an Essence-ial FOTD

Face:

Catrice Skin Finish powder, 010 transparent

Essence blush, adorable

Essence Sun Club, large matt bronzing powder, for blondes

Eyes:

Essence eye brow designer, 04 blonde

Essence long-lasting eye pencil, 04 hot chocolate

Essence get BIG! waterproof mascara

88 matte eye shadow palette, greens, browns and white

Lips:

Rimmel 1000 kisses lip tint, carry on cherry

A few weeks back I found myself parted from most of my basic make up; it's a long story and I'm sure you really don't wanna hear about it.
Anyway, because I had a few occasions to attend, I needed emergency, inexpensive, but still quality make-up, so I ran to my nearest chemist.
Here is a quick review of some of the things I picked up.

Catrice skin finish powder, 010 transparent: this powder is a-maze!!! I use this as a base as  I don't really need foundation, especially in the summer, and it stays on for a long, long time. I also used it as an eye primer as I didn't have my UDPP, and it worked wonders! Perfect skin tone match as well.
Essence Sun Club, large matt bronzing powder, for blondes: if you're really fair and usually go for soft bronze and blush, this may not be for you. It's quite dark to be designed for light skinned blonde but as I often like to enhance my defined cheek bones, this is perfect for me.
Essence eye brow designer, 04 blonde:as for above, it may be designed for blondes, but if you like your brows quite light in colour, don't go for this. Also, as most brow liners go, it has a very reddish under tone that show up especially in photos. Super easy application though, and it last all day without budging.
Essence long-lasting eye pencil, 04 hot chocolate: this liner is an absolute dream! It's so soft it glides on effortlessly, super easy to smudge -even with your fingers- and it stays on for hours without the need to be touched up and no primer.
Rimmel 1000 kisses lip tint, carry on cherry: really does what is says on the tube! The slim tip is a major bonus for me as it allows a great, precise application even for the blind-as-a-bat like me. The balm really moisturizes and makes the tint last longer. No need to re-apply every hour like most lippies, you don't feel it on your lips and they are not left dry at the end of the day.

I must say, after years of people telling me I should try a red lip, I gave in, at last. As you know I;m generally not a lipstick fan as I can't be doing with constant reapplication and they dry my lips out very quickly, but I'm really liking all these new moisturizing lip tints! Any suggestion?
Do I sport the rich, red lip, well?

Lil

Comments update (again...)

I have installed a new comments system so hopefully everyone will be able to leave comments noww.
You may be asked for a name and e-mail, but don't worry, other readers will NOT be able to contact you.
I REALLY hope this works.
As usual, let me know if you find any glitches or if it's working fine for you.
Thank you.

Lil

WOW BROWN DIY luxury creme tan, light/medium

If you are familiar with my blog and myself you will already be aware of Wow Brown (you can go back to see my reviews on the spray tan here ). If you aren't familiar with the brand I shall give you a quick brand background.
It's an Irish brand funded by two amazing ladies who decided to develop a sunless tanning range of products suitable for the pale complexion. And boy have they done it!

This is the product I will be reviewing

DIY luxury creme tan, light/medium, RRP  €21.95

I am honestly not the kind of beauty junkie that discards a product if it doesn't look pristine, so the very simple white and hot pink bottle and packaging don't phase me at all.

Let me start with the application: because on my colour-less skin ANY self tan mistake will show very clearly, I use a mitt. I also enrol the help of my other half for the hard to reach bits and for those areas my eyes won't allow me to see, even in a mirror. The biggest plus of this product for me is the colour guide, it's a big help for my bad eye sight as it allows me to very clearly see where I have applied it already.

I have to be honest and say that when it comes out of the bottle and as you glide it onto your skin, it's a very scary shade of brown and also could end up looking a little streaky in places. But fret not as that is not the colour you'll end up with. It's super easy to apply and does give you the time to really rub it in and correct possible mistakes.
I apply this on my face as well, although I can never get a perfect uniform colour because I can't be too precise with the mitt; I use a BB cream or tinted moisturiser to make it more even.

As the tan develops you will get a slight whiff of burnt digestive, but it's very bearable, especially if you leave it over night.

When you shower in the morning or after the 8 hours of colour developing, all the excess and streaks will just wash away completely, leaving you with a lovely natural glowing tan.

The brand claims the tan will stay on for 3 to 10 days, I guess they pretty much cover themselves with that. On my fairly dry body if I moisturise daily, the colour will look nice for 3 or 4 days, after which it starts to fade away quite evenly, again providing you keep your skin moisturised.
€21.95 might seem  a little pricey for just a bottle but I assure you get a lot of full body uses out of it.
I am definitely going to purchase another bottle when I eventually finish this one.

And here is the final results:

after one application

after another application a couple of days later

For more information, to buy this or other products and for everything you need to know, you can check their website on Wowbrown.com

Let me know if you've tried it too and what you think of it.

Lil

OOTD Come Fly With Me & an iclothing.ie review

 (please excuse the horrible frown)

This is the outfit I chose to travel back to Italy for a few days a couple of weeks ago.
The trousers are from iclothing.ie: you can find them here. At around Christmas time I won a €50 voucher on a Twitter giveaway they did so decided to treat myself to a few little things seeing as I hadn't done so since before Christmas. Other than the trousers I also bought this dress and this one. I haven't had the chance to wear them yet but I will post photos when I do.
I have to say I was EXTREMELY happy with the service they provided: I placed my order in the early afternoon and the morning after it was delivered. The garments were very well packaged, uncreased and everything was the right size. I am DEFINITELY buying from them again!
The trousers are an absolute dream to wear! Even after a whole day travelling on buses, coaches, plane and car, they were still super comfortable. And they even stretch to accommodate my Mediterranean hips and back side!
All the other pieces in my outfit I've had for absolute years and were all bought in Italy, suitcase included (I have been asked about it before).
I know it could have easily been a white overload but I would have never gone for this ensamble without a bit of a tan on. I would have broken it up with a coloured/patterned top or blazer.

Lil

Even a stone...

"Even a stone can be worn down with enough rain.” 

Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

Save Your Skin: La Roche-Posay melanoma awareness month Ireland

May is Melanoma Awareness month here in Ireland and La Roche-Posay have something to share with you, so first of, please go ahead and do me the favour of watching this:

This year they decided to particularly aim at men, as they are less likely to worry about sun screen and sun damage.
I have to admit I was gobsmacked by the numbers! 1 in 8 is A LOT!!!

If these stories snapshots aren't enough and you wish to read more about the impact melanoma has on people's lives, you can read about my own experience in this guest blog post I put together a while ago.

I would like to take this opportunity to launch an appeal to ANYONE reading: please, PLEASE DO use sun screen, DO keep an eye on your moles and DO get them mapped/checked once a year.
Everyone should do this, but especially those with a very fair complexion and moles.
I could go on for paragraphs on end but the bottom line is, we all know how dangerous the Sun is and what damages it can cause.
In the past I have persuaded a few people to get in the habit of getting their moles checked and if this post leads to at least one individual doing it, then my work here is done.

Melanoma IS deadly if not caught in time, and even if you're lucky to catch it in time, it's the most horrific struggle I wouldn't even wish on my worst enemy.

I realise this post is a bit all over the place but my emotions are running high and can't quite get a logical hold of them, I apologise.

In case you wish to gather more information, you can visit the SOS Save Our Skin website.

Thank you for taking the time to read,

Lil

I spy with my little (dodgy) eye...

A new layout!!!!!!!

So? I'm DYING to know what you guys think!

I will have a new header on in the next few days.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think, and also if your browser doesn't see it perfectly alligned.

Thank you,

Lil

Put a spring in your step

I really shouldn't have, because I'm absolutely skint, but the other day I went to have a nosey around in New Look and here's a few beauties I fell for

Taupe Neon Flash Platform Court Shoes £22.99

Black Suede 3-Part Cork Wedges £29.99

Suedette Peep Toe £19.99

Head Over Heels Printed Peep Toe Court Shoes £35.00 

Stone Canvas Cork Wedge Shoes £19.99

Sparkly ombre sea nails

I would like to start this post by giving myself a tiny pat on the back. It's not often I blow my own trumpet, but I honestly didn't think I could achieve something like this with my eye sight.

Here's what I used:

l-r, in order of application: Barry M mint green, 17 Cosmetics, China Glaze flyin' high, Kiko Frozen Lacquer in 04, Angelica multi coloured glitter, Claire's multi coloured glitter with stars.

I applied 2 coats of Barry M Mint Green, then I used the sponging technique. You can easily find several tutorials on YouTube. For easier, more controllable application, I cut out a piece from a make up sponge, rather than the whole width of the sponge.
From the Claire's polish I only picked up the little stars as I had already applied a glitter polish, on the tips only, fading up towards the cuticles.
It may not be professional but it absolutely does the job for me!

Have you used this technique yourself? Do you like my version?

Lil

TRESemme split remedy leave-in treatment

Whenever anyone asks me what's the part of my body I prefer or would never change, I will ALWAYS say my hair.
I have now had very long hair since I was 18 and I it's safe to say it's probably my Linus' blanket.
I have to admit though that, as much as I look after it with care and products, though I am not as good when it comes to trimming.
Especially the last 4 years I have trimmed the ends probably every nine or ten months, and when that happened I have found myself literally shedding a few tears when I saw the scissors chopping away and hair fall to the ground.
Inevitably this lead to the appearance of horrible split ends, though thankfully not looking too bad as my hair it's very hydrated and healthy.
So when I decided to try something for it I turned to TRESemme and their new line of split remedy products.
I didn't go for the shampoo or conditioner as I didn't wanna change mine and these didn't have very good reviews, plus I suspected they would be incredibly heavy on my hair. I also didn't go for the masque because I have a pet hate of products that you have to wash off.
So I went for the leave-in treatment and I'm very glad I did.

The brand claims: Protect your hair from the damaging effects of styling including breakage, frizz and dryness with this lightweight leave-in formula. It works to restore moisturisation and softness to repair up to 80% of split ends, leaving your hair visibly smoother and shiny looking.
How to Use: start with TRESemmé Split Mend Shampoo and Split Mend Conditioner.Dispense 2-3 pumps of treatment into hands. Distribute through towel dried or damp hair, concentrating on the ends. Do not rinse.You can also apply a small amount on the ends of dry hair for added smoothing and conditioning throughout the day.

My verdict:. I use it 2 or 3 times a week on dry or wet hair, I only apply 1 pump on my ends as I feel it would weight down my hair if I did on the whole length. It pretty much fixed a good 80% of split ends and although if you look closely you can see where it has split, the tips do look sealed. With this leave-in treatment I have been able to reclaim my natural big waves as hair dries a lot smoother and I now only straighten it for special occasions. The gorgeous TRESemme trade mark fragrance is a lovely added bonus. I have also noticed a major improvement in breakage.
I would most definitely recommend it to whoever is looking for a split ends remedy.

Let me know if you too have tried it or plan to

Lil

Aintree at your own peril

(see what I did there with the title?!)

Anyway!
It's that time of year again!!! Ladies day at numerous (horse) races all around Ireland and the UK and you just can't escape them, weither it's for the winners of the races, or for the (very questionable) fashion choices.

I LOVE horses, and I did start training as a jockey when I was very young (I bet you didn't see that one coming), however I enjoy studying Ladies' day outfits more than the horses themselves.

So I thought I'd do on here what I normally do with my friends: a good awl Fashion Police session!
In this post I focus on today's Aintree event, in Liverpool.

(all photos from the UK Daily Mail ebsite)

I see a lot of too small or too big shoes. I predict a shower of gel pads/in soles and a ton of super sore feet and blisters. I personally never saw the point in buying/wearing shoes that are not your size...

look! 2 Christmas trees with the most hideous of hair extentions


I introduce you to: Ï forgot to orange up from the ankles down, I love my satsuma face and my hair piece is 766 shades too light", "I love to sport an orange forehead and a white face and I have the worst fake tanning job on my legs" and "I hope the scaffolding of hair spray doesn't fall down and these poofy sleeves are doing the contrary of disguising the top of my arms and shoulders

I hear she's gonna be introduced to bras and properly fitted clothes very, very soon

on the left I give you "how to recycle your Easter eggs wrapping paper"

Classy!!!!!!

For more "entertainment", please see here.

I hope you enjoied the show...

I'm legally blind, so what?!

"Oh! But...where's your guide dog? And your cane?! So you can never get a surgery to fix it? How do you cope?!".

These are but a few of the questions I get thrown at me pretty much on a daily basis.

When people hear the word "blind", even with "legally" attached to it, they immediately link it to "seeing nothing".

I love the look on people's faces when they "realise", and how they quickly have to point out "but your make up is gorgeous! and your hair do! and your outfit is not miss matched!". A few times I actually have told someone it was down to my make-up artist/hair dresser/stylist. Hey, I need a new "spin" on the story every now and again and if I don't have fun with the situation, who will?!

Dogs scare the absolute daylight out of me after being attacked by one as a child, so getting a guide one has always been completely out of the question. Besides I don't really need one. Same goes for a cane; I do misjudge or miss the odd step from time to time, but who doesn't, right?!

Many of the people I know very often tell me they tend to forget I am "differently sighted" (I am SO politically correct like that!) most of the time, until I have to take out my phone to text someone or I ask them to read something far away for me. I have to be honest and admit that at 28 I still don't know how to react to that.
Was I wrong in not acting on my "different ability" so far and not taking "advantage" of it? Or is the fact people have to be reminded, every now and again, that I AM actually legally blind, a credit to my constant strive for normality and independence?

Since I was a teenager and had access to the Internet I have constantly kept myself updated in regards to treatments or (im!)possible surgeries to try and fix, or even just slightly better my vision. And for that reason I know that there is no operation available at the moment to improve my 1/20 vision (nope, that is NOT a typo, it IS 1/20).
It's the aspect I probably struggle with the most; mankind has allegedly gone to the Moon and back, cloned animals (and other human beings?!), invented pop candy, so on and so forth....but still hasn't been able to come up with something ingenious for us in the "not completely blind, but not with a decent eye sight either" limbo.
However, because you just never know, because it was free, and because I find it interesting to discuss my eyes, I recently decided to go for a laser eye surgery consultation.
I have to be honest, it was NOT a pleasant day. Even though I knew exactly what I was going to be told and what to expect, it STILL went on to distress me. Expectedly I was told they couldn't do anything for me: surprise, surprise!
I guess it's different telling people on a daily basis that I'm stuck with this, and actually being told by someone in the know.
It really did upset me big time, it still does: the constant thought of knowing what amazing things I could do with "that little bit extra of vision" just eats away at me every single day.
Sure I could be judged for seeing the glass half empty (hands up who drank that half, by the way!), but why should I just focus on what I can do, when it's NEVER enough and constantly makes me wanna do more?!
Recently I am finding trying to deal with this aspect, extremely hard. I think the fact I can't find a job has also critically polarised the whole thing in my head.
If you don't have a disability, you just cannot comprehend the constant feeling of frustration, the unflagging sense of "I'll never get there, no matter how hard I try", the perpetual notion of "you'll never be good enough".
And I have to live with that every waking hour of the day.
EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

So to answer to the query "how do you cope?": I just have to.
Or else.....

Lil

St. Patrick's Day nails

817 Cosmetics Peacock and China Glaze Blue Hawaiian

I was very busy last week-end and this week so I didn't have a lot of time to do a very elaborate design/application.
It's just a very simple base of 2 coats of Peacock and then Blue Hawaiian lightly painted on the tips with a fading effect.
What do you think? (please take no note of the shocking application around the edges).

a couple of OOTDs

jacket by Rinascimento, 2nd last winter collection
top from Dunnes Stores, €12, also second last winter collection
jeggings, Miss Selfridge from 3 years ago
wedge zip up lined boots, € 35 from a little shop in Florence

3/4 pleat dress from Boohoo, €20, they currently only have it in orange though
knitted leggings also from Boohoo, but they are no longer in stock
boots, I've had them for about four years

a little haul

This was a €14 TK Maxx bargain I just couldn't resist! The actual colour is a slight colder hue than what it looks like on the photo.
On closer inspection I was even more satisfied with how inexpensive it was because of the pannelling and structure .
I think this will easily be an all year round item, dressed up or down according to the weather and occasion.

I couldn't resist these pj's from Penneys/Primark either!
These are a size 12/14 and were €12. I will never understand their sizes as long as I live, the trousers are a little too large around the waist/hips, and the t-shirt is a little too tight.
Dear Primark: how about you start making clothes in a 10/12 too? ...Just a suggestion...

POTD: sparkles flyin' high

China Glaze Flyin' High & Angelica multi coloured sparkly polish

outdoors

indoors, without flash

I wish the photos did justice to the Angelica multi coloured sparkles. I tried in a million ways to picture them but to no avail.
You can find the Angelica range in Penneys/Primark

I think that you should let it burn

Nope, we're not talking about (the super fit!) Usher today...well we can actually, love the dude, have for YEARS!

But I digress...
I know I'm not the only candle lover around so I was just curious to know what everyone is currently burning.
For the last year or so me and the boyfriend have been making(and using) our own vanilla candles, HOWEVER I couldn't let this chance pass right before Christmas when I saw these two wonders on for €20 for the two of them!!!

Christmas Cookie and Blueberry Muffin

I've been alternating them since and there's still half of them to go through!

So which one do you reach for right now?

Lil

The Versatile Blogger Award

I rarely get nominated for ANYTHING so I'm always surprised, flattered and extremely grateful when I do, especially by someone I don't know on a friends basis.
So you can imagine my utter surprise when the gorgeous Hannah from Love, Life and Make Up nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.


The process behind the award is:
- thank the person that nominated you with a link back - Cheers Hun and here's your link back
- tell 7 things about yourself.
- pass this on to 11 newly discovered blogs and let them know they received the award.

So...7 things:
1) in my teenage I was a regional athletics champion for 3 years running.
2) I haven't been able to wear any make up for 3 weeks because my right eye has been more sensitive than usual :-(
3) I ALWAYS have to wear something colourful
4) when I was a kid I wanted to become a fire fighter
5) I despise hot, sticky weather
6) I love jazz music
7) I used to volunteer at a horse riding centre in exchange with the possibility of riding their horses around, because I couldn't afford a horse or lessons

And here, in no particular order, are the 10 blogs:
Away with the fairies
Behind green eyes
Big Fashionista
CherrySue, Doin' the do
CornflakeGirl's musings
May loves make up
Nicoletta's beauty space
Chic beauty blog
Benebelle
Le petit jardin de Liloo
Lipglossiping


Thank you for bringing me hours of fun reading and pretty colourful pictures in my day.

Lil

Claire's nail wraps review

Because my eyes don't allow me working on/drawing very small details like nail art making would be, for the past few weeks I have been scanning shops of all sorts for nail wraps.
I have to be honest, 90% looked SUPER tacky and definitely not what I'd like to see my nails wear.
Note to the companies that design and commercialise these wraps: not every woman or girl is into pink and/or tacky.
In the end these Claire's butterflies covered silver wraps were the only ones I fancied and I thought at €7.95 they would be REALLY good...... Man was I wrong!!!!!

If I was not impressed with the Essence ones I tried a while back (check the review here ) I have to be honest and say these disappointed me beyond any low expectation!
To start with they're a NIGHTMARE to peel off, the edge you use to pick them off is inevitably going to get damaged. Secondly, no matter how much you try, you can NEVER get them completely ironed out, you'll always get some creases or air pockets somewhere.
Then it comes to filing off the excess: instructions suggest a couple of strokes...you wanna multiple that by 50. They're really "stretchy" and thick you end up having to rip off the excess.
They might have looked appealing in the packaging but once on they really do look super cheap.
I don't have any photos to show you because after I tried them on my pinkies I decided I disliked them so much I didn't even attempt to complete one hand.

8 euros I'll never get back. Stay well away if you don't like tacky nails.

Has anyone else tried them or the glittery ones? Just interested if it was just me that was utterly disappointed. Let me know!

Lil

Please GQ hire me!

I must start this post by saying that I personally like lads' mags. They can rustle up really good articles as far as journalistic quality is concerned.
And they also do a good photo shoot or two...
I love photography, it's always interested me. in all its different aspects. I know it's not every one's taste but I REALLY appreciate a good (not too cheap) glamour photo shoot, which is basically the main component of this type of mag.

When I heard the gorgeous Michelle Williams was going to do a spread with GQ riding the Marilyn wave, following her role in "My Week With Marilyn". I was really looking forward to seeing the photos. And boy was I disappointed!

The photos(you can easily google them) are really cold and impersonal and don't really capture the essence the whole shoot should have had. To be honest I personally could have taken better, nicer photos.
Although I appreciated the general effort to not over airbrush the images, the cover was just a complete and utter disaster!
If you're going to leave the shape and shadows of one side of her tummy and abs, why completely erase the other side?! And don't get me started on the fact they've "copied and pasted" someone else's chest on her, I'm blind as a bat but even I can see it;s just totally wrong!!!
I would have done a million light years more efficient retouching job!

What do you guys think of the cover ? How about the rest of the photos?