Weekly Catch Up #2

This week was a good week. The weather in Dublin finally picked up and we had almost a whole week of sunshine! One of the best things about working in the city centre is meeting up with people after work on a sunny day, one of my favourite things to do is get some ice-cream and sit in Stephen's Green Park which I got to do twice this week!

I actually got to wear something summery this week. Jacket//Topshop Dress//Zara Leggings//H&M Shoes//Penneys(Primark).

On Monday myself, my Boyfriend and my little brother went for a (cheeky) Nandos and then to see Jurassic World, it was so good! I've always been a big fan of the originals so it certainly had a lot to live up to. Its by no means as good as Jurassic Park but its still a good watch and I would even go and see it again! Chris Pratt is pretty easy on the eyes in it as well :)

On Friday I also got a chance to meet up with friends, we headed to Captain Americas for food and cocktails (the chicken nachos are my favourite thing EVER) and it was so nice to catch up after everyone has been so busy recently! Its made me excited for the rest of the summer and doing more of this!

A New Favourite: Adult Colouring Books.

Adult colouring books have been popular for quite a while now, but recently every time I walk into a book shop there's a display of them to tempt me. When I initially began to see them popping up I didn't think I would be into the idea, that I'd feel a bit silly. However, the more of them I saw the more I wanted one, especially one of Johanna Basford's as they're particularly nice.

I picked mine up in Harrods when I was in London a few months ago and I love it. The illustrations are stunning, some of them so detailed and complex that they require a lot of time and patience! I bought Crayola colouring pencils initially, which do work really well, although some of the pages are so small and detailed that I did get some Staedlter fine tipped coloured pens to do those. I got mine in Easons for around ten euro and they're brilliant.

 I find it so relaxing to sit down and do a bit of colouring, I know that sounds a bit ridiculous at 23 years of age, but I like to do it while I'm catching up on You Tube videos as it makes me feel slightly more productive! It's also oddly relaxing, and it surprised me how long it takes to complete a page.

Johanna Basford has two of these books, the one I have is the Enchanted Forest and her other is the Secret Garden, which I plan on getting next! Personally, I think that these make great gifts and I have already bought one for a friend and I'll definitely be buying more for my family at Christmas time!

Bobbi Brown Intensive Serum Foundation.

Say Hello to my new favourite foundation. This stuff is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S.

When I bought this foundation I was originally intending on just picking up my usual Skin Foundation from Bobbi Brown which I've raved about for such a long time and I still love. However when I saw the new one sitting there, which I had already heard so much about, I swatched some on the back of my hand and it was love at first sight. Whilst almost hyperventilating at how utterly fabulous this foundation looked just on my hand, the girl at the counter told me that everyone thinks its the best foundation Bobbi has ever made and I would have to agree.

What I loved most about the Bobbi Brown Skin was the beautiful, glowy finish it would leave on the skin. As you all know I have a lot of acne scarring that is very red and can be quite hard to cover, so I found that I was using quite a lot of foundation to cover it. My other option was also to go for a heavier coverage foundation but I had never found one that gave me the dewy finish I love, until now! I feel like this serum foundation combines the luminous, glowy finish of the Skin Foundation with a heavy coverage, something that I've wanted for so long!

Its not only the finish and coverage that I love about this, The packaging is really nice- a heavy black glass bottle with a pipette instead of a pump which really does make it feel more like luxurious skincare than a foundation. It smells amazing too, packed full of good skincare ingredients it doesn't smell perfumed but instead really natural. Its also a complete bonus that its a SPF 40 which is perfect for me in the everyday Irish sun.

I honestly can't say anymore good things about this foundation, I can't ever see myself switching to another one, definitely head to your nearest Bobbi Brown counter to try it for yourself! Also, if any of you are wondering I wear the palest shade which is Porcelain.

Neon Nails.

If you've watched some of my recent videos you may have seen this colour pop up on my nails- its definitely quite a hard colour to miss! I mentioned in my latest video that for the past few months I've been getting acrylic nails which I love. I never thought I'd be a fake nail kind of girl, but after years of weak, brittle and short nails I decided that it was time to be fabulous. This of course meant getting the acrylics.

After I had the second set of fillers I decided I wanted something really bright to paint them with so I went on the hunt for a neon orange. This Orly one was the brightest I could find and it doesn't even look that bright in the picture! The shade is Neon Tangerine and I adore it, its almost obnoxiously bright and is oh-so-perfect for the summer. I think it would look especially great with a nice tan (something I always think I'll achieve over the summer yet never do). The formula of this is really nice- it definitely needs at least two coats though as its can be quite streaky after one. I usually apply three coats simply because I want it to be a really intense and vibrant neon.

Let me know what your favourite nail colours are for summer down in the comments!

A Fresh Start.

I'm writing this post with a fresh start in mind, both for me and for this blog. I used to be mad into blogging years ago and I would post on my old blog almost every day; however since I started my YouTube channel and this blog to go with it I've really neglected this side of things. I guess you could look at this post as my 'half-year' resolutions! Here are some of the things I'd like to do more of and achieve by the end of this year;

1. As you can tell from the picture above, eating more healthily is something I'm aiming for, for the rest of 2015. I uploaded that picture to my Instagram this morning of a Deliciously Ella smoothie recipe I tried for the first time; which you can get here. It was a peach and frozen banana summer smoothie which was so yummy and refreshing to have for breakfast! For me it marks the start of really trying to eat much healthier so that I can look and feel better in myself. I've spent most of today cooking healthy dinners that I can batch freeze and bring to work with me when I'm on the late shifts; as those are the days I end up making bad choices and spending money I don't need to on crap food. I'll be keeping you guys updated with my progress and if I come across any amazing recipes I'll be sure to share them here!

2. Getting fitter is something I've been trying to do all year. I did a lot of running for the first few months of 2015 and I hugely improved my fitness levels. Although I have let that slip quite a bit. I went for a run yesterday for the first time in ages and I was actually so impressed at how well I did. My fitness levels hadn't plummeted as I thought they would have and I really enjoyed myself- it was a beautiful day on the beach which always helps! I've also been hugely inspired by another Irish YouTuber called FacesByGrace who I have been following for quite some time now, originally it was for her beauty videos and posts but recently I've been loving her fitness posts. Grace has lost almost three stone (I think) through Slimming World and what looks like an intense fitness regime, she looks incredible and I find her Instagram feed so inspiring while at the same time really realistic as she always shares her ups and downs!

3. Blogging more- I'll be brief with this one as I've already discussed it above, but I really want to get back into blogging. As I said I used to be mad into blogging and I love writing but YouTube has kind of distracted me from it. I used to read so many blogs and then I stopped because I would watch YouTube instead, recently however I've got back into reading blogs, discovered some new ones and rediscovered some that I loved years ago! I really want to work hard on this blog and get back into writing and photography again, so expect to see a lot of different types of posts as I want this blog to be about more than just beauty.

4. My main mission for 2015 is to figure out what I want to do with my life haha! Sounds a bit dramatic I know, but since I graduated I feel like I've been drifting around and not quite knowing what career path I want to take, I'm currently working in retail and at times I do really like it but its definitely not something I want to pursue in the long run. I want to take the second half of this year and really think about what career options are out there and push myself to chase whatever it is I decide to do- even if that happens to be a scuba-diving instructor or a florist.

5. I also want to read a lot more- this month I've barely read a thing, which does happen to me occasionally. The few months previous to this I devoured every book that came near me, and after this almost always follows a little 'reading drought' as I like to call them. I need to get out of this lull and start reading again as I've bought so many new books recently that I'm dying to read and review them over on my YouTube channel!

6. Lastly, this year I would really like to move out. Myself and my boyfriend Peter have been together for over six years now and it really is about time we moved in together! Hopefully this will be the year we finally get our own place- which will be so exciting!

Apologies for the long and rambly post,  but sometimes the best way to achieve something is to write it all down, you know? So hopefully the second half of this year I'll start to see some of these things happening! Expect to see a lot more blog posts from me from now on and if you have any suggestions on anything in particular you'd like me to write about, just leave me a comment!