5 Things #12

5 Songs

Haim - Falling

Foals - My Number

John Newman - Losing Sleep

Sub Focus - Turn Back Time

Walking On Cars - Tick Tock

5 To Look At

I won't lie, I may have sent a few Snapchats of me as Snow White to various people. No-one seemed impressed.


Exam time equals 3 times more films than usual & my favourite recently was Wolf of Wall Street. Leo is MAGNIFICENT.

I know, I know, I'm immature. But seeing Taylor Swift being kicked at the Grammy's made my day.

Maybe everyone hates the thought of VDay so early, but hey ho, these puns made me chortle. (I will be spending Valentine's alone, probably in work. I'm sending a card to myself.


Photoshop is one of the most talked about things these days - I won't lie, I occasionaly edit my photos when my nail polish is all around my nails, or to add my text etc. But this music video shows the transformation happening. (I don't understand it either)

5 That Made Me Smile

I found these gorgeous Converse reduced on Asos, mulled it over, decided I wanted them.. And they were gone! Off I went in a mood, but on return my friend told me they were back in a six. Hopefully my 6 & 1/2 feet will squeeze!

I'm currently doing my exams for Semester 1 of Erasmus, & I've two down, two to go. I'm dreading the final two but one has already gone really well!

I couldn't help but laugh at this tweet from a police station... Imagine coming out of Miss Selfridge & finding everyone else was gone home!

I'm not actually going, but like half the country I was up to get Garth Brooks' tickets, for my parents. They have been bought, but I've told my mum I couldn't get them - It's her birthday present.

Speaking of my mum, I will be seeing her in one week & one day... Plane tickets are booked! (I'll see the rest of my family too, obviously.) 

How was your week?
Chloe x

Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in Metallic Pomengranate

First up, if you think there'll be photos of this actually on my eyes, go away. I spent FORTY FIVE MINUTES trying to get a photo of this at work.. They all left me looking like I had the eyelids of a 90 year old or a severe eye infection. But I promise, Maybelline's Colour Tattoo in Metallic Pomegranate is actually nice.. In real life anyway. 

The story behind this is that I bought a variety of Colour Tattoos before I went to a festival last year, figuring they'd be handy to just smear on my eyelids (They were.) Back to reality, & I realised as hard as I tried, bright blue & purple eyelids weren't going to take me far. So I picked up a few more wearable colours, like Metallic Pomegranate. (It's a serious effort writing that just so you know.)

The colour tattoos are housed in a clear glass jar, with a black & coloured lid that corresponds with the colour inside. Handy until you realise you put the wrong lids on the wrong pots & your lovely white highlight is actually now cranberry & you look like you have a bruised eye.. But anyway.

Metallic Pomegranate is a cranberry coloured creamy shadow, with little flecks of gold shimmer. It's soft & easy to work with, plus it can be patted onto your lid or built up for intense colour. They also work as excellent bases for powder eyeshadows - I've been putting this under a shimmery cranberry colour from the Sleek Celestial palette & it keeps it perfect throughout the day. They can also of course be worn alone, but be careful, especially if you have oily eyelids - Primer is needed, or they will crease a tad & start to fade. It's not very pretty.

It is red-toned, but not overly so - It's more of a purple-red-brown. I know, I'm killing it with descriptions today. My point is, it's actually really wearable! Especially when you want a bit of a smoky eye that's not just blacks & silver.

Even if Metallic Pomegranate isn't your colour, I recommend checking the range out if you haven't already - I have about seven at this stage & use them regularly! They cost €10.49 in Boots, but are often on 3-for-2 offers etc.

Chloe x

Essence Longlasting Lipstick in 09 Wear Berries!

A few months ago, I picked up another of Essence's Long Lasting Lipsticks & was impressed, big time. I mentioned that I wanted to try out a few other shades, & for €2.49, it would be rude not to buy another. Or another three. But today, I'm going to show you the one that's taking up space in my bag for the last while.

Wear Berries is a pinky-purple shade. At first glance, I thought maybe it was similar to MAC's Up The Amp, but it's definitely a lot pinker. In the bullet, it's a deep berry shade, but swatched, it's quite a bit lighter. And, just to say it again, pinker.

I actually cannot deny how well these lipsticks apply - They're so creamy, & do not dry my lips out in the slightest. There's a slight sheen to them, but they're not glossy at all - Just very creamy and smooth! I'm not sure about the long lasting claims though - Three hours later or so, & my lips sport a barely there berry stain, but wear time isn't that impressive. However it does fade very evenly, & I find that it's a colour I have no problem applying on the go because it's not too bright or dark. 

I did originally think that Wear Berries was going to be a real winter shade (it's snowing here, winter shades are still appropriate) but it's definitely an all-round kind of lipstick - It translates to a deep but natural colour on the lips. I wore it to my oral exam yesterday & that went well, so I'm putting it down to the lipstick. And using it as an excuse to go buy every other colour.

Do you like purple toned lipsticks?

Chloe x

Lancome Vernis in Love Nail Polish: 179M Madame Tulipe

Sorry for the lack of posts this week (All last weekends were scheduled!), I had an exam yesterday morning that required some serious last minute cramming.. Right up to 5AM yesterday morning. Stress like that requires a treat, right? So enter my first high-end polish - Lancome's Vernis in Love. 

The bottle is sturdy, with a nice glass bottle & glossy black lid, and the Lancome rose printed on the bottle. I spent ages looking through the colours - When a nail polish is €18, you want to love it! I'm lacking in red polishes, so this deep red stood out to me. 

No joke, one coat is all it took for some serious colour & shine. I was impressed! I ended up adding a second coat though, just for longevity. The colour didn't change at all, so if you're in a rush, you can definitely do a quick coat & run. Sounds all good, right? It was.. Until the next day. Forget the extra coat for longevity, you'd need Superglue to keep this on your nails. In fairness, I can't be bothered with a topcoat because I'm always changing my nail polish, but I still don't expect massive chips the next day.

I won't lie, the chipping after paying that price puts me off buying another shade. I do still love the colour, & ended up taking it off to re-apply it, but it's not something I'm going to turn to when I'm rowing or in work.. My nails would be bare after 10 minutes. However I've just picked up a top coat (first time for everything) so hopefully that'll help, seeing as I've bought it.

In general though, I'd sadly avoid Lancome's nail polish. I'd rather just pay €2 or less for an Essence polish! Does this mean I can buy something else as an exam treat...?

Have you tried any Lancome polishes? Or have there been any other brands that have really disappointed you?

Chloe x

Handbag Wishlist

1. 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli €840                                                    2. Boohoo Anya Structured Shopper €30

3. Burberry Trapeze Tote €895                                  4. Hero Mini Luggage Tote €37

5. LK Bennett Black tote £240                                 6. Saint Laurent Sac de Jour tote €1790

7. Oasis Sindy Shopper €53.37                                   8. River Island Cream Tote  £45

 

9. Mulberry The Willow tote €1750                                    10. Michael Kors Selma tote €395

11. Zara Shopper €39.99                                                    12. River Island Orange Bowler £37.00

Who doesn't love bags? Seeing as I tend to pick a bag & use it to death daily, I want one that I really like. My last two bags have been nice, but nothing exciting. So I went browsing! Obviously I'd never be able to afford half the bags on this list - But despite that, I think the orange River Island one is my favourite. It might be mine..

Have you seen any gorgeous bags lately? I can never have too much choice!

Chloe x

5 Things #11

5 Songs

Ellie Goulding - You, My Everything

Foo Fighters - The Pretender 

Ellie Goulding - Goodness Gracious

The Blizzards - Postcards

Disclosure - Latch

5 To Look At

I'm a weirdo & love looking at home stuff, so I loved this article on Buzzfeed about how to prettify all the everyday eyesores at home!

I spent a good half an hour or so watching all of Jimmy Kimmel's Mean Tweets videos.. They're so bad but hilarious.

If you've seen Kate Upton's V Magazine cover, how did you feel about it? I loved Zee-Railed's post on why it's wrong for just anyone to be able to strip her online.

Mental health is still a big issue in Ireland, so Darragh's very honest article is well worth a read - About his failed suicide attempt & how he feels now.

I absolutely LOVE figure skating, it's the highlight of Winter Olympics for me. So this video of 'Riverdance on Ice' made me wish I could figure skate & still Irish dance. Boo.

5 That Made Me Smile

This weekend, I'm going to visit my boyfriend for the first time - I'm really looking forward to seeing where he lives!

I've taken the photos for my Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff review twice, & lost them twice. I finally found them & could write my review!

The news that Beaut.ie would be making a return pretty much just made my week.

After butting in on one of Sharon's conversations on Twitter, she offered to send me over some ebooks that she had, for my Kobo. The kindness of bloggers!

During the week, I found a video of myself competing in my parish's Dancers & Chancers - I had to learn how to Irish dance to a modern song. It was actually really fun & made me kinda want to do more!

Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff

This review has actually been such a long time coming. The girls at Cocoa Brown first sent me Tough Stuff way back in July.. Since then, I've gone through about a hundred little sachets of the stuff & still love it!

Tough Stuff is an exfoliator, "a no-nonsense 3-in-1 scrub". It's coloured pink, & contains exfoliating beads, in a runny pink gel. It has Cocoa Brown signature fragrance - Tahitian Gardenia, & it's available in both a 50ml sachet, or 200ml tube. Tough Stuff is made to prep your skin for tanning, to remove all your old dirty tan (it happens us all), or simply to exfoliate your skin. And it works for all three - Especially with regular use, your tan should go on flawlessly!

50ml sachet, with a background of my onesie.

I find that it's definitely quite a 'scrubby' scrub - It does an intense exfoliation! Because it's a runny gel consistency, there's no problem using Tough Stuff on its own, on dry skin, but it can also be used in the shower, on wet/ soapy skin. They recommend it for use on tougher areas of skin, like your knees, elbows, etc, and to avoid any delicate areas because it is pretty scratchy.

I've developed a routine with Tough Stuff - Once a week, I apply it onto dry skin & scrub away with it for a few minutes, just using my hands, (I'm as pink as the packaging after that) then wash it off in the shower. For this, I use a fair bit of the product - Probably 20ml. Then, every second day, I just throw a bit onto an exfoliating glove or shower puff, & use it in the shower, on wet skin. I find this keeps all the dead skin away! If I'm tanning, I do the deep exfoliation the day before, when I'm shaving my legs, etc. Then after a few days, I'll use it in the shower, to make sure it fades evenly. If its getting patchy, I give myself a good scrub, focusing on whatever areas aren't looking great! Then I'm back to square one.

Tough Stuff is now my go-to exfoliator, I haven't bought any others since last summer & haven't even bothered using up the ones I had! That is the sign of true love. My only complaint initially was that the sachet got messy, but then they brought out the bigger tube. However, when I flew home & only had hand luggage, my plastic bag for liquids was stuffed with sachets. I should really just get off my bum & order the tube on Feel Unique.

Even the beads are pink - I love this

Anyway, Tough Stuff gets a big thumbs up from me! It costs €7.99 for the tube, or €2.99 for a sachet, in Penneys, Boots, etc. HOWEVER I have noticed that on FeelUnique, the tube is €9.99, or two sachets are €5.63. Just sayin'. But hey, I'll pay it, because I'm down to my last bit in a sachet & the purple hue I'm rocking could do with a bit of tan. There is a Cocoa Brown Luxury Gift Set also available, with One Hour Tan, Tough Stuff, Chocolate Whip & a tan mitt - This may be winging its way to Germany right now.


I have also heard that Cocoa Brown will have 3 new products out in March - I feel this excited.

Do you use Tough Stuff?

Chloe x

Golden Globes: The Best & Worst

Last year, Aoife & I dissected the fashion at the IFTAs over on her blog. I enjoyed it & I LOVE Aoife, so this year I suggested we talk about the Golden Globes & she agreed. We'd be here all night if we looked at everything that everyone pulled out of the wardrobe, so we stuck to our favourite & most hated three.

Aoife - The Best

Zooey Deschanel

I'm a big hi-lo dress fan, and Zooey's offering on the night was amazing. The colour suited her perfectly, and the length was perfect for avoiding any JLaw-style falling-up-the-stairs incidents. Lose the cardi though, love.

Amy Poehler

Amy's dress was by far my favourite on the night. No mutton dressing as lamb, no boobs everywhere. Amy was classy, sleek, and she looked like a goddess. Let's just not mention Tina's "busy" (in the words of my Mam) disaster beside her.

Leslie Mann

Now, Leslie is fairly ridey anyway, but this dress was gorgeous. I loved the peplum in the middle, which brought a bit of excitement into what could (COULD) be considered another boring black dress.

The Worst

Sandra Bullock

Unfortunately Sandy got the event mixed up with a fancy dress party she has on next week and came looking like a packet of Dolly Mix. It can happen to anyone.

Jennifer Lawrence

I see this, and I just think of that scene in The Little Mermaid where Scuttle makes Ariel a dress out of a bin bag (or something). Clearly, Scuttle is giving it another go.

Kaley Cuoco

Kaley forgot the awards were on (she did just get married, her priorities are changed now) so ripped the curtains down and did the best she could. It didn't work for me, and I did expect better from her.

Chloe - The Best

Carly Steel

I just think Carly looks beautiful. I love the embellished neck on her dress, & it's just such an elegant look. Hair, make up, bag.. I love it all.

Kate Beckinsale

Part of me just wants to know how Kate walked in this dress. I love the material, and the metallic silver is just seriously sexy. Not a fan of the bag, but we can ignore that.

Rashida Jones

This might be completely out there, but I'm really loving it. As seen above, I just like white dresses in general, especially combined with the simple cut. The belt dividing the dress just works. Plus I love her hair & make up, this is my winner.

The Worst

Elizabeth Moss

Girl, get a hairbrush. That's the nicest thing I can say about this confused mess, it looks like there wasn't enough time to finish it but then again, the less weird material & tacky patches, the better.

Joanna Newsom

This looks like something a Barbie-mad 4 year old high on coke & Skittles would create. It's just too much. I hate salmon pink, & the frills on the lower half are bad enough, you don't need them on the sleeves too.

Kate Mara

When you're as good looking as Kate Mara, it's hard to look this bad. It does absolutely nothing for her figure (what is happening up top?) & why is there any need for a weird bit sticking out in the middle? Yuck.

So they're our picks (Big thank you to Aoife for helping me out!) - Do you agree? Let me know your favourite/ least favourite dresses, I'm sure I've missed a few!

Chloe x

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm

As I've said before, I usually don't talk much about skin care because (1) I'm always changing mine (which is bad, I know!) & (2), everyone's skin is completely different. But recently I've kind of settled into a skin care routine, so I wanted to talk about what I use.

One of the first 'new' products I started using was Clinique's Take The Day Off Balm. I'd heard absolute horror stories about Clinique Skincare, so never even looked at it. But then I saw their Take The Day Off Cleanser for Eyes & Lips, & after a bit of googling, hit upon the balm cleanser. Everyone was raving about it, & then it kept popping up on Beaut.ie blather - So after an absolutely crap day, I ended up just going to the till with it in my hands.

First up, the packaging is nice. I like the purple tub & silver/ mirrored lid - It's just quite pretty. I know people tend not to like tubs because of hygiene reasons, but there's no other way to house a balm product really. It contains 125ml of product, which means you won't run out quickly either.

But the product itself - There's no smell. It's white. It's not miraculous. Basically, it's a very basic product, that I absolutely love. It takes off all my make up, if I use it as my first cleanser, & if it's my second cleanser/ morning cleanser, it leaves my skin feeling clean, & soft. It doesn't strip my skin, it doesn't hurt my eyes or leave my face red. And it didn't cause any break outs - I don''t believe in a 'purging atage', something either breaks your skin out or it doesn't. But with this, you just melt some of the cleanser in your hand, rub it into your face, then wash it off using a face cloth & warm water.

It costs €28 for 125ml, & may seem expensive for something so basic, but I haven't even used a quarter of it over two months - I put some into a small travel pot when I went home for Christmas, & I know the pot still has some left in it. Plus, I'll happily pay that for something that does its job & doesn't irritate my skin at all. This is the first balm cleanser I've used, but I like using products that you wash off with a face cloth & warm water - It feels nicer on my skin! Okay, it sounds like I'm not overly enthusiastic about Take The Day Off, but in reality, I absolutely love it & will definitely continue to use it.

Have you used Take The Day Off? Or do you recommend another balm cleanser?

Chloe x

Very Lovely Stuff Giveaway, with Benefit, Lancome, Essie & more!

Hey!

I meant to have a Christmas give-away on the blog, but.. I forgot. So, I've decided to make it a Valentine's Give-away instead (Purely because it's going to end on 14th of February.) As usual, enter via the Rafflecopter form!

Everything up for grabs!

Essie Mademoiselle, Essie Dive Bar (reviewed here), P2 Sand Style Adorable, P2 Sand Style Precious, Essence Ice Ice Baby Icebreaker

L'Oreal Collection Privée JLo's Nude, Essence Longlasting Lipstick Dare To Wear (reviewed here), P2 Matte Deluxe Lipstick I Adore You (reviewed here), Maybelline Baby Lips Cherry Me

Catrice Smokey Eyes Palette, Maybelline Colour Tattoo Infinite White, Maybelline Colour Tattoo Immortal Charcoal, Essence Liquid Ink Eyeliner, Lancome Hypnose Mascara Sample (reviewed here), Catrice Eyebrow Set, Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express Mascara (reviewed here)

Catrice Scented Highlighting Powder, Manhattan 2 in 1 Concealer & Fixing Powder, Benefit The Porefessional Sample, Balea Hand & Nail Balsam 

So that's the lot - They're all products I've tried out & I love, so I hope you do too! This give away is international.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chloe x

New Year's Eve Face

Seeing as I'm insufferably nosey, I love looking at other people's make up from special events, etc. So I'm sharing what I wore on New Year's Eve.. 

(This was obviously taken with flash, hence my skin looking a bit too soft focus.)

Face

MAC Prep & Prime

MUFE HD Foundation

Benefit Booing Concealer

MUFE Lift Concealer

Bourjois Bronzing Primer

NYC Blushable Creme Stick (Big Apple Blush)

ELF Highlighter (Lilac Petal)

ELF HD Powder

Eyes

Urban Decay Priming Potion

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Sleek Celestial Palette

Collection Lasting Colour Gel Liner

Collection Glam Crystals Gel Liner (Rockchick & Hustle)

YSL Shocking Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Urban Decay Brow Box (Brown Sugar)

Lips

ELF Lip Exfoliator

Blistex

Kardashian Beauty Joystick Lipstick Pen (Retro Red)

Pretty standard going out make up, but I still took about 5 hours to do it. And as always, I wore Cocoa Brown One Hour Tan. 

Chloe x

Essence NOTD

Hello hello hello,
Seeing as the first week of January is apparently the worst of the year, why not paint my nails something equally as gloomy? Haha in reality I've just been loving both of these polishes for the last month or two, but only now has it hit me - I should combine them! I did, & I'm loving the result.

Moonless Nights & Here's My Number

I used Essence 03 Moonless Night, which is the suede from the Dark Romance collection on all my nails, & then did an accent nail of their Sparkle Sand Effect polish, 165 Here's My Number. Moonless Night goes on really well, two thin coats gives perfect opacity & it finishes to a lovely matte. Yep, I'd call it more matte than suede, but I can forgive that because it's such a pretty, unique grey. It's quite smokey, but it nearly has teal tones to it as well. Definitely a winter shade! Here's My Number has even better coverage - One coat, good to go. (Though obviously it was layered over Moonless Night, so it didn't have to work as hard..) It's a dark grey grey base, with black & holographic glitter it - It's so pretty, I keep looking at the glitter changing from silver to blue to purple etc! It is a bit gritty to the touch, but it's not too bad if you only use one coat.

Please, looks at the polish, not at the state of the skin surrounding them..

I really like these two polishes together - I think the glitter contrasts nicely against the matte polish, but the colours tie in together. Plus, they're both around €1.49 -What's not to love? Essence is usually in Penneys & Sam McCauleys.

What's your favourite nail combo?
Chloe x