Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm Review.

If you follow me over on You Tube you'll have noticed that these are pretty much the only thing on my lips for the past few videos. I'm already a huge fan of the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains so when I heard Revlon were coming out with a matte version I was more than a little excited.
I really didn't need any more red lipsticks, but I have a problem. If its new and it comes in red I'll almost always buy it!

I picked up three shades from the range, all brights as that is what I'm naturally drawn to- they do have a selection of brown and pink toned nudes as well but I don't find those shades flattering on me!

From left to right on the swatches below we have;

Audacious: I would describe this as a true orange shade. Its not got any pink or red in it, its just a straight up super-bright orange. I haven't been brave enough to wear this yet as I think on my pale skin it could wash me out. When the sun comes out and I have a bit of a tan or am wearing bronzer I think this will look gorgeous.

Standout: The middle shade below is the colour that, so far, I've worn the most! Its a beautiful deep cherry red that is very flattering against my pale skin tone.

Striking: Lastly, we have what I've described over on my channel as a strawberry red. Its one of those shades that I think would suit any skin tone, light or dark!

Overall, these really lived up to my expectations! They're long lasting but also feel incredibly creamy and moisturising in the lips.

L'Oreal Micellar Gel Eye Make-Up Remover Review.

While perusing the aisles of Boots (where I can be found more often than I care to mention!) I stumbled across this unusual product from L'oreal. Along the same idea as their Micellar Water its an eye make-up remover, but in gel form. Very interesting indeed.

Being completely honest I picked this up as I was just curious to see what the consistency would be like! Its not as thick as I thought it would be, instead it is a runny gel that is quite easy to squeeze too much of out of the bottle! I've been using it for the past couple of weeks and although I do quite like it I don't know if I'd repurchase it. The gel formula is nice and cooling on the eyes and non-irritating. It removed my mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow really well, but being honest it did just a good a job as my Garnier Micellar Water! I feel like this is just adding an extra product onto my evening skincare that is rather unnecessary.

Overall. I did like this product and I would definitely recommend it to someone that has sensitive/easily-irritated eyes as it felt really nice!

Fresh, Full Coverage Spring Makeup! Crumpets and Marmalade

I just uploaded a Spring Makeup look over on my YouTube channel if you want to head on over and check it out! All the products are listed in the description box. X

The Gibson Hotel- Review.

Recently Peter and I stayed in The Gibson Hotel in Dublin. Its in a part of town that both of us really like and hope to live around at some point in the future! For anyone not sure where it is, its situated in the Point Village, at the end of the Quays near the Port Tunnel. Its also right beside Peter and I's favourite cinema, The Odeon Point Village. We love it there because its huge, has a Costa and is almost always quite empty- what more could you ask for?

We only stayed here for one night and we really enjoyed it. The hotel is definitely aimed towards business people and has a very modern vibe to it. They've also recently finished an art piece entitled 'The Magnificent 7' painted outside the hotel that you can see while going up the escalators to reception, I'll link it here.

I really like the whole design of the hotel, they had these adorable pig statues in reception (which I forgot to get a photo of!) and I really like this print below in the bathroom. It also must be noted that the shower was amazing, it was like one of those rainforest showers and it was huge! My favourite touch though was the Oscar Wilde quote stuck to the shaving mirror; "Be yourself, everyone else is already taken". I thought this was a really cute and quirky touch! The whole room had a grey and green palette that I really liked, and it felt really cosy!

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay here and I would stay again! Its directly on the Luas line and takes only five minutes to get into the city centre. Its also within walking distance, and would only take 15/20 minutes which is a really nice walk along the Quays when the weather is nice. I would highly recommend this hotel for someone who wants to stay somewhere really lovely and not too far from the centre of Dublin!

The Beauty Scenario Tag!

New video up over on my YouTube channel! I decided to film The Beauty Scenario Tag created by LilyPebbles, I hope you enjoy it! X

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara Review.

Mascara and I are really not the best of friends. I've tried so many raved about mascaras over the years and I rarely find one that lives up to the hype (I'm looking at YOU Maybelline The Falsies!). The L'oreal Miss Manga Mascara has been doing the rounds of bloggers and You Tubers favourites over the last few months so I decided to give it a go!

I LOVE this mascara- and it takes a lot for me to say that! I have very short, straight lashes that don't hold a curl. This is one of the first mascaras I've found to really hold a curl in my lashes. It also adds volume and length without being too clumpy or spidery. Something I've always found difficult when applying mascara is layering up numerous coats. I've always found this to leave my lashes clumpy, very unattractive. This however is super easy to layer, making my lashes look thick and volumised. It doesn't budge all day or leave me with panda eyes and at the same time isn't a nightmare to remove. I also really like Benefit's They're Real mascara but I just couldn't handle removing it!!

If you struggle in the mascara department I'd definitely say give this a whirl, as it does a bit of everything in my opinion. Its not too expensive and it also comes in purple and turquoise! Who knows maybe I'll get brave over the summer and try a coloured mascara?

Paid For, My Journey Through Prostitution: Rachel Moran.

My review of the book Paid For, My Journey Through Prostitution by Rachel Moran. This was a really interesting book and a topic I didn't know too much about until I began reading this. A really eye-opening read, and such an inspirational woman. For anyone that wants to know my thoughts on this book- I've left a link below for you to watch it over on my You Tube channel.

Rachel's book is available on Amazon- that's where I got mine! 

Gluten Free Bread Mix.

Recently I've been trying a gluten free diet as a way of combating my breakout prone complexion. My skin has been atrocious over the past few months and a couple of people suggested it could be a food allergy. A year or so ago I looked into gluten intolerance as I have a lot of the symptoms. This is different to someone who is a coeliac, that is far more severe and their digestive systems cant handle any gluten at all. Gluten intolerance is a much milder version of being a coeliac, it can lead to an upset tummy, feeling lethargic and at times it can mess with your skin amongst numerous other symptoms. Long story short I've been trying this for a few weeks now and I decided to make my own bread as so far I haven't really been a fan of many of the shop-bought loaves!

The mix I used was from a company called Sowan's, my Mum picked this up for me in Tesco I think. All that needed to be added to the mixture was one egg and 500ml of milk- so super duper easy! The only tin I had available to put mine in was quite long and thin as my Mum was using the other one for her own bread. So thats why mine came out quite long and flat looking- its not the mixture!

My loaf was the white one on the left! My Mum was also baking on this particular day- she made Spelt bread, if you're interested in the recipe for that just let me know and I can post the recipe on here!

Overall, I have to say I didn't like this bread that much. It looked delicious when it came out of the oven, but unfortunately I found that it had a strange aftertaste to it that I didn't like. I'm going to experiment witrh a few more of these packet mixes and if all else fails I'll just have to make one all from scratch! If any of you have any recommendatrions for tasty gluten-free mixes (preferably brown) please do let me know down in the comments!







*THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST*

May Haul- Primark, MAC, H&M!

I just uploaded a little unexpected haul over on my channel! I got some bits from MAC, ASOS, Penneys/Primark and H&M!

Emily's Cupcakes.

Recently my sister, Emily, did her first baking job for a wedding, 120 vintage themed cupcakes in three different flavours! Emily has always loved baking and has just completed her first year in DIT where she is studying Baking and Pastry Arts. This mean that twice a week, every week, she comes home with bags of delicious, freshly baked bread and pastries for us all to tuck in to.

Today I thought I'd share with you some pictures of the wedding cupcakes she did for a family friend. The hotel had a vintage theme so the Bride wanted cakes that would reflect this. The wedding colours where silver and purple so these were the colours she chose for the cakes. I think they turned out beautifully, and we were all so impressed with how they looked, especially as it was her first time to ever make such decorative cakes in bulk.

The three flavours she went for were vanilla, lemon and chocolate all with a layer of butter cream between the sponge and the royal icing so they stayed nice and moist. I only had a chance to taste the chocolate ones and they were delicious!

If anyone is interested in Emily's cakes please don't hesitate to get in touch! Her email address is: hillyer.emily@gmail.com

Empties Video #2

I've just uploaded a video over on my channel, its an empties video- be warned though its quite long as I've used up a lot of stuff since my last one! Hope you enjoy! X

Easter 2014

Today I thought I'd share more of a personal post with you guys! Ages ago, back when I had my first blog I used to share pictures like this all the time. Seeing as my You Tube channel has most of its focus on make-up and books, I wanted my blog to be a bit different and to share some more lifestyle/day-to-day posts with you! Personally, these are some of the posts I love to see on other peoples blogs so I hope you enjoy them too!
These are some photos I took at Easter weekend, my Grandparents came up from Kerry to visit us and we were celebrating my Grandma's 70th Birthday! It was a really nice few days, I love it when they come to stay as we don't get to see them too often.

Here's Indie getting a little too close to our Easter dinner! My Grandad had to weigh it to see how long it would need in the oven for anyone that's wondering why its on a scales!