#BloggersDoDublin Updates

Hello there lovely blogger people! I have just a few quick updates for you all and thought it would be best to do a blog post instead of trying to get the general info across on Twitter where everyone might not see! After running round Dublin yesterday like a headless chicken I can now tell you that the venue is going to be at Pacinos. You can have a look at their site over here.  We have a private room downstairs and the menu is just to die for! (Me? Like food? Well, just 10 more chips...)

Now for you ladies that aren't familiar with the streets of Dublin, Pacinos is at the bottom of Grafton street. If you stand at the traffic lights and look right (following the flow of traffic as its a one way street!)  you will see the restaurant. It has a red front with lovely big bright windows. You'll basically feel yourself being pulled in, its just that nice. If your still not sure and google maps is giving you a headache, make sure you DM me and I will give you my number :)

I'd love you all to wonder in and have a look at the menu asap! I'd like everyone to have plenty of time for lunch (and many cocktails) before the lovely girls from Matte to Metallic start their demo at about half 2 for us all! 

After the ladies from Matte to Metallic give us a demo we will be treated to a demo by Secrets Ireland. They are a fantastic Irish sex toy company and are coming out especially for us as they don't normally do demos. How lucky are we! You can find them on facebook and twitter to say hello and follow them. Or how about a sneaky look at their website over here. 

Paul from The Costmetic Outlet is giving us 30 goodie bags on the day (eeekkk!!) Make sure go and say hello and a big thank you to him on Twitter and Facebook! The goodie bags are going to be gotten on a first come first serve basis, I'm really sorry about that.

The Irish Cancer Society holds a very special place in my heart, so on the day there will be a raffle in aid of this charity. I am so excited to be able to tell you that loads of Fantastic companies have got on board with me and donated prizes for this. So ladies, heres what your in with a chance of winning!

• Bobos Burgers twitter and facebook: A voucher for a meal for two
• Dorian Black twitter and facebook: €100 gift voucher to spend in store
• Emmas Soy Candles twitter and facebook: Two candle gift sets
• Pixy Naturals twitter and facebook: A gift set
• Monaco Cupcakes twitter and facebook: A gift box of 12 cupcakes
• Oceana Spa Beauty twitter and facebook: A gift voucher
• Nandos twitter and facebook: A voucher for a meal for four
• The Body Shop twitter and facebook: Two €75 ultimate pamper vouchers
• Green Angel Skin Care twitter and facebook: A gift set
• SexSiopa twitter and facebook: Vouchers for discounts off site
• Lisa Heeny twitter and facebook: Gift sets
• Dolledup.ie twitter and facebook : Surprise gift
• Inglot Ireland twitter and facebook:  Four makeover vouchers

Check back on the guest list over here.

#BloggersDoDublin

It all started with myself and another blogger chatting about Lush, which turned into lunch and before I knew it I was organising this #BloggersDoDublin day out. Considering theres not a lot of time to put this altogether, I am still in the middle of talks with companies, venues and lots more! So the details are a little fuzzy still. But fear not, I will update here and on twitter as I find out whats happening! I am hoping to have the event really near Grafton St, so it will be easy to find for everyone. The venue will be giving us good deals on lunch specials and of course a sneaky drink or two. It should be starting by 1pm.

Paul from The Costmetic Outlet is kindly giving us 30 goodie bags on the day. If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'll know my crazy hauls obsession with this shop! Make sure go and say hello to him on Twitter and Facebook, the star!

The Irish Cancer Society holds a very special place in my heart, so on the day there will be a raffle in aid of this charity. I am so excited to be able to tell you that loads of Fantastic companies have got on board with me and donated prizes for this. So ladies, heres what your in with a chance of winning!

• Bobos Burgers twitter and facebook: A voucher for a meal for two
• Dorian Black twitter and facebook: €100 gift voucher to spend in store
• Emmas Soy Candles twitter and facebook: A candle gift
• Pixy Naturals twitter and facebook: A gift set
• Monaco Cupcakes twitter and facebook: A gift box of 12 cupcakes
• Oceana Spa Beauty twitter and facebook: A gift voucher
• Nandos twitter and facebook: A voucher for a meal for four
• The Body Shop twitter and facebook: A €75 ultimate pamper voucher 
• Nima Brush twitter and facebook: A make up brush set
• SexSiopa twitter and facebook: Vouchers for discounts off site
• Lisa Heeny twitter and facebook: Gift sets
• Dolledup.ie Twitter and facebook : Surprise gift

List of companies/bloggers attending:

Beth Young   bethyoungmakeup.com

Kathleen O'Rourke   squidgemoments.ie

Robyn Morton   robynrantsandraves.com

Siofra Corry (+1) somepretentiousname.blogspot.ie

Lisa D   scatteredbrainedblogging.blogspot.ie

Kerrie sempresorres.blogspot.ie
Aishling ashlingoneillphotography.blogspot.ie
Elaine   rubylainemakeup.com

Debra Wray  (+1)  overdressedandunprepared.co.uk

Stephaine Barry   polishedandprimed.com

Stephanie Buckley   eatsleepchic.ie

Girl Friday (+1) girlfridaybeautyblog.wordpress.com
Aisling   covetedmess.com

Claire   lovesandlooksramblings.blogspot.ie

Sarah   adoreabubbles.blogspot.com

Miriam and Aoife townmousecountrymouseireland.wordpress.com

Kate   rubyduchess.blogspot.ie

Laura moustache-mouth.blogspot.com
Karen Flynn astitchtowearblog.blogspot.co.uk
Alex and Becky pinkelephantbloggin.com

Katie   katiescorner.blogspot.ie

Aisling   rosysmiles.blogspot.co.uk

Anita Whyte dolledup.ie

Manal Awan sopolishedireland.blogspot.ie
Linda oceana-spa.com
Bernie marykay.co.uk
Katie Wheeler bloggingitbeautiful.blogspot.ie
Kassi makeupartistas.com
Nickki limesandstars.blogspot.ie
Lesley bellinsandblush.wordpress.com
Jennifer and Ciara frommattetometallic
Audrey nail-affair.blogspot.com

I'm going to have to cap the number attending at 40. There are a few places left if you would like to leave a comment below and I can add you to this list.

For some of you ladies this will be the first blogger meet up you attend. Don't be worrying or stressing out! The very first blogger event I attended I got lost and ended up sitting in the loos for a good 15 minutes on the verge of tears before I managed to make it out. (But hopefully no one will freak out as badly as I did!) The dress code is whatever you feel comfy in. You can glam up or come in a tshirt, no one will mind.  I am more then happy to give you my number in case you get lost on the day or need to ask me some questions. Just Tweet or DM me and I'll give it to you.

I'm so excited and can't wait to see everyone on the day!!

Anal Sex? Lets Talk

Last month I wrote a post called The Ins And Outs Of Rimming. I was delighted with all the positive feedback that you guys gave and its spurred me on to write another post. I'm keeping on the topic of asses because, well, who doesn't like a nice ass?! *raises hand high* I'm going to be repeating some of what I talked about in my last post on safety and hygiene as its always good to keep these things in mind. Practice makes perfect and remembering the facts comes under that category too! Now, lets get eh, down and dirty. Shall we?

There is still a huge misconception by a lot of people that anal sex is only a sexual activity for gay men. Let me be the first to pop that myth bubble, anal sex is for and done by both men and women. This might not be for everyone, but I'm the type of person who will try anything once - with the right partner that I feel comfortable and safe with. Communication is great for all situations in life and this topic is no different. Talking about anal sex or sex in general makes for a happy, healthy relationship -be it a long term relationship or a one night stand. ''Hey, wanna try xyz?'' or indeed my favourite, ''have you a sec to talk? I'd like to try out xyz some time, it sounds fun and sexy! Would you like to give it a try?''. It might be a bit formal, but it gets me where I want to be! If you don't ask, you will never know what the answer is.

So you've suggested anal sex and your partner has agreed, what next? Like I said in my last post, hygiene is so important and keeping  STI's away is key. Whoever is joining in the fun under the covers should have a shower before beginning. If you are using a strap on sex toy, make sure its clean too. lovehoney.com is a great online place to browse strap ons. The anus does not have natural lubrication like the vagina does, so you are going to need lots of lube and lots of time. Rimming is a great way to lead up to anal sex, with licking, fingering and generally relaxing the anus so it wont hurt when anything is inserted. Remember that dental dams or cling film is the best way to prevent from STI's and condoms should be used during anal sex also. (Read about it more in my last post here.) If your not too sure about anal, why not try out some small anal toys first, like anal beads or a butt plug. Sexsiopa,ie has a great range and their an Irish company too!

Things might get a little messy, which is perfectly fine. After all, sex is a dirty job sometimes! So plenty of towels and a shower after is always a good idea. No one likes excess lube on their skin/bed/sex toys. If things do go wrong and it gets embarrassing, laugh about it! Nothing ever goes 100% right. Sometimes you fall over, or even bang your head off the headboard. (Or eh, so I've been told. *cough*) Sex is meant to be fun and not something to take serious.

But do remember, this could hurt a little. If it all gets too much, as with any sexual act, saying stop is always ok. You can talk about what happened and maybe try again another time or never again, its up to you. Going slow, communicating what feels good and making sure your both equally enjoying sex is key. 

Enjoy, have fun and try to keep quiet! x

Empties #4 Photo/Review Heavy!

I have really long hair, I dye it all the time and wash it every single day. Man I use a lot of hair related things, I know that. But its not until I looked in my box of empties under my bed that I realised  I go through a feckin' lot of stuff! (And were not going to talk about the wardrobe full of hair stuff either, no sir.) So this is just mainly going to be a quick look at what I've used up in the past few months with links to some of the products and mini reviews of the rest! Sorry for the length of this post, but I think its a nice way to see what I really love and what I'll never buy again, all cut down into one post!

Lets start with the hair considering I have been banging on about it so much. 5 conditioners, 1 shampoo and a thickness booster. Cos' thats just how I roll. I've had loads of other shampoos but I normally throw them out and forget to save them. I think its clear by now how much I love Aussie, have a look at my review of one of my beloved Aussie conditioners here.

The blogger world went mad for L'oreal Elvive's new Fibrology range that came out a month (or two?) ago. Everyone was running to the shops to nab the shiny blue bottles. One of the things that caught my eye was their thickness booster. I read rave reviews and couldn't wait to try it out as I'm always looking for new things to give my hair that va-va-vooom! I was going to write a separate review for this but after using it I was so let down that I didn't bother to. It was hard to use in the shower as the tube was a screw off cap and when your holding a blob of conditioner, your wishing for that third hand to magically grow. The product itself makes your hair more course on the first wash, but after that I couldn't see any difference from using it. This was a big let down and a pricie one at €7.69 a pop. 

I used the LeoBancroft and HeadMasters together as they were on sale in Tesco and I can never say no to sales. I really loved both of them and if I see them on sale again I'll definitely pick them up. They smelt lovely, made my hair super soft and didn't weight it down at all. Big thumbs up here. Plus would you look at the fancy packaging? These are the types of bottles I invite people over to my house to look at. Oh yeah. I also picked up Timotei golden highlights conditioner in Tesco too. Keep an eye out for it if you can get your mitts on one! Have a look at my review of it over here. It leaves your hair silky soft. 

Next is all the necessity bits that you really can't do without. A little travel size Soleil lady shaving gel, I think I picked this up on offer a while ago. Its a really handy size and like this gel but Tesco own brand is way cheaper and you get much more product for your money. Its also easy to use, smells nice and is in a purple bottle. (but mainly cos' of the purpleness.) Two bottles of Batiste that I can't live without, but I have been using way more of the Timotei dry shampoo recently, I think Batiste has major competition there. I also have a billion deodorants as well, no one likes the thoughts of smelling anything but delightful! I love Nievas anti-white marks sprays. I did a review of the battle of  Vaseline .v. Nivea roll ons over here if you fancy a goo.

Way back at Christmas I was excited to try out Lush's new Rudolph face mask but after just one use I knew it really wasn't for me and was a major let down. It had a really odd consistency that was hard to spread across your skin with large chunks falling off. I felt the mixture was poorly thought out and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I hope Lush don't bring it back next Christmas and work on something else instead. On the other end of the scale then two things that I really loved.
The first is my Marks&Spencers New York perfume that I have a review of over here. The smallest size is about €7 and is perfect for throwing in my handbag. I get so many compliments when I'm wearing this and I have since bought two more. Can't get enough of this stuff!

Moving away from the cheap and cheerfuls for a second to talk about No7. I got this lovely little Cleanse and Clear eye make up remover in a set and used it like it was liquid gold. I can't wait to run to my nearest Boots and pick up another one. Its a tad pricy around €11.50 but I think its too good not to get. It doesn't irriate my skin or my eyes, gets all the make up off in seconds and theres no scrubbing the life out of your eye balls to achieve a clean face. Winning!

 Anatomicals have some really great products and some really crappy ones. I've blogged about both kinds and I'm still on the fence with this anti-stress face mask that I got in a beauty box. Did I think it did much? Not really. I might pick it up just to try out again but I wouldn't go out of my way to look for it. Theres better stuff in their range to try. Look at my review of their throb head here. Another little packet is this argan oil hair mask that I picked up in Penneys for about €2. I loved this, made me feel fancy and my hair silky with added bonus of a lovely smelling head! I'll definitely be picking this up again soon, so should you!

I made my way through all of my Body Shop shea butter body scrub that I have a full review of over here and my oh so gorgeous shea shower cream. I will be running full speed to the Body Shop for more of their shower cream, this was such a lovely treat in the shower! It was easy to apply, didn't leave my skin feeling like theres was a layer of goo on it, left me feeling soft and smelling quite divine, if I do say so myself! Make sure and have a sniff next time your passing by one of their shops, its good stuff!

I managed to polish off a Cocoa butter from Marks&Spencers and a non scented moisturiser from Boots own range over the past few weeks. I liked both of these but doubt I will pick them up again. I didn't feel a massive difference in my skin after using them and felt they were both a little heavy and I had to do the Flappy Cold Dance of Doom in the bathroom to help them dry. Lets just say I feared some of my bits would fall off and not make it. Apart from that, they were those 'meh' products that you have a more or less neutral  approach to.

 Last in this pile is my Lush the olive branch body wash. I am really sad that I came to the end of this bottle and don't know if my will power will hold up until my Lush ban is over in September. This smelt really great but from talking to others its a marmite kind of preference for some. Apart from smell, this left my skin really soft and a tad oily so there was no need to moisturise after. If my hair was really uber dry I sometimes washed my hair with it to give it a mini extra condition and tlc! All rounder this bottle.

I can't even say a bad word about the lot above. My Catrice concealer holy grail has been banged on about so much. One of the reviews is over here with much better photos! Same goes for the Benefit dupe of the year, Seventeens phwoarr paint concealer. I have a rave review of it here. Both of these concealers are so cheap and work so well you would be mad to fork out for high end products that might only work half as well!

Next my two favourite foundations, Rimmels perfect match in ivory with a spf of 18 and Seventeens on the spot foundation that has spot reducing ingredients. I have gone through countless bottles and tubes of these two and if I'm having a really awful skin day, I mix the two together for a fuller coverage that works a treat. Both of these are under €10 each and Boots is doing a lot of 3 for 2 offers at the moment, might be the time to stock up!

Lastly my favourite liquid eyeliner that I have used for easily 5 years now, Essence. Its €3.09, it stays put and the applicator is so easy to use. These should be like hens teeth but you can get them in Penneys and a lot of chemists. Wonderful! Lastly is my Urban Decay eyeshadow base. I don't use eyeshadow bases a lot, but when I do I use this and have no words for the lasting results. I can see why its a cult product!

Book Review ''Sexually I'm More Of A Switzerland''

  

A few weeks ago I was In the Square having a grand aul time in SuperDrug. I mean we all know how much I like beauty related things, oh yes! But what did I happen to stumble upon when I  left SuperDrug? A book shop that had discounted books for sale. I'll admit, I got a tad over excited at my second favourite thing in life and spent the next hour picking out a few in the 2 for €5 section. One of the books I picked up was ''Sexually I'm More Of A Switzerland''. After I finished reading this book I realised that this was a squeal and I also had the first in my bookcase They Call Me Naughty Lola! 

Both of these books are full to the brim with lonely hearts ads taken from The London Review Newspaper. They are funny, like laugh out loud funny and I honestly couldn't help but giggle with every page I turned. These men and women have taken the odd ball approach in order to try and attract a friend/lover/person to talk about specialist tiny battles that happened hundreds of years ago/Their cat/Their parents/what position to have sex in and much more. These are the type of books that you really need hanging around on your book shelf, not because they are educational or classics, but because are light hearted and they will make you happy. They are so easy to read and you can pick them up on any page without needing to follow a story line. 

Its also kind of refreshing to read a good old fashioned type of 'looking for love' personals ad in a newspaper instead of the likes of tinder and okcupid that are big in the world of single people today. If I decide to put myself out there and look for love, I think I'll try my hand at the singles page in the paper and see what kind of responses I get. I might even take inspiration from one of these ads and make it sound a little funny, if not totally scary!

What have you been reading lately?

Cocoa Brown New 1 Hour Dark Tan Mousse

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get to go to the launch party for the new products that Cocoa Brown were bringing out. Since the Irish company launched their first product, Cocoa Brown have been going from strength to strength and now can be bought in Penneys all across Ireland and have recently ventured across the waters to sit on the shelves of SuperDrug in the UK. You might also be able to find them in your local chemist as they are ever expanding, fair play to them! 

Over the past two months I have gone from fake tan virgin to full on pro (or so I'd like to kid myself into believing!) and have been trying out lots of the different brands out there. I had a go of Cocoa Browns brand spanking new *1 hour dark tan mousse and I have to say, it was a total let down. More people then I can count have nothing but rave reviews for this product and the brand in general, but I can't say I feel the same. I might be in the minority here and I haven't used all the products in their brand yet, so perhaps I will find something to love yet.

The one hour tan is really handy to put on quick so your not flaffing about. A quick squirt of mousse-like stuff onto your tanning mitt, rub it over your skin and thats it! It suggests for a deeper tan that you leave it on for about 2 hours. After that you wash it off and your ready to go. 

My problem? Once I read the bottle and applied the tan I couldn't really do anything for the time it took to tan my legs. I wrapped a towel around myself only to find that it was taking the tan off my legs. I had to rub a little more tan on the rubbed off parts and just sit with my legs not touching anything. Which makes me think it would be really difficult to sit or do anything if you were trying to do a full body tan with this product. I eventually got comfy and sat with a book for over 2 hours- I got carried away with the book. After that I washed off the mousse and didn't really notice any difference in the colour. Maybe it took a while to come up?

The next morning there was a slight tan but nothing to write home about. The pictures above are a little misleading as it was late afternoon and dull when I took my before photo and early in the morning while it was very bright in my after photo. I didn't think that it worked very well at all and for €7.99 I feel you could get a better tan for your money, effort and all that sitting about time wasting. 

Have a look at my Baby B Browne tan review here.

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here. 

New Seventeen Stay Pout

Dear people at Boots, please stop your 3 for 2 carry on. All I will do is buy things and I know thats your aim here, but seriously. I'm developing a problem. Seventeen has a new lipstick range out, Stay Pout and oh holy god its lovely. I spent easily 20 minutes painting the back of my hand with all the testers at the stand. Theres 15 different shades in the collection and I want them all, no joke.

The two I picked up are just to feckin' die for. A gorgeous dark pinky slight shimmer colour called It's A Kiss Off. And the second is the most perfect red called Date Night. I love both of them and know that I will wear the life out of the both of them. They are easy to apply, have surprisingly really great staying power and don't dry out my lips at all which is mind blowing considering I'm not expecting god-like quality from a drug store brand lip stick. All the same though, I always recommend a quick lip scrub and lip balm before throwing on any lipstick for the day. 

I love the sleek black packaging, it looks for fancy and expensive! But you can get each of these for less then a fiver at €4.79 a pop. What more could you ask for? Seventeen can just do no wrong with me. I know I'll be going back really soon to pick up a peachy shade that caught my eye while the 3 for 2 offer is still going on.  

Now don't ask me how the middle photo is bright but the other two are quite dark. Clearly the clouds were having great craic while I was trying to take photos, so please excuse me! I couldn't help the mock angry grr face in date night, its just such a great colour that screams personality and confidance. As you can see I have a great time with blog photos and can barely take anything serious. Not long after I fell over a pile of shoes too. No photographic evidence though. It was too sexy to go showing the internet.

April Favourites

Normally I'm banging on about how fast the month went but I think this month went on forever. Not that it was a particularly bad month or anything, but don't you just hate it when you feel like something is dragging on? April was lots of fun though, I got to meet some new and old lovely blogger girls at the #llameetup that Hannah organised all by herself, some woman! (check out Instagram for even more photos!) Ugh I just wanna squeeze these people! *pauses to send out love vibes across the internet*. Have a look below at us all and my eh, attractive duck faces? Oh dear.

April also meant lots of moisturising and scrubbing the life out of myself. Below is my trusty and nearly all gone bottle of Spray and Go Vaseline. This is the best thing since sliced bread if you ask me. I did a big old review of it over here if you fancy having a look. Its easy to use and your not doing the flappy dry-yourself-quick-its-freezing dance either. Winning. 

Next up is a new one that I've not talked about before, Bio-Oil. This jazzy little bottle has been floating round my room for years. I got it on offer way back and then put it in the back of my draw never to be seen again. That was until I went looking for something to help fade some scars I have. I will admit, its pretty feckin' amazing when you find a product that works before your eyes in just a few weeks. My scars are fading by the day and I know once this bottle is used up my scars will hopefully be hard to see! This is a pricey bottle at €20 a pop which I was shocked at when I saw it in Boots the other day, but its well worth it.

With moisturising and keeping silky comes another new one for me, Anatomicals Don't just clean it woman, scrub it body wash - what a mouthful! Over the past two or so months I have been trying out a lot of  different tanning products and my god, that stuff is a full on bitch to get off your skin! But I've been using this and I think don't just scrub it is the bees knees. I got mine from Cloud10Beauty for €4.50. Its lasted me ages and has all the good exfoliating scrubby bits that a good body scrub should have. 

Last in the beauty department, I give you my very pretty shiny love that is Barry M gelly hi-shine nail varnish in key lime. Its not only a beautiful summery colour but the general collection is something of utter magical things. Its clear Barry m employs fairies to do all the work and taa dahh! Look what they come up with! You can read my full review of it here. I think the gorgeous colour is making me bias here...

In other non beauty related stuff this month I have been planting lots of lovely veg that will hopefully grow (grow, sweet baby jayjay PLEASE just one sprout!!) I'm very excited by all this. I haven't got green fingers at all, I either over water or forget about them altogether. But mostly over enthusiastically over water (I'd over water and kill a fish, thats how bad I am).  But none the less its been a few years since I've taken to planting little things and hoping for the best, so its very exciting. That and the fact that my best friend has also gone seed growing mad, so all her giddyness for her sprouting little green yokes is contagious. 

Lastly, I am in love with all the comics that have been coming out lately. I'm a massive Buffy fan and season 11 is deadly so far. I got way over excited by the fact that I got a variant copy of issue two and I also picked up the Hulk. I know issue two is out and I will pick it up asap! As you can see from the very first photo of this post, I got a Spock Funko Pop after swearing them off as creepy, ugly figures that are too scary to have in your room. But this is my only one, promise. (I hope). And I picked up one of the 'good guys' from plants .v. zombies. I think hes cute and a little funny. He looks like a few people I could mention when they first get out of bed or are in a grumpy mood!

Thats all from me for this months favourites, not my normal post just about beauty and products but last month I got super excited for loads of things! Has anything here caught your eye? Do you collect comics?

New Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

People have being going totally mental for micellar cleaning waters the past few months and the latest one has been Garniers. I wasn't too quick to jump on the band wagon considering I was quite happy with my L'oreal skin perfection 3 in 1 purifying micellar solution that I did a review on a while back. Everyone has been comparing the two and to be honest I really can't see that much of a difference in the two apart from a few small things. But before we get on to nit picking, what the hell is micellar water and what can it do?

This product takes off all your make up while cleansing, toning and hydrating it all in one go. It smooths, unclogs pores and removes all those nasty impurities just by dabbing a bit of this water-like stuff onto a few cotton pads and wiping it over your face. Honest to god thats a bit of gold in a bottle if I ever did see it! As with the L'oreal one, Garnier takes off lip stick very well but can take a good scrub before all the eyeliner and mascara will come off. But if your traveling or lazy like me, you wont want to go through 5 bottles trying to get all the goo off your face, so this is perfect! And it does leave your skin squeaky clean and fresh.

So whats the difference between the two? Some say that one solution or the other is better, but personally I think they are about the same and do exactly the same thing while both being sensitive to the skin - some scientific evaluation there huh! But one thing I haven't heard complaints about with Garnier is that their lid is a lot better then the L'oreal one. Less product comes out so its easier to control and your not wasting any. Bonus 1 point to Garnier. Bonus point 2 to Garnier would be the obvious fact that the bottle is bigger at 400ml in comparision to L'oreal's 200ml. Also Garnier is cheaper on sale at €3.29 (normally €6.29) then L'oreal on sale at €5.02 (normally €6.69). An extra 200ml and cheaper even when not on sale? Yeah thanks I'll go with Granier any day of the week.

Only problem now? The world and his wife are mad for Garnier and they can't keep it on the shelves in Boots. Its also currently out of stock on Boots.ie. The general population of micellar water consumers have spoken it would seem!

Have you tried either of these micellar waters? What do you think is the better one?

Aprils Powder Pocket

 Its starting to feel like Spring and this months Powder Pocket is on the ball with their theme, 'the weekender'. I'll be honest, I have been thinking weather or not to continue on with this subscription box. Not because I find the quality poor or the customer service lacking, I just wonder if theres bigger and better things out there for me to spend my money. But after seeing the contents of this months box I am very glad I decided to keep it. Theres so many great things and three full sized products too! 

Its becoming a regular thing for me to comment on how gorgeous the packaging is and this month is no different. I always think no matter how crappy the contents of something, if its presentation is top notch then its half sold in my opinion. The greeny blue tissue paper makes me think Spring has sprung and is just lovely. Yup, Powder Pocket peoples, your doing it right!

The first thing that caught my eye was that there were 3 full sized products in this months box, very impressed girl here thanks very much! I love brushes so much and have heard nothing but rave reviews about Blank Canvas so I was delighted to get their E26 blending brush! Oh man its so soft and pretty. I'm going to have loads of fun doing my make up with this brush and it might even give me a little nudge to invest in more of them. It never hurts to have lots of brushes, no sir! This one costs €6.99.

The next full size product is a Bia Beauty stop the clock eye gel. Every month Powder Pocket seems to have one Irish brand in it and I really love it. We've seen Pixy, water wipes and more. I love that they support and work with such amazing Irish brands while also giving everyone who subscribes to their box the chance to try out something that could be new to them but is local and well, Irish! (pause for moment of feeling proud to be Irish!) Anyway Bia Beauty is from Cork and I have tried some of their products before, they are nothing but lovely. I can't wait to try out this eye gel and see if its as great as the rest! A 15ml bottle costs €16.95.

The last full sized product is Etre Belle Cosmetics longlasting eyeshadow pen.  I've never heard of this brand before so I was excited to get it. That and who doesn't love a new piece of make up to play around with!? I got mine in a lovely dark grey colour with a hint of shimmer through it. Dark smoky eyes are something I've really been getting into wearing the past few weeks so this is just perfect for me! This costs €9.95.

The 2 sample products that were in the box were the eva professional mystic diamond elixir for your hair to help give it shine and regenerate it. I'm all for putting oil in my hair recently, hoping that it might make it soft and solve the never ending story of split ends. This costs a mad €25.99 for a full size 100ml bottle. I will use this up and its a lovely treat to be able to try out, but I highly doubt I'll be forking out for the full size!

The last sample was a La Roche Posay anthelios ultra light fluid SPF50.  I'm a big fan of la roche posay so I was happy to find this in my box, but I'm awful for not using any spf products so maybe this might give me the kick up the arse I need to start using some! A full 50ml size costs €19.95. 

I haven't got a bad word this month to say about the box. I am in love with the make up brush and also really can't bang on enough about all the Irish brands that keep coming up month after month in Powder Pocket. Theres nothing I like better then finding new Irish brands to try out or seeing old favourites coming up.

W7 Make Up Review - Picture Heavy

Theres a bit of a difference in what I look like before and after I shhhllapp on a bit of make up, right?! As always, I'm putting my bare mug up for all to see in the name of W7 make up. *I was kindly given all of W7 products to try out - minus the In The Buff palette.  I was very excited to try everything out as this is a brand thats new to me and is quite hard to come by here in Ireland, so I was in for a real treat! Below I have a step by step of my before and after photos with the products that I have used. All are unedited and totally untouched, just the lower set have the flash on the camera to make sure you can see all the make up as clearly as I can show it! I am in no way a make up artist and just like to feck around with goo on my face. 

w7 makeup I used:
In The Buff palette - €10
Camouflage kit concealer - €4.99
Powder blush in baby pink - €4.99
Catwalk complexion powder foundation in beige - €4.99
Liquid eyeliner in black - €2.99
The bronzer - €4.99

Other makeup used that is my own:
Stay pout lipstick by Seventeen in Its a kiss off
Match perfect foundation by Rimmel in ivory

I used all my Madison Brushes to complete this look. 

I got uber excited about all this new makeup and did a step by step of me putting it all on. Would you look at me go! I didn't end up using the Catwalk foundation for this because it was far too dark for my complexion. However I did try it out on my face just for the lols and noticed how easy it was to apply, how light it felt on my skin and how long lasting it was (yes, I kept it on for ages, I'm sexy like that). I'm going to go and buy one that is more suited to my skin tone as I really like this foundation and think it could be a keeper. Even if I only reach for it occasionally, it's only €4.99 and wont be breaking the bank!

The Concealer has an impressive 5 shades so it caters for a good few skin tones. I used mainly 2 colours, one more warm pinky shade under my eyes and a lighter one on my many blemishes. I liked this concealer kit but I felt it didn't have an amazing coverage and if I was having a really bad skin day it would be useless to use. I don't think this is something I would pick up for myself as I prefer heavy duty concealer palettes like Catrice or Wet'n'Wilds ones.

The Bronzer makes up for any loss I felt with the concealer though. I think I have finally mastered how to use this right without looking like I fell face fist into the palette! I was at my wits end when I tanned my entire body (thats a whole other post) and my face was left looking less then alive. I used this bronzer and was so impressed. I reached for it daily to help give me a bit of life back to my face and really like using it now that I'm back to pasty pale to give a tiny sun kissed look.

Next was the Blusher and I'm still unsure about it. It does give a lovely pinky colour as you can see above, but I'm not sure if it suited my skin tone all that well. Theres not a lot of fall out with this which is a bonus.

But the two things that really stole the show were the Eyeliner and the In The Buff Eyeshadow Palette. I was a bit ifie with the eyeliner, expecting it to be less then amazing but I was wrong. The little wand is stiff and gives amazing and precise application, I didn't need to clean up parts or try again with this. The black liquid itself is thick, glides on well and theres no need to go over it a second time. I am so impressed  with this total gem and at €2.99 I will recommend this to everyone with eyelids. 

As for the eyeshadow, well I have raved about this in a monthly favourites and in many more posts. I just can't get enough of the gorgeous shades, how pigmented they are and of course the fact that its meant to be a dupe for the Naked 2 but more then half the price helps too. This wasn't given to me to try, I just wanted to include it as its something everyone should own considering how cheap it is, the fab pay off and the variety of colours and looks you can create with it.

I also really like all the w7 packaging. It looks quite cheap but then again it is! What I like most is that most of the products have little mirrors  (the foundation, concealer and blush) or small brushes to use which I wasn't expecting such a cheap product to have. I also like how hard wearing the packaging itself is. All of these have been getting carted around in my handbag at different times and nothing has broken or shattered. The same can't be said for a lot of my makeup that I regularly use. Big thumbs up from me.

Bit of a mixed review on this overall, but I had a great time trying out everything and making the makeup photos above. If you buy nothing else get the eyeshadow, or if thats breaking the bank a little the €2.99 eyeliner would be perfect for you! Once I get my hands on a lighter foundation I will make sure and post up some photos to Instagram!

You can get all these w7 products and more from Paul in the Cosmetic Outlet. See their Facebook page for more details. They post nation wide too, yay!

*I did not pay for these items, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here.