Sephora Make Up Shampoo

I just can't live without my makeup sponges anymore, makeup just doesn't go on right without them for me but I also hate cleaning them. This is why I have two, I did have three but one had seen better days. I'm always looking for ways to clean them quickly but properly. I had a cleaner that I had started to like but unfortunately I left that in Ireland and can't get it here. 

Now since I'm in Canada where they have sephora I headed there to see what I could find. I used this last year too but for my brushes and didn't want to get a separate cleaner this time, so I thought I'd give it ago and see how well it works for my sponges. The shampoo costs $10 and is a small bottle but I only needed a tiny bit so I think it will last a little while. 

I ran the sponge under the warm water and then put a bit of the shampoo into my hand and rib it into the sponge. As soon as I ran it under the water again and squeezed out the remaining shampoo I could see all the foundation running out with it leaving a really nice and clean sponge behind. I've used some other shampoos and solid cleaners and sometimes the sponge is still a little stained but this really brought it back up. I am quiet impressed with the results to be honest. I knew it would clean them but it really cleaned them and didn't cost that much.

Pink Hair

Why pink?!

For the last few years I've really started to dislike my hair. It started a couple of years ago when I went to a really stressful time which resulted in my hair falling out and becoming a lot thinner then it has ever been. I ended up with about a 1/3 of what it has always been. Lucky for me that my hair has been so thick that it was as if I just had very thin unhealthy hair. I started to wear it up a lot to hide the areas that were the worst. It took about a year for it to start growing back properly and then it was stubley and sticking up so I continued to wear it ways to hide as much of it as I could. It continued to grow but ended up really thin as it got longer and thick on the top. 

Eventually this october I got it cut in a bob as it had finally gotten to that length and completely even. It's not like it was before but it's much better then it got so it made me happy even though I hate my hair this short and my natural colour. I tried some highlights but it wasn't much different from what it was.

I was telling my sister that I wanted something different and she suggested she could do something with it and I said I'd let her do anything. she does her own hair and it's always gorgeous. She then suggested pink and I thought ok why not.

It took it rounds of bleaching as my hair is so dark, the first was grand and wasn't a bother but the second stung a little. I also used purple shampoo in between washes to help take the yellow out of my hair. 

After washing the second round of bleach out my sister fell asleep like really asleep couldn't not be woken by an earthquake asleep so I was on my own for the pink. I went with bleach london Rosé and I had to do this twice as the first one turned out peach.

I did what the bottle said but wasn't happy with the result so I tried it again as I still had half a bottle and it worked out much better and the pastel pink l had wanted the whole time. This time I put it in bone dry and not the towel dry the bottle suggested and it made all the difference.

I also left it for longer than the recommended time which I don't know makes a difference or not but it was in about 50 mins. It says it should last 2 to 1 washes and I'm thinking of keeping it pink for a little while aso will be investing in a good bit of this stuff. It's got me hooked!

Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas is really creeping up fast this year, before we know it will be the new year and we will all be back to making resolutions and trying to stick to them. 

I've been doing alot of Christmas baking and had a stall at a local christmas fair recently too. My stall was full of cupcakes all Christmas themed in minis and normal sized cupcakes.

I ended up staying up all night to get it all baked and decorated but was worth it in the end. Plus my favourite time to bake is usually 3 or 4am. 

It went pretty well actually and I had lots of fun doing it. 

We put the Christmas tree up this week too and I'm so fussy about. I have to put them all on in a certain order and colour so that they have an even amount throughout. I even pack them that way then I put it all away the year before to make it easier for myself the next year. I'm pretty sure other people do that too right??. My sister helped me do it this year and we had great fun even though I'm pretty sure the sitting room will always have glitter in it now and so will everything I wore while doing it. 

The other years we had two trees in the house but this year we just have the one in the sitting room so there is a lot more decorations then we need. The theme we go with is red and gold. Red because it's a Christmas colour and gold because it goes with the style of the room.

When I was saying that I have a certain way to put them all on I wasn't joking first I put on all the baubles, red first then gold glitter ones, then plain gold, then red then the mixed colours all in size, after that we move onto the glitter handpicked decorations like the shoes, bags, ballerinas, dresses ( can you tell I come from a family of mostly girls haha) and after that it's the "good" ornaments the ones given as gifts or collected while traveling or bought for a special reason. 

Then it's time for the angel on top which usually consists of an argument as the youngest of my sisters insists its her turn every year.. for 22 years. We also have a little tradition with putting robins in the tree because way before the elf on the self we had robins in our house and my Grandparents that was the little birdy that told on us if we were bold. It worked wonders especially in my Grannys I'd be afraid to do anything bold incase they told on me, it's nice to keep it going though I love traditions like that. 

Now that that's all explained I can tell you about the best advent calendar I found. It's a Tea advent calendar. I don't know if you're all aware but I love tea all tea just obsessed so I love this. It has 12 different teas so two of each for 24 days and Christmas themed too. It's by the English Tea shop and I got it in Tkmaxx for 8 or 9 euro. 

This year we will be having family visiting form England for Christmas and my niece will be celebrating her 1st Christmas since arriving a month ago so it's going to be a really exciting time. The turkey has been ordered and it's the biggest that the butchers sell and will hopefully fit in our oven as we seem to be feeding an army on Christmas day and I can't wait. I love getting dinner ready on Christmas day it's one of the best traditions we have as a family all working together to get it on the table and prepared since the day before.  

Goss Meets Live

A couple of nights ago I went onto instagram to find that I had won tickets from Goss.ie to an event that they where running called Goss Meets Live. The ticket was for myself and a plus one and turns out my sister had got one too. So myself, my sister, Mam and Aunty headed along on Sunday to Lillie Bordellos for the event.

Goss meets live was an event by Goss.ie and sponsored by Vit Hit. Being interviewed where Grace from Faces by Grace, James Kavanagh, Marisa Carter from Cocoa Brown Tan and James Patrice.  I follow all of these on snapchat so as soon as I saw the lineup I knew I would enjoy it. They were all as lovely as they seem online and I love seeing that and all so down to earth too. They also had some lovely cupcakes and pizza and even a few VitHit games like bowling and bottle flipping. I'm not so great at bottle flipping or bowling by the looks of it. It was really nice to hear about everyone talk their lives and business and not be behind a camera haha. 

They also gave everyone a goodie bag which had lots of nice treats inside. The goodie bag contained Cocoa Browns Chocolate whip, 2 bottles of VitHit (Mandarin and Apple & Elderflower), 2 Packets of Proper Corn (Sweet Coconut & Vanilla and Smooth Peanut & Almond) , Essence Liquid Lipstick 05 peach party and Essence nail polish 24 chrome paradise.

They also had a Magic mirror to take lovely selfie at. I love how they turned out and love the idea for events it looks like a giant mirror with an interactive screen that you can even write your name or a message on to print off on the photo. I had a great evening and loved walking down Grafton Street at Christmas on the way home.

Lime Crime Velvetines

Going back a while I went to the Beauty Show in the RDS and picked up a few bits and pieces. One of these was the Lime Crime Velvetines liquid matte lipstick. I got the shade Red Velvet. I've never used any products from these guys before but was told it was very long lasting which I love the sound of,  there's nothing worse then having to keep reapplying lipstick all day or night long or every time you take a sip of your drink. 

I tried this the next time I was heading out and my sister tried it as well. We both where really impressed with how long it lasted. I was sipping away and eating nibbles all evening and it hardly made a difference to my lips. 

It goes on really silky and creamy and was easy to apply with no bleeding or leaving marks on my teeth (most embarrassing thing ever). It doesn't feel very dry on and didn't leave my lips dried out and was easy enough to take off compared to some long lasting  lipsticks I've tried out before. I won't name any names but I once ended up with my lips stuck to each other, kind of felt like tar and took forever to get off. The matte effect is really nice and the shade is a perfect red, not to orange or dark just a nice red which I loved from the moment I saw it. I sometimes think I'm a bit too pale for reds but this one doesn't make me too place at all, not for winter anyway. 

The second time I wore it I did need to reapply it but only after wearing it all morning and afternoon, so that's not really that bad at all.

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Cocoa Brown The Goddess Collection In-Store Launch

I went along to the Cocoa Brown launch for The Goddess Collection on Tuesday. Last week tickets for the launch went online for free and included a goodie bag. It took place over in Dundrum in Penney's and I went over with my Mam and 3 sisters. I also got to meet the lovely Marissa Carter who is as lovely as she seem on her snapchat and the other ladies from Cocoa Brown who are all so friendly too. It was a really nice atmosphere and I even got a picture with Marissa. 

I had never used any of the goddess oils before even though I keep meaning to try one out, so off course I had to get the collection and give them all a go. I can see myself getting a bit addicted to these and walking around like a human disco ball but at least I'll be happy.

In Goddess collection was €13 for 3 30ml bottles, one of each of the shades which are Golden Goddess, Ice Goddess (the newest) and Rose Gold Goddess. I can imagine these being very handy for the christmas season and the even have that gorgeous smell as the other cocoa brown products.

When I registered for my ticket it said I'd get a goodie bag and oh my god was it and amazing goodie bag! In the goodie bag it contained Chocolate Whip Oil-Free body moisturiser 200ml, Kind Shampoo and Conditioner 200ml, Night and Day Tan 150ml can, tough stuff 75ml and last but not least 5oml tube of Bronzing Gel instant tan in matte. How amazing is this goodie bag I've used and loved some of these already but have yet to try the night and day tan and the bronzing gel so now I have no excuse and since my summer tan has completely disappeared now I can see them being tried out pretty soon. 

What I love most about all these are that I suffer from eczema and I can use them with out a problem. The Cocoa Brown tan was the first tan that I successfully used and didn't make my skin irritated or make the eczema stand out more. I recently started using the shampoo and conditioner when my hands started to break out again from the changing weather and it doesn't irritate them or sting at all which is fantastic most of the others I've used over the years usually have no fragrance and my hair doesn't last all that long between washes so I've already fallen in love with it and they are all pretty good price wise too and everywhere. If they were to bring out a shower gel I'd be over the moon!

What I won

I was lucky enough recently to win this amazing prize through a twitter competition. I retweeted a competition tweet from @davelackie and later on went on to twitter and noticed a tweet saying I had won. 

I love Lancome and was so excited I couldn't wait to get it. I also found it kind of funny how I have just moved back from Canada and then win something from there. It was even sent through the courier company I used in work over there.

Anyway more about the prize. It all came in the cutest makeup bag for a start and a lovely note. I also got a little travel cocktail shaker too, this thing is adorable and can see it being used a lot in the near future, I do love a nice cocktail. Everything is so cute and travel size, I have a strange fascination with travel size products which is probably because A all he traveling and moving I have done over the past few years or B the fact that I like to carry my life in my handbag and travel size takes up less room. 

Heres what's in the makeup bag.

Bi-Facil Double -action eye makeup remover 50ml

Rénergie Lift lifting and firming cream 15ml

Visionnaire advanced skin corrector 5ml (love this stuff I'm already a huge fan)

Color Design Lipstick 329 Love it (cream)

Color Design Eye brightening all in one 5 shadow & liner palette 301 Mauve Chérie

Hypnose Custom volume mascara in black 2.07ml

Surprise Baby Shower

My sister is due a baby next month and so I wanted to throw her a surprise baby shower. I've had great help from my mam and sisters organising it all. 

The theme for the party was afternoon tea so lots of cakes, treats and bunting. Since she will only find out the baby's gender once it's born I tried to keep it as natural as possible. It may have turned out a little girlier then I had first thought it would but it's very much my sisters style and pretty so I knew she would like it.

The decorations.

Bunting is from dunnes stores (multicolor) and starbuys (flowery) and cost less than €5 for both.
I also got the 3 paper pompoms in dunnes Stores for about €3 and the bigger white one in Ikea.

The yellow babyshower banner I got in Mr.Price as well as the purple babyshower balloons, paper plates and the guest badges. I headed to ikea again to pick up some fabric for a tablecloth, I wanted something floral and I knew I had seen the fabric there before. I got 2 meters for €12, while I was there I also got some flower napkins and pastel ribbon. 

For the balloons I got a disposable helium tank in Argos for 27.99 which blew up 30 of them. I am not the biggest fan of them so I got my sister to blow them up for me and another to arrange them all. I got the clear balloons in Tescos for about €3 and the coloured ones in starbuys for a couple of euro.

The invitation.

I made these myself at home but printing out my invitation on card from the art and hobby shop and used some patterned cardboard as the surround, I used different colors like pink, blue, yellow and green and mixed and match them with coloured envelopes like a pink invite in a blue envelope.

Prediction cards.

I found a template for the surround online and added in my details on the inside, then changed the size before printing and again used the card that I used for the invites. I also added the date of the shower to the bottom of it. After the shower we had a little peek at these the messages where lovely and we will wait and see if any one got the right predictions. 

The food.

As the theme was a tea party I wanted to keep the food to small bites. 

I made baby shower themed mini cupcakes, macarons, finger sandwiches and a small chocolate and buttercream cake topped with fresh strawberries.

 My sister Siobhán made gluten free rock buns and gorgeous chocolate truffles and my sister clodagh made chocolate covered strawberries. 

Áisling really enjoyed the surprise and couldn't believe we had all kept it from her this whole time. Everyone brought her such lovely gift, I don't think any of us expected so much they ll so great. 

Lush Mask of Magnaminty

So my skin has been breaking out like crazy these last few weeks and I know it probably has to do with my skin routine. Before I moved I would always use facemasks and deep cleaning scrubs and cleaners but I've kind of fallen out of the habit, mainly because I didn't bring a lot of the stuff with me. I would have had to check in another bag literally. Anyway after getting sick if it I eventually made my way to Lush which is really close to my job so I don't know what took me so long, maybe avoiding the building with Sephora in it because we all know how dangerous that can be to our bank accounts. Anyway I picked up the Mask of Magnaminty which I think was about $15 and this one was made by Kate so thanks Kate.

It's a handmade mask for the face and the body made with peppermint, Kaolin and scrubby aduki beans that deeply cleanse the skin. It's a really popular mask and when I was buying it at the shop I was told I was lucky there was still one left as they usually sell out quickly.

I couldn't wait for my day off to relax and put on a mask and watch a movie which is exactly what I did. Dirty Dancing was the movie of choice and also a hot chocolate. I applied it with a foundation brush ... clean foundation brush which has never actually been near any foundation I like to use it for facemasks only. I left it on maybe a little longer than I should have! I got caught up in the movie and forgot the time. It didn't cause anything bad to happen or anything but was a bit harder to get off. My skin felt nice afterwards though and since I've been using it every few days and it's starting to really make a difference plus the smell is so nice I could almost eat it but don't worry I won't do that, I don't think it would help my skin.

So final thoughts on this are that I love it and completely understand the hype of it. It's not too expensive either and it's lasting pretty well. Also the tubs are recyclable and they are against animal testing so even better.

3 Months in Vancouver

It's hard to believe that this week marks the 3 months since I got on a plane in Dublin and moved to Canada, it has just flown by so far. There's so much that I've done and seen since I got here and a lot of nights out but here's a few things that I've really loved.

Stanley Park and the Totem Poles.

The parks huge and has a walkway the whole way around the outside which is quite a walk but worth doing especially if the sun is out.

The sea wall going into the park and a cannon in the park that faces the water and goes off at 9pm every night. 

Watching the sun setting at sunset beach in English Bay.

 

This is literally the perfect spot to watch the sun setting and the beach is full of big logs to sit on and enjoy the view. Below of the sunset walking towards English Bay.

Seeing the city at night. 

The views of the city at night are really something. As you walk along the water the buildings are all lit up as is science world, the stadium and even the trees in Yaletown.

 

 

Birthday in Vancouver.

My birthday was in February and I wasn't in canada all that long. I spent the day with Family at Granville Island and went out for a lovely dinner. Of course being my birthday it poured down, just like at home. I had a great day, the meal was gorgeous and I got a gorgeous surprise of present from my family here and cards from home. 

A rainy Granville island. 

Whistler

The hostel that I was staying at had a whistler day trip that I decided to go on. We left early that morning stopping along the way at a few lookouts and waterfalls. 

When we got to whistler there was a few activities to choose from but I was definitely not brave enough to try the bungee jumping or anything like it so ended up going snow tubing. 

Snow tubing is so much fun I wasn't sure if I would even like it at first but after the first time down I couldn't wait to try the bigger lanes, the gondola up the mountain was the worst part or maybe going back down.

I loved seeing so much snow I have honestly never seen so much in my life and loved it even if i nearly fell over almost every minute.

Starting a new job and moving into a house. 

After a while it was time to get a job and a place to live. Within a couple of weeks I found a job and a place to live and moved in, until then I had been staying downtown but moved out a little so now I travel by skytrain everyday which is really handy for where I live and where I work. The most exciting part was unpacking and having drawers and a wardrobe to put everything in.

Paddy's Day.

Since I now have a job I spent my Paddy's day in work. I was lucky enough to have the morning off though so I went to the Blarney Stone pub in Gastown to meet Family for a gorgeous Irish breakfast before going to work. 

I released the day before that I didn't even own any green clothes so quickly ran into H&M on my way home to see f they had any green tops, lucky they did and I ended up getting a green jumper for $10. The breakfast was great with rashers, white and black pudding sausages and even some fried bread and scrambled eggs. I had a great morning and a sober Paddy's day but it was really good and different from anything I've done before and I even saw pitchers of green beer! That I've never seen before. 

Holi Festival.

 

Last Friday which happened to be good friday I went to a holi festivel. I didn't know much about t apart from throwing coloured powder at each other and who could have thought that would be so much fun.

I think I was mainly covered in red some even getting in my mouth yuck and got some strange looks from other bus passengers on the way home and on the skytrain. It took a while to wash it out of my hair and my white top is now pink but it was worth it.