I was dying to get my hands on these latest offerings from Rimmel – the Scandaleyes Eyeliners and Eyeshadow Sticks – as I had heard great things about them and I’m forever on the lookout for a good eyeliner!
Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner €5.95
Top: 012 Bronze Bottom: 001 BlackSwatches
I was very impressed with these I must say! I’m a big fan of Urban Decay’s 24/7 glide on eyeliners and the Scandaleyes liners give these a run for their money, especially in €€’s since they are less than half the price! They glide on like a gel liner and the color lasts all day and doesn’t rub off or fade at all and they are completely waterproof so you can wear them in your waterline.
The black is a good strong colour and didn’t transfer and the brown one is really gorgeous on and it’s an amazingly good alternative to MAC’s “Teddy” eyeliner which is a browny bronze shade and one of my absolute favourite liners. I use it a lot on brides/bridesmaids so I’ll be getting another one of these for my kit!
Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Stick/Crayon €5.95
Top: 003 Bad Girl Bronze Bottom: 008 BlackmailSwatches Shadow Crayons
Again, I was mucho impressed with these lovelies. They are larger and more chubby than the eyeliners so you can pop them on all over your lid as a base colour for eyeshadow or just wear them on their own. They are a lovely creamy formula and blend beautifully without fading out and melting to nothing like most cheap eye crayons I’ve used. I got the black and bronze colours which you can use in everyday makeup, but they come in lots of different colours and are easy to just pop on when you’re in a hurry.
If you wear a cream eyeshadow under your regular powder eyeshadow it can really transform the colour so I love them for that reason (I will do a separate post on this to show you what I mean). You can also use them as a base for loose glitters to give them something to adhere to. I love these and will be defo be picking up more.
I knew I was in for a treat when I was sent these gorgeous Natural Soaps from Pixy Cosmetics. They are naturally made soap bars with base ingredients of Palm and Coconut Oil to gently cleanse your skin without harsh chemicals, while providing natural moisturisers which leave your skin glowing, super soft and smelling delicious! The two soaps I received were:
Citrus Spring
Citrus Spring
This smells really citrusy and zesty so it’s perfect for waking you up in your morning shower! It’s also really good for your skin since It is enriched with cocoa butter and olive oil. The smell is totally gorgeous since it has notes of Bergamot, Grapefruit and Orange essential oils.
Sweet Treat
Sweet Treat
I’m a sucker for anything sweet and this lovely soap slice smells like sweet sugary candy along with Vanilla and Lavender essential oils. So this would be perfect for sending you off to the land of nod after a hard day. Again it’s extremely moisturising and good for your skin.
I am totally in love with these! They leave your skin smelling and feeling amazing and they last forever. There are 6 different varieties and they’re amazingly good value at €3.99 each, so you can really afford to pick up a few of your favourites. They would also make a great present for anyone, as a little pampering treat.
Top L-R: Tough Love, Deep Blue Sea, Oatmeal Bottom L-R Sweet Treat Mango Bliss, Citrus Spring
Pop over to Pixy’s website www.pixy.com and have a look for yourself, or you can also check stockists to see if anywhere close to you stocks them. They have lots of tasty treats on there and if you’re anything like me, you’ll want everything! If you order online and spend over €10, delivery is free and while you’re there, you should sign up to their newsletter to get 10% off your first order, it all helps!
Let me know what you think of these in the comments below!
I recently went on a spa break with two of my good friends to The Rainforest Spa in the Summerhill House Hotel in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow and I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while now as I have to let you all know how utterly amazing this place is! If you are looking for a relaxing break either on your own or with a few girls, this is the place you need to go to.
They have day or overnight packages and the prices are so unbelievably reasonable that you won’t feel one bit guilty for indulging.
We decided to go for the overnight break or The Great Spa Break for €120pps which included (wait for it…..)
An overnight stay in Summerhill House Hotel
2 Spa treatments – Swedish Back Massage & Eye Reviver Treatment, as well as use of the spa facilities
A 3 course meal
Breakfast the next morning
I honestly don’t know how they offer all that and make money but still, I wasn’t complaining!
The offer is on all during the week and weekend so we made the most of it and arrived on the Friday. It was one of the hottest days during the unusual heat wave we’ve been having so we decided to have a drink outside first which was a nice way of relaxing.
When our appointment time came we slipped into our swimsuits and popped across the Courtyard to the spa which resides in a lovely wooden style cabin with a large balcony area overlooking the lush green Wicklow mountains. On such a sunny day, it really was a sight to behold. We hadn’t realised we were supposed to arrive an hour earlier to use the spa facilities such as the two outdoor Jaccuzzi’s or indoor Sauna and Steam rooms so we just used these after our treatments.
I was called first for my massage which was honestly one of the best massages I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a few! I do love me a good massage it has to be said and I like to treat myself whenever I can. The therapist (whose name I didn’t get, sorry!) had magic hands and I just melted into the massage table for the next half hour as she managed to work out all the knots in my back and afterwards I felt so relaxed and not a bit sore or uncomfortable like some deep massages can cause you to feel. I was praying for it not to end! But unfortunately, end it did, and I dragged myself off the bed, popped on a light green robe that was left for me and shuffled back out to the sunny balcony to re -join my friends. We had a little dip in the Jaccuzzi and even ordered a glass of wine and enjoyed the view while wondering was this how the other half lived and vowing that when we won the lotto and bought our mansion in the hills, it would defo have an outdoor Jaccuzzi lol! We can dream, eh?! 🙂
As an add-on to your package, you can also order lunch or afternoon tea and at €15 for a toastie and a glass of wine, we decided to do that and enjoyed it at one of the tables & chairs dotted around the outside balcony. We were then called for our second treatment, a Reviving Eye Treatment which was just lovely & refreshing and sorted my puffy eyes out in no time. We were then free to enjoy the facilities which include the outdoor area complete with amazing view, and an indoor lounge with a comfy sofa, magazines/books and fruit & nut nibbles.
Pampering over, we got ready and enjoyed a few more drinks before having our delicious 3 course meal and ordering yet more drinks (that was the theme of the weekend really, relax and drink J ) It was such a lovely setting to catch up with my friends and enjoy each others company especially since our lives are so busy with work, kids etc. So I would highly, HIGHLY recommend this place if you’re looking for a break. The staff are lovely and very accommodating, the food is delicious, the spa is fantastic with extremely professional staff and the backdrop of the Wicklow mountains is just breathtaking. I don’t know if it was the sun or what but it made me appreciate the beauty of our lovely little country. I went home thoroughly relaxed and rejuvenated and I can’t wait for my second visit to the spa. They do Yonka facials which, anyone who knows me will know that, I LOVE this brand and will never have any other kind of facial so I am planning to pop back for one of those soon.
This is the life!
Overnight spa breaks start from €99 pps or day packages from €79 You can check their full range of packages out at http://www.rainforest.ie/ or http://www.summerhillhousehotel.com/ they also do gift vouchers so would make the perfect present for someone who deserves a bit of R&R.
Just so you know, I paid for this myself and was not given this break for free or given any compensation for writing the above, I just like to spread the love when I really like a place. 🙂
I don’t know about you but I love a good fake tan. It just makes me feel really healthy looking and also helps me appear a little bit slimmer which is a great bonus! With the weather being so amazing lately I decided to try the latest self tanner from Cocoa Brown by Marissa Carter, which has been getting rave reviews on blogs and beauty sites as well as receiving beauty awards left, right and centre, and it’s easy to see why once you’ve used it.
Cocoa Brown self tan has two different products:
One Hour Tan
This mousse formula does exactly what it says on the tin, you slap it on and in 1 hour you have developed a beautiful golden glow. It has a brown guide colour and when the tan develops you can wash the guide colour off :
1 hour after application – for a light tan
2 hours after application – for a medium tan
3 hours after application – for a darker tan
The tan will then last up to 5 days and it fades extremely well and isn’t at all patchy . It gives a lovely deep, even colour and I found the guide colour on this to be great and didn’t bother washing it off, even though you’re supposed to.
Night and Day Tan
Also a mousse formula you can use this on a night out if you haven’t had time to apply fake tan the night before or put it on when you get out of bed to last for the day. The guide colour is the best I’ve seen, it’s a really natural beautiful colour by itself and doesn’t leave you looking like you’ve been wrestling in a mud bath! You can wash the guide colour off the next day and still be left with a light glowing tan.
Both products are perfect for girls on the go who don’t have time to wait overnight for their tan to develop. This is hands down, the best tanning brand I’ve ever used and I love the results it gives so it gets a huge thumbs up from me and I’d highly advise you to try them out. At €7.99 they are an absolute bargain also.
As with all fake tans, there is some skin preparation required in the days before you apply it, so here are some tips:
Exfoliate your skin well and pay particular attention to anywhere your skin folds or creases as well as rough areas such as knees and elbows
Shave the day before you want to apply your tan as if you do so just before application, it can result in angry red bumps, particularly on your legs and underarms which does not look good!
Moisturise the day before you apply tan but leave your skin free from any products or deodorants etc. on the day you want to apply your tan or they will give a patchy result.
Make sure you have exfoliated away any old tan before you reapply new tan
For an even darker result, you can apply the tan 2 days in a row
Top Tip: Some people use a tanning mitt to apply their fake tan but I find using latex gloves much better. They give you greater control of where the colour is going, especially on hands/fingers and feet and you don’t waste as much product.
Doing your hands is easy, just take one glove off, apply tan to the glove free hand, wait for that to dry then pop a glove on it and do the same to the other hand.
Another thing I love about both products is the smell! It’s not your typical chemical fake tan smell, it actually smells really nice and my husband hasn’t complained about the smell once when I’ve got into bed so it must be good as his smellers are really sensitive!
Cocoa Brown tan is available in Hickeys & McCabes Pharmacies as well as Penneys, Superquinn and now Boots. If you’re outside Ireland, you can also get it on the Feel Unique website so pick one up for yourself next time you see it and I promise you won’t regret it 🙂
I was delighted to be sent this beautiful Face Scrub from Irish natural skincare and cosmetics brand, Pixy Cosmetics to try out and review. Since I wear makeup every day, I really have to be careful to thoroughly clean my skin so I don’t get breakouts and clogged pores, so I do love a good facial exfoliator for that reason. But usually, I tend to go for exfoliators that have AHA’s or are peelable rather than corse grainy ones which I find irritates my sensitive skin. This one is totally different though, I’m so impressed with it that this will be part of my skincare routine from now on.
Pixy Cosmetics produce a gorgeous range of skincare and beauty products that use natural ingredients, don’t contain parabens and are not tested on animals. Also, because they use ingredients such as essential oils, cocoa butter, almond milk and other pure ingredients, they are actually really good for your skin and won’t damage it at all. Plus all their products smell absolutely gorgeous.
The scrub comes in a simple tin which contains 50g of product and is a very reasonable €9.95. It is a blend of Jojoba and Apricot Oil which moisturises as it exfoliates and buttermilk and yogurt powders that loosen and dissolve dead skin and debris leaving clean radiant skin. The little poppy seeds added, work to exfoliate your skin gently. As you work the scrub into your skin, you find that it doesn’t feel in the slightest bit abrasive or irritating and it just gently glides over your skin and doesn’t leave it with that tight dry feeling afterwards, that other grainy exfoliators can do.
It smells like sweet almonds and is so nourishing that you can use it twice a week for best results. My skin honestly never felt so soft afterwards, I actually look forward to using it and can really see a difference in the texture of my skin and also in the application of my makeup afterwards so I’m loving this product and can’t wait to discover more lovely products from this great Irish brand!
Check out their website for your nearest stockist http://www.pixy.ie/pixy-stockist or you can also buy online. They also have a fab range of gift sets that would make an amazing present for anyone who deserves a bit of pampering so check them out. Plus you’ll be supporting an Irish company which we should all be doing where we can.
Have you used Pixy products before? What do you love from their range?
If you love makeup and are going on your summer holidays abroad, it can be a nightmare trying to pack a makeup bag with items that will cover you from day to night. I always try to downsize but usually end up bringing my whole kit! But you can pick and choose a few key items that will cover you for your whole holiday and take you from day to night. These are my favourite picks for makeup you can easily fit into your case and items you must have, that will double up for other uses also.
BB Cream
I know I keep banging on about this, but during the summer it really is great stuff for just putting on to even out your skintone as well as protect your skin. When you’re already overheated, you don’t want to be clogging your skin with heavy makeup and risking it going patchy when it sweats off you, which is why BB cream is perfect. It doubles up as your facial sunscreen also.
MAC Face & Body
I love this as a light foundation on holidays and it stays put as it’s sweat & waterproof. The bottles are quite large but you can easily decant them into a smaller bottle or jar.
I also love to use this foundation on my legs to even out the colour and skin-tone. If you get a dark one it’s perfect and looks like real skin rather than using a bronzing cream which has shimmer and is obviously fake. Plus, since it’s waterproof, it won’t run or streak!
Benefit Makeup Kits
I love these little kits from Benefit that usually include a number of miniture makeup products such as eyeshadow, mascara, foundation, blush, bronzer and lipgloss. If you get a couple of these you are sorted for everything you need from day to night. My faves are:
Cabana Glama
This contains a light foundation, bronzing powder, 3 eyeshadows, a tint for your lips & cheeks and 2 applicators. So that’s basically everthing you need!
The Bronze of Champions
If you love your bronzing products, this contains an illuminator as well as a bronzing cream and powder, a cream and powder eyeshadow and a mascara. So perfect for wearing with a tan.
Both kits above start at €36 so they’re well worth it.
Build your own Kits
Inglot’s Freedom system is great as you can pick what size palette you want and add in your own eyeshadows or lipsticks and have a completely custom palette with all the colours you want which is ideal!
Prices vary depending on size but all palettes are stackable and mean you can bring exactly what you’ll use from eyeshadows, to lipsticks, concealers and brow gels and save on space in your makeup bag. Love it!
See through Makeup Bags
These are a must have for carrying your makeup and you can can buy them at Dunnes, Penneys (Primark) or M&S for a reasonable price. They usually come in muliple packs and as long as you don’t have any liquids over 50mls you can carry them in your hand luggage. I always do this as I’m so paranoid about losing my case or having something break when I travel! You can just take them out of your case for anyone to inspect and they can see everything that’s in there so they’re just the job!
Are you off anywhere nice this year and will you be trying any of the above? Or if you have any good tips for holiday makeup I’d love to hear them in the comments below!
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