Christmas haul 2013

I was kinda unsure about doing a Christmas post at all this year as most of my gifts were intentionally non beauty related, but sure a bit of show and tell never hurt anyone. 

My poor mother god bless her hadn't a clue what to get me, so asked me out straight so there were no surprises in that department. That said, as always the presents from my parents were absolutely lovely. I got two dresses, a floor length dress from H&M to wear over Christmas, and a stunning black dress by Scarlett and Jo for Evans (above). The black one is being put up for a family wedding next year, so hopefully it'll give me some added incentive to kick my ass into gear in the new year.

There was a Babyliss curling wand, which I'm absolutely obsessed with. It give my hair beautiful, defined, long lasting curls.

My last little surprise was a gorgeous satchel style bag, I love it, it's very me! I don't know where she got it, I never do, she has a great eye for things like that.

My brother got me a flight case for all my nail gear, which will come in very handy in the new year please god!

The two gifts that really knock me for six, purely because they were so unexpected were the Urban Decay Smoked pallet that I got from my brother's girlfriend (along with a bottle of vodka, wahooo) and a Naked 2 pallet that I got from a very dear friend. To be honest, I haven't really gotten around to playing with either of them yet as I've been too lazy for the last few days to bother with make up, but I can't wait to get stuck in to both of  them.

Christmas was a bit of a weird one this year with my nan passing so close to Christmas itself. We all kinda struggled to find our festive spirit. But thanks to family and some very important people we managed to pull together and pay homage to the woman herself on Christmas eve the only way we know how- A stonking good sing song in the pub on Christmas eve.

I hope everyone had a really lovely few days spent with their nearest and dearest x I'd love to see all your goodies too so feel free to link me on Twitter or just pop a comment on this post and I'll be sure to have a look!

St Tropez Bronzing Mousse

When you think of fake tans there's one brand that would rush to the front of most people's minds- St Tropez! From what I can gather the general opinion is, or was, that it's the holy grail of faking it. However, it's always sat very far outside my price range so I never really gave it a second thought. Sure why would I with so many reasonably priced options available that promise to do the exact same thing? But I found a 500ml bottle of St Tropez Bronzing mousse for €16.50 and I thought now was as good a time as any to try. I'm not a believer of only having a healthy glow during the summer months, if you do it right you can adapt your tan all year round.

I have used this tan twice since I bought it, both times my impressions have been distinctly...... meh. I'll start with the good points-

The mousse formula is super easy to apply.

It's a huge big bottle (which I've seen on sale elsewhere for a whopping €55) so you do get a fair bang for your buck.

It has a good colour guide so streaks and blotches are easily avoided.

I haven't yet encountered the dreaded biscuit smell.

It does develop into a really lovely golden colour, actually one of the nicest I've ever come across.

BUT!!!!!

It has no staying power whatsoever. The bottle says to avoid getting wet for 8 hours. Ok, that's a bit of a pain but I can live with it. You may as well wash it all off immediately for all the good those 8 hours do. I woke up with a beautiful colour, washed my hands and then only from my wrists up had any colour. When I showered I lost any hint of colour, I was my natural white self.

It's totally unreliable. If someone accidentally spills something on you on a night out call a taxi, cos your night is over!  Like, this is worse than Sun Shimmer when threatened with moisture, it just gives up and goes home.

The bottle says to reapply every day or so, but unless you spend your days in a bubble, or in a world void of liquid, you'll be applying new tan over a blotchy mess, or you'll just be reapplying to clean skin and won't be building any colour at all.

I know people who absolutely swear by St Tropez and wouldn't hear of any other tan, I can't see why. I know I only paid €16.50, a bargain on the St Tropez price scale, but from a more realistic point of view that's 2 bottles of Cocoa Brown, a much better and more wearable tan in every way! Maybe this new breed of affordable tans have spoiled me and I just expect too much from all fake tans now.

My verdict- if I could I'd go get my money back! And then go buy some Cocoa Brown because it's everything St Tropez wants to be but isn't.

Streaks the hound left me (10 hours after application)

Seventeen Stay Time Foundation

Love love love love love!! I'm actually surprised by how much I love this foundation!

A few months ago I bought Seventeen's Miracle Matte foundation and was so disappointed by it t hat I kinda swore off their foundation for good (everything about that foundation was  bad, it oxidized really obviously, was streaky and blotchy, just...ugh). However during my last little excursion to Boots I couldn't resist the lure of a bargain and picked up their Stay Time foundation for €4. It was strange, in one Boots it was €4, but the Boots around the corner were still selling it at full price......

Anyhow, I really wanted to LOVE this foundation, as I'm very fond of Seventeen as a brand, their eyeshadow's and Doll'd Up mascara are some of my absolute beauty staples! I can happily say that I'm incredibly happy with it, it knocked my, admittedly quite low, expectations outta the park.

Stay time promises to be a full coverage (yay) that will stay flawless on your skin for 25 hours. While I've yet to test the 25 hour part, I can vouch for the rest. I need a full coverage foundation, this comes out of the bottle quite thick but spreads really easily and evenly (I applied it with a Blank Canvas F20 foundation brush). My skin tone is immediately more even and any imperfections are really well hidden with this foundation, so much so I've little need for concealer. It does dry with a bit of a shine so a finishing powder is always necessary if you like a matte finish. It's definitely very long lasting, I applied it early yesterday morning and it still looked fresh when it was time to scrub it all off, it even survived a little early evening cat nap. One of my favourite things is that it doesn't oxidise at all so you don't start with a flawless base and end up 3 shades darker by the time you finish your make up.

I picked it up in Porcelain and I'm white as a ghost so it's really good for fellow palies! I'm so very impressed with this foundation, so much so I'll be popping back up to see if I can bag another bottle for €4! If not, I'd happily pay full price for it (which is coming up as €4.79 on the Boots website as it's just that good. But I've a horrible feeling they may be discontinuing it.... which would just be typical!

Mini Boots haul December 2nd

Today I indulged myself in a little bit of retail therapy, which I think is quite well deserved after a really hellish week last week. I had no intentions of buying anything. ... but Barry M had a special offer on, then there was a little sale basket when I got up to the till. Im only one woman, there's only so much I can resist.

My first little splurge was on a Barry M eyeshadow and nail polish, and because I spent over €9 I got a free special effects glitter polish worth €5.99 absolutely free!! The polish I bought is a lovely autumnal red, I love it. And the glitter goes on really thick and is really holographic on. The shadow is a lovely light bronze colour with a gorgeous shimmer.

So I went up to the till thinking I'd been really good only technically buying 2 things.... then the sale basket got me.... I got-

Seventeen Stay Time foundation €4
Seventeen Stay Pout (Date Night) €2
St Tropez Bronzing Mousse (500ml) €16.50

Whoops....... still though, I think I got some great bargains there!