'gramming 2

Nothing overly exciting just a few things that had me in a tizzy (yes, I said tizzy) this month.

For the last few weeks, I appear to be having difficulty restraining myself from beauty purchases. It's gotten a little bit out of hand in the last week but hey ho, this is a PAST-TIME. Or so I continue to tell myself.

The result of a Special Effects Workshop

Just some random bike tour through Dublin City Centre

My attempt of organising lip products

My walk home from the city

REALLY appreciated this find

Prosecco in KOH Thai restaurant

Coco

A book I'm reading

Finding an Essie stand in Boots

From a cafe nearby

Mood-board #1

I've always been one to collect pretty images and photos. I hoard so many magazines, it's ridiculous. I can safely say I've never thrown out a single Glamour Magazine. I hang head with shame (secretly I'm proud, it takes a lot of creativity to think of so many new storage ideas!). 

Anyway just like many others, I've been collecting some images for my upcoming photo-shoot. The first look has still to be decided as it is an era of choice. I'm fairly sure I will stick with 1940/1950's vibe as it is my absolute favourite as I spoke briefly about in this post here. But I want to find a different angle where I can create a more modern twist. Possibly making it a little more Avant Garde, if I can!

The second look is trend make-up. Thankfully, I have a good idea of what I want the overall result to be.  My inspiration for this look is springtime beauty. To anybody that knows me, might think this is a litttttle bit out of character for me. This kind of chirpy attitude usually makes me want to vom. But one can't deny how stunning this is in terms of make-up. 

 I'm thinking candy and bubblegum colours. Instead of making this make-up smoky and sexy, I want fresh and contrasting. I want clean lines as these will translate much better on camera.

A celebrity that comes to mind would be the always so beautiful Katy Perry. 

Other than looking up ideas for the shoot, it's been a quiet weekend. I made the school boy error of popping into Brown Thomas yesterday to have a look in MAC and walked away with a lighter purse. With the number of different collections MAC have out at the moment, it was all too much to resist!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

(All images sourced from www.google.com) 

Distractingly Pretty Photos

Despite being a Kindle convert since Christmas, there's nothing quite as satisfying as a thick (*cough*), hard (must.resist) -back book full of glossy images. Some books simply cannot be downloaded. Even with the internet being the greatest tool for these, I would choose the physical copies any day. The book that is the object of my affection lately is "Vintage Style; Iconic Fashion Looks and How to Get Them" by Sarah Kennedy.

I do think these type of books are valuable to people in the beauty industry. Recently, we just finished decade make-up in my class and I have to say, it's been my favourite aspect of it since I started. Deep down, I'm a nerd and thrived on topics like History and English in school. So as well as learning the treads of these eras, we learned the little bit of history on the events that influenced fashion and make-up treads. I love that in the 1920's, women cut their hair up short to rebel against the norm and experimented with dark  eye make-up and the rosebud shaped lips.

Like most ladies I know, 1940s & 1950s has been a favourite of mine. Ignoring the man/woman dynamic  that dominated these eras, I adore the fashion. The polished make-up. The red lip. Hair in rollers. THE DRESSES. It just screams glamour. And with Mad Men only being a recent discovery for me, this quenches my thirst in between episodes. Between Betty's Draper's neat appearance and Joan's striking dresses that she's pours herself into, I'm utterly fascinated. 

I haven't read the book yet, but the pictures have given been enough inspiration for future photo-shoots.   

If anybody can suggest any other books I might like, please comment below. 

I'm off shopping. All this talk about old-school glamour has urged me to be brave and wear a red lip. Let's see how long I wear it before wiping it off in the public toilets of a shopping centre!

We 'Grammin

Every time I hear somebody say the word instagram, the first thought that pops into my head is Bob Marley's song "Jammin". So then a dance must follow. As well as speaking to a reggae beat. Anybody else?? No, just me?? Ok then.

I decided to do one of these posts because I know I enjoy them. Instagram gives

a little taster of  a person's everyday life. 

1. Nothing in this world compares to this.

2. Friday/Payday treat

3. Ripping inspiration from magazines on Saturday night in

4. A rainy Sunday drive back to Dublin

5. Chocolate goodness

6. My set of drawers has been taking over by products

7. Hangover day in bed

8. Prosecco with the ladies

9. My gluten- and dairy-free diet

Payday Catastrophe

I'm sure you all know that feeling. That last week of the month before payday where Erin Hotcup Soup in Mushroom will have to contribute to your 5 a day or handbags are emptied onto the tables to gather every last bit of change for a carton of milk. On repeat in my head for the week is the mantra " I will NEVER let myself get to this point again" or the favourite "I WILL write a budget this month and STICK to it". 

Then the morning of payday rolls in and all those coherent thoughts just fall out of your head. I'm the type of person that fools myself into thinking that I deserve a treat. By the end of the day, I'm calculating in my head if my bills will be covered for the month and what's minimum amount I can live on. It's a vicious circle that I have yet to beat.

So yesterday was no exception to this law of nature and a few (un)necessary purchases were made in BTs. 

When I see what I bought collectively, I can see I had an overall Spring/Summer theme going on. Despite the fact Dublin was miserable. I've managed to convince myself that the summer will be warm and I will spend all my free time wearing summer dresses and bright lips in beer gardens. Sipping glasses of Bulmers, like a lady. 

1. MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Blossom Culture

I've noticed these lipsticks for a while but never thought to buy them and usually always stay faithful to their classic formula. But once I swatched this, I was instantly drawn to it. These half gloss/ half lipstick formulations have been increasingly popular over the last two years. I have two from Chanel that I absolutely adore and I know YSL and NARS have had similar ideas.

The website describes it as a "soft pink with pearl" but I would be leaning towards a soft coral. It's quite a warm pink with a gold undertone shooting through. Inoffensive and easy to wear.

2. MAC Eye Shadow in All That Glitters

This was a repurchase of a firm favourite. One of my first ever MAC eyeshadows to buy and an all round cult classic. EVERYBODY should own this colour. I bought it in pan form as I use it my MAC pro palette.

3.  MAC Lip Pencil in Lasting Sensation

This beauty caught my eye as soon as I walked in the door. I love strong lips. I spent a lot of winter wearing colours like MAC Rebel and Girl About Town. With this, I can see myself wearing it throughout the season. It's a bright coral which I'll probably apply all over the lips with a little gloss on top.

4. MAC Eye Brow Pencil in Spiked

Nothing too glamorous about this product, I'm afraid! Lately, I had a greater interest in eyebrows. Something that is overlooked by many, with myself included in the past, in terms of colour. Never underestimate the power of a strong, shaped brow. I've using brow powders up until now and decided to give this a whirl. 

5. MAC Power Blush in Immortal Flower

A Limited Edition product that came out with The Tres Chic Collection, this is LOVE. Immediately, I was head over heels. This is my favourite colour in terms of clothes, jewellery, bags etc so when I saw sitting up looking at me, I knew it had to be mine. It's a light, bright peach (does that make sense?!). 

Apologies on the quality of the photos, the iPhone is my only source to a camera at the moment. Maybe next month, if I'm feeling kind to myself, I'll buy one on the next payday session.

Dior Smoothing Plumping Lip Balm

Lip balm is something I need constantly by my side. I remember back in the later years of primary school, one had to be consistent with your Vaseline application. God forbid if you had anything but glossy lips in 6th class.

My usual companions in recent years have usually been Carmex. A dry-lipped girl's best friend. At last count I had *finger count*, SEVEN scattered between my room, handbag and office. However a while back, I received a package from Dior in Paris when they were returning a replacement bottle of foundation. Along with the new shiny bottle of Dior NudeSkin (my beloved!), I got a little pot of their lip balm. A cute addiction I think.

I've not heard much about it but who here can say they hear anything about any high end brands lip balm selection but it was instant LOVE. In its white packaging, it contains a pink, rose-scented balm. The texture would be much richer than your standard pot of Carmex therefore throwing in that word "luxury". Can a simple lip balm be described as luxurious? Well, yes I think so.

How much it retails for? I'm not too sure. More than likely something completely ludicrous for a bog standard lip balm. But I do think it is something I might want to repurchase. It was well loved!

(it's approaching payday, I tend to have these crazy €€€ notions this time of the month)

Clinique SuperBalanced Makeup

A product that's been on the back of my mind since I began my course back in January (it was highly recommended for combination skin), I finally had the opportunity to buy when I used up the last scraping of my beloved Jemma Kidd Light as Air. My only reason to stray from the Jemma Kidd is because I find it a little bit of an inconvenience to purchase in Ireland as it seems to be only available online.

Anywhoooo, the Clinique foundation was finally within my reach. As well as recommendations from my tutors, one of my favourite YouTubers Tanya uses it regularly so that was enough for me. I picked it up in Brown Tomas in the colour 03 Ivory along with their High Impact Curling Mascara (which I detest).

Described on the website as a "liquid foundation with adjustable, oil-free coverage provide moisture and absorbs oil when and wear needed". I thought this would be the ideal foundation for me as my skin changes with the weather (and living in Ireland, it does seem quite moody). It can vary from being dry around my nose and forehead one week, and the next suffer from excess oiliness on my T-Zone. So I thought this would tick all the boxes.

Firstly, the colour is wrong for my skin which, to be fair, is my own fault as I still can't seem to come to terms with how pale I've actually become this year. So I do have to work it more into my skin as well as blending it down my neck. It's never a fast application unless I'm wearing my fake tan. I understand this is an unfair prejudice but this is the kind of fickle being I am unfortunately!

Like with all my foundations, I do tend to set my skin with a translucent powder. This is usually sufficient enough to set my make-up for the day along with the standard top-up after lunch. With this foundation, I find it's not lasting on my skin as well as I would have hoped. By lunchtime, I've been applying more than I usually would after lunch.

With those negatives aside, I do think it could be a great foundation for people with a drier skin type to mine. I would describe it as a good medium coverage foundation and the colour range does seem to hit that neutral ground in tone that I like. I detest the colour range in MAC foundations as I strongly believe, in this country at least, that majority of skin tones here are neither extremely pink nor yellow toned.


If anybody is using a foundation they loooove please let me know, I like to change it up clearly!