28 January 2011

My Asos Order

11:08 AM Asos , Barry M 105 Comments
Hello again.
So a while ago I received an order from Asos. I bought a few beauty bits from the January Sale and I have to say I was very happy with everything. It came in a box (which I always am happy about for some reason – when they send something thrown into an aul envelope it feels so...lazy!!) Pic below:
First up and the thing I was most excited about is the Too Faced Pixie Pin Ups Palette. It comes in a cute little pop up box and a little drawer with the contents pulls out underneath.


Included are 6 eyeshadows, a mini Shadow Insurance, a mini Lash Injection Pin Point Mascara and a mini Lava Gloss Black Eyeliner. I’ve tried some of the shadows and.... I like them. They’re quite neutral subtle colours and perfect for everyday wear. They also have good staying power. I haven’t tried the Shadow Insurance (primer) yet as I don’t want to open it until my other primer is finished. Below are some pics of the shadows:
(Above I used: Heaven (cream), I Know What Boys Want (pink) and Like A Virgin (brown))

Next is the Mascara. Now the first thing I noticed when I opened this was..... not good. The smell. Euuuugh! It has a really strong, industrial, chemical smell. NOT good. The formulation and wand are ok. If you like subtle mascara then this is nice but personally I wasn’t amazed by it. It did find however, that the brush was good to grab all the small little lashes – but that might be because the wand itself is so small. Overall, it stinks, but it’s grand.
And then the eyeliner. It’s really black. One of the blackest liners I’ve ever seen so thumbs up for that!
Next I bought my first Eyeko 3 in 1 Cream – Moisturiser, highlighter and eye cream. This is nice to use under foundation for an extra glow. I’m not sure about using it as an actual highlighter though. I’ve this weird thing thinking that putting it on after my foundation that it would just mush it!

I also got the Big Eyes Mascara. I am in LOVE. This mascara is fabulous! It makes my lashes so much blacker and looonger. Beautiful. Best looking mascara I’ve used. It’s in a squidgy tube – really unique. Also the wand is quite unusual. The bristles are swirled around and it looks like it's gonna be completly crap - believe me, it's not! The only downside – getting it off. It literally stays put all day long so this is the trouble in the evening trying to get it off. Wipes do not work. I have just been using warm water and rubbing my lashes between my fingers (do not pull if you wana lose your eyelashes!!) This is my FAV mascara. So happy I discovered it.


Along with that came a Graffiti Liquid Liner pen in purple. It has a felt tip. It sometimes tends to bleed (as you can see in the pic below – swatch to the left) but other than that it’s good. Good staying power too.

And the last thing I got were some Barry M products. A Pink lipgloss – in Bubble Gum Pink and the Intense Black Eyeliner Pen. The Lipgloss is lovely. Surprisingly wearable so don’t be shocked by the luminosity of it. It smells beautifully like Bubblegum! The eyeliner is lovely too. It’s a kohl one and is quite pigmented. It’s a twisty one which is handy seeing as though I’m always losing my pearers/sharpener/pointer or whatever you like to call them!!

I also got a Bourjois Blusher. This one is a Bourjois Asos Exclusive, Limited-Edition Vintage-Blusher in the colour Pink-Shimmer. (bit of a mouthful) I love Bourjois blushers. They give a sweep of colour and I find in a lot of them they also have some highlight shimmer too. It has a handy little mirror and comes with a cute little brush....which I immediately give to Cathal to paint with!!


So that's it. Have you ordered from Asos before? Whacha get!!? How did you find their service?

Slán!
     Laura  xo




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24 January 2011

The Travalo

9:35 PM Beauty Bitz , Perfume 49 Comments
I NEED to talk about this next product! It is thee handiest thing for perfume lovers. It’s called the Travalo.
It’s basically a little refillable perfume atomiser – meaning that you can insert any perfume into this little container and throw it into your bag instead of hauling around a heavy and breakable perfume bottle – also ideal for when you’re travelling by plane to avoid all that liquid limit pain in the ass! It’s roughly the size of a lipstick and when filled it contains on average about 50 sprays. It’s really easy to do and is spill/mess free! Below is how I filled mine.

I chose my Juicy Couture - Couture Couture perfume. I just popped off the spray nozzle.
On the bottom of the Travalo is a small little plastic hole.
Place the tube of the perfume bottle into this little hole and pump up and down until it’s as full as you desire. There’s a handy little fill indicator on the clear part for you to see.
Simples!

It comes in a variety of colours including silver, gold, pink, black and red. I got mine in a Unicare Pharmacy. I haven't seen them available in Ireland anywhere else apart from there or alternatively you could order one from EBay. The Travalo website doesn’t seem to ship to Ireland. They can to the UK via another crowd who only ship within the UK....bummer. So if you’re lucky to spy one of these I highly recommend picked up a few for your fav perfumes!


Slán!
Laura xo
UPDATE 31/01/2011 - Josie who was reading my blog informed me that Pixmania are selling the Travalo now also. Click HERE to have a looksie! Thanks Josie :)

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21 January 2011

Vaseline Cocoa Butter & Cheap Naked Palette Dupe!!

11:50 AM Beauty Bitz , brown thomas 14 Comments
So I thought I’d share my 2 latest discoveries! Well, one discovery of my own and one recommendation from another girlie. I’ll start off with that. Recently, fellow blogger Dollface posted on her twitter about adoring the New Vaseline Cocoa Butter. Immediately the body lotion sprang to mind as I was addicted to that for a long time and still have a supply in my drawer. So I responded agreeing that I loved it, but then thought, “WAIT that’s not particularly new??” It was the new Vaseline Lip Therapy she was referring to, so I popped into the chemist after work and was delighted to see a few on the counter. For €1.99 it’s a steal and well worth it for these harsh cold days. It smells gorg!! Will def be keeping this in my bag!

Next up is a cheap alternative to the infamous Naked Palette by Urban Decay. It’s a little 4 pan palette with a gel liner and you’ll never guess who makes it? Essence. A lot of you might be familiar with the cheapy brand which is widely available throughout Ireland in chemists and most Dunne’s. Their latest range ‘Metallics’ caught my eye as I’m a sucker for greys, browns silvers and other metallic shades. I was in a rush and picked out the brown palette. I took it out that evening and had a look at it and was pleasantly surprised. The next day I wore it and it stayed all day! Well, I did use UD Primer Potion... but still, I loved it. Here are some pics:

(The larger swatch to the right is the gel liner smudged out.)


I also picked up the matching little eyeliner brush. It's dotey and actually a lovely precise little brush. The eyeliner on the other hand is not the best. If I'm to use it it'll be as a base for darker eyeshadows.



Now for a few €uro you can’t go wrong with this, plus it’s a nice and handy size to bring along in your bag with you instead of the larger Urban Decay palette – which I’m sure if you’re lucky enough to own you won’t want to damage.

Slán!
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16 January 2011

Ombre Hair

8:35 PM Beauty Bitz , Fashion Fitz 22 Comments
Hello there! (Click any blue text for links ;) )
So, I was watching one of ThePersianbabe’s (Barbara’s) videos on YouTube about “ombre hair”. I quite admire her style and even though I completly do not look like her I feel I can relate to her style. When she mentioned ombre a couple of weeks ago I hadn't a clue what it was and now it’s all I can think about!! Thanks Barbara!! I kinda love when that happens though!! Basically Ombre is a French term for "shaded," and it’s originally a word used a lot to do with fabrics - a colour effect where the colour gradually changes from light to dark over the item of clothing. I’ve seen it a lot on blonde hair but recently it’s been creeping in and becoming much more popular with darker and other shades of hair. Below is a pic of some famous peeps with the do!!
(Image from www.whowhatwear.com) 
In particular I love Shenae Grimes’s hair (Annie from 90210). I always have, but the colour in this picture in particular I really like. It’s probably exactly what I’m going to do with mine sometime soon. In saying that, I have vowed to myself I will NOT buy any clothes or do my hair until I have lost weight as part of my New Year’s Resolution!! (I’ll speak about that in my next post.) Also Fearne Cotton’s hair is lovely, but she’s more a less blonde compared to me. My natural hair is really really dark brown with a slight tint of red, so I think this hairstyle colouring would be quite handy for me!! Giuliana Rancic is another lady who sports this look in a more subtle way. She actually tweeted about it recently!!!

(Images from Giuliana’s twitter a/c and www.celebs101.com)
Here are some other beauties who also liking the Ombre hairstyle:
Lily Aldrige                                             Rachel Bilson

Whitney Port                                                    Cheryl Cole
(Image from www.dirtylooks.com)
Obviously the main benefit of this style is that it’s low maintenance. No root touch ups required!! Phewww!! If you’re into the messy look in my opinion this look would be ideal. The only thing I’m wondering about is what does it look like straightened?? I don’t think it would look quite as flattering as it does with waves or slightly curled. But in saying that, I’m hoping to cut down on straightening my hair due to breakage/damage and split ends, so again with this style leaving it natural would work well. I think a deep conditioning treatment for the ends of the hair would be necessary every now and again though, because of the lightening or perhaps bleaching towards the ends of the hair – but that's no biggie. All in all, I’ll be keeping this look in mind!
You likey?? Or no likey!??
Slán!
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08 January 2011

Avril Lavigne 'Forbidden Rose' Perfume set.

4:26 PM Beauty Bitz , Perfume 7 Comments
So I picked up this little set just before Christmas. It’s Avril Lavignes ‘Forbidden Rose’. 



1)     I like the name – pretty yet daring!
2)    I like Avril Lavigne – her music anyway!
3)    I loved the colour - Purpleish/blueish/blackish/silverish - my fav colours!
4)    I like the perfume too!

So all in all I like. It’s like nothing I’ve ever smelt before. It’s described on her website as;

"Forbidden Rose is a sparkling fusion of fruity, floral and woody notes that blend together to create a spirited composition. With its hints of both fantasy and fearlessness, Forbidden Rose comes to life, like a fairytale. The fragrance opens with the forbidden fruit itself – the ever-enchanting red apple, enhanced by delicious wine peach. The story then unfolds with notes of white lotus, adding pureness and beauty. The base of the fragrance shines through, exuding warmth through its vanilla and sweet praline accents. A deep woody undertone finally emerges, completing Forbidden Rose’s captivating tale."

Now to me it is not Fruity.... in the slightest. Floral? Yes kinda, in a weird way. It’s not a fresh flowery type of smell. Floral and woody notes blended is quite a good description. It’s actually almost a more masculine scent. Don’t get me wrong it is feminine but it’s not girly. Am I making a complete balls of this!!? Haha! If you happen to see it try n get a sniff and you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s very unusual and I think it’s a love or hate type of perfume. And I do love it because it’s so different.
So the set I picked up was €25 before Christmas but I’ve recently seen the same set for sale in Debenhams for €16.66 (on the website also – here’s the link click HERE for the link.or HERE to get it for €18.20 online) You get 30mls of the eau de parfum, a 50ml body lotion and a little faux leather clutch. The inside of it is beautifully silky purple! (Like an eejet I never took a pic but I’m sure you can Google it!) Ooooh and also you may not notice but just below the black rose lid is a silver ring (a barbed wire design). I snapped some pics of mine below. Apologies, the lighting isn't that great.



Have you discovered any unusual scents recently?
Bye awhile! Slán!

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05 January 2011

Photo-shop Much!?

12:42 PM Asos , Beauty Bitz 9 Comments
Ok so this is a bit of a weird one. Like many others, I was scrolling through the Asos website at all the bargains to be had with the sales. I had a few Euro left to even up my price... It was at something like €47 and I always like to have an even amount, meaning €50!! I’ve always been like this. As I mentioned in my last post about the Cheryl Cole book, if I have a few Euro left after a day’s shopping... I WILL spend it!! So anyway.... I clicked to view the cheapest items first and a load of underwear popped up first so I was like.... aaaam ok. So I scrolled through and noticed something that made me STOP.  I looked a little closer and thought “what the hell!!?” I clicked on the picture to open up the item fully. It was a picture of Caprice modelling her underwear range, which is fine. We’ve all become used to models flaunting their beautiful bods to show off beautiful garments. But this was different. She was different. She was completely and utterly photo-shopped and retouched!! I know this may not sound like such a major surprise, but wait till you see the cut of it! In fact I’m pretty sure her head has been added to another models body (unless it’s her own body but on another shot which makes it even crazier!!) Just take a look for yourself!


My god. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something as blatantly FAKE! For someone like Caprice to be retouched so much is absolutely ridiculous – to be retouched at all in fact! How can the editors think that this looks good. I’d love to see the original to compare. Chances are it’s much much better. How could it be any worse. Immediately after seeing this, something came into my head. I don’t know whether it’s because I’m studying Social Studies and doing my project on the effect of the Media on teenagers or what, but I immediately thought of young girls looking at this. All this photo-shopping and such has become massive in the last 10 years and I would imagine at least 70-80% of people know that a lot of things advertised have been edited and chipped and chopped and changed, but it’s still going into our brains and perhaps photographic memory!! Carmen looks horribly thin and tanned. Will young girls find this attractive? Will they feel this is what they’re “supposed to” or “want” to look like? Will this become true beauty to them? My god I feckin’ hope not! It’s a disgrace, and to be honest I actually got quite pissed off about it. Why why WHY would they do this? I may be repeating myself but how can they think that this looks attractive. I know, stereotypically that skinny, blonde, tanned girls are quite popular in the glamour modelling business, but on the other hand, I think a lot of people have copped on to realise that real women, of everyday life, do not look like this. I think (and hope) that this picture alone puts people off buying this product....

Another thing that annoys me in particular are mascara adds....... I bet something just popped into your head there too. So many people feel the same. On television and magazine adds almost every single time you will see in tiny text in a corner somewhere, something to this effect... “Lash inserts were used in this advertisement” “enhancements made in post production” “this product is ok but you’re better off buying fake lashes and then lobbing on a load of our product so it gets popular and we get paid”..... To be honest if I saw an advert letting people know that nothing was applied to the lashes before or after the mascara, and we truly got to see the mascara doing it’s real job, I’d be much much more inclined to give it ago. I want to see the REAL effect the mascara (or any other product for that matter) has.

Also the “may contain” thing drives me nuts..... Are they not sure what they have put into their product or something!!? Eeuughhh!!

Ok so that’s my little rant over, but I do believe that it was an important one. Do these kind of things annoy you? Do you think a certain amount of photo-shopping/editing is ok?

Speak soon dolls!! Slán!
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01 January 2011

My first MAC Purchases!

10:51 PM Beauty Bitz , benefit 3 Comments
So, here we go! This is my blog, my beauty blog perhaps. Many people may be surprised that I have started writing a beauty blog and that I am only now buying my first MAC items. Well, technically it's not my very first as I do own Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick.... but apart from that i'm a MAC virgin!! I bought 2 (3ish) products in Brown Thomas, so here goes!...
 First up it's MAC Studio Fix Fluid - which was €30.87. I'm in the colour NW20. It's a lovely sturdy glass bottle which holds 30mls of product and is SPF15. It's a liquid foundation (obviously, seeing as though it's in a bottle!!) with a screw cap, which, when opened is a fully open bottle top, with no sense of control for extracting the foundation.

(Click to enlarge)
Hence why i purchased the next product.... the foundation pump. Nothing exciting. It was €3.98

(Click to enlarge)
And last but certainly not least is the lippie. I got Hue, which is a glaze finish and was €17.43. It's a beautiful pinkish nude colour - a lovely nude for fairer skinned ladies. It's not a BANG in your face, I can see your wearing lipstick, type of lipstick. It's more sheer than a matte nude, but it's exactly what I wanted. Alot of people love the concealer/washed out lips look, and this may work for darker toned skin, but for me a NW20 (I'm excited to now know that!!) a skin nude would look shocking! I am already in love with hue.

(Click to enlarge)

I also purchased Benefit's High Beam, which is described as a 'luminescent complexion enhancer'. Basically it's a light pink highlighter, which on the skin (below) has a pinkish/silverish sheen, which I will use on my upper cheeks and brow bone. I've also heard of people applying it to the nose to lengthen, or on the collor bones just for a pretty sheen. It basically looks like a nail varnish (larger) bottle with a brush applicator, which you just dot onto where you want to apply and then smudge in with your fingers. It was €26 in Debenhams. 



Oh, and I also got my Brown Thomas and Debnehams loyalty/Beauty Club Cards. I've a feeling that I may be back in the near future if my wallet can handle it! They both claim to offer Gifts and special offers, the usual tips and newsletter emails and points on your card to save up and use against future purchases. The Brown Thomas Black Card sends you invitations to exclusive Brown Thomas events, Birthday treats and rewards. Debenhams have a special Beauty Club and apparently you can avail of Free Beauty Makeovers and consultations. Don't know how true that is though!? Oh and also with the Debenhams card you're entitled to free p&p when ordering online, so for that reason alone it may be worthwhile picking one up! 


(Click to enlarge)

Ok, so I might as well throw in my final purchase of the day which was Cheryl Coles (official, as I know there are other books about her) new book. It was €19.80 originally but I got it on sale for €12.99 in Easons. I originally went in there to buy Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby's book - The Best Friends' Guide to Life , which looked sooo cute, but I hadnt enough money on me at the time, and rather than leaving empty handed (I tend to spend EVERY cent i've left while shopping!!) I noticed Cheryls big beautiful face staring at me. I strolled over and had a flip though it and once James (my boyfriend) saw me, he snapped it out of my hands and said "come on your definatley getting that, i'll have a look at it too ;)"....so there ya go! I wonder if there weren't as many pics in it would he be half as willing for me to buy it!! I havent read it yet but it does look like a nice nosey into her life, with lots of pics. She's absolutley stunning.


So that's my little New Years Eve shopping spree shared. Has anyone else bought in the New Years Sales? Whacha get!!? Do tell!!..... Slán!



Laura
xo



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