Dia daoibh!

Dia daoibh.

Did you know that Avon is not just a door to door make up company? Behind the brand is a whole other world.

I just received the scoop that today Ms. Alesha Dixon (singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality -judge on Strictly Come Dancing) has been officially announced as the newest member of the Avon Family for Ireland & the UK. She is now spokeswoman for Avon's make-up category and it's domestic violence cause. Avon Ireland has raised over €35,000 for it's domestic violence charity partners which includes Women's Aid, to help end violence against women. This is a massive issue and while it may seem impossible, all awareness raised will be a positive thing.

Her first beauty campaign will see her launching Avon's latest foundation innovation - Ideal Flawless. The Ideal Flawless range will offer Avon’s widest shade selection (great to hear!!) with Alesha appearing in brochures from February 2012. How beautiful does she look here!

Alesha's official title is "Beauty and Empowerment Ambassador". Avon is not just a brochure full of lots of goodies. For years they have been raising awareness on another topic. The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade is another cause that you may be aware of. Quoting from Avon.ie: "With the help of Representatives, customers and friends over €963,000 has been raised for Irish charities (1998 – 2010) primarily ARC Cancer Support." This is a massive figure and it will only grow with the backing of supporters and Avon customers.

As of customer of Avon's for about 10 years now, I urge you to take a look at a brochure if available to you. Alternatively you can view it online HERE or find out where your nearest representative is (or become one yourself!) If you're going to treat yourself to something why not feel extra good about it by supporting the "Speak Out About Domestic Violence" crusade. Some beautiful jewellery pieces (with an infinity symbol) are available.

Source Source

Avon's official Facebook is HERE where you can find up to date information, photos, reviews and offers. If you're free at 2pm today (15/11/11) Alesha Dixon herself will be online for a Q&A! She will also be taking over the AVONUK Twitter at 1:30pm. Exciting! Get your questions ready!!

EDIT
Today Thursday 8th March 2012 is International Women's Day and Avon are encouraging ladies to wear their Empowerment Necklaces. The necklaces are €4.50, and all proceeds go directly to the Women's Aid charity, who are working to end violence against women.I'm wearing mine, are you?

Slán

It does volumise as you will see below, as well as lengthen. I also agree that the formula is weightless. I was quite surprised at this to be honest! Because the brush is so large (see pic below for size comparison to my eye!) I was expecting for the brush to be overloaded with product - but it wasn't. On the lashes it is not at all heavy which is great. Also I didn't find it to feel too hard or crunchy on the lashes.

I think one single coat is the one where volume increases.

 Here after the second coat you can see the lengthening aspect. As you can see on the inside corner of my left eye it seems to look a bit funny. This is partly the way my lashes are and partly because the brush is so big it's a bit harder to get into small places like here.

Up close, 2 coats look a bit spidery but below in the face shot you can see it's not so noticeable. I just like to get up in yo faces for photos!! One negative I have with the mascara is that no matter how careful I am, chances are I will end up tipping the brush off my eyelid (as you can see above to the right inner corner) Now I am fairly "handsey" when applying mascara. I like to twist, squiggly, zig zag and basically just get rightly in there. I am fairly careful though but I find it almost always happens. I think it's because of the size of the wand which is a bit annoying. Nothing a q-tip can't fix though!

Slán!

So when the opportunity arose for me to try the new AVON hair dyes, I jumped at the chance. I was contacted by the PR reps for Avon and offered to try out the 'Advance Techniques Professional Hair Colour'. I chose the colour '6.56 Light Mahogany Red' (which I recently noticed that Samantha from PIXIWOO used also!!

 I waited until I came home from Holidays in Donegal as I wanted it to be freshly coloured for my photoshoot!!! (I will blog!) So here is what is included in the pack.

The developer and colourant mixed to a purple colour which surprised me a bit and gave me the impression my hair would turn out more plumish than reddish, but it didn't, so don't worry if it looks a strange colour or if it seems to darken a lot on your hair.

Now here is the only thing that I wasn't too impressed with - even though it's not major!! The mixture seemed to separate a lot. I had to keep shaking it up so that it was all mixed in properly as I was nervous that if I didn't, some parts might be different colours to the rest. This is probably the only "negative" I have to say about the product, which would not put me off in the slightest really, but I just said I'd mention it.

I left the colour in for 30 minutes, hopped in the shower and used the post treatment. If you have ever used any of the Advance Techniques Shampoos or Conditioners; that is what this smells like (which is good btw!!) And here is the final outcome!