The Irish Beauty Show- RDS Dublin

I popped out the Beauty Show today on a free ticket that was gifted to me by a very lovely friend. I have to say, it wasn't really what I expected! In some area's it excelled, in others it kinda fell flat. Granted, I went on the second day, and didn't get there till about half 3, so a lot of stalls weren't long about winding down.

There was more fake tan there than you could shake a stick at. Every kind, spray tans for salon and home use, mousse, creams, you name it, it had a stand. The sheer amount was actually a little overwhelming, if you didn't go in with a clear idea of what you wanted it could have been quite difficult to chose. On the plus side they were all really reasonably priced. Cocoa Brown had a great offer of 4 cans for €20, which is great value. I settled on a bottle of Bbold in light/medium. I was very cheeky and asked for the sample bottle since they were packing up. Got it for €5, as opposed to €10, and the bottle was almost full. The girls at the Bbold stand also really knew their stuff, and were really, really nice and approachable. I applied the tan tonight and am so far really impressed. Like Cocoa Brown, there is no smell at all, and it's developing into a nice natural glow! Here's a link to their Facebook page, I would highly recommend giving them a visit!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BBoldtan/174403839327677

If you're a nail polish fan, you would have been in heaven. There was mountains of nail polish, loads of stands doing Shellac, nail art, gel nails, or selling products for salon and home. The OPI stand was particularly impressive, like a rainbow! And they were only €6 a bottle, €3.50 for some of the older sets.

I was slightly disappointed in the selection of hair care/ hair dressing/ extensions on display. I was very excited about seeing the Great Lengths stand, but when I finally found them, there was nothing happening at their stand! No one even approached me to give me any information. The same thing happened at the House Of Colour stand. There was only 1 guy there, myself and my friend were looking at one of the TWO products on display, we weren't approached, even though we were the only ones there. There was a pretty limited selection of hair care, but what was there was pretty good value.

There was bundles of make up, from very well known brands, to brands I had never even heard of. Some of it was fantastic, and there was great offers to be had, but some were blatantly samples that people were trying to fob off. I bought a lovely little semi permanent eyebrow kit from Cresty Cosmetics. I got the eyebrow powder, brush, 3 stencils for €20. The girl I was dealing with also threw in 3 free mascara's and 2 lip tattoo's! Can't complain about that! Dermalogica's stand was absolutely fantastic. They were offering free face mapping, and gave you free samples of everything that your skin needed. The staff at the stands were also incredibly friendly and helpful! There was about a 5 minute wait, but it was well worth it when you were handed your envelope full of samples at the end.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable day out. I would have loved to have gone with a couple of hundred euro in my back pocket, as there was so much on offer on the spot, like teeth whitening for just €69! There was lot's to see, a lot of demonstrations, but not a lot of samples to be brutally honest. It would have been nice to try a lot of the products before parting with your hard earned cash. I would recommend going, even if just to pick up some tips and tricks from experienced practioners. I'll definitely head along to the next one, but I'll be saving up this time!

Mini haul- NYC and Essence- 04/02/13

I had a few spare quid this week, so I decided to treat myself to a few new bits of make up! Considering i spent less than €10, I think I did pretty damn well!!

Today's mini haul!

For me, NYC is one of the best budget make up ranges on the market. Bar their foundation, which I can't use because they don't make one pale enough, I have always been pleased with their stuff! So I got NYC Big Bold Curl Mascara in Extra Black for €3.79, and Expert Last Lip Color in 441 Traffic Jam for €2.49. A steal!!

Big Bold Curl in Extra Black €3.79

Expert Last  in 441 Traffic Jam €2.49

I'm thrilled with lipstick! I thought id would be quite a balmy colour judging by the look of it in the tube, but it packs a punch! It feels really light and moisturising on and has a lovely, healthy shine to it. This beats the socks off some of the more expensive lipsticks I have, only downside is the range of colours is great! But hopefully that'll soon change! I know what you're thinking, pink hair, red lips..... lets just say I'm getting in the mood for Valentine's Day!

I haven't tried the mascara yet, I packed on my 17 Doll'd up this morning, so that will have ,to wait till tomorrow!

Now onto the Essence! I've always found them a bit hit and miss. Some stuff is absolutely fantastic, other stuff, particularly in the new Studio Line nail range, is just piss poor! But I have always loved their mascara's, felt liners, powders, eyeshadows and eyebrow pencils!

I got t he new Stays No Matter What Waterproof eye pencil in Stunning Brown. I didn't buy it to use on my eyes, but my eyebrows. There is NOTHING in this world worse than an eyebrow pencil that smudges as soon as you look at, walking around for hours with your eyebrows down your nose and being none the wiser. THE HUMANITY!!!! I have high hopes for this, as I swear by the run of the mill Essence eyebrow pencil. I popped it on when I got home, left it a while, then gave it a little rub, and to be fair, it didn't smudge!! For €1.89, I'm very impressed! They could have been slightly more inventive with the name though!

Essence Stay No Matter What €1.89

I also got Essence Colour & Go Polish in 144 Black is Back. I have had a life long battle with black nail polish. It's verging on impossible to find a budget black polish that doesn't come out like mucky water and need 5-6 coats before it's not see through. This surprised me! It's easy to apply, but goes on a really dense, dark colour, 2 coats and your done! And it dries quick! If it doesn't chip like a bitch like most black polishes I'll be a very smug shopper!

Colour & Go 144 Black is back €1.79

So there ya have it! €9.96 spent in total, and overall i'm very happy. The Essence stuff surpassed my expectations, as did the vibrancy of the lipstick. If the mascara is any good I'll be 4 for 4!!!

Crazy Color Candyfloss €3.99

So, after over a year of trying desperately to get my hair blonde........ i got completely bored of it and needed some excitement. Some people just aren't meant for natural colours. I am one of those people. I do not have healthy hair. It is dry and brittle from years of abuse. What i have no done to my hair is not worth doing. It's been coloured, bleached, straightened to within an inch of it's life, had every type of extension in it, it never gets a break. By right I should have gone bald years ago, my hair is a trooper. So I rewarded it by lobbing a load of pink dye in it...... right.....

Crazy Color 'Candy Floss' €3.99 from Terrisales.

Luckily, Crazy Color is actually quite a conditioning semi permanent colour, so I'm gonna chose to believe that it's actually good for my hair... *cough cough*

Application is easy as ya like!The dye itself is a great consistency so there's little to no mess. Apply to towel dried hair (wear gloves) and leave on for 15-30 minutes. I left mine on for a little over 30 minutes (I fell asleep...) because I'm a rebel like that, and you can see the results.

With flash

It's a subtle enough colour, and doesn't pick up great on camera, but i love it. It's very cute and girly! Almost makes  me look innocent! Also, it fades quite quickly, so if you're just looking for a change for a week or two, pastel colours are your man!

Without flash

I should also state that my hair was about 50 different shades of blonde, from snow white to brassy, before I put Candyfloss in, so any variances in the colour are entirely my fault! I used about 3/4 of a bottle on my shoulder length hair.

Overall, as with any Crazy Color I've used  (Fire, pinkissmo, lavander, marshmallow), I've not been disappointed. It does exactly what it says on the bottle, gives you hair that looks like candy floss! Also, good to note that ALL Crazy Colour's are now selling for €3.99 in Terrisales!

NYC Blue rose (405) lipstick

I've been going through another phase of wearing big, bold coloured lipstick. Im a demon for pinks, the brighter the better. This NYC one is one of my current favourites.

It's a real rich, deep, vibrant shade of pink with a subtle blue tint. It's quite stunning. I tend to find that because i have quite big lips any bright colours can look a bit over the top, but not this one. It's magic! And an absolute steal at just €2.49! The colour lasts hours and stays nice and moisturised. A lovely little find.

Cocoa Brown 1 hour Tan

Let me start by saying that I was cursed with skin so pale it's almost translucent. It also doesn't take to tan very well, so no matter what tan i used, i ended up blotchy, streaky and porous  Not a good look! I had essentially given up on a golden glow and was settling into my pasty life, but my Twitter feed was clogged up with rave reviews for Cocoa Brown. For €7.99 what had I to lose?

Cocoa Brown, €7.99 in pharmacies nationwide 

I didn't go in to this experiment with very high expectations. I've been told to try so many different tans that were meant to be FANTASTIC, but left me looking like a half painted oompa loompa. I followed the instructions on the bottle, even the handy little tanning tips! The tan comes out as a mousse, and couldn't be easier to apply. There's a slight colour when you first put it on, so you can see exactly where you got and missed, but rest assured that you will get darker! 1 point to Cocoa Brown!

 As for the smell... WHAT SMELL???? It's fantastic! A developing tan that doesn't leave you smelling like a soggy digestive biscuit! There's actually quite a pleasant, mildly fruity smell off it. So you can apply it and go about your business without being self conscious about any smells! Point number 2!

The only down side to this tan is that in my opinion it shouldn't be advertised as a 1 hour tan. Yes, after 1 hour you definitely have a colour, but it's quite light, even for the palest of the pale. I found leaving it on for 2-3 hours gives you gorgeous, natural golden tan. As far as downsides go, it's pretty minor!

This took to my skin like a dream. My tan was even, streak free, natural looking and faded evenly. It's essentially fool proof. From my experience you would have to go out of your way to botch this up.Also, im going in to my 4th all over body tan from the same bottle, so it's unbelievable value!

Cocoa brown has definitely converted me. It's one of the best, most affordable tans on the market. It's just €7.99 from pharmacies nationwide, and is heaps better than some of the more expensive tans on the market. I would, and definitely will, buy this tan again. It's a pale girls new best friend!

17 Doll'd Up mascara and Eyeliner

Get both for €7.59 in Boots!

I've been lusting after a new mascara for a while, but i haven't seen any new ones that get my motor running for a while. I was in Boots over the weekend and found this little gem.

17 Doll'd up mascara, 2 coats

It was on special offer, €7.59 for the mascara, and you get the eyeliner free! Absolute bargain!
Initially i was a bit skeptical, as the brush is one of those hard bristle brushes, which i normally despise, but i gave it the benefit of the doubt and headed straight to the check out. And boy am i glad i did!

I'll start with the mascara, it absolutely exceeded my expectations. Im generally always pleasantly surprised by 17 mascara's, but none more so than this. It promises up to 24 hour curl, and to be fair, it pretty much delivers! Now, i haven't been pulling all nighters to test the theory, but i have been wearing it every day since i bought it. It stays put ALL day and I've yet to notice any flaking. My eyelashes look long and separated. Im even slightly converted to the ways of the stiff bristle brush!

Now on to the eyeliner, what little beauty! I go through eyeliner like nobodys business because i normally lash it on for big chunky cat flicks, and honestly, this is one of the best felt tip liners I've come across!

It has 3 tiny nibs as opposed to 1 thick one, giving you complete control over your look. Thick or thin, it's up to you. And this eyeliner isn't going anywhere. It's on for the day, no smudging, fading or bleeding. I find with most eyeliners that they will fade a lot on the outer corner of my eye, ruining my cat flick, but not this one!

All in all this is probably the best €7.59 I've ever spent in Boots. I couldn't recommend either of them highly enough!

Barry M lip gloss shade #201 Valentines

I got this lipgloss free when I bought 2 Dazzle Dusts a few weeks ago, and have gotten around to using it n the last week or so, and boy have I used it!! The colour is fantastic! Very vibrant, and a little goes a long way! There's a lovely gloss to it too, when it catches the light it's stunning! It's also fairly long lasting, I found myself touching it up every hour or so.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen this particular shade since, was it only a limited edition shade brought out for Valentines day? If it was, and you like red lips, then I'd try hunt this lipgloss down!