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! :)

  

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!

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!

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 :)

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?

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 | 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

How To | Perfect, Glowing Summer Skin & Lips.

I have to admit, I'm a matte skin girl at heart. However, when it comes to summer I really like to switch things up and go for a more 'glowy' look to the skin - not necessarily dewy, and definitely not oily or shiny! This generally involves creams and lighter formulas rather than piling powder on top of powder. This routine looks so fresh on the skin and I absolutely love it. I've come up with a pretty solid routine that will suit both dry and oily skins (give or take 1 or 2 products!) Most people with dry skin will automatically gravitate towards this look, but even if you have an oily skin I'd suggest giving it a go... or incorporating some of these products into your routine for a summer glow to the skin! I decided to include some of my favourite lip products for summer, too. Skin and lips are always a big thing for me during the hotter months and although I like bright lipsticks for summer nights, I also enjoy 'easy' sheerer washes of colour for during the day. If you're interested in seeing some of my top picks for bright summer lipsticks, I have a blog post all about it here. In the meantime, if you have any summer skin product recommendations then I'd love to hear them!

Kiko Show and Tell Part 2: Swatches, Reviews - Eyes + FOTD.

This is the second and final part of my Kiko Cosmetics overview post which contains all things related to eyeshadows. This post will (thankfully) be a lot shorter than the first, which looked at face and lips (link here you're curious!) Anyway, I recently saw on their UK website that Kiko were having a big sale and so I would highly recommend you pick up their lipsticks and eyeshadows. I hope these posts are somewhat helpful for those who are maybe going on holidays to a European city this summer and want to pick up a few things from the brand! Let me know if you buy anything while away and if you have any Kiko recommendations, I would love to know!

The Kiko Long Lasting Wet/Dry Eyeshadows are around €8 and are one of the nicest formulas I've ever used. They are pretty much identical to the MAC Extra Dimension formula and have that creamy feel when you swatch them. Kiko offers these in a range of neutrals, brights and jewel tones and they all have incredible shimmer and shine that transfers beautifully onto the eyes. Of course, these can be used wet (with a mixing medium or MAC Fix+) and can also be used dry. They become far more metallic when used wet but my swatches are dry with no primer - they are amazing! First up is #213 which is a deep blackened hunter green with teal and silver glitter running through. Next is #224 a phenomenal periwinkle lilac with violet duochrome and silver shimmer. This is the most unique out of the 3 I have here and Kiko do so many interesting shades in this formula - it reminds me of a galaxy and I love it! Finally is a beautiful Melon pigment-esque #218. This is a peach orange with a yellow gold duochrome. It looks particularly fantastic on blue eyes to make them stand out and would work beautifully as a blush/highlight on dark skintones. I'm obsessed with this sort of colour and love to add it into neutral looks all the time.

I decided to pick up one of the Highly Pigmented Eyeshadows in #111. This is only €2.90 and is a gorgeous mid tone sea green with gold and teal pearl. This is a definite mermaid colour and would look equally gorgeous under a black base for a more jewel toned effect. Their singular eyeshadows are also very pigmented and come in an array of shades with shimmer/pearl, matte and matte with floating glitter finishes.

Kiko offer a 'Clics' system with their Infinity Eyeshadows (€5.90) whereby you buy a single pan eyeshadow and you can fit them into custom palettes of different sizes (when I was there I saw a single case, a trio which I bought 2 of, a quad and a 9 pan palette) These come free when you buy the eyeshadows and you can choose what colours go where in the palettes which is very handy for travel or even professionals. Again, the number system is rather annoying but not a huge deal. Like I did with Inglot,  I decided to try out their coloured shadows first because my thinking behind it is, if their bright shades are good then their neutrals are probably pretty good too! I wasn't wrong - these eyeshadows are great for the price and really remind me of inglot in terms of texture/finishes and the overall concept. When I looked back at my palettes to swatch them, I realised I got mostly matte shades which I prefer to wear.

The texture of their mattes is great - not chalky with the only exception being #253 the blue/purple (blurple?) on the bottom centre but even then, it is still great as far as mattes go.
I picked up a matte jungle green/turquoise colour with gold glitter (#264) Inglot have a similar texture and just like the Inglot ones, this shade applies mostly matte (especially when buffed into the crease) but with a sticky base and dense packing brush, you could definitely make the gold glitter more visible.
Similarly in texture, #260 is a true matte lime green with gold glitter. Its so hard to come by a colour like this with such good pigmentation.
Straight up bright matte orange eyeshadow is something I never wear so I decided to pick this shade up (#207) with a tropical look in mind for a future FOTD post. This kind of orange is a hard colour to come by in terms of eyeshadow and it's even harder to get one this opaque... it wasn't chalky at all!
#243 is a reddish brown/burgundy with gold shimmer (no glitter!) and is a very Sketch (MAC) toned colour that I always gravitate towards. The texture is, of course, beautiful and this shade would work well on a lot of people. You can easily use this in the crease in any neutral look and it just gives it something more than just boring old brown.
Finally, is probably the least exciting shade in the palette. Kiko have a lot of neutrals in mattes and shimmer so you could easily make up a small neutral toned palette for travel. #239 is a very cool toned brown - almost a grey taupe and would make a great crease colour for any cool toned neutral eye. The ashy cool tone would make it also work well as a brow shade which is the main reason I bought it!
Overall, I'm extremely happy with all of their eyeshadows and would highly recommend them to anyone who was looking for brights or neutrals!

Neon Jungle | FOTD using some Kiko shadows.

You can purchase Kiko online at http://www.kikocosmetics.co.uk/ and search for your nearest Kiko location. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram, (both are @DrnkTxtRmeo_) to keep up to date with future posts and all things makeup/beauty related! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)

Kiko Show and Tell Part 1: Swatches, Reviews - Brushes/Face/Lips.

I'd seen this brand a few times in a friend's makeup bag a few years ago and was informed that it was a brand she had purchased whilst in Portugal the summer before. I thought they seemed nice, but never actively went searching for any of their products. I found out that Kiko is an Italian brand and is really only readily available in the likes of Italy, France, Spain, Germany etc. Fast forward about a year later and my friend in France was raving about their nail polishes. We decided to track down the Kiko shop along the Champs Élysées but couldn't find it anywhere. It was like it had disappeared off the face of the earth, I was so disappointed! A few months later, she sent me one of their polishes to try and I fell in love. The formula was great (I talk about it a little more here) and I was so eager to try more of their products! When I went to Rome earlier this month, a lightbulb appeared above my head that since it's an Italian brand, there had to be a Kiko somewhere near us. Surely enough, with the help of my boyfriend's Google Maps, we found 8 in Rome alone! We looked for the nearest one but couldn't find it anywhere on the street it brought us to (it actually said that Kiko was in the national museum...) I thought this was Paris all over again and that Kiko and me just weren't meant to be. However, we soon found another store nearby and I was set free like Augustus Gloop in a sweet shop. I suppose you could say I was a little (very) excited... I hadn't heard much about the brand other than a few friend's recommendations and so I spent my time looking at everything and swatching products (I may or may not have made 2-3 trips to 2 different Kiko shops).

With that all out of the way, I wanted to do a big show and tell type post telling you a bit about all of the products I bought - from face to lips to eyes and even brushes. Its going to be a general overview of the brand with my opinions on these products now that I've had some time to play with them. I was halfway through this post and saw how long it was (sorry!) and so I decided to do this post on everything for the face and lips, and then follow this post up later in the week with the eyeshadows. One thing to keep in mind about Kiko is that their stuff is very affordable for the quality. The most expensive thing I bought was the brush at about 12 euro. Most of their foundations are in around that price point with their lipsticks and eyeshadows ranging from €3-8. They also do a whole host of skincare that I didn't get a chance to look at and they have an amazing range of nail polishes in some amazing colours and finishes. I decided to pass on the nail polishes this time because I plan on picking some up when I go to France in August! The only annoying thing about Kiko is the fact that their products go by numbers and not names, similar to Inglot. This may not seem like a massive problem (and it isn't, in the grand scheme of things) but it makes colours of eyeshadows/lipsticks very hard to remember and means you could easily pick up a second one of the same lipstick/eyeshadow by accident.

5 Favourite Nail Polishes Picks for Spring/Summer.

As a disclaimer: I don't really believe that you can only wear a certain colour (clothes, nail polish, lipstick, blush) at a certain time of year. I personally am more inclined to wear a dark burgundy lip in November and a bright pink in June. I encourage everyone to wear whatever they want in whatever season it is but I do like these sort of posts because the colour palettes are normally very 'season appropriate'. However, for Spring and Summer, I typically favour pastels, neons and brights. These colours always recycle themselves in make-up and fashion every S/S season so nothing I'm saying is really that groundbreaking. That being said, I hope you enjoy my top 5 nail polish picks for Spring and Summer 2014. If you tend to shy away from brighter shades on your nails, try painting your toes with a bright blue or coral!

P.S. I often post pictures of my nails/nail designs on Instagram (@drnktxtrmeo_) and have to give massive credit to my wonderful nail tech Rachel at 'Elegant Nails' for her talent and skills (and patience when I can't decide on a colour!)

Since moving to Galway and finding the brand readily available in Boots and Cara pharmacies, Essie has become one of my favourite nail polishes. They're not the cheapest, but they're definitely not the most expensive and I've found the texture and formula of all Essie nail polishes I've tried to be really great! Go Ginza is a gorgeous pastel shade, somewhere between a pink and lavender. The problem I typically run into with pastels is that they're watery and sheer, taking 4 coats to get a good opaque coat. I don't have this issue with Go Ginza which is very refreshing for such a pale pastel shade!

Essie Go Ginza

Barry M Nail Paints are easily my favourite lower-end polishes. They come in a HUGE range of shades and finishes for next to nothing (they're normally on special offer in Boots, too). Mint Green is just that - a mint green. Green isn't something I wear too often but done in a pastel form I think it looks very flattering on the nails. I loved this shade when I had very short nails and think it looks great with or without a tan. Barry M and Essence both do a very good range of pastels (pinks, purples, greens, blues, yellows, peach).

Barry M Mint Green

Meet Me At Sunset is a briiiight shade, there's no way around it. It's just shy of 'neon' so if the whole acid green nails isn't your thing but you still wanted something bright, this is the shade for you! Meet Me At Sunset is hard for me to describe, it's not quite a red, not quite orange.. or coral.. or tomato - it's all of those in one. This shade looks particularly lovely against a tan and is very summer appropriate! This is also super opaque and only takes 2 coats to achieve a bright manicure.

Essie Meet Me At Sunset

Models Own is another brand that do some fantastic shades in all different sorts of finishes and textures. You can buy these polishes in Boots but my friend from France sent me over a couple of beautiful Models Own polishes for Christmas last year and this happened to be among the bunch. This colour is stunning and the picture doesn't really do it justice. It's a peachy orange with golden yellow shimmer and a golden orange duochrome throughout. It reflects the light beautifully in the bottle and on the nail! It's quite sheer, so you'll need a couple of coats. Alternatively, you could layer it over an orange or another bright to give it a really cool shimmer effect (this is my favourite way of using this polish!) Tropical Sun is great for those who aren't too keen on the whole neon/bright trend because it's a more subtle way of adding colour!

Models Own Tropical Sun

Another present from my froggy friend; Kiko nail polish. We searched Paris high and low for the Kiko store but we couldn't find it anywhere. So, I was so happy to see this in my birthday present parcel. I've heard a lot of things about the brand and know they can be found throughout Europe in France, Spain and Italy (maybe Germany too?). So, if you happen to be on holidays and see a Kiko shop, I'd absolutely suggest you have a look! The formula of this polish is brilliant, it's a smooth cream, dries quickly and only needs 1 coat. I love all shades of blue and turquoise for Spring and Summer so I had to include one in this post!

Kiko #8

 Some Spring/Summer nail ideas from my Instagram @DrnkTxtRmeo_ :)

Thank you for reading! Let me know if you have any suggestions/requests/recommendations - tweet me @drnktxtrmeo_ or email: longhairandlashes@gmail.com