Look Luxe For Less!

If there's one thing I love it's a glossy manicure! I was a huge fan of gel nails for a long time, shellac was a love affair for a while, and then I became hooked on regular polish. Nails are one of those details that makes all the difference, if you ask me! With all that said, I am a budget babe at heart, and I pride myself on looking incredible for a tiny price, so read on, and learn how I get an expensive looking manicure for less!




What You Will Need:

• Penneys PS False Nails,
• Nail clipper, 
• Nail file, 
• Polish,
• Topcoat,
• Nail accessories (optional) 

Penneys nails are the backbone of this look, and my favorite are the PS 24 Fashion Nails that you can pick up for €1.50. I go with nude because it's easier to work with but it's all up to you. Fit and glue the right sizes to your natural nail, and then move on to the next step!

Using a nail clippers, clip the sharp tip off the falsie, and file the raw edge off it. The file I like best is the Essence Banana File, which is a double sided file with a rough grit side and a fine grit side. This takes the shape of the nail from claw to almond with ease, and is less than €3.

Next up, paint your nails with the polish of your choice, any color you fancy. Two thin coats are best for maximum pay off. Essence do great polishes, as do Wet N Wild, NYC and Rimmel. If you couldn't tell, I'm a fan of budget brands. For this look, I went with Essence Colour And Go in 113 Do You Speak Love? and NYC In A New York Minute in 002 Full Metal Jacket on the ring finger as an accent.

If you want to apply studs or diamante details, now is the time. Add a small dot of nail glue and apply them for the best possible adhesion. You can pick up nail accessory wheels in most Penneys for €1.50. Then it's topcoat time! I'm a huge fan of the Essence The Gel Nail Polish Top Coat, it's glossy and dries quickly and you can pick it up nationwide for €3.09

To finish the whole process, I apply a dab of Skinfix Hand Repair Cream* and massage it in to leave my hands looking and feeling wonderful.

This manicure looks so lush and expensive, it will prompt compliments from people who will be shocked and delighted when you tell them "Thanks, Penneys finest!!". If you try this mani, do please let me know! 

Amy

xx

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*This post contains an iten sent to me for consideration by SkinFix, which I reviewed in a previous post. 

Whats In My Travel Make-Up Bag?

I travel a lot, and I've made a promise to myself to travel even more abroad, so I'm curating my travel make-up to get me through both short trips and trips overseas. From Dublin to The Dam, this is what I carry with me when I'm on the hoof! 

The make-up bag I carry with me was a gift from a friend in the USA and it's a blue floral Modella brand pouch with a sturdy handle. It fits everything and then some! It also has little holders for mascara, liner, etc, like pen holders almost! Handy as, I think you'll agree. 

Face Base

To prime my skin I always use Benefit Porefessional Primer. I love the Benefit brand, and this baby primer is perfect for taking on the go since it's so tiny! To get a flawless base I go for the Rimmel True Match Foundation. Everyone should try this foundation, I'm really impressed with it, it's great coverage and it's under a tenner. I don't think it rivals my Estee Lauder but it's a worthy adversary for travel. To set my t-zone, I take Essence Pressed Powder on a big fluffy brush. I've been using this powder since I started blogging and I'm still as in love with it now as I was then. It's cheap and cheerful, it's not cakey and there's a whole host of shades for all skin tones - including my snow white self. Now comes the time to break out my Isa Dora Color Correcting Concealer*. 

Travelling makeup should do the job well, and it should be built to travel - to me this means the more cream products the better. Liquids could burst, and that would be disastrous. This is a four-pan wheel with all the shades you could ever want, including the most beautiful pearl highlight. To contour I always take my Isa Dora Face Sculptor*. Another multi-pan, compact product. Even when I'm at home, at my vanity, this is a well loved product. My shade is Warm Peach and it's perfect, from contour to highlight and the blush is beautiful 
and buildable without caking. 


Eyes and Brows

Urban Decay Naked Basics. This palette is the travel companion of my life!! I bring this with me any time I go away, whether its a weekend with Dex or a trip down the country or overseas, this little 6 pan love affair is the best thing ever. I use Faint, the second deepest shade on my brows and set it with the W7 Style Eyes* clear gel. The other shades I use to create a lovely neutral smokey eye which is the handiest for travelling. For liquid liner I generally stick with my trusty Rimmel Glam Eyes Black liquid liner which has a brush applicator and makes for the quickest, most precise application you could want! When it comes to mascara, I travel with something cheap and cheerful, if you couldn't tell. I picked up this Catrice Better Than False Lashes mascara the last time I stayed away from home and I had forgotten my trusty Roller Lash and, well, I'm converted. When your boyfriend notices your lashes, you know you're on to a good product!

Lip Service

It wouldn't be a Red Lips; Red Hair beauty post without some lip products. If I'm travelling, I want the standard stuff for the face but I'll happily take more lippy than is strictly necessary. I'll take a couple of nudes, a deep vampy shade and a classic red - well I am Red Lips, Red Hair after all!! 

L-R Urban Decay Shame, RimmelXKate 01,
Pantone, RimmelX Kate Nude 45

Currently, my lip colour picks are: 

RimmelXKate Nude 45 - a neutral pink toned nude, perfect for day time wear.
Pantone Universe 18-1438 - a deeper brown pink for sultry day looks
RimmelXKate 01 - possibly my all time favorite red (yes, I said it)
Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Shame - deep black purple with red tones. 

So there you have it, my travel make-up - minus the brushes, hopefully I can walk you through my travel brushes in a later post! The products in my travel kit don't change very often, save for the lipstick.

So what are your travel makeup essentials?

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As you can see from the asterisks, there are products mentioned in this post that were sent to me for consideration. I only talk about products I use, abuse and adore. 

Review - Essence Frame4Fame Lashes

Natural looking false lashes... Not normally words I would expect to see all together, much less be typing out myself, but howsoever... 

Even in the package I can't get over them! <3

Essence are famed for their budget friendly, good quality make-up products. I have a few lipsticks, quite a lot of shadows, a couple of their brushes and practically every polish they have created in the last 2 years. It took a long time to wean me off their maximum definition mascara and even longer to get me away from their lovely eye-liners. 

You can imagine my trepidation seeing these lashes on their stand. The last time I saw Essence lashes, they were huge, thick, plastic looking monstrosities and I was damned if I would even risk the 3.49 they cost to see if they were or weren't as bad as they looked. 

I have to give mega snaps to the Frame4Fame 05 Natural Effect lashes because OMG they are SO GOOD and I wasn't expecting a whole heap. 

Essence, you really took me off guard. They're on a band so thin you cant even see it in the picture, and they're so lightweight they put my Eylure Cheryl falsies to shame. As well as all that, they add fullness and slight length to your natural lashes without ever giving away that you've got falsies on. How good is that?? 

To bolster my point, I applied these today to trial for day-to-day wear and even though Chris saw me apply them, he forgot they were there only to ask me about three to four hours later was I wearing false eyelashes. Result!! 

Also trying to get a picture of them for this blog post was tantamount to an impossibility because you just cant be sure they're not my real ones. I've added a picture to the right hand side here of me wearing the lashes, but I don't know how well you will be able to tell or not. 

All in all, these are super lightweight, comfortable, reusable and they are absolutely perfect for wearing during the day just to give the illusion of thick, lush, slightly lengthened lashes. And all with change from a fiver!!! Not too shabby, eh?! 

So ladies, will you be giving these lashes a go??

Let me know in the comments!! 

Amy 

xx

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Steppin' Out With Fanny Crown Paris - MDI Ball 2014

As you may know, I was the lucky winner of the January Blogger Competition hosted by Fanny Crown, a Parisian dress company. As the Gold Prize winner, I got to have the dress I picked to write about. Now I have been looking forward to Chris's end of year ball since the dress arrived to my door and it's FINALLY here! I am going to detail every single aspect of this because, well, I can and I'm dying to! Let me take you through my preparation for the evening.

I think it's worthwhile saying that I have actually altered my styling of this dress from the original plan which is HERE.

Preparation is Key:

I'm writing this bit five days prior to the ball, because I have a lot of prep to do.


I have scrubbed myself down with Cocoa Browns Tough Stuff, two days on the trot, and have been following that with their Chocolate Whip oil free moisturizer. I will be repeating this until Saturday, at which point, I'll also be tanning my practically glow-in-the-dark pale skin. My favorite tan to use is by.. you guessed it Cocoa Brown. 

I'm going to be using 1 Hour Tan, but leaving it on for 3 to get the deepest effect. 


On Sunday, I'll top it off with Gentle Bronze, just on my face, shoulders, arms and back, and then on the day of the ball I'll be topping up my legs and feet with Lovely Legs. Can you tell I'm loco for Cocoa Brown? It's just the greatest thing ever!


I've also got some prep to do in the nail department, because I'm nothing if not thorough. I have been religiously applying OPI Nail Envy for the last 10 days or so, and trying to avoid any and all polish. It's awful, my hands feel naked! 

I have already decided on my nail color and glitz for the evening, Essence Color & Go Icy Princess, a silver cream polish, topped off with Maybelline Color Show in Glitter It. My tootsies shall be getting the same treatment too, since I'm wearing sandals. I'm pretty sure I may live to regret the sandals though...

Handbag Essentials:

Girls, I know that I'm not alone in trying to stuff as much as is humanly possible into my teeny-tiny little clutch bag on a big night out. We're all guilty here, there's no point in lying to ourselves or each other!

Here's what I like to wedge into my purse on a typical night to the ball. My purse was borrowed off my sister but it was a silver and rhinestone Debut clutch. 

• My Phone. I have an iPhone 4s, so this does the job for taking pictures and making sure I don't lose my chums (It always happens at some stage).
• A Small purse. I tend to carry cash with me exclusively at things like this, because I get paranoid about losing cards etc. The only card coming with me is my (ridiculous) ID. 
• Lipstick, and a Powder compact. Smudges and shine, need I elaborate? 
• I also brought €20 which proved to be more than enough as I wound up only buying one drink. 
• Bobby Pins. These made me two friends in the bathroom later in the night as there was a hair mishap happening as I touched up my lipstick. I got you, fellow ladies! 

The Night Before

Since I'm coming home from a full day of Artisan Kitchens, I will be jumping into the shower as soon as I get in the door! Nobody want's to be the girl who smells like lemon torte (or, maybe you do!). By washing my hair the night before, I'm giving it scope to be lovely and clean, but still hold a curl. My hair holds curls better when it's just a tad bit old... I also finished packing, and painted my nails before bed! 




The Night Of:

The night of the ball was amazing, I took the advice of the wonderful Kayliegh and went for a simple winged liner and nude smokey eye with a pinky-nude lip. Since my hair and makeup was so dramatic I wanted the focus to be on them! My hair was dramatically curled using my Remington Pearl Clipless Wand and Loreal TXT Volumising hairspray. I used my Tangle Teezer to brush out the curls and make them sit together rather than in ringlets. 

My shoes were from New Look Teens Section (as I have tiny feet at a UK3), and they were pretty comfy for the whole night, though I did change into flats towards the end of the night. They featured a low heel and diamante detailing, making them absolutely perfect for my gown! Oh, and they were a bargain, at €9 in the sale!  



I opted for simple red and silver bracelets as arm candy, and small diamante drop earrings from F&F for Tesco. 

On the night, I was no sooner down in the reception sipping on a flute of champagne than a lady (who seemed to me a resident of the hotel) approached me to state the following, "I have been looking at all the other girls dresses and I have to say I think yours is the nicest. It's very unusual and exotic. Where did you get it, do you mind me asking, because I can tell by looking at it it was not Ireland..." I wasted no time in telling her all about Fanny Crown, and she duly informed me that she was going to tell her daughter all about it when she got home! 

I was absolutely made up when she complimented me and told me I looked the best out of all the other girls there. Can somebody say, "She doesn't even go here?!"!! Way to upstage the actual students of Mater Dei, Amy!!! I have to thank Fanny Crown for that, because I wouldn't have been able to have that claim if it weren't for them! 
 


During the evening, there was plenty of pictures, laughter, and then there was dinner! Oh my word, the dinner was DIVINE! Roasted Vegetable soup to start, followed by Baked Salmon on what I can only state was the creamiest mash of my life and steamed veg. There was profiteroles for dessert, but lactose intolerance doesn't bode well so I politely passed. As someone studying food, I can only say good things about the dinner, it was beautifully prepared, and presented.

Then came time for the awards, which I admit is usually a dull affair but this year my amazing man Chris won the Rugby Player of the Year award so it was somewhat brightened up seeing him accept that. I must admit, he is absolutely dedicated to his sport, and it was lovely to see his hard work and passion recognized. He was smiling for the rest of the night. 

My Beautiful Gown... Thanks to Fanny Crown

The rest of the night flew by with dancing and laughing galore. Dancing in my gown was pretty easily taken on and it was so comfy for the whole night, holding me in, holding me *ahem* up, and giving me a killer figure. It was the perfect centerpiece for my whole night and I wouldn't say this is I wasn't 100% more obsessed than I already was, but I would EASILY wear this to the next ball we attend, and the next one after that. It is literally the greatest piece I have ever worn, and I really thought nothing would top my high-low boho gown from Topshop last year, but I was SO wrong. 

Fanny Crown do it right, honey! 

Thank you Fanny Crown for making the ball a night that I wont forget at least until I'm old and grey!  

Some other highlights from the night include being told my gown defied gravity in that it's molded chest stood up by itself, and that it had a slight air of chain-mail (which I took as a compliment)! Even tough chicks need a night of frivolity, right?! 

What do you think of my look for Chris's final Mater Dei Ball? 
Drop me a comment or tweet me @redlips_redhair! 

xoxo
Amy

Red Lips for Every Budget

Red Lips are timeless and classic. They can lift a woman's confidence to dizzying heights, bump up her sex appeal and embolden her to boot!

These days I feel I'm pretty qualified to give my opinion on rocking a red lip for every budget! 

Low Budget: 

I have no shame in saying that I find myself drawn to the low budget brands or "bargain" brands, because not only are you getting value for money, but these days you are getting brilliant quality too. 

Brands like Essence and Catrice have taken the beauty market by storm with their pocket-friendly offerings.

Essence Stay Matte Lip Cream in Silky Red is a fantastic red lip color for very little, retailing for €2.49 a tube. If you feel like treating yourself a little more, for €1.89 you can pick up the lipliner to match in the shade Femme Fatale, meaning for under €5, you can rock a beautiful, cool red lip, which wears beautifully and doesn't dry out your lips.

If Essence doesn't take your fancy, why not try some of the other budget offerings by the likes of Catrice, Collection or Natural Collection? I can verify that the Natural Collection lipstick in Crimson is a beautiful, well made lip product and is only 50c more expensive than Essence.

Mid-Range Budget:


The Mid-Range budget, by my reckoning would include the likes of Revlon and Maybelline.
One offering I particularly like is Revlon ColourStay Ultimate Suede in 095 "Finale".

One thing I will say about this lipstick is that upon first application it looks glossy, but as it dries it locks in, beautifully matte and pigmented.

This product is wonderful, I can attest to that. I wore this to lunch during the height of summer, with my mum and it never budged, and I wasn't using a liner with it. At €10.20, it's reasonable, but may be difficult to justify for some budgets.

Now that's a result!!

Top Tip: For extra opacity with this lipcolour, apply a first coat, blot, and then top up with a second coat before allowing to dry. Hello, Hollywood glamour!!



High-End:

Credit to Miss Penny Dreadful
http://misspennydreadful.blogspot.ie

The only lipstick that I think deserves a place here, is the much beloved, insanely popular MAC Retro Matte lippie, Ruby Woo.

This lipstick doesn't come cheap, at €19 a tube, but it is absolutely unbelievable. I would recommend this to anyone who was out to treat themselves to a lovely red lipstick.

Have you a birthday coming up? Need something for the Christmas wishlist? This is the lippie for you!! It has a gorgeous matte finish, lasts for ages, and smells divine.

If you are passing a MAC store, on Henry St or a MAC counter, treat yourself to this baby, I promise you wont regret it. It truly is the best red lipstick I have tried, and trust me, I have tried a lot.

Top Tip: For the best wear time and appearance, be sure to give your lips a good scrub with a sugar-scrub such as Lush Bubblegum Lip-Scrub, and moisturize with a good quality lip-balm. This will avoid it showing up the imperfections we all invariably have on our lips.


Christmas is the time to rock a festive red lip, no matter your budget, there is a red lip for you.
Will you be rocking a festive lip this season?

Amy
x

Liquid & Pen Liner Collection Overview

When it comes to liquid liner, I'm not particularly obsessed; Definitely not as much as I am with lipstick. I own five different eyeliners (not counting pencil liners) and today I want to talk about why I like them so much.

E.L.F Liquid Liner:

My lovely (and super generous) friend from Florida, Kayleigh (who you can find here), sent this as part of our swap. I don't think I have ever loved an eyeliner as much as this. That would be because it has a very very fine brush applicator, which make my limited eyeliner skills look brilliant!

My only problem with this liner, would be the wear time. I have a tendency to use this liner just as a guide-liner for my Loreal Super Liner. If the wear time were improved, I'd have no problem going to the nearest rooftop and shouting "Holy Grail, huzzah!!"

According to eyeslipsface.co.uk this eyeliner retails for €1.73. 

17 Liquid Liner

This liner came as part of a Christmas gift from my cousin Maria last year.

This has a really nice brush, though its not as thin as the E.L.F brush. The wear time, however, really makes up for the brush. It will NOT budge unless you take oil-based eye makeup remover to it.

I swiped this on my arm to figure out how to describe the formulas, and all I can say is, after 3 days of scrubbing its finally faded. That says it all!

I couldn't find a price for this liner, and it was part of a discontinued kit, so I can't even give you the price of that, sorry! Boots do carry a wide array of 17 liners though, so check them out.

Loreal Super Liner Blackbuster

This has to be the most disappointing of the five liners. I had such high hopes for it, but it just didn't meet them. This liner would be better suited to someone who just wants a faint, deep grey liner, rather than a bold black line. The felt tip on this has so much potential too, though maybe my dislike of that could be attributed to my ham-fists... I would be keen to retry this is the formula ever changed.

Loreal Super Liner Blackbuster retails for €10.75 in Boots.

Loreal Super Liner - Black Crystals

This liner is amazing, and completely in a different league to its Blackbuster counterpart. I did not realize at the time of purchase that it was Black Crystals, rather, I just thought the sparkles on the packaging were for decoration. The "crystal" element is a very very fine silver glitter, which is only really noticeable if you go for a thick winged liner. I wear this liner almost every day, and I think that the glitter is a nice touch to add to a simple look.

Loreal Super Liner - Black Crystals retails for €15.29 in Boots.

Essence Eyeliner Pen

This one is a pure, unmitigated bargain! I purchased this when I was just getting used to applying liner, because I felt the felt-tip was the easiest to work with. It has a very fine, almost oriental-brush like tip, ideal for the unsure liner user. Its only downfall is that two coats are needed to make it truly opaque, but hey, you get what you pay for!

Essence Eyeliner Pen is available from Penneys and Pharmacies nationwide and will set you back €3.59. 

Overall, I am happy with my liner collection, though it may be paltry by many beauty bloggers standards. The only one of this collection that I would not recommend is the Super Liner Blackbuster.

What do you think of my collection? Are there any liners you feel I am missing?
Please let me know in the comments if there are, and don't forget to tell me why they rock! I may well pick them up...

xo
Amy

A Cheeky Haul!!

When you're week was as bad as mine, and someone asks you are you on for shopping, you jump at the chance to go and have retail therapy!

That's what happened to me, on Thursday evening when the lovely Kayliegh, of Kayliegh Land texted me and asked me was I on for shopping on Friday afternoon. I may as well be honest here, I had failed my practical driving test just hours before this, so I leapt at the chance to get out of my disappointed funk. Shopping always makes me feel better. Sure, who doesn't feel better after an afternoon of serious shopping and money spending?!

Overview...

June BBC Day 25: Primer

Primer is one of those products some people swear by, but others avoid at all costs! I admit, I'm not taken by face primers, however, I love eye-shadow primers. Maybe its because I'm not a "Daily Face" kind of girl, maybe I just missed the boat on the whole foundation primer thing...

Eye-shadow primer is great. I have been a big fan of the No.7 Eye-shadow Primer since I was about 17, but recently, I've been loving both NYC colour's offering as well as Essence's! I will happily state that I think Essence stands up to the quality of No.7, no problem!!

Essence I<3 Stage- €3.59

As far as face-primer goes... The only one I ever tried was Rimmel and I HATED it! It made my skin feel weird and tingly, and not in the good way! It works for some of you, and that's great, its affordable and readily available, but I cant abide the stuff. If you can recommend a decent one, at a decent price, by all means, be my guest!

What is your opinion on primers? Have you any favorites? Would you try any of the ones I've mentioned?? 

Let me know!!

xoxo

Amy

June BBC Day 24: Alternative Uses for Items

Essence I <3 Stage - €3.59

Usually when I buy a product, its bought because I need it to do its intended job!

With that said, I do have one use for a product that isn't exactly what it's meant for!

Primer! More specifically, eyeshadow primer. You may be wondering what the hell I use primer for, if not to prime my lids for shadow! Well the answer is very simple. I put it under my concealer on days where I know that concealer alone wont do the job.

A dab of this on my ring finger, on to my spots and imperfections, and I'm reassured that my concealer (usually set with a wee bit of powder) will stay put!

What other uses do you have for your make-up products? Do you use lipstick as a blusher, in a pinch?

Drop me a line below in the comments!!

xoxo
Amy

June BBC Day 23: Whats My Face Worth?

Most of you have learned over the course of this challenge that I'm not a big fan of putting on a full face of make-up everyday. The way I see it, how will people notice a difference if you go out everyday, moseying about your business in full drag?! I fully believe its better to look like your normal self on a day to day basis, and then hike up the Glam Levels when you're going out!

On a normal day I just do my brows, eyeliner, mascara, and lips. Sometimes I will use concealer, powder and maybe a wee bit of blush but its quite rare I would add those extra steps!

Yesterday, I went around the shops to take precise note of all the prices of the products I use, so I could be as accurate as possible!

I'll start from the bottom, this time around, with lips!

I'm sure you are all fully sick of me going on about these products at this point, but they are everyday essentials for me!

My Essence Lip-liner is in the shade "Femme Fatale" and my Natural Collection lipstick is Crimson. I love the combo of these two lip products together, and I have to admit that by some happy coincidence, they match perfectly!!

Essence Lipliner is €1.29 in any Penneys/Primark and local pharmacies nationwide!

Natural Collection lipstick is €3.09 in every Boots in the country!!

Next up, we'll tackle the eyes!

I am a huge convert to the Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express Mascara!! It's just my holy grail mascara at this point! I wouldn't ever be unfaithful to it... God, I sound like a crazy person!

The wand is magical, and the formula doesn't burn my eyes, even when I have lenses in!

The picture of my eye really doesn't do it the justice it deserves, really, which is a shame...


You can find this amazing mascara at any Maybelline stand, in any decent chemists, and in Boots for €11.99

Eyeliner is the one thing I've yet to nail my colours to the mast about! for pencil eyeliner, I'm pretty much a Bourjois Kohl pencil girl, but for liquid, I vary between Loréal Superliner and the Essence Eyeliner Pen.

Bourjois Kohn Pencil is €8.19
Loréal Superliner is €15.29
Essence is €3.49

Finally, my brows.

Now while I stand by my "I hate Rimmel" opinion, I must admit defeat in regards to their eyebrow pencil in 002 Hazel, because its the only pencil I've found that doesn't make my poor ginger brows look like they're brown! €4.99-ish (I forgot to look for this when I was in Boots!)

For my everyday face, that's a grand total of €48.33... Wow. I'm actually stunned!!!

I shudder to think what my full face would be for a night out!!

What is your face worth? Are you shocked by how much my face is worth?? Drop me a line in the comments below!!

xoxoxo
Amy

June BBC Day 18: Favorite Make-Up Brand

Well, Girl Friday, you certainly set a toughie in this topic. I don't honestly know if I can choose one overall, and because I only really ever focus on my lips and eyes, I think I'll go for 2 different areas of the face! Is that cheating? It is? Ah well, I'm a rebel!

My 3 lipcreams and their matching liners!

Lips

For lipstick, I have raved time and time again about Essence Stay Matte lip-creams. I adore them. I have three of the four matte shades. They work for any occasion, and they're cheap as chips. Essence, in my experience make great quality products and though they may look like they're marketed to a younger demographic, they're used in some aspect by every beauty blogger at some point.

€2.49 for the lip color, and another €1.49 for the lipliner that exactly matches? Yes please, Essence, even some higher-up brands don't exactly match their lipsticks to the liners. Bravo!

Eyes

I can't say enough good things about my new favorite eye palette from NYC Cosmetics. Its a palette marketed towards those with brown eyes, but I adore it for a neutral brown/taupe look. It even comes with a primer and a highlighter! How good is that, for €4.99?!

The pigmentation and the consistency is amaze-beans for just shy of a fiver! You can find NYC in Penneys, and I urge you to get it, because despite what it says about being for brown eyes, it can be rocked by anybody!


What are your favorite brands? If you could recommend one product to me for each of my categories, what would it be? Do you believe in budget brand makeup? 

Amy,
xoxo

Colours of The Rainbow TAG!! Blog Edition

It's no secret that I love watching make-up guru's on YouTube. I love watching tutorials I know I'll never use, hauls of things I know I can't get here at home, and vlogs of lives that are far removed from my own!

Lately there's been a tag going around, and I wanna participate, but I wanna do so in blog form, because I'm far too much of a chicken to video myself and edit. I don't know the first thing about it. Maybe someday, in the future though, who knows?!

Not a crock of gold to be seen...What a sham!!

So anyway, this tag is called "Colors of The Rainbow" wherein you choose a product to correlate with each of the colors in the rainbow. As a kid I learned the colors as Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. I was never taught the "Roy G Biv" thing that all the American vloggers like Grav3yardGirl and BeautyBaby44 use!

Violet

Lets open with something I hate! I seem to always love the things I buy, but I despise this and I only used it once! Its a Rimmel London Quad palette in "01 State of Grace". I have no words, because this palette actually puts me in bad humor. Its so prone to fallout, you wouldn't believe!! Stay well away from this, I'm doing you a favor, I promise you!!

Indigo

I picked Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express as my Indigo product. This mascara has been the model of what I want a mascara to do. I'm not out for super long lashes, I'm out for a bit of lift, curl and volume. This gives me everything I want and more besides!! I already spoke about it in a June BBC post, but I will keep going on about it! It's true love Maybelline, let's go steady!! ;) I think this set me back €8.99, but I'm not sure! Less than a tenner, anyhow!


Blue

 I swore I was keeping this a secret. I wasn't going to tell anyone about this. But guilt forced me into it. This is L'Oreal Derma Genesis Pore-Minimizing Serum. I've been using this for about 3 days now and I'm obsessed! I use it over my nose and T-zone twice a day followed by my moisturiser. I found it on a clearance shelf in Tesco for a fiver last week... a FIVER!!

Green

This is my Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Spot Wand. The clear gel is for daytime use, and the thicker, more creamy looking gel is for night time. I love this stuff to bits and back again. Many spots have been stopped in their tracks by this product! Not bad for green goo, eh?! This beauty set me back €4.50 about 6 months ago and I haven't even made a small dent in it. There's value for money, if ever there was any!!

Yellow

Carmex. This yellow tube of lip healing goodness needs absolutely no introduction. It's been the saving grace of plenty in its time. I use this before bed to keep my lips hydrated overnight. In fact, many nights have been rudely interrupted when I wake to find my very beaten up tube, having forgot to apply it before I turned in for the night. I couldn't go anywhere without this, it's a staple in my life at this point! 

Orange

Before I discovered Maybelline, as shown above, I used to swear by this mascara. It's Essence Maximum Definition Volume Mascara. Now, while its half the price of Maybelline, it's still every bit as good. The wand is thin and tapered at one end, reminiscent of the Lancome Doll Eyes mascara wand, only made of rubber with short rubber bristles similar to the Maybelline wands. It's a great mascara for those on a budget, and definitely one I would return to using is The Rocket is ever discontinued! €3.49 in any good pharmacy or Penneys nationwide

Red

One day, I will stop plugging these products, (spot the LoTR fan!!) but is not this day!! Natural Collection lipstick in Crimson retails for about €3.09 in Boots, and has the most wonderful, creamy consistency!! I would easily shell out double that for something of its quality anywhere else! In fact, I find myself reaching for this over my Revlon Ultimate Suede or my Essence Stay Matte Lip Cream. Crazy, huh? I always use my Essence Lipliner in Femme Fatale, as it seems to match all my red lipsticks in some amazing stroke of fate! It retails for €1.29 and you can find it in Penneys nationwide!

Time for tagging. I'm only gonna tag 5 people, because that seems like a reasonable number. Lets hope this takes off!!

Audrey over at The Nail Affair
Lauren over at Makeup By Lauren Marie
Kayliegh over at Kayliegh Land
Suzy over at Glamour & Go
Dani over at The Glamour Nazi

I hope you enjoyed this and sure, we'll see where this goes!!

Big Smiles,
Amy
xoxo

June BBC Day 7: Favorite Lip Product

This one is a toughie.



Lush Bubblegum lip scrub gets a great surface going for the application of my balms and lip colors.

For lip balm, I adore my raspberry "Balmi" which is pretty much a dupe for EOS. It's moisturising and smells divine. Carmex is another brand I advocate, though I find it leaves a residue on my lips, so I save it for night time use.

Essence Stay Matte Lip Creams are great quality for the tiny money. I adore my Silky Red shade, with Femme Fatale lipliner. Paired together, they make a beautiful true red lip for less than €4. Not too shabby, I think you'll agree!

June BBC Day 2: Favorite Brush

Brushes aren't a big deal to me like they are to some other bloggers. I know plenty of people who are loyal to Real Techniques, Eco Tools, MAC, even the H+M Brushes. I'm not pushed either way. I will use what does the job, brands are irrelevant. With that said, I have been lusting over the fluffy Real Techniques blush brush, and the Eco-Tools starter kit, but I tell myself I have brushes, I don't need to invest...yet!

My favorite brush right now is a tie between my H&M Kabuki brush, that I use for blush, and my Essence (gasp!) eye-shadow pencil brush...

H&M Kabuki Brush
Essence Pencil Eye-Shadow Brush

The H&M brush is a bit on the rough side, but not so bad that I wouldn't recommend it to others. It's coarseness is not off-putting, rather, it is comforting to a degree. Its a tough little brush. I've had it a long time. Its been through a lot. Its a great little brush, and it applies blush well... When I wear blush, that is!

My Essence pencil brush is amazing, its small, delicate and oh so soft! Not bad for €3.50, eh? I use it to blend a smokey eye when I'm going out. It's small and precise, and very very good at its job! Cannot recommend this particular brush highly enough. Budget beauty tools don't have to be crap anymore, with companies like Essence cornering a gap in the market. Definitely worth a look, ladies!

Le Grá,
Amy,
xoxo

Oh God, I've Become A Girly-Girl!!

Girls, we all love our beauty products and make up. Its just the way we are, and guys wont ever understand why we need 3 different mascaras, or 100 bottles of nail polish, but we do. Or at least, that's what we tell ourselves! 

We all have our favourites though, so here's mine. My favourites, for my face!

Skin Wisdom Youth Protect Facial Wipes.

Skin Wisdom Youth Protect

These bad boys are amazing! I stumbled across these when I finished my Simple Kind-To-Skin wipes. They have a "Recommended Age Group" on the side of the nice, shiny pink foil packet, saying you should use these between the ages of 20-35. I suppose, those are the years between which you'd wanna be protecting that youth of yours, missus! They smell lovely and they do a great job of stripping off makeup, mascara, everything! I will say that you need a good moisturiser for after them, because they can leave your skin a bit tight. Maybe that's the Youth Protect bit?!

They claim to cleanse, tone and moisturise in one easy step, and are enriched with rhodiola rosea and amino acids, as well as cranberry and white tea.

They also claim to be suitable for all skin types, but I would say if you have dry skin, either avoid them entirely, or use a damn good moisturiser after them!

At €1.69 (I think!), in Tesco, I'd recommend them, even just to see if they do anything for your skin, but personally, I love them and have already repurchased them, in case they ever disappear from the shelves!

Red Lips; On a Budget!

Since yesterday I posted about how red lips were my way of drawing a veil over the past, I thought I'd post abut some products I've been eyeing, and buying!! These products are very easy on the pocket, as well as looking amazing, which has been the kicker for me, since its not about how much you spend, its about the products performing.

What follows may well be considered the blind leading the blind!! :P You have been warned!

Essence Nail Art Express Dry Drops Review

In my local chemist, there's a sizable Essence stand... Which, if you're as obsessed with nails as I am, you will know, that its a bad thing! Every time I go in, I find myself gawking at the nail polishes, the nail treatments, the lipsticks, everything!! For the last few weeks I've been wondering if the "Express Dry Drops" are what they claim to be. Some quick Google searches told me that they are pretty decent so I figured I'd find out for myself.

Essence Nail Art Express Dry Drops

Accessories Haul... Feat. Yes To Carrot(top)s :P

Today I did all of my running around early, I paid my phone and Internet bill, I sent the application in for my driving test and I did some errands for my mother. When all was done my mum and I decided to go to Mullingar town and do a spot of shopping. "Fair enough," I decided, "Sure we haven't been to Mullingar in almost a year, why not?!"

We trundled down the road and in no time we had landed in Penneys!! We LOOOOVE Penneys... :D

So with a limit of €10, I set myself the challenge of getting some nice things to wear, since I'm always out to improve my appearance through fashion, accessories, makeup and beautification like manicures and facials...

Statement necklace: Was €5, I got it for €2!!

Close up of the jewelled area....
Preeeeeetty!!

Another Update... Including TWIM Vol. 2

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in well over a week. I've been thinking about this blog for days and days but I've been so busy getting ready for Chris's ball, and then I was sick and exhausted, but I'm here now and I'm getting back on top of things. Yay!

First, let me start by posting some nail pics!

I rocked this all of last week.
The ring finger is an Urbanista Nail Foil...

Currently rocking this shade...
Essence Nude Glam
Iced Strawberry Cream

Both of these Essence polishes retail for €1.89 and the quality is amazing, completely rivaling the formula of some higher priced ones. 

Next up!! 

Suited and booted, ready to rock'n'roll!!