyes once, at 1am whilst playing around with the palette in my room. I actually did 2 different looks on each eye to try out as many shades as possible and come up with some looks with the palette. I ended up using all of them except Jilted!
I want to share swatches and my overall thoughts on this palette and the shades with you guys, because it isn't like a Naked palette where everyone is gonna run out and grab it for everyday use. That being said, there has been a lot of mention about this palette online already... probably unnecessary, but I thought I'd add to the mention ;) I will be doing lots of FOTD posts with this baby when I get home from France... I think that showing you the palette in use will be the true test as to how much I like it. I have done a FOTD inspired by an Electric Palette face chart which I will link here :)

On an only very slightly related note, I'm (of course) going back to Sephora before I leave France. Unfortunately, European Sephoras don't have all the same brands as the US one. However, if you have any Makeup Forever or Sephora product recommendations that I should try in particular then I would really really appreciate it. Also, Sephora FR has started to sell Formula X nail polishes. I've seen every American blogger talking about them and I'd love to know if any of my American (or French) readers have any shades that I should try. Merci beaucoup! :D

This picture makes me go all heart eyes emoji

Top 10: Permanent MAC Eyeshadows.

I'm currently sitting out on a back garden patio in the french countryside on a beautiful Thursday evening tapping and typing at my laptop - oh, I missed France! Anyway, enough of that... MAC. MAC are kinda one of those brands that a lot of people think it's the end all be all of brands.. and for certain products, in my opinion, it is. If you ask any man on the street (or my boyfriend) to name any makeup brand I'm pretty sure the first one he'd mutter would be MAC. I'm probably not alone in saying that as a makeup lover, I get asked a lot of questions from friends and family about "the best MAC this or that" ... which can be frustrating because even though I love the brand, there are other companies out there making better products! Nonetheless, I thought that it would be a helpful post to refer back to if you're thinking of buying a couple of good quality, key MAC shades or building a quad/palette for yourself. MAC eyeshadows aren't the cheapest and I think people are always kinda interested in knowing someones MAC favourites be it lipsticks, blush or eyeshadow so, here are mine!

I have to stress that MAC are definitely not my favourite brand for eyeshadows, but they do make some of my favourite eyeshadows... does that make sense? Overall, I think MAC could do a lot better in terms of quality.. especially with other brands like Inglot producing incredible shadows. That being said, there are MAC gems among several misses that I would repurchase again and are some of my most used and well loved shadows. Honestly, I haven't bought a new MAC eyeshadow in ages because they just don't interest me too much anymore. If I ever feature MAC shadows in my FOTD's etc, they're usually always the same colours! In terms of shades, I don't think that this is the most exciting colour palette and the reason for that is because I think MAC do neutrals very, very well! Their bright colours could use a lot of work (and a lot of NYX Milk Jumbo Pencil) but they make great bronze/brown shades. If you're a beginner and wondering what shades to put in your palette, realistically these are probably the shades you're going to reach for most. With all that said, I wanted to include 1 or 2 brighter colours that I think are great and can be incorporated into a lot of different looks - even neutral ones. Some of these are cult classic MAC shades, and some I don't see mentioned too often among favourites (I honestly have no idea why!) All of these shades are permanent and can be purchased at a MAC counter/store any time of year... I wouldn't be that mean and include limited editions! ;) All shades were swatched with no primer, in case you were wonderin'

Top 5: Hand and Nail Care | Summer Edition.

I thought I'd let you all know that I'm currently writing this on a plane whilst flying to Lyon. There are Connacht rugby players sitting all around me... I'm starting to think I'm the only female on this plane - completely okay with that. One of them just offered me a sweet from across the aisle... that's sort of like a marriage proposal, right? I'd like to point out that I am naked faced and have my hair up in a hugely rushed bun. Now that you're all up to speed with that...
At the end of April, I did a post on some of my favourite nail polishes for spring and summer (link here if you're interested!) and I realised that I never really talk about my hand and nail routine. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but I do like to take care of my chubby toddler hands and, more recently since I took my acrylics off, my nails. Taking my acrylics off after a year was the thing that really prompted me to do this post - to say my nails were in bits would be a serious understatement. In any case, I thought I would do a quick post on some of my favourite hand and nail treatment/care products that are nice and light for the summer time.

First up is one of my favourite hand creams of all time. I'm a bit of a hand cream junkie and I always carry one in my bag. Hand Food by Soap and Glory was one of the first hand creams I ever used (years ago) and still buy today. These often come in their gift sets at christmas time and they're definitely worth checking out. The smell is gorgeous - very typical Soap and Glory 'pink packaging' scent. What I like about it is that it's not too greasy and feels very light on the hands. I use this all year round but I think it's a nice one for summer. The formula isn't too thick but it still gets the job done at keeping your hands soft. It contains shea butter, macadamia oil and marshmallow. I can definitely see why they call it Hand Food, it tastes good enough to eat (not recommended though... obviously!) I always keep one of these beside my bed, one in the bathroom and a mini travel size one in my purse. A must have hand cream!

Containing on the hand cream bandwagon, we have Roger & Gallet. Now, I have to admit I don't really have a scooby doo about the brand other than the fact that I know it's a French brand. I only got the opportunity to try their hand cream because my friend in France was kind enough to send me over a tube for my birthday. Well, I instantly fell in love. Mine is Fleur d'Osmanthus but they have rose, lemon, ginger and a few other scents in their hand and nail cream range. This is a nice 'on the go' hand cream and is the perfect size to pop in your bag. It contains shea butter and apricot oil. I can't stress how amazing this smells. I sat in a lecture and squeezed some of this out onto my hand, my two friends either side of me grabbed it out of my hands and started lathering themselves in it (a little dramatic but basically anyone who gets a whiff of this falls in love instantly!) I don't think it's the easiest brand to find in Ireland but they have a stockists section on their website and I believe you can find their products in Marks & Spencer and FeelUnique.com. I can't wait to stock up on these when I return to France in August!

Next up is a product that Laura from Moustache Mouth recommended to me a few weeks back. I always have a problem with my nail polish taking forever to dry - I'm constantly left with finger print marks and duvet creases on them. She suggested I try the Essence Nail Art Express Dry Drops so naturally I went out the next day and bought them! This little bottle is a miracle product, especially for the price. You simply apply 3 drops onto each nail after you apply a topcoat and leave it for a minute. It's a sort of an oil type product and it leaves my cuticles feeling so soft after application. Now, I don't think that these make you nails dry instantly, but I do think they speed up drying time. The reason that I love this product so much is because it takes away the tackiness of freshly painted polish. I'm so impatient that the minute I paint my nails, I like to go off and do other things, meaning I get left with dints in my nails. Whenever I try and lightly run my fingers over them to see if they're dry, I'm left with splodges and I have to start all over again. The Essence Dry Drops prevent that completely.

Lastly is my wonder product of the entire post... if you are to try one thing from reading this, try the Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter. This stuff is phenomenal. It repairs dry and damaged cuticles (which I definitely had after a year of acrylic nails) and can also be used on other dry areas on the skin (knees, elbows, the works!) A lot of people suggested I get cuticle oil after my acrylics came off and this stuff definitely does the job. This little black pot has saved my nails and they've been slowly (but surely) getting stronger after every application. It contains lemons to brighten the nails and soften the surrounding skin, shea butter, avocado oil, mango butter, lavender oil and a whole host of other amazing ingredients. It smells amazing and is lovely for the summer time. Because it's a butter and turns to an oil when you rub it in, there's no mess or leakage. I've found that it completely gets rid of the bumpy ridges I had on my post acrylics nails. A little goes a very long way with this product. I apply a dot to the nail and cuticle, then work the rest of the oil down onto my hands for an extra bit of moisture before I go to bed every night. Seriously, this stuff is fantastic! 

To finish off a hand and nail related post, I had to share a nail polish that I have been obsessed with ever since I bought it. It's Blueberry Nail Paint by Barry M and it's stunning. I'm seriously loving the high shine gelly formula and will definitely be picking up more (I have tried Watermelon which is a beautiful deep green and I can't wait to get my hands on Huckleberry and Grapefruit) Blueberry is a bright pastel that is perfect for spring and summer!

If you have any other hand and nail product recommendations then please let me know below! I'm also trying to pre-write posts so that I have material to upload while I'm in France during August so if you have any requests or something you'd like to see me write about then comment below or tweet me :) x

FOTD | Lucky Green Feathers.

Another quick FOTD - I actually intended on doing a whole step by step for this, then got really into it and realised when it was pretty much finished that I hadn't taken a single photo of the thing (genius). Anyway, I posted it on Instagram and did say I'd post some up-close photos and product details along with it so... here you go! Green is a colour I rarely use in makeup so I'm trying to get out of that rut. I used a light green on the lid with a deep green in the crease. I wanted a little more colour and so added the purple the whole way along the lower lashline. It's actually a very easy look - 1 lid colour, 1 in the crease, 1 on the lower lashline etc. I finished the eyes off with a pop of gold in the inner corner to compliment both the green and purples and paired it with a nude lip! I'll have a few step by step pictorials coming up soon hopefully, I'm doing some pre-written blog posts before I go off to France on Monday so if you have anything you'd like to see then please let me know :)

Shout out to Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade for a strong brow game.

Products Used:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion - Eden
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow(s) - Naked 2 (transition shade) Foxy (browbrone highlight) Half Baked (inner corner) 
• MAC Eyeshadow(s) - Lucky Green (lid) Plumage (crease)
• Urban Decay Glide-On Pencil - Ransom (waterline and lower lashline) this colour is actually no longer available since they redid their pencils but Psychedelic Sister would work well, if not even better considering I set the pencil with the same shadow!
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow - Psychedelic Sister (lower lashline)
• Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade - Dark Brown (review here)
• Benefit Blush - Hoola (bronze and contour)
• Benefit Cha Cha Tint (review here) 
• Kiko Rock Attraction Blush - Pearly Rock (highlight)
• MAC Myth + Creme Cup (obsessed with this lip combination at the moment!)

Follow me on Instagram (@LongHairAndLashes) to see more FOTD's and other makeup stuff :) 

The Liebster Award.

Hi guys! 

A slightly different blog post from me today but hopefully you enjoy it. I'm hoping ye get to know more about me and find some other really great smaller blogs that I love to read.

         

Now that that's all finished, I'd like to thank Anu (from http://mylifeasanu.blogspot.ie/) for kindly nominating me for the Liebster Award. I have to be honest, I hadn't a scooby doo what this was until I read Anu's post. Essentially, it's a tag style blog award from one blogger to another with followers under the 200 mark. It's created by bloggers as a way of discovering new blogs - always a good thing in my book!

FOTD | Electric Eel.

I posted this FOTD on Instagram today and decided to post it on here with product details. This is going to be a super quick face of the day - I didn't think to do a pictorial for this look because I sat down at my dresser doing a pretty plain eye and by the end of it I came up with this. It's still a really simple look, especially if substitute black liner for blue, but I thought it was a nice change for the summer time. I should probably apologize in advance, because it turned out to be an "All Mac Everything" look, but a lot of these products, if not all, can be found from different brands! 

Products Used:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion - Eden
• MAC Eyeshadow - Texture (crease/transition) Phloof and Electric Eel mixed (lid) Plumage (deep crease/outer v) Vanilla (inner corner/brow bone highlight) 
• MAC Pro Chromaline - Pure White (I took an angled brush and used this as a gel liner to do the wing, waterline and lower lashline)
• MAC Eyeshadow - Electric Eel 
• MAC Glitter - Transparent Teal (I added this later on very subtly across the eye which you can see in the bottom centre photo!)
• Ardell Demi Wispies #120
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade - Dark Chocolate
• Urban Decay Bronzer - Toasted
• MAC Blush - Pinch o' Peach
• MAC Lipstick - Myth

Hope you guys like this one! Like I said, it's really not that complicated but definitely makes an impact with the blue the whole way around the eye. I've seriously been loving this kind of shade, especially very heavy on the waterline and lower lashline. Be sure to follow me on Instagram (@LongHairAndLashes) and Twitter (@DrnkTxtRmeo) for more FOTD's and makeup related things! 

What are your opinions on coloured liner? Would you wear something like this? x

FOTD | Blue Lagoon Sunset.

It's been a little while since I did a FOTD on here and I can really only put it down to laziness. I really haven't been wearing that much makeup lately and when I have it's definitely nothing too crazy. I asked a friend of mine to choose a colour scheme for my next look because I was completely out of ideas but knew I wanted to do something bright and summer inspired. Orange and yellow were the chosen shades of the day and this is what I came up with. It's inspired by sunsets with a yellow to orange fade on the lid, purple crease and heavy blue shadow on the bottom. I really like how this turned out for something I did on a whim! I hope it's not too similar to my Neon Jungle/Kiko FOTD I posted on Instagram a few weeks ago... I guess I've just been into my tropical colours because of the weather! I included a quick pictorial/step by step on how to achieve this look, but you could swap it for any bright colours you wanted! Not for everyone, but definitely something fun for a festival or summer night out. Apologies for the hun bun, but the Irish heatwave has made me want to shave my hair off ;) Hope you enjoy!

                                                               
                                                           Products Used:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion - Original
• NYX Jumbo Pencil - Milk (base)
• Inglot Eyeshadows #362 (pink) #370 (yellow) #325 (purple) #322 (blue)
• Kiko Eyeshadow #207 (orange)
• MAC Eyeshadow - Vanilla (brow bone/inner corner highlight)
• Ardel Demi Wispies #120
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade - Dark Brown (review here)
• Urban Decay Baked Bronzer - Toasted (discontinued)
• MAC MSF - Soft and Gentle (highlight)
• Nars Blush - Orgasm
• MAC Lipstick(s) - Myth + Creme Cup

Review | Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade.

I had heard so many American bloggers raving about Anastasia Beverly Hills brow products - brow powders, Brow Wiz, brow gels and more recently, Dipbrow Pomades. The latter really intrigued me, I'm all about finding new brow techniques that are different to a powder or pencil. I will be doing a more detailed brow related post to follow this up, which will include a multitude of different ways to fill in the brows for different looks and brow types. However, I feel the Dipbrow deserves a post all on its own because it is absolutely amazing! One of the only downsides to the brand itself is that it's very difficult to get in the UK and Ireland and I only ever see it on very selective online retailers so unfortunately you don't have the luxury of colour matching your brow products. I was on a waiting list for the Dipbrow so they're really not the easiest of products to get. I ordered mine from Cult Beauty which I would highly recommend as they carry a whole host of Anastasia products (contour kits and everything in between!)

I like big brows and I cannot lieeeee. Using the Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade.

Pastel Hair Tips&Tricks - Ooh La Lilac! | ft. BLEACH London

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook (yeah, I was feeling super hip and cool and got one of those things for my blog, link here) then you probably already know that I recently redyed my hair a silver/lilac pastel colour. I've had my hair a similar shade numerous times before and it's one of my favourite colours - especially in the summer time. 

What prompted me to do this post was the fact that I had used a different brand to colour my hair, one that is pretty readily available in Ireland/UK and so I thought I would do a (hopefully) short post on the process, the brand/colour itself and some tips and tricks I've learned along the journey to My Little Pony worthy locks! With Longitude and every other festival around the corner, it's a fun way to add something different to your look, whether you decide to do a dip dye or your entire head!

BLEACH London - Violet Skies.

A Rose Gold Romance With Black Tied (+ Rose Gold & Purple FOTD)

Recently, I got in contact with the jewellery brand Black Tied. Black Tied are an independent online store based in Ireland which is even more exciting for me as an Irish blogger. I had seen a lot of their pieces on so many well known bloggers/youtubers and luckily someone on Instagram directed me to their site a while ago. I instantly fell in love with their pieces - they're incredibly unique and not really something you'd see anywhere else.

I got talking with the founder of the company, Laura, who was so so lovely. She was kind enough to offer me a discount on my first order and even offered my readers a discount code too! I'm in no way not obligated to do a blog post on my items, but I really wanted to share these pieces with you all because I think they're something a lot of people would be interested in. That, and they're so so stunning! So, if any of you guys would like to pick up these items, or anything from her site then you can use the code LASHES15 at checkout for 15% off and free shipping for orders over £25! (The code is after the PayPal step, when you are redirected back to the site to enter the code, choose the shopping method and confirm your order). The code is valid until the 10th of August if you wish to make a purchase by then!

I chose 3 items; 2 bracelets and a necklace and I am so happy with my purchases. First of all, they arrived really quickly and tucked away safely in a bubble wrap envelope. The items were packaged in a cute little leopard print envelope with the signature Black Tied lettering. Again, all items were individually wrapped in bubble wrap so no chances of anything breaking! All the items are really well made and absolutely stunning.