Finds from the Emerald Isle | Nía Natural Beauty.

When Lisa Eldridge says you need a cleansing balm, you best be believin' you need a cleansing balm. So, when Lisa Eldridge says you need a cleansing balm, of course I'm all about supporting Irish beauty brands. When Nía reached out to me a while back and asked me to try out one of their best selling products I was all about it. I try and keep my skincare routine as natural and gentle as possible, and after having used their cleansing balm for most of April and all of May I knew I had to feature this in a Finds from the Emerald Isle! 

Before I get into the product itself, Nía specialize in natural beauty and skincare products for all different needs. They're also 100% Irish, so it feels so nice putting something on my mug at the end of the day that was made practically down the road. P.S. if you're like me, and were curious (but equally was crap at Irish in secondary school) Nía means "Radiance" #TheMoreYouKnow

Nía Natural Beauty.

The Calendula and Orange Blossom Cleansing Balm is a solid cleanser/balm free of parabens, synthetic fragrance, mineral oil... that kinda thing. The packaging is simple but super cute and has a little "you're amazing" on the box which I thought was lovely - it's all about the little details, guys. It comes with 3 cleansing cloths (100% bio-degradable) and a little wooden spatula for scooping out the product. I found the cleansing cloths a bit too thin and flimsy to use, but others might find them nice to have. I personally prefer to use this cleanser just with a warm thick face cloth from good aul' Penneys. 

Pastel Locks | Schwarzkopf Pearlescence 2015.

Pastel hair is something I've been a fan of for years. Something I'm not a fan of, though? The price and the upkeep! Anyone with colourful hair will tell you that dyes from Crazy Colour, Directions and Bleach London are great to experiment with, but costs definitely add up if you want to keep the colour long term. Schwarzkopf have got you covered with their stunning new Pearlescence range; 8 shades with a shimmering texture and iridescent finish. Although I'm a fan of pastel hair in general, I have to say I think these shades are seriously sophisticated whilst still being striking and fun. The idea of the range is that they are permanent (well, as permanent as pastels and bright metallics can be!) colours which I think is so innovative and right up my street. Schwarzkopf were so generous and sent me all 8 colours for me to play with - safe to say I'm in My Little Pony hair heaven. For this post, I thought I would briefly go through all the shades with you and share some of the amazing promo images which have seriously inspired me!

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting plenty of blog posts with photos and reviews of the colours as I use them. Be sure to follow me on Bloglovin' if you want to keep updated on my Pearlescence pastel hair journey with Schwarzkopf! Alternatively, you can follow my blog and updates via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - the latter is probably best for sneak peak hair photos! :)

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

New | Urban Decay Summer 2015.

When it comes to new releases, Urban Decay do not mess about. Summer 2015 is no exception with a mix of completely brand new products, textures, formulas and an expansion to their mucho mucho loved eyeshadows (The deluxe shadow palette was my first ever big makeup purchase at the age of 13. I wore Fishnet shadow all over my eyes and thought I was only gorgeous). Embarrassing makeup stories aside, when this bag of goodies landed in my letterbox last week I knew I had to share them with you, because I am all heart eyes emoji'd out looking at these products in my makeup bag.

Urban Decay Summer Nights 2015

I'd also like to take a minute to say that I feel like Urban Decay are really listening to their customers with striking a balance between the Naked neutral lovers, and the Electric colour fanatics. I love both aspects of the brand, but I got a bit bored of the whole Naked train for a while. The 2015 range (which by the way isn't limited edition, just expanding on their current collection) has the perfect mix of summer brights and gorgeous but never boring neutrals with amazing formulas, so I think there's something for everyone! These new brights, though? That's the Urban Decay I fell in love with at 13... Did I mention I used the sponge tip applicators to apply that Fishnet shadow? Why didn't the makeup poh poh shut me down?!

Review | W7 Cream Contour Kit.

I've been really into bargain beauty finds lately, particularly after finding a Benefit's They're Real Mascara dupe for €2.50 (link is here if you're interested!). Another W7 product that I had been trying to track down was this baby; their cream contour duo. (Cream) contour kits are being produced like they're going out of style (I'm actually surprised my granny doesn't own one at this stage) but W7 is one of the only budget brands I know of that have really caught on. This is supposedly a dupe for the Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate. Having only swatched that product at a counter and gazed lovingly at it from afar, I can't really call this a "Save or Splurge" post because I don't own the higher-end counterpart. That being said, they seem to look and apply very similar when on the skin/back of the hand in Tom Ford's case. I have heard Siobhan from LetzMakeup say that they are very very close dupes - so there you go, something to keep in mind!

Finds from the Emerald Isle | Nima Brush.

You can never have too many makeup brushes, right? If you're as lazy as my when cleaning them then that is 100% the case. When Nima Brushes asked me if I'd like to try some of their collection I jumped at the chance - with my buy Irish based series, and so many of my favourite beauty bloggers talking about Nima brushes, I knew it was something I'd want to test out and tell ye all about. Also, when a good friend of mine (who is working for MAC and owns about 234235643 makeup brushes... yano, roughly) said she loves them too I knew I needed some! This is gonna be a photo and word heavy blog post, but if you're interested in buying some great quality (and Irish!) brushes then stay with meeeee.

Before I get stuck into the actual brushes themselves, Nima Brush was founded by Niamh Martin, an Irish makeup artist. With her job in mind, I think these brushes are equally fantastic for the professional, the makeup fanatic or just a beginner. The brush range is impressively extensive and are both functional and beautiful (blue and gold handles for the Artistic Collection, white and dark Rose Gold for the Elite) - when my mother saw the brushes on my vanity her exact words were "OHMYGOD THEY ARE SO PRETTY WHERE DID YOU GET THEM I NEED ONE THEY LOOK SO NICE" and she is not a makeup-y person at all.

Nima brushes have all grounds covered with an Artistic Collection, the Elite Collection, Starter Collection, custom bundles and travel tubes for your makeup brushes. The Artistic Collection alone has over 20 individual brushes ranging from €10-22 which is insaaaane given the price of MAC brushes (which Nima has some great dupes for!) and even Real Techniques Bold Metals found in Boots. They also do a brush of the month where one brush from the range is half price which is absolutely fantastic if you were looking to try one out! They're also constantly having discounts (with makeup students getting 10% off all year round) so be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with their deals! 

On top of the reasonable prices and beautiful handles, they have such a unique quality whereby Niamh has actually named each brush after someone in her life who has helped her throughout her career. Such a small but beautiful touch, and if you can find your name among the group (which I did!) then its even more lovely. If the names aren't your thing, though, they do have them without tooooo. 

Save or Splurge? | Benefit's They're Real! Mascara Dupe.

Yano how people get adrenaline rushes when they jump out of planes and go chasing after twisters and tornadoes? My adrenaline rushes comes from Netflix, kittens and bargain beauty finds. The latter is probably what you're here for, and if you just so happened to be looking for dupe for the Benefit They're Real! mascara, then Gracey gotcha covered. (Sidenote: if you were looking for the former, my twitter is @GraceyOConnell and I am 100% down for chatting about RuPaul's Drag Race or Buffy)

I have to be honest, I can justify spending a lot of money on a makeup brush or a very decent foundation, but when it comes to mascara I wince at spending anything more than 15 euro on it. I go through them so quickly, leave them in my boyfriend's, in my mam's house, in my own house - I'm constantly having to rush into Boots and pick up a new one because I forgot the one I had just opened 2 weeks ago. Best believe I did ordinary level maths for my leaving cert but also best believe that in makeup maths, that's a lot of mascara and if I were to do that with high end mascaras well... that would just be too esssspensive. Also, I'm gonna say what we're all thinking here and declare that I rarely notice a difference in high or low end mascaras. Budget brands (like Rimmel and Maybelline, my FAVEZZZ if you were wonderin') have such great formulas and uniquely innovative wands that I'm happier with a 12 euro mascara than I am with a €30+ one because I'm saving money but getting good lashes out of it... Lancôme Hypnose Drama, I am looking at you, you overrated little heartbreaker.

The Chic Cheek.

Don't get me wrong, I love my corals and bright blushes, but lately I've been favouring a more "sophisticated", subtle type of cheek. I'm not sure if sophisticated is quite the right word... Something muted, but still brightening and glowy. I've recently discovered 3 products in particular that I think are the epitome of a "chic cheek". Something that would look good on any age and with any makeup look. It makes an already simple face of makeup look complete and put together, but equally won't make you look cray cray when pairing it with a glitter cut crease. I also think these products would look great any time of the year, too... although you know I would werkkk a coral blush in December ;)

Finds from the Emerald Isle | Waxperts Beautiful Body Oil.

I made a small resolution for my blog in 2015, and that was to feature as many great Irish beauty based brands as I could throughout the year. I had intended on doing one a month, starting with January, but I'm a total disaster and in typical Irish fashion I generally get around to things a little later than I'd like. Regardless, now more-so than ever I see such an importance in supporting more local, Irish brands. I probably sound like a Bord Bia ad, but surely shopping Irish should extend to our makeup bags too! Plus, I'm hoping maybe some of my other readers from abroad can find out about some smaller, but fantastic Irish companies.

First up in my "Finds of the Emerald Isle" series is a Dublin based waxing salon that I had heard so much about; specifically, their own brand of skincare products. Waxperts is the brainchild of Ellen Kavanagh and provides both treatments and Waxperts products in their salon. Their newest thing to launch is the Beautiful Body Oil (€9.99 - 100ml). This was kindly sent to me from their PR to try, and I loved it so much it sparked me to finally start my 'Buy Irish' series!

Essentially, it is a lavender based body oil with plenty of uses. I love oils for lots of different things but find that most of them just smell the same. Nothing wrong with that, but this is such a light, unoffensive lavender scent that I think anyone would find soothing. Lavender is a really nostalgic smell to me and always reminds me of sleeping over in my nanny's house, so I knew I'd love the scent straight away.
In true body oil style it is nourishing and soothing but not at all greasy. It sinks right into the skin without leaving a residue or film on the skin (does that make any sense?). Basically, I don't have to stand like an oiled up scarecrow before waiting to put on a pair of jeans... Oiled up scarecrows? This is all getting a bit GQ meets The Wizard of Oz of me... Scratch the previous mental image, please. I actually use the Lush massage bars as a body lotion replacement (although they can be very oily and slow to absorb into the skin, so I reserve them for the very cold winter months!) and I had a feeling I would enjoy using the Waxperts oil.

Waxperts Beautiful Body Oil.