A Few Favorites... [January Edition]

Aaaaand it's February! Today I'm going to take you through what I've been adoring and what I've found boring!

I've been adoring my Blanx Whitening Toothpaste*. Now I must admit right off the bat I don't know if it's whitening, but it's made my teeth feel so lovely and clean without being insanely minty. I'm just so taken by it. I find myself constantly running my tongue over my teeth for half the morning, probably looking like a tool bag in the process, lets be honest! It's just great, and it's not a stupid squeezy tube it's one you press the button and the toothpase just comes out like magic. A-dore!!!

Galaxy Hot Chocolate. Dealz is a great place to find this stuff, this creamy, chocolatey, wonderful treat. You put three or four teaspoons into a cup and pour over boiling water. That's probably why I like it so much. I'm lactose intolerant and I'm not really meant to have stuff like this but with Galaxy Hot Chocolate, I find I can get away without any migraines or tummyaches. Winner winner!!

Hozier. Lord above will I ever not be enraptured by this man and the talent he possesses? I've literally been listening to his album on repeat for months, and January was no different. I'm lucky enough to own his self titled album on vinyl, and it's sheer perfection. I've also got the album in my iPod and on my phone. I'm just obsessed. My current favorite track (though that fact is ever changing) is Work Song, which reminds me of my darling Dex. There's just no getting over this guy for me, Hozier just knows whats up and I could listen to his album every day til I die and still get something new from each song. Literally cannot get enough of it.

Catrice Better Than False Lashes Mascara. I bought this in a pinch, somehow I managed to leave the house without mascara on and I have to duck into a chemist to get something to fill the gap. This was on the catrice stand and I just went for it. There was no deliberating, it was the first one that came to my hand. It's actually great though, the wand is huge but not super bristly so you can go through in two or three swipes to catch all your lashes and avoid the spidery clumpy look we all know isnt cute. I didn't think I would but I very much like this mascara - so much so it's in my travel make up kit permanently.

So there you have it, a little chat about stuff I've been digging this month. If you want, I could try to mention some stuff I have been less than impressed by. Let me know!! 

XO

A

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August Favorites

It's that time of the month again!! Favorites time!! 

This month I have quite a few favorites, so lets get into it! 

First and foremost, I want to gush about my new kitten, Paolo. He's a rescue kitty, not rescued by me, but we have adopted eachother, and he's in his forever home! My cousin found him in an awful state on the road near where we live, and stopped the car to bring him home. I met Paolo two weeks later and fell in love. Not only did I fall in love, but so did my mother, and so it was decided that we would re-home him, since he was causing upset in my cousins house because of their resident Tomcat, Oisin. He's a little ball of fluff, who thinks he's big, and likes to let on that he's a fearless killer, when in fact he loves to sleep between my shoulder and side of my head in my bed. Paolo has his own Instagram account, @paolo_puss - go give him a follow! 

I want to rave about my Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation. I wear this in work, almost every day, and I'm a tiny bit in love! It's got great coverage, it lasts well, doesn't get shiny and doesn't oxidize on the skin. I find it lightweight, easy to buff into the skin, and coupled with a light powder, it's full coverage with no caking! 

I'm in the lightest shade, 010 Light Porcelain. You can pick it up in any Boots for €7.99, so affordable for every day wear!


Next I want to give honorable mentions to my Alcon Pure Moist 30 Day Contact Lenses, which I have been in love with! I am a big fan of weird frames, and yet I find myself wearing lenses absolutely every day, recently! They're super comfortable, promising 16 hours of wear. I know it's bad, but I have, on occasion slept in my lenses and they've still felt good the next morning! You can get these at your local opticians! 

I've been reading Chase Your Shadow: The Trial of Oscar Pistorious, and I feel the need to give this a serious plug! No matter what you think of the man, this book is an unfailing, unbiased look at the trial and eventual conviction of Pistorious for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp. This book is quite dense and heavy, part biography, part journalistic reporting, but it's an incredible read. 10/10 would read again! 

I picked up my copy in Vibes and Scribes, in Cork City for €10.99! 

This month I have been insanely obsessed with Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains, particularly Honey, a light, very wearable nude pink shade, and Romantic, a very easy to wear red. I almost always wear Honey in work, as it's very natural and can be applied without a mirror. I wore Romantic to a wake and funeral, and it wasn't too "done" or too "OTT" for the funeral. 

These balm stains are €10.99 in Boots and are currently on offer for 2 for €14. 

Next up, I want to wax lyrical about my trip to Cork! I got to see my oldest friend, spend some time with her, make new friends, and we had a brilliant time! We ate the most amazing chickpea curry with vegan tabbuleh, perused great book stores, made friends with a record store owner and generally just enjoyed everything the city has to offer! I even bumped into an archery friend on our way to lunch one day! Cork is everything I adore, and more. Great food, great people, great record stores and always my happy place. 

I've been listening to a lot of records that I picked up on my trip to Cork, but two I want to mention are No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom, and Woven Skull's Lair Of The Glowing Bantling , I am all about Gwen Stefani at the moment, and nothing makes me happier than putting on my makeup for a night out, listening to Spiderwebs (which I've left below for you to wrap your ears around!), Just a Girl and the classic, Don't Speak! I will be giving a full review and telling the story of how I came to possess the first copy of Lair of The Glowing Bantling later on this month, so stick around for that!! 

I've been watching a lot of YouTube lately, but I want to give special mentions to my new favorite Vlogger, Mike Falzone! Mike is a stand up comic, who makes the most amazing videos for YouTube, has a great podcast series, and is generally a pretty cool dude! I'm gonna leave some of my favorite videos here for you to get you started! 

So there you have some of my favorite things this month! 

September promises to be a great month for favorites, with multiple adventures happening - The NPA Ploughing 2015, Dylan Moran in Vicar St, hazelnut picking with the bezzo, and plenty more, as well as plenty of scope for new products to weasel their way into my heart!

Have you been loving anything this month? 

Let me know in the comments! 

Amy 

xo

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Novermber Favorites

It's December and it's been too long since I did a favourites post... So lets get straight in, no kissing!! 

Dream Dots*. 

I used half a dozen of these in a week and I'm literally obsessed with them. There are not enough good words in the world to describe how well these dots work. They're not just a dream, they're a miracle!! Read my full review HERE. 

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation

I shopped my stash this month in a bid to use up some products and make space for the impending Christmas spending spree, and in doing so I found my summer love, Nearly Naked. It's been great because when I'm not tanning, I like a light coverage foundation that just works in a colour correcting capacity, especially after I've eradicated my spots. There's no point in covering up good skin. 

Impress Press On Nails

I'm obsessed with Impress nails. They actually look good, unlike most of those glue-on jobs. I rocked glossy black ones in the week leading up to -and including- Chris's graduation and they looked wonderful. They don't damage your nails, they've flex and shock absorbing properties and they stopped me biting my real nails when I was stressed... I couldn't have asked for better this month! 

Nivea 2 in 1 Cleanser and Toner

This stuff actually gives me life! I can't even begin to describe how good it has been for my skin. The fact that it's a 2 in 1 product was throwing me but it's great. Between this and the Dots, I've not had such well behaved skin!! Read my full review HERE

Johnsons Baby Shampoo 

I bought a bottle of baby shampoo last summer to clean my make-up brushes with, and I've still a quarter of the bottle left. If you want to deep clean your brushes, leave them soft and smelling lovely and you don't fancy springing for the No.7 Brush cleanser or the Blender Cleanser, then this is a great option. For a deep clean on eye and powder brushes once a week and every two days on your foundation, baby shampoo is a cost effective and all round great option. 

Love/Hate

My always lovely friend Kayliegh lent me the first 3 seasons of Love Hate on a shopping trip for her birthday and I'm hooked. I powered through 3 seasons in a week. All because I watched the season five finale. I need to know what's going on!!! Between Darren, Nidge, Fran and Siobhan, I'm up to 90. You'd swear I was in the middle of it! 

I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

The last time I watched I'm A Celeb, was the year Kerry Katona won it. That's a long time. Of course I kept vaguely in touch with the contestants and the drama over the years but this is the first year in a long time I'm watching it pro-actively. I love the line up, they're only mildly famous but the entertainment is maximum levels! Bush-Tucker Trials are so funny to watch, and part of me would love to experience it. Am I mad?? 

What have you been loving during the month of November??

Drop me a comment!

Amy 

xx

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*Dream Dots were sent for review early in November, all opinions are my own. 

Quarterly-ish Favorites Jan-March 2014

I'm not the best for posting monthly favorites posts, and I haven't posted a video in months because truth be told, I don't always remember. I don't always have a lot of favorites to tell you about and I think it would be counter productive to tell you about products I've only been using for a short time.

This leaves me with a dilemma, either no favorites at all or do a less frequent favorites showcasing a bunch of things ranging from beauty to fashion and everything in between. In order to keep things ticking over nicely, I am going to try to post a larger "Quarterly-ish Favorites" every 3 months or so. Now I know it's barely into March, but I have a few things I want to talk about.

Without further ado...

In The Category of Make-Up.

I am absolutely obsessed with my Revlon Nearly Naked foundation again. Thanks to my amazing friend Shauna, I've been having quite a few good skin days. In fact, I've been going bare faced on more than one occasion in the last month or so, even on a night out. Crazy!! The Revlon Nearly Naked foundation (in the shade Ivory) is just enough coverage for my skin when I feel I need that extra help. It's not cakey, and with a light dusting of powder (for NN, I opt for Natural Collection Pressed Powder in Cool), it's matte and stays all day. A clear winner with Spring approaching, ladies!

Speaking of obsession, I don't think I've let a day pass me where I haven't used my 17 Brows That Kit. I feel naked without my eyebrows, and even if I am just wandering around the house I need to have them done, just for the sake of my own happiness. This kit is amazing for anyone who wants the whole kit and caboodle, pencil, brush, wax, eyebrow powder and an under-brow highlight, all tucked into a really sturdy case with a lovely mirror in the lid. I do believe I got it free with a €10 spend on any 17 products, but it's no more than €6 or €7 in any Boots store. I adore it and could not be without it. Honorable mentions to my Real Techniques Brow Brush for making the whole job a breeze! A killer combo, make no mistake!

Finally, I have a brilliant product, multi-use and cheap as chips! Natural Collection single shadows, in Opal. It's a highly pigmented, shimmery pearly white that can be used for a few different areas on this face. Of course, you can use it as a shadow, that much is obvious, but it can be used as a highlighter. Beware though, despite its 2.89 price-tag, this is up there with the Naked Illuminate (without the massive, coarse disco-ball glitter). Use it as a strong under-brow highlight, on the tops of the cheekbones and bridge of the nose for a super sculpted, high-fashion look.




In The Category of Hair:

I need to say this, THE REMINGTON PEARL WAND IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER BOUGHT!! For my hair, specifically. I have very satiny, hard to curl locks, that usually require half a tin of hairspray to keep any kind of shape. I have to say though, the Pearl Wand has been nothing but the model of a totally miraculous, absolutely undeniably wonderful investment. I have no issues getting a curl to hold, in fact, I am currently writing this with the most wonderful, voluminous second day curls still in place, and only a minimal amount of hair-spray used. Impressed? You should be! Off with you now, and get one!

I couldn't pass an opportunity to give a quick, honourable mention to Batiste Dry Shampoo. This stuff was a love of mine for much of last year, and over Christmas, found itself stuffed into a drawer because I wasn't as pressed for time in the shower in the mornings. I have rekindled my affection for it though and am totally enamored with using it alongside a heat protection spray before I curl my noggin. This stuff makes life so much easier for all you busy chicks out there!


In The Category of Tan: 

I'm sure at this point your sick to death of seeing me wax poetic about the glory that is Cocoa Brown 1 Hour tan, but I am so in love that I just cannot stop harping on about it. And, it's not just the tan, it's the whole range! I cannot get over their Chocolate Whip, it makes me smell like a mini-roll, and I'm totally okay with that, by the way! Tough Stuff is the best thing to hit the Irish market in god knows how long, turning my scaly pins into smooth, soft, lust-worthy legs! 

Combining all three, Tough Stuff, Chocolate Whip and 1 Hour Tan is a recipe for absolutely perfect legs. You cannot go wrong.



In The Category of Lips:

I am convinced at this stage that Revlon use magic to make their lip products because I literally have nothing bad to say about any of their lippies, be they the Matte Balm Stains that I'm infatuated with, the ColorBurst Lip Butters, or their Kissable Balm Stains. They can do absolutely no wrong.

I am also still 100% committed to Catrice Lipsticks, particularly Matt-erial Girl and Holly Rose Wood. They're long-wearing, non-drying and less that €5 a pop! There is no excuse not to love them...

Miscellaneous Favorites:

Maybelline Brow Drama Brow Mascara,
NYC Lipstick - Blue Rose
Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil - Bling Bling
Sleek Make-Up Storm Palette,
Boots Skin Clearing Wipes
Tesco "Free-From" Porridge Oats
My iPod Classic 160gb
Bershka Jeans,
Primark Brogues,
Qwertee T-Shirts,
Paco Rabanne Lady Million Perfume
GiGi Gorgeous, Michelle Phan, Leighann Says and Ophelia Dagger
My Icy Eyewear Ray-Ban Style specs,
Snapchat,
Essence Lipstick - Dare To Wear
Infinity Scarves


What are some of your favourites so far this year?? 
Let me know so I can try them out!!

Amy
xx

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!

April Favorites...Woo-Hoo!!

The first week of May is almost done, and so it's high time I posted my April Favorites!

So let's not waste time, and get right into it!!

Yes To Carrots Shampoo and Conditioner  

I can't get over how much I love this stuff, and for a few reasons... 

-I've had it almost a month and I haven't made even the smallest dent in the giant bottles... 

-It smells amazing.

-It makes your hair so soft and shiny.

-It's cruelty free, natural and with the use I'm going to get from it, great value for your €€€!

Yes To Carrots... Yes Please!!!