Soap And Glory Favourites

Hey lads and lassies, hope you've all recovered from the dreaded Monday Blues, it's almost done and dusted thank the lord!
I'm back today with a post that I honestly don't know how I haven't done it before this, because the brand is genuinely one of my favourites, for both make up and body care.
If you haven't guessed by the name of the title, it's the extremely popular Soap And Glory. Renowned for their cute and quirky packaging, and their fabulous bath and body care more so, I thought I'd give you an insight today into some of my favourite products from the brand.
So let's get cracking!

Sugar Crush Body Scrub: I love absolutely all of the the Sugar Crush range, because it smells DIVINE, but in particular the body scrub. Some scrubs don't do a lot for me except leave an oily residue on my skin, but this actually does something. It's ingredients include smashed brown sugar, sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia grains, so while the sugar and the macadamia grains provide a good scrub, the almond oil make sure it isn't too drying. But the smell of this, my good god! If you're into citrus scents and/or sweet smells, then check this out. It smells gorgeous, kind of like a mojito but a bit sweeter! This is 11.29.

Photo from www.boots.ie

Whipped Clean Shower Butter: So this is a shower wash, but Soap And Glory say it's a wash/butter all in one, so if  you're in a rush, you could get away without moisturising. as it's made up of 25 percent moisturising oils and butters, including sweet almond oil, grape seed oils, macadamia nut oil, and cocoa and Shea butters. For me it's not enough to get away without a moisturiser after, but I've just gotten used to always using one so for someone not partial to moisturising frequently this could be a winner. It's a lot thicker than a normal shower wash, it's more of a cream consistency than a lot of other washes I've used. But I love it, particularly in the winter if I want to feel a lot more moisturised, as my skin tends to get very dry in the colder weather, particularly around my elbows, and also the scent to me is a lot more suited to colder weather, as it smells like pistachio, almond, and sweet vanilla! This is 9.99.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

Solar Powder Bronzer: Myself and bronzing product's have never really seen eye to eye. Anything I've tried has always just left me looking orange. I got this in a gift set in the January sales a couple of year's ago (good old half price in Boots) and eventually I took it out of the box and gave it a go. Since then I've been hooked, so much so I've hit pan fairly hard! It contains two shades, and there's a bit of overspray on the SG, but after a sweep of the brush that disappears, so need to worry about being a glitterball. I tend to sweep my brush in the two colours, and apply it to the points of my face where the sun would naturally hit (if it ever shone in Ireland), so the forehead, cheekbones and a small bit on my nose. I just love how it makes my face look, it gives me a nice healthy glow. Now that the Autumn is coming fast and hard though I may have to put this away again and attempt to give contouring a go, again! This is 15 euro.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

The Righteous Butter: This is probably the most well known of all Soap And Glory's body butters. It has the typical smell that the brand is known for, it's a really musky but yet floral feminine scent. The body butter itself is thick and luxurious, and I honestly feel so much better after using it. I also love how if I put it on at night after having a shower, the next morning I can still smell it off my pyjamas, the scent lingers that long. This costs 14 euro.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

Thick And Fast Mascara: I'm not too fussy or demanding when it comes to mascara. To me really it's main use is to darken my lashes as they're so fair. So after that volume or thickness aren't really things I look for, so I was genuinely surprised when I actually really fell for this mascara. It gives me thicker, longer, fluttery to the point that they're almost false, lashes. I haven't used it in a while as I've always had a fair few mascara's on the go, and I like this one so much I don't want to open it and then forget about it as they say you should ideally throw out an open mascara after 6 months, and I ain't going throwing out any of these! The price is 13.50.

Photo from www.soapandglory.com

Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Shine Lacquer: When I tried this first I was petrified it was going to be like the Lip Glosses from the same line that had a plumping effect and stung the bejaysus out of them. But thankfully with this lacquer it's not the case. It's just a really lovely highly pigmented lip colour, that applies really easily thanks to the flattened doe foot applicator. It has a real high shine, but once the shine goes there is still some colour left, and I don't find it too drying on the lips. It's not too expensive either at 9.50.

Photo from www.boots.ie

Apologies for not actually taking my own pictures, but all my Soap And Glory bit's are so well loved they aren't in the best of shape! But I have put the names of where I got the pictures under the products.
I honestly could keep going on for ages, but the post would be ridiculously long then. There are so many products from the brand that there's always something new to try! I know some of  these products seem expensive enough for drugstore product's, but more often than not they're on offer in Boot's, so it's worth a look at the website or in store!

Have you tried any Soap and Glory bits?
What are your faves?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Flormar 'Haul'

Hi Ladies,
I hope you're all enjoying the ahem 'Summer'...
Today I'm going to show you a few bit's I picked up from a new make up brand called Flormar. Now I say new, but it actually isn't. They're actually around since the 70's, having been born in Milan, and also having been extremely popular in Turkey, but imagine, it's taken this long to get to us!
Well when I say us, I actually picked up these bits in Lanzarote a few week's back, but fear not, they are on the way to Irish soil very soon I do believe!
I could've gone nut's in the shop so very easily. I mean there was so much of everything! Multiple nail and lip colours, eyeshadow, blushes, you name it they had it! They even had staff on hand to give make-overs, which I genuinely would have loved, but in 36 degree heat it would've just slid right of my face! The staff in there were so pleasant helpful as well, which is always a plus!
So finally, I'm going to show you now what I bought! I haven't done any swatches for the products, but I'll more than likely be doing individual blog post's on all the item's, so I shall add in the swatches to those posts.

• High Performance Rotating Volume Mascara: Yep, you read that right, A rotating mascara, which I believe the girl in store told me is battery operated! I was a bit dubious that it would do anything, but after having it tried on one of my eye's I had to have it. It instantly made my eyelashes appear longer and thicker, without that clumpy look! I haven't used it properly since because I've such a huge amount of mascara to get through, but I look forward to using it! 

• Sheer Tinted BB Cream with SPF 15: This I have yet to try properly, but once I do I'll definitely let you guy's know how I got on with it. Some day's I just can't be bothered with a full face of make up, but it's still nice to put something on when I have to go out and run some errands and what not. From the little bit the sales assistant tried on my hand it seems to have a decent amount of coverage, even though the name is 'sheer tinted'. I'm not a fan of really full coverage bases anyway, so this will be nice to have in my ever expanding collection! Colour wise though I did struggle to find a good match, but then again I was in Spain where the ladies are a lot more bronzed than me, but I'm sure they'll cater to us pale skinned lassies when they arrive on our shores!It doesn't actually give a shade name on this, it just says 01, so I'm just assuming it's the lightest shade! 

• Extra Colour Lip Lacquer Shade 04 Peace Out: I have given this serious usage since picking it up, I'm absolutely loving it! For me Lip Lacquer's have a tendency to be extremely drying and leave my lips in a heap. Not this chap! It's so creamy and comfortable to wear, and it lasts forever! The pigmentation is amazing as well, like you literally only need the smallest amount. I really love the colour of this, it's like a light pink/peach colour, but to be honest, I don't think it really suits me. But ya know, YOLO and all that. :P

• Terracotta Blush in Shade 45 Touch of Rose: This is a baked blush, and it's absolutely gorgeous! It kind of reminds me of the Mineralized Skin Finishes from MAC to look at, I can't say if it performs the same as I don't own any of them :( But this is a beautiful pink, with hint's of brown and gold glitter. I find that when I apply it that it nearly does the job of a blush and a bronzer all in one, and we all love a product that's multi purpose! However if you don't like glitter I wouldn't recommend this, as it is very heavy on glitter, and I find as the day goes on and the colour fades a bit, the glitter is more prominent. I don't care though I still luurrrve it! 
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• Puffy Eyeshadow 03 in Its My Headband: This is a lovely burgundy, rusty kind of shade, It probably won't suit me at all but the colour was so pretty I just had to have it! I haven't tried it properly, but one swipe in the shop resulted in such pigmentation, and it seemed to be really smooth, so once this post is up and pictures are taken I'll be sure to give it a good go! I'm thinking it would be perfect for a statement eye look on a night out! 

       
 So these are the few items I picked up. I really could have bought the shop but I was good and            restrained  myself, but I definitely will be picking up a few more bit's when it gets to Ireland.              The prices are fantastic, think somewhere along the lines of Rimmel and Maybelline, and the               packaging is a lot more luxurious than the prices would lead you to believe! If I can find prices           I will add them in for the item's, but I would advise getting out and trying the brand because for           the price you can't really go wrong! 

        Have any of you tried Flormar? What did you think?

        Thanks for reading,

         Alisha xxx

Make Up Monday: Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

Hey ladies, hope you all had an amazing weekend, and did lots of wonderful things. I unfortunately didn't have such a great few days myself, and without going in to do much detail here I've been very down in the dumps the last couple of days, but as all my lovely family and friends have told me, things will work out and things will work out for the best. However it does mean I will have more free time to work on the blog, so hopefully I can do wonderful magical make up things with it. Fingers crossed!
Onto today's task however, and that is telling you about this week's must have product.
 I recently finished up the mascara I was using, and so I decided to try one that I knew I had in a drawer somewhere, and I've heard numerous people raving about it, including Miss Budget Beauty, so I knew I was onto a good thing!

The blurb for this product says that 'Rimmel's advanced ultra lengthening formula delivers up to 80% longer looking lashes instantly'. It really really does! My eyelashes are naturally quite fair, and because of this I find it makes them look shorter and stumpier than they really are. But just one coat of this and they instantly look much longer. I generally use black mascara because my eyelashes are so fair, but I somehow ended up with this in brown, but I really can't tell the difference once it's on my lashes.
Rimmel also claim that if its 'used daily over 30 days, our innovative Grow-Lash Complex helps to strengthen, renew and nourish lashes, promoting natural lash growth to create lashes that appear fuller, lusher and up to 117% longer.

Now I haven't been using that long, I've been using it maybe 10 to 12 days at the most, but I'm looking forward to seeing if it does live up to these claims, as I would only love to have longer lashes, because to be honest, I'm not too good with falsies!
Its not badly priced at 10.99, considering a lot of other drugstore mascara's are now up around the 15 euro mark!

Have any of you tried this mascara?
Does it make your lashes grow?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha

Top 5 Eye Products 2013

Hello again lovelies!

Today I'm on to the last of my 'top 5 posts'... I had considered doing a random favourites, but I decided against it, mainly because I'm not big into random favourite posts myself, so I decided to stick with make up!
This is the one post I probably had the least amount of thinking to do for, mainly because I have been using the same things on my eyes, over and over again!

Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoos: These were probably the best thing I discovered in 2013. It seems to be the same story with me the whole time, I try one, love it so much and go out and buy more colours! I have 6 or 7 different colours in them at this stage.. I have done a review on them already, which I will link HERE, so you can go and check them out if you so wish. They are so creamy and soft to use, they are a dream to use. The shade range is great, with Maybelline continuously adding new colours, and even a limited edition matte collection, which sadly never made it to our shores, but I'm hoping I'll be able to pick them up in America in a few months.. These last absolutely ages on the lids, and are great as either a cream eyeshadow or a primer. I use them as both, but find they last that little bit longer with a powder shadow on top. I love all the colours, but my two favourite have to be On and On Bronze, and Pink Gold. They're quite a bargain too at only 7.95, and are fairly comparable to the Mac Paint Pots.

MUA Undressed and Undress Me Too Palettes: I have much love for MUA, and have loved everything I've tried from them, but the eyeshadow palettes are definitely one of the standout products for me. The Undressed and Undress Me Too are probably the best dupes out there for the Naked Palettes from Urban Decay, but for a tiny fraction of the price! Quality wise I can't compare because I don't own any of the Naked palettes, but with these on the market, I can't ever see me owning one either. What I can say is that they are great quality shadows, and when I use them over a primer they last on me all day.. And I mean all day, like they're still as perfect at midnight as they were at 10 that morning! All of that is really great, but what's even more outstanding is the price, they are just over the 4 euro mark! For that price you get 12 really good eyeshadows that you can combine to make any number of looks! They do a number of other colours aswell, depending on what you're into, there's a pretty pastel one I have my eye on next!

Soap And Glory Thick and Fast Mascara: I'm really not a mascara gal at all, as I've said here before, they all seem to do the same job to me! However this one really surprised me this year! I have 3 of them that I got in various gift sets, (thanks Boots), and it has really really surprised me. For the first time ever I've actually been able to see result's with mascara, and I've been really impressed. I don't have the longest lashes, but this makes them look like I have the longest, girliest lashes ever. And it also adds loads of volume! Its not too expensive either, its only about 13 euro, and as always its more than likely on offer in Boots, so it lessens the blow a bit!

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Eye Kohl Liner/Avon Supershock Eye Pencil: I'm not a big eye liner person by any means, I used to be back in my teens, I thought it was really cool to have really really dark eyes. Then I realised it wasn't, and so my eye make up swiftly reverted to the bare minimum. However as of late, I realised that eyeliner can be a godsend if you don't overdo it. I've been admiring these people that can do their eyeliner in a jiffy, and these products helped me to be able to do it too. I should really have picked just one, but they're both as good as the other so I couldn't. Both of these pencils are so creamy, and just glide on the the eyes with ease! And then once they're on, its next to near impossible to get them off! The Rimmel one is readily available in most pharmacies, the Avon not so much now that Avon are no longer in Ireland... Sigh... I picked this up as a free sample in a magazine before, so keep an eye out and you to may be able to do the same.

Mac Duo in Dazzle Me and Mulch: I'm lucky enough that my boyfriend picked up on ALL my hints last Christmas and treated me to a lovely gift set from Mac. Included in it was this eyeshadow duo, and I had to include it. Not for the quality of the eyesh

adows, because to me they're nothing special. Good, but I have cheaper priced shadow's that are up there with the quality of these ones. But the colours are so beautiful! Especially when worn together! Dazzle me is a light cream kind of colour, with some gold glitter through it, and mulch is just a very wearable brown shade, again with some slight sparkle.

So that's it for the Eye Products!

If any of you have any different ones I'd love to hear them..
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Benefit Haulage!

Recently I posted on this blog about a recent love affair that developed between me and a very famous primer from Benefit, The Porefessional... I had a sample size that I squeezed every last drop out of and decided when it was all gone that I was going to take the plunge and purchase the full size!
I was in Dublin recently with a couple of friends, so while doing a spot of shopping we ventured into Brown Thomas, as we all wanted to pick up a few bits and soak up the Christmas atmosphere..
So this is what I bought!!

So like I said I had intended on picking up The Porefessional anyway, but then the guy working at the counter showed me this little box set, and it seemed way better value so I snapped it up! For 55 euro I got a full size of The Porefessional, a full size of They're Real Mascara, a mini Coralista lip gloss, and a mini Sun Beam highlighter, (which I have tried and love by the by)... Considering the primer is 34 euro alone this is a great way of trying additional products without having to fork out!

One of my friends with me was also raving about the Coralista blush from Benefit, so I was going to try it, as I had been contemplating trying one of the blushes as they are so well known and raved about. However after a scathing look from the Benefit man and a 'You're far to pale for that colour love', I opted for this one that he picked up and tried on me instead. The one he chose was Dandelion, and to be fair he made the right choice, as its a perfect light mauve/pink colour that looks really pretty on the skin. This also cost 34 euro, so I have to admit I did feel slightly guilty walking out of Brown Thomas.. But oh well, its Christmas after all!

So far I am really liking the products I've tried from Benefit, so I won't say no to trying a few more!

Thanks for reading,

Alisha 

xxx

Whats in my make up bag!

So for any of you that don't know or aren't on Instagram, Cloud10Beauty are doing a 'beauty photo challenge for the month of October, and I've been dying to do one for ages so I decided I'd give it a lash! The reason I decided to do this post is because one of the challenges is a 'what's in your make up bag' post, so I figured I'd go one step further and do a blog post on it aswell! I have a large quantity of make up, which at the moment is stored in my wardrobe in various different vanity bags and cases, so this make up bag is the one I keep the products I use every day in, and I try to switch it up every so often.

So first of all, the actual make up bag itself is one I got when my parents were on holidays, and it came free with a fragrance purchase from Roger and Gallet. I've only started using it recently, but its a good size, and I can fit a good amount into it, a lot more than what I have in it at the moment! 

Now, onto the good stuff! :)

First up are my make up brushes, which as you can see is made up mainly of Real Techniques brushes! I'm in love with the blush brush, its so so soft, and applies just the right amount of product! The rest of the brushes are all eye brushes, and the long black handled one is a Kiko one I picked up last week, and the short silver handled one is a Sigma travel sized blending brush, and the other two are just ones I picked up cheap! But they do the job so I cant complain! :)

And onto the face!For my days off work, or when its really hot, (which isn't a whole lot in this lovely country), I opt for a BB cream. At the moment I'm using this one from Catrice, alongside the Maybelline Dream Fresh one, and if I'm honest I prefer this one! There's more coverage without it being too heavy, where as with  the Maybelline one, it doesn't cover up any redness or blemishes or anything which is disappointing for the price of it! And this Catrice one is only 6 euro! 

My go to foundation since the autumn crept in is  this Stay Matte foundation from Rimmel, and I love it! Its a mouse foundation, so the teeniest bit will do your whole face, and the coverage is amazing!

I always use a primer before applying my make up, and I've just recently finished a Smashbox one which I adored, but I won't pay 30ish euro just for a primer, to me its mental. So I'm trying to use what I have for now, and this My Base illuminating primer from Essence does the job of keeping my make up on all day, and is dirt cheap! 

For powder I use this much raved about Stay Matte powder from Rimmel. I don't use it when I'm wearing the Stay Matte foundation because that would be much too cakey for me, but I'm using more sheer products I'd always use this to mattify my face!

I'm currently using 2 concealers, the Maybelline Fit me for any blemishes or redness, and the Eraser Under Eye concealer also by Maybelline. Apologies for the grubbiness of the packaging, but both of these are on the go a while now! 

For eyes I have these 2 gel eyeliners by Catrice in both brown and black. I used to use these every single day but during the summer I just went with shadow and mascara, so now that the winter is back in I'm going to try and get a bit more use out of them, because they are actually really good! 

I've two mascaras on the go aswell at the minute, the Rimmel Scandalise, and a random one from NYC which I cant tell you the name of because the writing rubbed off! Both of these are coming near the end of there life, so I'm just trying to get a bit more use out of them before then! 

Also in here is my must have NYX eyeshadow primer. This stuff is amazing! It makes my eyeshadow last from for the full working day and a bit more, which is great! 

I currently only have 2 blushes in my bag, 'Flushed' from Sleek and I think this cream  MUA one is called Dolly, or something of the sort! Both of them have amazing pigment and are perfect colours for the transition into autumn/winter.

These are two of the most recent additions to my lipstick/gloss collection, a lipstick by Essence and this lip gloss from W7. Neither have been used yet, so I will have to test them out fairly soon! 

Lastly I just have a few random bits! An eye cream from Nivea, a tin of good old Vaseline, (aloe vera if you don't mind), and a tin of deodorant! 

So there you have it ladies, that's what's in my make up bag... For the moment!! 

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx