Link To My Latest The Body Shop Review

My review of The Body Shop's Nail Varnish Remover is now live on Chunk.ie

Not Has Changed : 1993 & 2014

The same day a childhood friend tagged me in an old photo just happens to be the same day that my Bobbie Brooks' dress arrived from Pretty Bones Jefferson . 

I popped photos from both up on my Instagram and it wasn't until they were side by side that I realised there may be 21 years in the difference but I've still got a bob and wear girly pink dresses.

1993

2014

(please ignore my still damp from the shower hair in the 2014 shot)

The story of my Chanel

I love designer clothes but I live on a budget so being thrifty is important.

I'm constantly looking online, in consignment shops, charity shops, going to clothes swaps and buying from friends looking to unload their gorgeous garments for a fraction of the price.

Chanel is a brand I've wanted to own for ages but even when it's half price a Chanel bag can still cost about 1,000 euro. Luckily this year I managed to pick up some Chanel baggies which collectively came to a little over 100 euro. How? Here's the story of my Chanel.

This is actually a Chanel make up bag but I use it as a clutch bag. It's made from a velvety material and I love the cobalt blue colour of it. It's was bought from Siopaella for 39euro.

These 2 bags I bought from a friend off loading some of accessories so she could make room for new ones. She was selling a lot of her stuff but when I saw her post about the Chanel I was straight in!

She gave me the 2 bags for 75euro which is beyond a bargain.

Have you picked up any amazing bargains recently?

Drop me a comment below and let me know your stories.

Getting in touch with my roots

I'm one of those people who was blonde as a child and has never really gotten over the fact that my hair has changed colour. Oddly enough when I was a child I didn't like being blonde. Almost everyone else in my family had black or brunette hair and I wanted dark hair too. Apparently wishes come true, sort of. I now have that fantastic Irish hair colour which just like the Irish weather can never make up it's mind as to what colour it is. I've had people tell me I've lovely dark blonde, auburn and golden brown hair all in the same day! As a teenager I was unable to cope with this identity crisis so I starting dying my hair when I was around 14 so that whatever hair colour I ended up with it would be just the one hair colour and when someone asked what colour my hair was I wouldn't give a vague answer. My hair since around 2003/2004 has been everything for bleach blonde, pink, purple, blue, ginger, berry red, black, dark brown and slightly more natural shades of blonde.

Of course in the process of all this I destroyed my hair. I have curly hair which is prone to dryness anyway but you add bleach to the combination and you've got matted knots for days. 

Last year was when I had finally had enough. I dyed my honey blonde hair back to dark blonde and had my seriously damaged long hair chopped into a graduated bob. It was a big change but it needed to be done. 

The change in my hair is unbelievable! It doesn't tangle like it used to, I wear my hair down all the time now and I don't straiten my hair all the time like I used to because I can now keep my curls under control. My hair is shiny and silky. The colour is still an adjustment even after having it on my head for over a year. I became so used to having strong, vivid hair colours and sometimes a blonde girl will walk past and I'll pine for my elven locks but they I remind myself what platinum hair costs, damage wise and money wise. I get complimented on my dark blonde/auburn/golden brown hair all the time and I do think it's a really sweet colour. It suits my complexion a lot more than any of the colours I've dyed my hair over the years and my pale skin looks porcelain not washed out.

Part of me regrets dying my hair but I think I would have regretted it more if I hadn't. I would have always wondered and had a lot of 'what ifs'. I think somewhere along the line I would have dyed my hair and I'd rather have dye disasters in my teens and early 20s than sometime during my 30s or 40s.

Still I would always tell my younger sister who has the same colouring as me not to dye her hair.

Having knots the size of a walnut is never a good look.

September's Chic Treat Box

(This review will also be featured on Chunk.ie)

This is my second box from Chic Treat Club and I'm so delighted with it! I've been with other beauty boxes in the past and been gipped with perfume samples and satches of cream that I could pick up for free at a cosmetics counter or in a magazine. Chic Treat Club always have fantastic sized products, a lot of the time they're even full sized like in this month's box. Here's my review of this month's products.

My favourite product from this month's box is Balmi. I discovered this lip balm during the Summer and it's been a handbag staple of mine ever since ( I recently mentioned it in my Make Up Bag piece). It has SPF and UVA protection and is made with soothing Shea butter and Jojoba oil. They come in 4 flavours : Coconut, Raspberry, Strawberry and Mint, and look super cute. I find they last a lot longer then the chapsticks I used to use as they're chunky and don't smush when you put the lid on. This month I received a Strawberry Balmi and have it safely tucked away in my make up bag as I still have loads left in my Coconut Balmi that I bought in July which always lives in whatever handbag I have on me.

My second favourite product is the Sleek Kajal eyeliner in Odyssey purple. I have grey eyes and purple is a colour that I find really compliments the tones and flecks of green in them. It's really slick and easy to apply and I will definately get a lot of use out of it.

The next product I was happy to see was Sleek Pout Paint but unfortunately after trying it on I found the shade 'Milkshake' washed me out. I have very pale skin and would usually wear a vibrant colour on my lips as a contrast to my complexion. Milkshake would suit someone with a tanned skin tone and I'll have to test it out on some friends with gorgeous golden skin.

Also in the box was Solaroil by CND which is an award winning nail conditioner. I haven't tried it out yet but I've heard nothing but rave reviews and can't wait to give it a go.

The last item is Cuticura Hand Gel. My son ran away with this on me. He's constantly making a slop of himself and when he realised he could wash his sticky fingers with it he decided it was his. It's free from alcohol and a lot of chemicals found in most antibacterial hand gels and smells like cucumber.

To sum up this month's box I really loved the brands and the generous sizes the only down side was that my Pout Paint doesn't suit me which isn't a fault on the product.

Can't wait for October's box which will land around the time of my birthday :)

For more information on Chic Treat Club visit http://chictreatclub.com/

Looks To Recreate With Wet N Wild's 'Your 15 Minutes Aren't Up'

Looks to create with Wet N Wild's 'To Muse and Carouse'

Look You Can Recreate with Wet N Wild's 'I'm Seeing Triples'

Wet N Wild Promo and BeutiFi.com Promo Event

(This review will also be featured on Chunk.ie)

I wrote a 3 page review of this event an hour ago and accidentally closed the document without saving so I'm starting again from scratch. I'm sticking this up on my personal blog (which I made especially for this review) tonight because I won't be able to get it up on Chunk.ie till Monday and I just have to get all these feelings out. This is Wet N Wild we're talking about I'm seriously overwhelmed! 

Wet N Wild is a product my best friend, who is a consummate cosmetics buyer, is always raving about and I take her make up ravings very seriously. I've been dying to try Wet N Wild for ages but everytime I've been to Penneys to pick up some the stand has already been taken apart by avid Wet N Wild fans and anything that's left has been tested and poked. This is very good news for Wet N Wild because it means they're selling lots of product and how could they not at their prices but this is not so good for me. Today that all changed and I am now the proud owner of several Wet N Wild products and this time I got to be the tester and the poker . This is a personal win and I literally skipped home from The Clarence Hotel. 

I'm gonna throw you a disclaimer now that this is going to be a looooonng review because I tested everything I could get my hands on! So if you're a HUGE Wet N Wild fan know that I filthied my arms many times over for you.....and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

(Just in case I haven't had enough mini heart attacks trying to get this review written today my laptop just died there, this time I had auto save set up. I learn from my mistakes.)

Let's roll! First up I'm going to do a bit on the POP Art Craze palettes by matching them with their most suited complexions:


For Dark Skin Tones: I'm Seeing Triple

The minute I saw the vibrant blue in I'm Seeing Triple I immediately thought of Lupita Nyong'o. I recently saw her on the red carpet wearing an amazing blue eye shadow look. As you can see from the swatches the pigments of these colours are really strong and I know from having friends with dark skin tones it can sometimes be difficult to get colours that will show up vivid. For 4.49 these colours are fantastic and if you've got beautiful ebony or chocolate skin I would highly recommend this product.

For Olive/Tanned Skin Tones: To Muse and Carouse 

When I spotted To Muse and Carouse I instantly got Duran Duran's song Rio stuck in my head. I felt like if I put it on I might be transported to a yacht in the Mediterranean. Alas I was not but if you have gorgeous golden skin then it will transport you into looking like a bronzed Goddess with killer eyeshadow.

For Fair/Pale skintones: Your 15 Minutes Aren't Up!

I know what you're thinking 'these colours are far too bright for my complexion' but trust me taken sparingly with a glass of water each day according to your prescription they look absolutely dreamy on pale skin. I'm extremely pale and interesting and I've always worn pinks and purples and more recently yellows. Pinks and purples look really well on blue and green toned eyes while soft yellows bring out the twinkle in brown eyes. My eyes change colour so I'm a good guinea pig for eyeshadows.

I feel like a fool for not taking off my dark green nail polish before attending today's event but luckily Wet N Wild's colours were strong enough to cover it. First I tried 'Wild Shine' in black. I love dark nails and it dried super quick but I didn't like the skinny brush. I find it's hard to get a smooth finish with a skinny brush. 'Spoiled' in pink was a different story. It's brush is super thick and only takes a second to apply. A couple of coats and my dark green was transformed into Pretty in Pink!

I had actually been eyeing up this exact shade of lipstick on Wet N Wild's website so I made a dash for it and tried it on. The first thing I noticed was that it didn't dry out my lips. I've been avoiding traditional lipsticks and instead going for tinted balms because I find the minute I put lipstick on it immediately sucks all the moisture out of my lips and leaves them looking flaky and chapped. I've been wearing this lipstick all day and my lips still feel really soft. It's also still on me and as vibrant as when I applied. The photo of me below is after wearing the lipstick for an hour and having eaten and drank. I love my red lippie and I will definitely be stocking and restocking my make up bag with Red Velvet.

I am in love with this next product. It's called Comfort Zone and if you're a MUA this needs to be in your kit! As you can see from the swatches the pigments are strong. You can't really see the top left brow bone shade but it's a shimmery highlight colour which is hard to pick up on camera. All the swatches are single swipes. You only need the tiniest amount of product for a really good result. This palette will last you for ages and the shades can be used for day and night looks. For 5.49 this is a must have for any make up lover.

BeutiFi.com brought along two of their beauty experts, Pretty Easy and Pink Sugar Sparkles to demonstrate hair and make up looks. Pretty Easy demonstrated various Wet N Wild products but my favourite was their bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana. It's a light coloured bronzer that doubles up as a highlighter. Having fair skin I love this because (1) it gives me a bronzed look without turning my skin orange and (2) because it's coloured if you use it as a highlighter it won't make you super shiny.

BeutiFi.com is your one stop shop for finding beauty professionals like Pretty Easy and Pink Sugar Sparkles. You can search through their database for salons and other beauty businesses, look through their portfolios and read reviews from bloggers and clients. You can also buy vouchers like the one pictured and treat someone you know to some serious pampering! Be careful to enter BeutiFi.com corrently though, I kept typing it in with an extra 'A' and ending up on a website about surveys. BeutiFi.com don't do surveys but they do have hundreds of beauty experts for you to browse and even save to your favourites so you don't forget who caught your eye. It's free to sign up and their mobile version and app are coming soon!

Well that's it for this particular review but I'll be posting the rest of my photos and following up with how I get on with all my new amazing Wet N Wild products and where I'm going to use my BeutiFi.com gift card!

Myself and the rest of the bloggers (minus Manal)

Thanks to Wet N Wild, BeutiFi.com and Publicity Loft for hosting today's event!

For more information on the products mentioned visit:

http://wnwbeauty.com/

http://beutifi.com/