High End Christmas Beauty Gift Guide,

So that season is quickly creeping up on us, and no matter how much I give out and rant about it being too early for decorations and ads on TV and what not, it doesn't matter, its still going to happen!
The worst thing for me is trying to decide what to get for people, and although I'm keeping it strictly to family and the boyfriend this year, its still a pain!
So for those of you out there that are in the same dilemma as me and are unsure what to get some of the people in your life, I thought I'd compile a little gift guide for the women in your life!
I figured I'd start at the more expensive side of the spectrum, and work down to the less expensive side, which I think is a place a lot of people are looking to these days, which is no harm at all!
But for those people who do like to spoil their significant others at Christmas, here are some of my top picks! The bits and pieces I've chosen are all available on Brown Thomas' website, and if you don't like what I've chosen there are lots of other lovely bits there for you to peruse at your leisure!

My attempts at 'Paint' weren't too great.. .But any who here's what I picked!

Mac Nocturnals Lip Gloss in Nude: I'm amazed at the price of these... So much so that I considered not putting in to this post, 35.00 for 4 of Mac's well known Lip Glasses, to me that's a bargain! This same set also comes's in a Coral/Red collection, or else a Pink set, so there's something for everyone!
If this isn't your cup of tea, Mac have some other great collections out so they may be worth a look instead!

Diptyque Roses Scented Candle: I've seen beauty bloggers across the globe rave about these, and sometimes there's nothing nicer than a nice luxuriously scented candle to relax you after a hard day's work. For someone that  enjoys a relaxing bath or two, these would be ideal, obviously more scents are available but I just chose this one because I didn't know what the other scents were... Shameful! This full size candle is 50.00

Joe Malone Pomegranate Noir Collection: Joe Malone is one of those labels that I look at online and in Brown Thomas and nearly let the items fall in shock at the price, its just a really luxurious label with amazing quality products. Especially the candles! The set pictured here is made up of three items from the Pomegranate Noir line, the Pomegranate Noir Cologne, a hand and body wash, and a body creme.
Its 80.00 for the set which is great value, considering  the 30ml cologne which you get in this set is 48.00 alone! It also comes in a gorgeous little gift box, which makes it even feel more luxurious!

Clarisonic & Lancome Gift Set: If you have someone in your life that loves skincare, and really looks after skin then perhaps this set from Clarisonic and Lancome is one you should look into. The set contains the infamous Clarisonic 'Mia 2' and Lancome's Visionnaire, as well as Gel Eclat Clarifying Cleanser. Its 149.00 for the lot which is not bad at all at all!

Tom Forde Jasmine Rouge Lip Colour In Fatal: Tom Forde Lipsticks are the lipsticks of all lipsticks, they're little pieces of coloured luxury in a bullet. Full Stop. The black and gold packaging just makes it even more amazing! Why not treat somebody to this red colour so they'll really stand out on Christmas Day! 46.00 is the price, but she'll love you forever if she opens this on Christmas Day!

Kilian Jeweled Clutch Back to Black, Aphrodisac 50ml: This is something I'd never heard of before, but I just had to put it in when I saw it! This clutch is encrusted with real crystals and is adorned with the Chinese symbol of longevity! The clutch itself is amazing, and I'd love to even get the clutch never mind the scent, but it does come with a 50ml bottle of Back to Black, which does sound like it would be a very heavy musky scent... Its not the cheapest at 195.00 though!

So they are just some of my picks!
My next Christmas post will probably be on more drugstore products, which will be a lot more affordable for all of you, hopefully!
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Pictures are property of www.brownthomas.ie 

Make Up Monday!

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I was looking to do more 'series' type post's, so over the weeks I've come up with a few.
For Mondays post I've decided that it'll be dedicated to the product that I had been loving for the previous week. Its not going to be an in depth review or anything like that, but just a quick shout out to a much loved product!
So on to the product itself.... And for this week my favourite product used was definitely my Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie.
The Revlon Lip Butter's are raved about by every beauty blogger from here to the other side of the world. They're just one of those things that everybody loves! A lip product with the moisturisation and hydration of a lip balm, but with all the pigment of a lipstick!
For the season that's in it, I'm trying to get into darker more berry toned colours, which is why I've been wearing this particular shade for the week! It can be worn lightly for a quick wash of colour, or it can be built up to a more intense colour, which ever you prefer!
The Revlon Lip Butters are 11.20 HERE and are on 3 for 2 at the moment, go on treat yourself! ;)
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Boots Star Gift

I think these posts are fast becoming my favourite, because every Thursday I look forward with anticipation to see what amazing gift set Boots have for us!
This week again they give us another great product for a fantastic prize, this time in the form of skincare.
Enter Champney's Complete Home Spa!

For anyone that's not aware, Champney's is actually a spa in the UK, well its a range of spa's really in different countryside locations across the country. I didn't know until last year that they actually sold there range in Boots, but I guess you learn something new every day!
Anyway, this particular set is made up of 7 spa quality products, so everyday for us can be a spa day, but from the comfort of our own homes.
It contains:

• Distant Shores Body Scrub: (50g)
• Citrus Blush Shower Gel:    (200ml)
• Citrus Blush Body Lotion:   (200ml)
• Skin Comforting Bath Milk: (300ml)
• Distant Shores Body Butter: (50ml)
• Hand And Nail Cream:        (40ml:
• Body Polisher

It comes in a hard case which can be easily wiped clean, good news all round!

The price of course has to be the best part! Down from 64.50 to 30.00! 

For the quality of these products, this is an absolute bargain, and would make an ideal present for a mother, or mother in law, or even just yourself! (I tend to self gift a lot)

So if your after this you better hurry because it's only there for a week, although I think this one may sell out before that!

Thanks for reading, 

Alisha 

xxx

Picture used from www.boots.ie

Nails of the Week

Over the last week while I've been on holidays from work I've been trying to come up with some new ideas for the blog. I've had it in my mind to do some sort of a series for a while, but I couldn't figure out exactly what. Until now!
A majority of my post's seem to be quite long and somewhat descriptive, so I wanted something short and snappy that wouldn't bore everybody!
So that's where the 'Nails Of the Week' posts come in!
 A weekly account of what nail polish is on my fingernails for the week and what I think!
So this week I'm wearing....

Green With Envy by Rimmel! Its one of the infamous 60 seconds quick drying range, and I think its one of the best nail polish formula's I've tried! The short, wide brush, makes it super easy to apply, and it really does dry in an instant!
This particular colour is a lovely metallic green colour, which was more or less opaque in just one coat. I however did two coats just to be sure! The formula of these is great, and usually on there own they last a few days anyway, but I put this on Monday with an OPI topcoat and its lasted me till now with one or two tiny chips!
This particular formula from Rimmel is priced at 5.49, so its fairly reasonable for such a good product!

What's on your nails this weeks?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha
xxx

Suddenly 'Diamonds'

Everyone went crazy this time last year when Lidl surprised us all with their perfume releases in the form of 'Suddenly Glamour' and the later addition of 'Suddenly Woman'. They could not be found in a Lidl store anywhere after beauty bloggers realised the similarities between these and the 'Chanel 'Coco and 'No 5 scents, and for a ridiculous price of 3.49 it was understandable that everyone wanted to try them out!
So imagine my excitement this morning when I went to Lidl to find a new addition to the Suddenly range.... Say hello to Suddenly 'diamonds'!

God damn this stupid laptop for some reason it won't let me rotate my photo's anymore! :(

But anyway, when I saw the name first, I initially thought it was going to be similar to Georgio Armani 'Diamonds', which is a perfume I don't have. But on smelling it I realised it was similar to something I already have! Even looking at the box I could see similarities in the packaging.... So off I came home to do some investigating! 

This ladies and gentlemen, is (in my opinion a dupe of Boss 'Orange', by obviously enough Hugo Boss. 

Apologies for the blurry picture, but I just had to show you how similar the packaging is. This picture is from boots.ie so if you want a closer look you can head on over there to see. 

It has the same white box, silver outline, and orange lines running through, and although not the same, the similarities to me anyway are quite obvious. 

But what about the smell you ask?

Well I'm yet to actually try Suddenly Diamonds as I only picked it up this morning, but after comparing the two scents, they are very similar, in fact I'd say if you were to do a blind test with these two, I would find it very hard to tell the difference between the two. 

I'm not very good with notes of perfume, but to me its a fresh but sweet scent, which you would easily get away with in Summer or Winter. 

Now with the previous perfume I've bought from Lidl, the lasting power isn't great, which for 3.49 you'd kind of expect! But for the price I don't mind having to reapply, and I doubt many other people will either.

The newest addition to the line comes in at a mere 3.99 for a 30ml bottle! How amazing is that?? Considering the Boss Orange is 44.00 euro for a 30ml! Madness! 

So what do ye think? Will ye pick it up and give it a go?

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx

Picture taken from www.boots.ie

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation

In this day and age in the beauty world, everyone seems to be searching for 'the perfect foundation', and finding said foundation is no easy task! With a vast range of formula's for dry to oily skin, from radiant to matte, to light/medium coverage, its a tough job these days to buy foundation, especially if you don't have the budget for higher ended brands who tend to give samples. In the drugstore (when did I become American), its not that easy.

I have previously never been searching for the perfect foundation, I tended just to pick one and say 'it'll do', I wasn't bothered about coverage or the type of finish it gave, as long as it made me look half decent it did the job.

Until I discovered this beauty from Rimmel. This is the foundation I had been waiting for all my life, I just didn't realise it!

So what's so special about this foundation you might ask?? Well I'll tell you what!
One of Rimmel's newest releases, this foundation is a liquid mousse foundation which is lightweight, and offers control oil. Although I tend to have more dry to combination skin as opposed to oily, I decided to try it out anyway!

Colour wise, I went for the shade 100 Ivory, which is what I'd usually wear in any Rimmel foundation, and it does be a little bit dark, but I make it work with a lot of blending. However, this range comes with the welcome addition of a lighter shade 010 Light Porcelain, which I was actually given afterwards as a present from a family friend, but I havent tried that shade yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it matches my Casper the friendly ghost pale face!

The texture of this foundation is a mousse, and because of this a little amount goes a long long way, it took me a while to realise that I needed to use a lot less than I did when using a normal liquid foundation. A teeny tiny pea sized amount is enough to do my whole face, so less is more ladies!

I use this foundation  with either of my two favourite brushes, the Real Techniques Buffing Brush and Expert Face Brush. Although if I had to pick just one to use it with I would probably say the Buffing brush, as it just seems to blend the product better, and it leaves a slightly better finish in my opinion.

As is quite obvious by the name of the product, it gives a matte finish, and on me it lasts well all day,  although I think if you're someone with oily skin, you may need to touch up a bit later on in the day with a little bit of powder.

All in all, I really am so impressed with this product. I've been using it non stop since I bought it, up until this week, because I'm holidays from work I figured I'd use a little bit less make up and so I'm just using BB creams for the week instead.

For the Winter I think this is a great foundation, as I think the matte affect works much better in the current season than it does in perhaps the Summer.  I wore this recently on a night out with a red lip and a neutral enough eye and it looked great!
If you're someone who wants a full coverage foundation but doesn't like the idea of matte, then this could just as easily work for you too, just maybe add a bit of a highlighter to give it more a dewy finish.
For anyone wondering about how easily it comes off, I use my L'oreal Miscellar Water first to remove the bulk of it first, and then I use my No 7 to cleanse properly. But it comes off fairly easily!

Its a great price at only 7.99 from Boots, and most pharmacies around the country, and  if you're stuck in a rut with your foundation I think for that price its definitely worth a go!
I've had numerous compliments from people while wearing this foundation, and that has never happened to me before, so for that I'm giving it two thumbs up!

Have you tried this foundation already?
If so what do you think?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

This or That Tag!!

I've been waiting for ages to a tag post, but the right one never came up.. Until I happened across this one on totalmakeupaddict's blog.

So I'll get cracking at the This or That tag shall I? Its nothing too complicated, just exactly what it says on the tin!!

Makeup
Blush or Bronzer?
Definitely blush. I'm a pale skinned, redhaired Irish cailin, so no matter what bronzer I've tried, it always seems to just look orange and not right on me. So I tend to stick with blushes, and just mix up the colour that I wear depending on the season! At the moment I'm loving deep mauvey toned blushes.

Lipgloss or Lipstick?
Hmmmm.... That is a toughie... If I was asked that question back in the spring or early summer I would probably have said lipgloss, as I didn't really have any lipsticks in my collection. But since then it has grown a fair bit, and I've amassed quite a few lipsticks from different drugstore brands. So I think for now I would probably have to go with lipsticks. 

Eyeliner or Mascara?
Mascara for sure. I do use eyeliner, but only for nights out or during the day the odd time if I fancy something a bit different. My eyelashes are very fair so I really need mascara, even on a day if I wasn't using any other make up I'd still put on mascara.

Foundation or Concealer?
I use both on a daily basis, but thankfully I don't have a huge problems with spots and blemishes, so if I had to I'd be able to do ok with just foundation. The one I'm using at the moment, Rimmel Stay Matte is pretty full coverage anyway. :D

Neutral or Colour Eyeshadow?
What are coloured eyeshadows?? I'm terrible, but nearly my whole eyeshadow collection is made up of neutrals. There's nothing better than a neutral eye teamed with a bright lip in my opinion!  I am trying to embrace deeper colours such as burgundy and deep greens for the winter season though! 

Pressed or loose eyeshadows?  I do have a couple of pigments in my collection, and I think they're great if you want to create a more intense eye look for a night out or something, but for every day its pressed all the way. Much easier if like me you don't give yourself a lot of time in the morning to get ready!

Nails
OPI or China Glaze?  The only thing I have from either of these labels is an OPI top coat. And although it does make the polish last a few days longer, its a pain to dry! Even after doing your nail polish really carefully and letting it dry, if after applying the top coat you happen to smudge one it makes a mess of the already dry nail polish!! Grrr... Very annoying!!

Long or Short Nails? Most of the time mine are short. They do grow fairly well, so I'm lucky in that sense, but I just have more comfortable when I have them kept short. At least there less likely to break! 

Acrylic or Natural?
Natural. I'm yet to try Shellac or gel nails even!! I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing! 

Bright or Dark?
A bit of both! I have a huge nail polish collection, so depending on the mood I'm in your liable to see me with any colour nail polish on my nails!

Flower or no flower?
Well I'm not very good at nail art, so I think no flower. The less complicated the better! . 

Body
Perfume or Body Spray? Definitely perfume. I have a huge perfume collection made up of mostly sweet scents. I don't think I even own a body spray! 

Lotion or Body Butter?
Very recently I've become a bit obsessive about body butters. I went into Boots during the summer and stocked up while there was an offer on their own brand. But on the other hand I have lotions from Soap And Glory that I also use on a regular basis. So I think it has to be both!

Body Wash or Soap?
Its always some sort of body wash. I did pick up a soap when in the UK from Lush, and although it smells gorgeous, its impossible to use because it just slips and slides all over the shower! 

LUSH or Other bath companies?
I don't live anywhere near a LUSH unfortunately... But anytime I'm in Dublin or the UK I always have a look in a store. They do have a great selection, but I think my all time favourite label, although I don't know if they're a bath company as such, is Soap And Glory!  They have such a selection of products and different scents, (Sugar Crush is divine, trust me), and most of the time they're on offer in Boots, whoo!!

Fashion
Jeans or Sweat Pants?
Jeans most of the time, but at the moment I'm in trackies and a big hoody! You can't beat a bit of comfort sometimes! 

Long or short sleeves?
Long sleeves but it's a bit of a waste of time really because I have my sleeves rolled up, so it kind of defeats the purpose! 

Dresses or skirts?
I wear a bit of both. For work and stuff I find dresses easier because I can just throw a cardigan on over them to keep warm, but if I'm going out I'd definitely wear a skirt! 

Stripes or Plaid?
I don't wear much of either, but I suppose at a push I'd say stripes!  

Flip Flops or Sandals?
Flip Flops all the way!. Although maybe not in the depths of Winter! 

Scarves or hats?
Scarves, scarves and more scarves! Its actually ridiculous the amount I own! I continuously complain about being cold but would never dream of wearing a hat!

Studs or dangly earrings?
Studs. I have one pair that are never out of my ears. Silver and they're made up of all little diamonds... A present from myself, to myself! 

Necklaces or Bracelets?
Both but seen as its Winter I'm always wearing scarves so I don't tend to wear the necklaces unless I'm going out! 

Jackets or Hoodies?
Hmmm... Usually jackets, but today I'm wearing a hoody! 

Hair
Curly or Straight? My hair is always curly so I guess I'll have to say curly. The very very odd occasion I straighten, maybe once a year, if even!

Bun or ponytail? A bun for sure... Its just so easy with the donuts! 

Bobby Pins or Butterfly Clips?
Bobby pins- But yet when I want one I can never, ever, find one!! 

Long or Short hair?
Long, my hair as always been relatively long, and although its not as long as it previous has been I'm happy with the way it is now because if I choose to, there is a lot I can do with it. 

Light or dark?
I don't know really. I am a redhead of sorts, and depending on if my hair is highlighted, it can go various shades of blonde in the summer, and it tends to be darker in the winter. But I think I prefer it when its lighter!  

Side sweep or Full on bangs (fringe)?
I had a full fringe a few years ago at school, and my mother hated it. It was impossible to keep because of my curly hair, and I also had a cow's lick, so no matter how hard I tried, it never stayed down! So probably a side sweep. 

Up or Down?
Its up most of the time really! I do try to leave it down though if I'm going out. 

Random
Rain or Shine?
Why would anyone say rain? We get too much of it in this country, so definitely shine! Nothing beats a nice crisp sunny winters day in my book! 

Summer or Winter?
Summer for sure! Sunshine, sitting in the garden enjoying a nice crisp drink... Yummy! 

Autumn or Spring?
I love Autumn, and being able to get out all my boots and scarves and warmer clothes!! 

Chocolate or Vanilla?  Chocolate is my all time favourite weakness. Any kind will do, except Turkish Delight! Hate that stuff!! 

So that's it for my first tag post! Hope you enjoyed it, 

Thanks for reading,

Alisha! xxx