SBBC Day 20- 10 under €10!

This is like my dream topic, basically everything in my make up collection cost less than a tenner. Spending the last few years with very little disposable income has given me a great nose for a bargain! The only hard thing about this post will be whittling it down to 10! They're in no particular order here!

10- Cocoa Brown 1 hour tan- Buy it once, wear it once, love it forever. I'm never without a bottle.... or 4!

9- Rimmel Stay Matte foundation- I've been meaning to throw up a post about this for a while. I picked it up for just €5.95 (introductory offer) because the shade seemed pale enough for me. I've always found that even the palest Rimmel shades just don't match me, so was a bit skeptical, but I quite like the matte finish and the colour is a really good match! I'll get a review up asap!

8- NYC Liquid liner- If you read my blog you'll know I'm an avid devotee of this €2.59 eyeliner so I won't bore you with the details. Take my advice and buy it!

7- John Frieda 3 Day straight- I love this product. It makes my hair sleek, straight and manageable. I picked up my last bottle on special in Dunnes for €5.39.

6- Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff- This is a fantasic little exfoliator, I use it even when I'm not prepping for tanning. You can pick it up anywhere that sells Cocoa Brown for just €2.50. I can't wait for the tube to come out in October!

5- Seventeen Doll'd Up mascara- At under €8 this is one of my favourite ever mascara's. It beats the socks off some of the more expensive mascara's I've used hands down, and is actually one of the very few mascara's I repeat buy!

4- Cien Anti aging hand cream- I always have a tube of this around to keep my hands soft. It's also great for healing up damaged cuticles, which I suffer from desperately. I wouldn't even know about it if it wasn't for my mother so I'll have to thank her. Comes in at less than €2.

3- PRO:VOKE A touch of silver purple shampoo- When I was platinum blonde I wen't through so many bottles of this that I could have taken out shares in the company. Since I've changed colour I do use it less, but I still always have a bottle handy to combat any yellow tones in my hair. €4.91 in Boots.

2- Sleek iDivine Acid Pallet- I got this as a present from a very good friend and it's just so much fun to play around with! Most of the Sleek pallets come in under a tenner, and given the pigmentation they are well worth it! I'll definitely be picking up more when I have access to a card for online shopping! You can see some of the looks I played around with in the link.

1- Collection 2000 Pressed powder- Another repeat buy, it's so cheap and so handy. Less tha €4 and I find that it keeps my make up set for hours and gives me a lovely matte finish!

So that's it!! 10 under €10! Who says looking great has to be expensive?

SBBC Day 3- What do I bring travelling?

To be bvery honest, I don't get to travel nearly as much as I'd like to, so when I do go away, pretty much everything I own comes with me if I'm travelling within Ireland with no weight restriction. I think the best way to go about this post would be to tell you what I brought on holidays to Spain with me in July....... When we flew with Ryanair.

I don't do well in the heat at all, so I wanted a light foundation that would allow my skin to breath in the heat, but also gave me a nice coverage. I opted for the MaxFactor CC cream for the day time, and warmer nights, and used my usual L'Oreal True Match on nights that it was cool enough. The CC cream has a mild SPF so I was getting some extra protection. Didn't stop me freckling though! You can read my full review here.

I would never dream of leaving the house without my NYC Liquid liner, never mind go travelling without it (the horror). This is like my holy grail of eyeliners, I adore it. As you can probably tell I'm completely obsessed with cat flicks and don one pretty much every single day. This liner (that's about €3.59) is like a warrior. It's not waterproof, but it doesn't claim to be, even so it can withstand a fair amount of moisture. And it stays put until you decide to take it off. GO BUY THIS, NOW!! Thank me later.

I brought my SEVENTEEN Doll eyes mascara with me. It's not waterproof, but I wasn't wearing mascara during the day so that wasn't really important. As you can see from my review it really is one of the best mascara's I've ever used, and have bought it about 3 times over now. Swear by it!

Powder wise I just brought my Collection 2000 pressed powder as it's never steered me wrong. For my blush I brought my Collection 2000 Shimmer shades blush quad. I actually found that great as it gives a lovely sun kissed glow but my niece broke it shortly after my holidays so sadly it is no more :(

I also brought a bottle of WOW Brown with me to keep my tan topped up. Honestly, it never got used. The pool just stripped it away immediately (same with my hair colour) so it was pointless. But I arrived like a golden goddess.

I got my eyebrows done just before going on holidays so during the day I just left them be. At night I filled them in with an Essence eyebrow pencil.

I think it's horrendously obvious that we flew Ryanair.... I was terrified of my luggage being overweight so my make up was really skimmed down to what was ABSOLUTELY necessary. I brought nothing in the way of eye shadow, as I just didn't think i'd use it. The only lip product I brought was a trusty tin of vaseline. As  said I'm not great in the heat, so I was only really wearing make up at night, and you just can't beat a dramatic cat flick of an evening! 

My lovely little mini haul- Wednesday 29th May

I stumbled into a bit of spare cash this week (thanks Tax back!) so I've been splurging left right and center. Today I well and truly treated myself, and damn near emptied my purse. I had gone into Superdrug because they were supposed to be getting an MUA delivery in and I had my eye on a primer and pallet, but they hadn't gotten around to putting the delivery out yet so I was FORCED to browse everything else in the shop..... poor me..... So, this is what I got....

Mini haul booty

Collection 2000 Primed and Ready smoothing primer- €7.75
Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious- €5.35
NYC Smooth Skin pressed powder -€2.55
Barry M Brow Pen Liquid eyebrow pen- €6.45
*Hairspray Nail polish shade 662- €2.99

Superdrug have a 3 for 2 offer across all their cosmetics at the moment, so my blusher was free!! Also, the nail polish wasn't bought in Superdrug, but I am very impressed with it so it has to get a mention!

Primer- I love the feel of this on my skin, it makes it feel incredibly soft. It's late and I haven't had a chance to use this as a base yet, but it definitely does make my skin look a little less flawed, even without my regular foundation. I'll use it properly tomorrow and give a more precise review then!

Barry M Liquid eyebrow marker pen- Every now and then I spot something on a make up display that makes me absolutely loose my shit and go all fan girl in public. This was one of those things. I just think it's so clever! As a lot of people know, I'm an absolute demon for anything eyebrow, I'm obsessed! I was cheeky and had a go of the sample in Superdrug and I have to say...... Love it!! It's dark brown (that was the only shade Superdrug had, so im not even sure if it comes in any lighter shades) so suits me perfectly. It's quite similar to a felt tip eyeliner. I have found that certain eyebrow pencils/powders would rub off my glasses and leave marks above my brows. This hasn't budged, and I've been wearing sunglasses all day. This is definitely the gem in my splurges crown.

Hairspray nail polish- I love pastel polishes, they make me feel so summery and girly, but they can be an absolute nightmare at times. They can be so watery and sheer, and take 3-4 coats to get a good colour, so you have to dedicate quite a while to get your nails right. This is, without a doubt, the most opaque pastel polish I have ever used! In 1 coat it was perfectly lilac, the second coat wasn't strictly necessary. I've only really been typing (and sinking a sneaky drink) since i put in on so it's lasting time has yet to be determined, but i am definitely intrigued to try some of their other pastel polishes now!

Please ignore the dire state of my cuticles!

I've yet to use the other 2 products, but they'll get a thorough investigating tomorrow!

I'm trying something kinda new with my hair tomorrow, changing the colour and the style slightly, would anyone be interested in reading an account of it all?