Cocoa Brown tan - photos & review

I know, I know....a fake tan in a pink bottle is the LAST thing you expected to see on my blog...
It is no secret that I'm not a fake tan-aholic for a long series of reasons but I just HAD to try this one!
What mainly did it for me was the amount of rave reviews it got from bloggers and customers. But also a contributing deciding factor were the person behind it and the ingredients.
The creator of this tan(and soon to come other products) is a lovely Irish beautician, Marissa Carter, who's been in the beauty industry for years, owns her own salon in county Dublin and is often involved in the media sharing her knowledge. She also very successfully en

Barry M Textured Nail Paints in Ridley Road - review

When I saw the press release and photos of these sent to bloggers pre-sale, my eyes immediately screamed at me "get the mint!". Yellow isn't too flattering with my skin tone, I don't do pinks and the light blue was too obvious a choice for my blue obsession.
The other day I was in Boots buying some essentials when a force just pulled me to the Barry M display. Y'see I couldn't remember the actual sale date; I only recalled it was going to be available on their web site and in Superdrug on a certain date, and a few days later in Boots. (Dear brands that really is a little silly, different dates for different countries and different stores etc etc. It just creates confusion and frustration).
So when I didn't see these darlings on show I asked one of the ladies if she knew when I'd be able to buy them.

100 subscribers giveaway

I hope you are all having a good week.
I have decided to do a little giveaway once I reach 100 subscribers(17 to go as I type this).
During my recent visits to Italy I picked up a few little beauty goodies which I will be putting up for grabs.
....maybe a couple nail polishes, maybe a couple of make-up items. They are products I have/use myself and you PROBABLY have seen featured on the blog already.
So, get subb'íng and sharing :-)

Thank you

Lil

Best dressed of the week-end: IFTAS, BAFTAs and Grammys

The past week-end was jam packed with glamorous award ceremonies with the Irish Film and Television Awards, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Grammys.

In this post I am going to feature what I deemed the best dressed.

ACTION!

IFTAs

- photos from RTE.ie -

Lorraine Keane

La Roche-Posay Rosaliac AR Intense review

Ladies with highly sensitive skin the world over: rejoice!

Before I left for my surgery in October, I was under  an enormous amount of stress and I was well aware of the fact the surgery, the waiting for the results was going to bring even more strain and that would have played havoc on my skin. So I made it my ONE mission to  find a proper, good product that would help me keep all that in check.
As an heaven sent a couple of weeks before I left I was given the chance to try this product for free and I somersaulted to the chance!

New layout

Ta Dah !!!!

Here it is, a new layout! I'm still going to fiddle with it (...oooeeerr!) for a few days, but it's mainly done.

WShat do you guys think?
All suggestions accepted

Lil

Primark/Penneys Spring/Summer picks

Here are my picks from the new upcoming Primark/Penneys collection

A few NOTD's and a top coat obsession

Here follow a few of my fave NOTD's from the last while that I haven't shared with you yet.

 

This was an ombre effect created with China Glaze "Rich & Famous" as a base and then merging that with KIKO n. 295. I used a cosmetics sponge to achieve the gradient. The ring finger features a layer of Rimmel matte top coat, the other nails have a coat of Models Own Indian Ocean.

Birthday makeover at Inglot

Last Wednesdays was my Birthday and seeing as I haven't exactly had a great last few months, I decided to treat myself with a little make up fest.
I went for Inglot as I'm forever drooling over the photos of their makeovers, celebrity looks and themed weeks.
The lovely Kayleigh at their counter in the Jervis Shopping Centre looked after me and this is what we came up with. I apologise in advance for the horrible lighting but it was an horrendously dark and wet day with barely any actual light.

it's Limp-along with good news

... Yep, that's how some friends have affectionately temporarily re-labelled me. Charming or what?!

It has now been 4 weeks since surgery and only last week I got the results of the tests performed on the tissue they removed from my left foot: I got the all clear! It's just that my moles, like the rest of my body, feel the need to perform uniquely and appear dangerous when they actually aren't. But as they say "better safe than sorry".

I am still walking with one crutch which frustrates me greatly, and although the wound is healing faster than expected, I still have quite a while to go before I can go back to running, long walks and heels. I have worn nothing but flat pumps and I'm honestly getting bored of them.

The night before the morning after

...No, sorry to disappoint you guys, but this ain't a new "50 shades of Lil" style segment on the blog. Interesting and entertaining as it would be.
I'm in my bed back in Italy, and it's 3am. Very few hours away from surgery.
I'm surprisingly very calm and strangely soothed.
I'm not worried. I'm not stressing. I'm not agitated. I'm not upset.
In my head I keep thinking that this'll turn out to be nothing but just a little meaningless nuisance. One of those episodes that is there on the path of life, to give you a little kick in the you-know-what, to remind you that you could be in a much worse situation.
I also have the utmost faith in my doctors, no matter what the outcome.
There is one little aspect though that's going to be bugging me : the fact I won't be able to walk properly nor long distance, for a few weeks.
I'm not entirely certain of what it'll be like, will I require walking with crutches for long?
I remember from the first surgery 11 years ago how frustrating it was to use them! They drove me up the wall and I ended up sticking to them for only half the advised amount of time.
I'm a walker, i used to be a running champion, for crying out loud! Tuesday alone I went on a 10k walk at the sea side.
I am grabbing this opportunity to thank anyone who's taken the time to send me messages over the last 6 weeks. GRAZIE!
I shall, of course, keep you lot posted .

NOTD: KIKO n. 362 + Rimmel matte finish

As I have already mentioned, I went on a bit of a nail polish spree when I was home last month. This is one of the beauties I picked up, n. 362 Poppy Red  with Rimmel matte top coat and Angelica multi colour glitter, on the thumbs and ring fingers.

Unimportant, indispensable details

Thankfully I am a different person to the one I thought I was when they found my first melanoma, 11 years ago. Mainly because I didn't know what was going to happen.

But now I have that magic power of hindsight and that's what helped me keep it together and not lose it whilst I was going through all those tests a few weeks ago.

The morning of every day I was facing some test or appointment, I found myself obsessively fixating on my looks: what I wore, make up, accessories and hair.
One might say "you're going to hospital, for crying out loud! should you not be worrying about something else?!". Instead, I didn't.

Layla Cosmetics - Ceramic Effect polish n. 64

As I mentioned in my post before I left, I was going to spoil myself a little whilst I was away.
I especially went "ä smidge" mad  in the nail polish department. It has to be noted though that half of the purchases are presents for friends/other fellow bloggers, or I will be giving away on here, and yes it will be for everyone, all over the globe.
One of the brands I was looking forward to checking out was Layla Cosmetics, an 100% Italian brand, and in particular their polishes. Unfortunately, as Murphy's law persecuted me for the whole stay, when I had a chance to visit a local beauty supply that stocks them, they were low in stock(for pretty much every other brand too...) so I didn't really have much choice. I will make sure to go back next month.

This is one of their goodies I managed to pick up: it's n. 64 from the Ceramic Effect range. Their web site presents the range as: "perfectly smooth nails in one motion. A nail polish with a professional finish. It doesn't require a base.".

new hair

While I was at home I took the chance to pay a visit to my amazing hairdresser, who's been the only person to every put their hands on my hair, EVER!

Here are a couple of photos

it's lashing!

This is a follow up from the Eylure lash tint kit review I did a while back.
It is also a post that gets requested a lot from other people with albinism.

The following photos were taken straight after the first tint in  about 3 months, so there was pretty much no brown left on my lashes.

The newspaper article featuring me

As promised I share with you all the paper article about me published a couple of weeks back. If anyone is interested in a PDF of it, drop me an e-mail and I will forward it on.
Thank you to the ever so lovely Paula from Market Match for the scan .

I survived skin cancer -- so I warn my friends about using sunbeds
Laura Fucci tells Lisa Jewell her courageous tale, and stresses the need for skin safety

Laura Fucci was just 17 when she decided to get the mole on her back checked out by a doctor. It was to prove the wisest and most important decision of her young life.
Sitting in the oncologist's office, Italian-born Laura was given the worst news imaginable: she had a severe form of skin cancer, and the disease was already in its third, potentially fatal stage.
The teenager sat there dumbfounded. All her other cares went out the window -- she was now in a battle to save her life ...

developments and Thank You's

So I had all my extra hospital tests and all the stress that came with them.
I'll see if I can explain this in non medical terms.

The doctors had an even deeper look at the moles that worried me and them and that lead to me having surgery next  month.
Because I have no skin pigmentation, my moles are also very fair; during one of the tests the doctors found in one of the moles, lighter than usual cells. This normally means they are cancerous, however, because of my condition, this could also mean that they are just lighter than normal cells. Although this is not the hypothesis doctors are tending to go for, it's the one I am hanging on to.
They have also decided to operate on it as it's less than 6 months and already larger than most of my moles.

A quick note from the mother land

Hello everyone,
Just a quick note from the motherland, in case you don't follow me on Twitter.
Last Wednesday I had my blood taken (all of FIVE vials! ) and had my moles checked. Tomorrow morning I'm collecting the blood results and as for the moles....well, it's not so straight forward.
Since my first cancer I've been closely monitoring myself, learning what to look out for. I recently noticed I developed a couple of new ones and some old ones have changed.
This coming Wednesday I have some extra tests because the doctors are extremely worried about a couple of them so before they operate they want to be categorically certain I do require surgery.
I didn't take this news very well, and even though they didn't actually say THE word, I KNOW what there's a high chance it might be.
I've been trying to keep myself busy and pamper myself, but it's not exactly working well as diversion tactics go.
Even though I know I have one of the best oncology teams in the fields behind me, my head is on overdrive -with some extra rubbish going on in my life sprinkled on top too.
I did plan on blogging while away, show you stuff I've bought or am using, but inconveniently 3G signal where I am hasn't improved since I was here last.
I shall update you after my tests on Wednesday.
Have a nice week,
Lil

fancy a bit of Italian shopping?

As I have mentioned  already at the end of next week I am off to the home land for a bit of well deserved holiday and also for some crucial hospital tests to find out if my cancer is back or not. I am REALLY scared about that.

Anyway! I will be taking a good look around a few beauty shops and department store so if there is anything from an Italian brand you would like me to get you, or do a beauty/nail/fashion swap, then get in touch. You can leave me a comment here, send me an e-mail or get me on Twitter.

Here are a few beauty brands websites you might wanna take a look at:
KIKO Cosmetics
Layla Cosmetics
DEBORAH Milano  -their English section doesn't really show the full nail polishes/products list so I would suggest you check it here in the Italian section, it's fairly easy to understand-
I will also be encountering the full Essence and Catrice counters in hope that mainland continent has some products that never made it to Ireland or the UK in the last few months so, if there's anything you were looking out for but never found, let me know. I know I have quite a few!

I hope everyone has a nice week-end.

Ciao,

Lil