Thursday 3 December 2015

Etude House My Beauty Tool Secret Brush 121 Review



A few months ago, I did a blog post on a Korean beauty haul and one of the things I picked up was this brush by Etude House. It's a foundation brush, and I really wanted to try it out because of its unique shape and I had heard so many good things about it.

Thursday 26 November 2015

The Body Shop Christmas 2015




A few weeks ago, I was invited to The Body Shop’s Christmas launch. The new range this year is the frosted plum range. The range includes a body butter, lip balm, bath fizzers, a scrub, candle, shower gel, hand cream and much more. There is also a cranberry range and an apple range if the plum one isn't up your alley!

Monday 19 October 2015

The Body Shop Spa of the World & Oils of Life Review


Back in August, I attending the launch of two new ranges from The Body Shop: the Spa of the World collection and the Oils of Life collection. I've been testing out the products really well since then and today I'm sharing my thoughts on them!

Monday 7 September 2015

WhatSalon App Review!



Hey guys! So I was contacted by Kieran of WhatSalon a few weeks ago who asked if I would be interested in trying out the new app, and today I'm sharing my thoughts on it!


WhatSalon is an app that lets you easily book appointments with salons near you. You get to see photos of what the salon looks like and read reviews too. The app also allows you to choose the stylist you want when booking, if you have a preference. 



Kieran offered me a complimentary blow dry at the salon of my choice for trying out the app. All I had to do was choose a salon! After looking through the photos and reading the reviews of the various salons available, I went with Aviary Lane. I tapped the 'check availability' button on the bottom of the salons page, and put in the date, time, service and stylist. After confirming, you just need to pay a small deposit and the remaining balance can be paid at the salon.


Kieran was also kind enough to give me a code for you guys! Tap onto wallet, then redeem code and put in MANAL5 to get €5 credit! 



You can download the app on both iPhones and Androids.

Also, just wanted to mention quickly that I was so happy with the results of the blow dry, Hilary did a great job and I loved my straight hair!

Thursday 27 August 2015

Wet n Wild Venice Beach Collection Review!


A few weeks ago I was sent some products from Wet n Wild's new collection, Venice Beach, to try out and today I'm going to share my thoughts on them. The collection includes three beautiful, bright eyeshadow palettes and three coloured mascaras.


The was sent the High Flying Colours and Hemporary Solutions palettes to try out. Both palettes have some amazing shadows - soft, buttery and really pigmented, especially for a drugstore brand! You do need to build the colours up to get full opacity, but that's to be expected.


Hemporary Solutions is my favourite of the two palettes, I really love the colours in this palette a bit more, especially the red shade on the bottom (last shade on the right in the second picture). The matte shades perform a bit better than the two shimmery ones, they're stronger in pigmentation and thus don't need to be built up as much. I really like the white shade too, I don't own any white shadows so its very unique in my collection!


Again, the matte shades in this palette perform a bit better than the shimmery ones. The matte light pink however is the exception, it's the least pigmented out of all the shades in both palettes and it doesn't really show up against my skin tone. I also had a bit of difficulty with the silver shade and the light blue shade underneath that, they require a bit more building up to get them to show up. I'm not a huge fan of blue eyeshadows (they just don't look good on me at all!) so the left side of the palette isn't one I personally would gravitate towards. The purple on the very bottom of the right side is the standout shade in this palette, it is incredibly pigmented!

I think these palettes are really great if, like me, you're someone who really loves playing around with bright coloured shadows. The quality is amazing, especially considering the price, and the colours are really gorgeous! If you've considered getting the Urban Decay Electric Palette but find its just a bit too pricy, these are a great dupe! If you were going to choose only one of the two, I'd definitely go for Hemporary Solutions!


I don't have much experience with coloured mascaras, so I had a lot of fun trying these out. The green one was the most intense of the three, it really left my eyelashes bright green! The blue was more subtle but you could still notice the colour up close or in the light. I found that if you put blue over the green one then you really got the intense electric blue colour. The purple one didn't really show up too much, not even on top of the green, and it was the only dud in the bunch. The formula was a little too runny for my liking too.


The Color Up! Mascaras are only €3.99 and the palettes are €6.49 each. You can find Wet n Wild in Penneys and Dunnes Stores!


Tuesday 4 August 2015

July Favourites 2015


Another month has flown by, so it's time for another monthly favourites post! I've more stuff to show you than last month, there's quite a few things I've been loving the past month.

Left to Right: Wet n Wild Megalast Lipstick in 'Sand Storm', Urban Decay 'Backfire' Eyeshadow, and Mac Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner in 'Designer Purple'.

Kicking things off with the beauty favourites, I've been absolutely obsessed with these products the last month.

Sand Storm is just such a perfect nude lipstick for me, and it's great for everyday wear but also paired with an intense eye look. For swatches, check out my full review on the Wet n Wild Megalast Lipsticks.

Mac Designer Purple (Left) and Urban Decay Backfire (Right)
My Eid clothes this year were pink, purple and yellow and I really wanted to do a purple eye look to go with them. One of my favourite YouTubers, Zabrena from macshadowcombos, uploaded a gorgeous purple smokey eye tutorial a while back and she used both UD's Backfire and Mac's Designer Purple, which is why I got these two. They're absolutely stunning, and I've really loved playing around with them even after Eid. The last few times I've used them, I kind of mixed Zabrena's tutorial with Leesha from xsparkage's Inside Out Fear tutorial, just to intensify the look a bit more.


I was at the Irish Blogger Association meet up earlier in the month where the lovely ladies from Revolve had a table full of the new Body Shop 'Italian Summer Fig' perfumes for us to drool over and they generously let us take one home too! I just couldn't stop smelling my wrists the entire evening and so was delighted to take one of these home with me. I haven't worn any other fragrance since getting this, that's how obsessed I've become!

The fragrance is just one part of The Body Shop's Voyage Collection. There are five other scents in the range, and there are a few different products in each scent (body butters, lotions, shower gels etc.). I'm not sure if these are out yet, or when they will be if they aren't, but I've already got my eyes on the Italian Summer Fig body butter and I really want to check out the other scents!



Next up is my Manal necklace that my friend Fariha got me from Spain. She was telling me how she kinda wanted to get these because it was impossible to find things with our names on them as kids (#foreignnameproblems)! I absolutely love my necklace, but the fact that she even thought of me while she was away was so sweet! Love you Fariha!


Since I enjoyed the Lego Jurassic World game so much, I decided to get the Lego Batman 3 one too. I loved this game so much, it's a lot of fun! You get to play as various different characters from the DC universe, and there's a good few levels to go through too, giving hours of gameplay! I can't wait until the Marvel one comes out at the end of the year!


I've always loved Pretty Little Liars, but never more so than now. We're so close to wrapping up the mystery once and for all, thankfully (they've dragged it on a bit too long now). I've really been enjoying this season, it's a lot more intense and a whole lot darker than previous seasons. And I think the fact that they're closing this chapter and jumping forward five years for the second half of the season has made me love it even more. There are only two episodes left, and I am so excited to finally know who has been tormenting the girls once and for all!


I've two film favourites this month. First is Disney Pixar's newest offering, Inside Out. This movie is incredible, it is so clever! It really gets you thinking about yourself: your emotions, your memories, your different aspects of personality, and how important they are in relation to each other. One of the girls at work had seen an advance screening of this and was telling us how it really educates kids on mental health, and I agree completely. Kids will enjoy it, but I think adults will even more. It's a great one to watch, and if you haven't seen it already GO WATCH IT!


Last of all, we have Ant-Man. Honestly, I knew I'd like it but I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It's fun, funny and full of action - everything I love in a superhero film. If you love Marvel films, go give this one a go!

Tuesday 21 July 2015

Korean Beauty Haul


It's been a long time since I got myself some Korean Beauty Products. I was kind of obsessed last year, I used to get myself little things every now and again, but then I just stopped all of a sudden. I've been keeping an eye out on new product launches and reviews on YouTube for the last while and finally decided to pick up a few things.



The first thing I picked up was the Etude House My Beauty Tool Secret Brush 121. It's a foundation brush and one that I've been seeing a lot of around YouTube. I haven't tried it yet because I wanted to wait until I'd gotten all my stuff in the post so I could photograph them together and that's been so hard because this was the first thing to arrive (#bloggerproblems)! I can't wait to try this out and see how it compares to my Real Techniques sponge. I bought this brush on eBay for around €12 (you can find it here)

Also from eBay, I picked up the Too Cool for School Egg Mousse Pack. It's a mousse mask made using egg whites and is supposedly going to make your face "as smooth as the egg surface". Again, I haven't really used this yet, but I have smelt it and it smells amazing!


From beautynetkorea.com I picked up the Innisfree Green Tea Mineral Mist, the Etude House Beauty Shot Face Blur, the Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint in PK002, and the Etude House Color Lips Fit in PP501. I've tried the Cherry Lip tint before as a sample, and really loved the colour (it's the bright pink one) so I decided to finally get the fully size. The other tint I just kind of stumbled on while browsing the site and decided to get because I really loved the purple colour! I've heard that the Innisfree mist is really hydrating, and my skin has been kind of dry lately so I'm excited to give that a go. The Etude House Face Blur I've seen a lot of rave reviews about, and it was the main thing I wanted to get (this, and the face brush). 


I also got a load of free samples from beautynetkorea, all from TonyMoly. I'm really impressed with this site, they offer free shipping and the prices are really great too, with everything coming together for around $30. I got my package about a week after it shipped, but I find that's the case with almost everything I order from Korea.


The last thing I picked up was the PeriPera Peri's Tint Water in the shade Cherry Juice. I'm not going to lie, one of the reasons I bought this particular tint was the packaging, which is designed by Mari Kim. I really loved her art, and have been following her on Instagram for over a year now.

I got this tint from twofacemall, only because I had some credit on my account. To be honest, I was really unhappy with the service I got. They emailed me a few days after I placed my order to say that shipping to Ireland had become difficult and that they recommend I get a tracking number or else they would not be liable if my order went missing. Which is fair enough. The problem was that they never gave me the tracking number until today, even though the item arrived last week and had been shipped the week before. Not only that, but they haven't been great about responding to my emails either. I don't see myself using this site again any time soon.

That's it for my haul (and mini rant!). Let me know in the comments if there's anything that you really want to see a review on! I'll try my best to have a post on each, but if there's something you want a review on more than the others, give me a shout and I'll make it happen!

Monday 13 July 2015

Wet n Wild Megalast Lipsticks - New Shades + Giveaway!


Wet n Wild has fast become one of my favourite brands since it launched in Ireland last year. Their products are great quality, and so affordable. My favourite product of theirs has always been the Megalast Lipsticks (anyone remember how I hunted down Sugar Plum Fairy?), so when they launched new shades, I knew I'd be heading into Pennys to pick up a few.

A few weeks later, I was sent some to review, but as it turns out there were only two shades in five I was sent that I did not already buy myself, so I will be holding a little giveaway and you can win five of these fabulous lipsticks!

Wet n Wild promises that these will last up to 4 hours, and the Megalast Lipsticks really do live up to this claim. I also don't find them drying at all, which is always a risk with matte lipsticks.

From Left to Right: Dollhouse Pink, Pinkerbell, Cherry Picking, Purty Persimmon

Dollhouse Pink: This was one of the two shades I didn't already own. In terms of the shade, I personally am not a huge fan of this one. I feel it really washes me out. This would look great on those with fair skin though! The formula is great, it applies nice and smooth, but it does show dryness if you have any dry patches on your lips.

Pinkerbell: The other shade I didn't already have. I'd heard ages ago that this was a dupe for Mac's Nicki Minaj lipstick, which is the main reason I stayed away. I have that one too, and can confirm it's a dead on dupe, the only difference is the finish (this is matte, Mac's is satin). Neither the Mac version nor this really suit my skin tone, which is really sad because it's such a beautiful colour! I do think it would suit other skin tones well though. This one doesn't have the nicest application, it's quite uneven and I find that when you try apply it in one area, it moves it from another, leaving empty patches.

Cherry Picking - This one is a really beautiful pinkish-red. Now, this is one of my favourites - the colour is stunning, suits my skin tone, the application is amazing, and it's completely opaque in one swipe. I absolutely love it!

Purty Persimmon - This is another favourite of mine! It applies beautifully, is super opaque in one swipe and best of all, it suits my skin tone! It reminds me a little bit of Mac's Morange, but a more redish version. Which is perfect for me because Morange was just too orange for me, making me look ill. Purty Persimmon gets the balance of red and orange perfect for me.


From Left to Right: Sand Storm, Mochalicious, Ravin' Raisin, Vamp It Up

Sand Storm - This one's a lovely brownish nude shade. Again, it applies really well, and I think this would be a great shade for Autumn. I've actually been wearing this one a lot recently.

Mochalicious - This one to me is a true 90's brown. I'm on the fence about the colour, some days I love it and then some days I think it's just too brown for me. Also, this one has a funny smell, kind of like oatmeal or porridge. I don't know it this is only true to my one, which I got in America a few months ago, or if the ones you get here also have that scent. Anyone get this lipstick here and notice this? Or is it just me?

Raivin' Raisin - A gorgeous dark purple, it reminds me of Sugar Plum Fairy in the tube but it's actually very different when applied. RR is straight up purple, while SPF has some pink tones in it. They're both stunning shades either way!

Vamp It Up - This is definitely not for the faint hearted! It's a very very dark purple, borderline black. It's a little bit uneven, but not nearly as much as Pinkerbell. Application can get a bit messy, so you do have to be very careful when putting this on. Vamp It Up is said to be a dupe for Mac's Cyber, so if you were thinking of getting that, you might want to try this one instead!

The Wet n Wild Megalast Lipsticks are available in Penneys and Dunnes Stores, for €2.99 each.

Now, onto the giveaway! The five shades you can win are Purty Persimmon, Sand Storm, Mocalicious, Ravin' Raisin and Vamp It Up. The giveaway is open until July 27th 2015 to those in Ireland and the UK only.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday 6 July 2015

June Favourites 2015


I feel like I say this almost every month, but it's already July? The summer is really flying by! I feel like we just finished exams, but the summer is almost half over already.

So today I've got my June Favourites to share with you. I don't have a lot of beauty favourites this month but I've a few more random favourites to mix things up a bit.



Let's start off with the beauty favs. Bioderma launched in Ireland back in May and they've started making their products available in more pharmacies in the last month. I got my hands on a little bottle in Hickey's in town, to see if it was worth the hype. I really love this micellar water, I think it's a tad bit better than the Garnier one, but I plan on doing a comparison of both soon just to see them in action side-by-side.

Mac Mocha blush is all that I've been wearing on my cheeks the past month. I've had this for a while now, and  used to use this a lot before I started expanding my blush collection in the last year or so and it got pushed to the bottom of the pile. The Max Factor creme puff blush in Alluring Rose was what I'd been obsessed with for the last few months, but all of a sudden I wanted to go back to a nice natural pink shade so I started reaching for this again.

It's been pretty hot this month so I've been making sure to use some sunscreen to protect my skin. The one I've been using is the Shingmulnara Ultra Light Sun Gel (SPF 30) that I got in a beauty box last year. It's really lightweight, has a nice scent and is really easy to work with.



Jurassic World was by far my favourite movie this month. I've always been a huge fan of the original film (and I even liked the second one too), and I read (and loved) the books last year too. When my friend told me they were making another one, I was ecstatic, but also worried it could end up a disaster like the third film (let's all forget that one exists, ok?).
Thankfully, I really enjoyed JW. I loved that the we could see the park fully operational, and the handful of references to the original film had me teary-eyed at times. I may have to go see this again soon...



Staying on the topic of Jurassic World, my sister got me the Nintendo 3DS Lego game for my birthday. I love the Lego games for Playstation, my cousins have a few and we always play those whenever we visit them. I'd never played one on a handhold console before, and thankfully I wasn't disappointed! You get to play through all four films, and there's nine levels for each. You even get to play as dinosaurs! It's just a really fun game overall, I loved it so much that I've already decided I'm getting the Avengers Age of Ultron one that's being released at the end of the year!


If you follow me on Instagram, you would have already seen these. My fashion favourites this month were my yellow satchel from River Island, which was on sale for €25, and my Disney Vans. I got the Ariel pair because, well, they're just amazing. What makes them even better is that they are so incredibly comfortable, the soles are so soft!



I never got around to finishing Season 4 of Game of Thrones last year, mostly because I'd already read the books up to there so I knew what was going to happen. When the last two episodes of Season 5 were going to air was when I started watching again. I still haven't finished the last book, and I'd heard they were moving away from the books too, so I decided to tune in again, because it was all going to be a surprise this season. And it was! Maybe not the first few episodes, but most of it was quite shocking and new to me, which made the show interesting again.

One thing I didn't enjoy though was how much more brutally violent the show is becoming. There were some deaths that were particularly horrific (both this season, and the death in S4 'The Mountain and the Viper'), and I didn't have the stomach to watch. I hope they tone things down a little in the next season.

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Empties #2



Hello everyone, today I've another empties post for you! I've been trying not to throw out the stuff I've used up the last few months for this post. I did forget and throw out a few things, but they were mostly shampoo and conditioners, and I've been using the same ones for a while so its no biggie.



John Freida Frizz Ease Unwind Curls Calming Creme
If you read my first empties post, and I think one of my favourites post from last year, you'd know how much I love this range! The shampoo and conditioner are amazing, and so is this curling cream. It's the only product I've ever tried that's really ever made a difference to my frizz!
Will I repurchase? Already did, but I'm almost out again, so it'll be time to pick up another one soon!


Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water
I was late to the Micellar Water bandwagon, but better late than never right? I really loved this stuff, it does a great job of taking off makeup. I've had this bottle for absolutely ages, a little really goes a long way with this stuff!
Will I repurchase? I put off buying this for a while because as much as I loved it, I started using an oil cleanser by L'Oreal which I liked a lot better. Recently though, I picked up a little bottle of Bioderma Micellar Water and am going to pick up a small bottle of this too, so I can do a comparison! 


IOPE Essential Moisture Relief Cream
I got this in a Memebox back in September or October, but didn't really use it much until December, before stopping again because the smell started to make me feel slightly nauseous. It is a really hydrating cream, but the smell was just getting to me. It's not that it has a bad scent though, I actually think it smells quite refreshing, it can just be a bit overwhelming. I started using it again in March and thankfully didn't have the same problem with the smell.
Will I repurchase? No. I prefer my Etude House Collagen Cream to this and will continue to use that.


L'Oreal Skin Perfection Advanced Serum
This featured in my last empties too, and I still love it! It's specifically targeted towards those in their 20's, like myself,  it's really hydrating and leaves my skin feeling great.
Will I repurchase? I have another one that I'm using right now, but I'm almost out. Need to go pick up another next time it's on offer!



Carmex Lip Balm and Soap&Glory Hand Food
I can't live without a tube of Carmex or Hand Food with me at all times. My lips and hands tend to get quite dry, and both these products help keep them soft and hydrated!
Will I repurchase? I bought 3 tubes of Carmex a while back because they were on a 3for2 offer and I tend to go through them so fast that it's a nuisance having to go out and get a new one every time I finish. So basically, I'm all set for a while on the Carmex front. I have a backup tube of Hand Food too, and will probably get the full sized one next time.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

What's In My Makeup Bag Tag!

So, following on from last weeks What's In My Bag Tag, I have my What's In My Makeup Bag Tag post today. To be honest, I don't really have an everyday makeup bag, I store my brushes, mascaras and lip/eye pencils in mugs, and I have a little plastic lipstick holder for my most used lipsticks. Everything else is in IKEA boxes in a shelf in the bookcase. I find it's quite easy to grab whatever I need so I don't really see the point in putting stuff in a particular bag, even if I use it regularly. I don't really like carrying them around in my handbag either, usually I just toss in my lipstick/lip liner and I'm good to go.

When I travel though, I do bring a makeup bag with me, and that's what I'm showing you today. The contents of this bag are usually always the same, with one or two products being changed now and again. I was staying in Cavan last weekend at a friend's, and this was what I had in my makeup bag.

The bag I like to use is this one that came with the Urban Decay Vice 3, mostly because I really like the size of it: not too big and not too small!


These are the face products I brought with me: sunscreen, my favourite serum (L'Oreal Skin Perfection), my Max Factor foundation, the Nyx Dewy Finish Setting Spray and my Real Techniques Sponge (I promise it's clean, I can just never get the stains out!).


I would usually just bring the one blush with me, but I had a party to go to on the Sunday and wanted a few options because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do my face like. I brought along my favourite Max Factor blush (shade is Alluring Rose), my MAC blush (Mocha) and my Milani blush (Luminoso). The brush I use is the Pink Avenue Contour Brush.


For my eyes, I brought my Naked 2 and Chocolate Bar palettes with me (again, had no idea how I wanted to do my face), but those I just kept in my overnight bag as they obviously wouldn't fit in the makeup bag. I also brought my Zoeva Brushes with me, but they were in a separate bag. What I had in the makeup bag was my Maybelline Master Drama Kohl Liner for my waterline, my Collection pen liner, my Benefit Roller Lash and Maybelline Miss Manga mascaras (Benefit for length, Maybelline for volume) and my Innisfree eye primer.


The last few things in my makeup bag were my lip products. MAC's Soar is my all time favourite lip pencil, so I brought that. I also really love the Spice liner and Brave lipstick, and just got Velvet Teddy so I brought that too.

Left to Right: Brave, Soar, Spice, Velvet Teddy
That's all that was in my makeup bag, hope you enjoyed having a peek! If you want to have a look through some of the other post's in this linky, you can find them in Danielle's post by clicking the image below!