Apologies...

Hey everyone, this is just a quick post to say I'm so sorry about my lack of posting in the last couple of weeks! For a while I lost my blogging 'mojo' if you'd call it that, and last week I was in New York and just literally arrived back today so I'm a bit away with the fairies! However I'm back now, and I can't wait to share some posts of the goodies I bought with you all, (and believe me, there's a lot)! From now on I'll be blogging on a more regular basis.. Promise!
Chat soon,
Alisha xxx

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints

As I haven mentioned before on this little slice of the Internet, I have collected an insane amount of nail polish. Most of it being drugstore with the exception of a couple of bottles of Nails Inc that I picked up at bargain prices in TK Maxx. I'm not fussy, if I like the colour I'll buy it, simple as that. Today though, I thought I'd talk about the one brand that has impressed me much that I've kept going back for more, and so have ended up with quite a few, all in the same formula. They are the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine polishes to be exact, and if  you've never heard of them then leave. NOW. Hehe, only joking, but seriously though, you must give them a try!

So what's the point of them you ask? Well basically, they give the effect of a gel manicure, without having to go to a beautician and stick your nails under a UV lamp and all that jazz! As Barry M say themselves 'a highly pigmented, chip resistant formula. Gives a glossy gel-like finish with a single coat'.
So for 5.99 its possible to get a professional looking gel manicure! Hooray!
I have to say while they are very pigmented, some are more than others. For example the colours Lychee and Dragon that I have pictured below are lighter colours, so seem to take an extra coat  to look more opaque! Most of them though are opaque in one coat, but for me I'm used to wearing two coats of any nail polish, so I just apply two out of habit, but it makes them last a day or two more without chipping, so that's something to consider, especially as these are so glossy a top coat isn't really needed! The formula is a little bit thicker given that its a gel formula, and it applies relatively easy. The only thing I'm not sure about is the brush. I recently picked up Dragon and Key Lime, and it could just be me but the brush seems to be a lot thinner or something. But still it applies fairly easily as long as the brush isn't overloaded, otherwise it just goes everywhere, and that ain't a pretty sight!
So with all that out of the way I'm going to show you the colours I have!

Blueberry: A really pretty light almost pastel blue colour. I haven't given this much love lately and that will have to change soon because its such an unusual colour and it looks so pretty on the nails!

Blue Grape: This is the total opposite to the last one in that its a really deep royal blue shade, and again one that deserves more love from me. For some reason I feel more like a winter shade, which is crazy because I think it would look brilliant on the toenails with a deep tan! (Which I will never have, sigh) :(

Key Lime: As you can see, its a really bright in your face green colour. I'm not really sure how I feel about it to be honest. I look at it one day and say oh ya that's really nice, and then the next day I hate it and want to take it off straight away! However though there's no denying its a great Summer colour, I think it'll look especially great with a tan, or if you think its a bit much for the fingernails, it'll look fantastic on your toenails!

Dragon: This is such a pretty girly shade, I love it so much I can see myself wearing it quite a lot over the Summer, if it ever gets here that is! It is a nice bright pink, but at the same time, I think its something you can get away with in the work place without it looking too mental. Both these colours make me so excited for holidays and beaches and cocktails!

Greenberry: This is my favourite out of the bunch by far. I love green, more or less any shade of it, and this is one I've gotten so much wear out of, as you can see from the messy bottle! Its a turquoise green, that nearly leans towards neon its that bright! But that's why I like it, its a shade that just makes me think of warmer weather.

Lychee: Lastly, my least favourite of the bunch. Its a nude shade that has been raved about online, but it just does nothing for me because I'm so pale it just makes my hands look ghostly. I think I shall be sticking with pinky nudes from now on!

Have you lovely ladies tried any of these polishes? What other shades should I try?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Soap And Glory Solar Powder Bronzer

You know you have a serious addiction to make up when you go through your stash and you find things that you didn't even know you owned. I'm seriously hoping that I'm not the only one that this happens to, on a more frequent basis than I would actually like to admit. Anyway, recently in a bid to save my euros I decided instead of raiding Boots in the 3 for 2 like plenty did, (if you're one of these people I'm very jealous and please tell me what you bought so I can live vicariously through you), I instead raided my own excessively large make up collection to see what I had that I could add in to my daily make up routine, and I found this. WHEN did I even buy it? I can't remember exactly, but I have a feeling it came as part of a set that I more than likely picked up in the post Christmas sales. I'm ashamed to admit it wasn't even swatched when I resurrected it, how bad is that!
I haven't used bronzer in my make up routine in years, partly because of bad memories from teenage disco's of Rimmels Sunshimmer Bronzer being used for absolutely everything. I remember even applying it to my elbows! Why I don't know... But since then I've given up the bronzer because I really believed nothing would work for me, instead I'd just look like I'd been Tango'd.

That was until I tried this! The product itself comes in typical Soap And Glory packaging, totally cute and girly. The bronzer is contained inside  a black cardboard case, but don't let that put you off, because it is seriously sturdy. Its made up of two different shades, a matte darker colour, and a more shimmery lighter shade, both of which are perfect for my pale Irish red haired complexion.There is a slight over spray on the embossed S&G in the product itself, but after one quick swipe its gone, so no need to worry about your face looking like a glitterball!

At first I wasn't too sure where exactly to apply bronzer, what with being a bronzer virgin, so I just went with what I've seen people do in video's on YouTube and applied it to the higher point of my cheekbones, my temples and the jawbone, and I was super impressed I didn't look like one of Willy Wonka's helpers! It just looked so natural, and it looked like I'd just come back from a weeks sun holiday... (I wish). Then I applied a little coral blush to the apples of my cheeks just to feel extra Summery!!
The only thing I haven't tried to do with it yet is the dreaded contouring, but I think that shall be left for a day until I don't have to go anywhere, and can stay on front of the mirror for the day to perfect my Kim Kardashian like features.... :D Oh I wish!!
Overall I have to say I'm very impressed with the Soap And Glory powder products that I've tried. I've also tried the 'Love at First Blush, which is gorgeous too, and I've heard rave reviews about their highlighter and finishing powder aswell. It retails at 14.00 euro, which isn't too bad. Its the more expensive side of the drug store, but still reasonable enough that you won't feel too guilty about sneaking it into your basket! ;)

Have you tried this or any of the other powders?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

March Favourites:

Its hard to believe another month has just flown by in the blink of an eye! Madness isn't it! Anyway, all that 'OMG, where is time going' stuff, March was a really good month for me, product wise. I discovered some absolute gems this month that I have absolutely and genuinely loved. You may think I'm exaggerating, but you know its true love when you use a product every single day since you got it! Beauty Addicts are you with me???

The first thing I've been absolutely loving is a BB Cream from Lidl. Yes you read that right, Lidl. Its part of their Orisis range that they brought out recently, but it disappears fairly fast off the shelves. (Its back in store for Mother's Day now if you're interested.) But anyway, this stuff is AMAZING. Its light and it feels really cool and refreshing on my skin and gives a decent amount of coverage. It makes me go from looking like I've just gotten out of bed to bright eyed and bushy tailed in seconds! It comes in 2 colours, light and medium. I'm as pale as Casper, and can sometimes find colour matching difficult, but the light shade is perfect for me. And the best bit? Its only 2.99! I'm genuinely so impressed with this, its been my go to base for more or less every day this month.

Next up is a skincare product. Skincare isn't something that I would have been too bothered about before, but in the last couple of months I've been trying harder, as I'm slowly but surely heading for the wrong side of 25. And they say prevention is better than cure! Its Tesco's Pro Formula Hot Cloth Cleanser. This stuff is the best cleanser I've used so far. Hot Cloth cleansers are all the rage in the beauty world lately, so I decided to give one a go. And I'm glad I did! It literally takes every scrap of make up off my face. I even used a micellar solution after it incase there was some make up left on my face, but there was zero!! It was a bargain price of 6.50 and it even came with a little muslin cloth aswell. I find this very rough for my face though so I'll be buying a couple of softer cloths to use with it instead. But its well worth it and I shall definitely repurchase this!

Spring finally seemed to appear in March, and I got so excited I gave my make up bag a good shake up for the sun. This Sleek Blush Trio in Lace has been on my face more or less all month. With 3 differing shades of coral in the palette its perfect for sunny days and evenings. It just makes me feel happy and excited for Summer, and if I were to go on a sun holiday this is something I would definitely pack. These are also great value at around 10 euro for 3 blush shades! Can't go wrong with that! :)

I eventually gave in and picked up the Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick in Just Peachy. I had been eyeing it up for ages, and although at 2.99 it wasn't going to break the bank, I just wasn't sure the shade was going to suit me. However, I bought it and I'm so glad I did. Its such a beautiful shade of peach, and it doesn't wash me out like I thought it would. Its rare that I wear the same lipstick every day for more or less a month, but for March this is all I've worn.

Because the weather has been so good, I've gone back to my trusty Roger And Gallet Fleur De Figeur as my scent for March. This has gotten me so many compliments over the last few weeks. Its one of those scents that is beautifully sweet and fruity, but not in an immature or teenage way. Its slowly but surely making its way to the bottom of the bottle though, so a repurchase will definitely be on the cards at some point. Its also available in a small bottle and a big bottle, and they're very inexpensive. The bigger size is 39.99 so its not expensive in comparison to other perfumes.

And lastly, I've been obsessed with statement jewelry. Anything big and colourful specifically. This one is a recent purchase from Penney's that I absolutely adore. I love mint green anyway, and teamed with the coral and the pearls its perfect to brighten up a plain outfit. And it was only 8 euro!

So that my dears is March's favourites!
Anything here that you've tried?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Top Yankee Candle Scents

Its pretty much a blogger cliche to have an obsession with candles. I have to admit I love candles, and some of my favourite video's to watch on YouTube are Bath and Bodyworks hauls, even though we can't buy them here! I know, I'm a strange girl. Saying that, we can access Yankee Candles a lot easier this side of the pond, so incase you live under a rock and never tried said candles, I'm going to share with you today my personal favourite smells! There's a variety of size candles to choose from, there's small jars, medium and large. Now I still live at home, and I don't spend a lot of time in my room, so I wouldn't be able to burn jars for the length of time necessary. However, they also do little wax tarts which when placed in a burner, melt with the heat of the flame of a tealight, and throw the scent around the room or wherever you burn it like you wouldn't believe! So this is the method I use. They are also priced at only 1.50 euro, and if you're burning it in a small space you can cut them in half and get more value for money that way, which is always a good thing!
So here are my top picks!

First up is Fireside Treats. This smells so good I could almost eat it, if it wasn't a pile of wax. This smells exactly what 'Smores' would taste like, sweet like marshmallows but yet with the smokiness of the camp fire! Yummy! Its a sweet scent but not one that's overly sickly.

Vanilla Lime: If you love the scent of Soap and Glory's Sugar Crush then you'll love this just as much. I would even go as far to say as it smells like a Margarita or some other really fruity cocktail! It has the slight subtle scent of vanilla, which stops the lime scent from being too over powering. Its just such a nice fresh scent which I think would be perfect for burning in a kitchen, especially after you've been cooking to eliminate odours such as onions and the likes.

Pink Dragonfruit: I've never heard of a dragonfruit. In fact I don't even know if it is even a real fruit. But this is just a really beautiful fruity scent. Its super sweet though, so probably best to avoid if you don't like anything too sweet. I don't even know what kind of fruit to compare it to, but from the scent itself, it smells like the type of  really juicy fruit that you would sink your teeth into and end up with juice all over the place! So in other words, really juicy.

Salted Caramel:  Are you all noticing a pattern here with all the foodie scents? Hmm, me too. Anyway, if you haven't smelt this, then go do it like right now! This smells like homemade caramel, plain and simple, with a little tiny dash of salt thrown in there, just for taste. Its delicious! And everytime I smell it, it makes me wish I could bake, purely just so I could make caramel. Someday though! This is another one I think would be good for kitchens or a larger space, as I think its too sweet for smaller rooms.

Baby Powder: And to finish, a non food one! This is new born baby smell. It is divine! And every time I smell this it just makes me picture a tiny baby wrapped up in blankets that smells so clean and innocent. This is probably the most inoffensive scent of them all, as its really mild. So if you're the type of person who's very sensitive to stronger scents then maybe give this a try, as its not too in your face, and it doesn't throw too much of a scent.

So they are some of my favourite scents. I could go on and on forever as so many of them smell fantastic but I think you'd all get bored fairly quickly! The best advice I can give is just go to a Yankee Candle shop and sniff sniff sniff! The staff in my local store in Galway are so friendly and always on hand to help if you need it, and there is more than likely always offers of some sort on in store. If you're nowhere near a store then you can buy online also from HERE.

Have you any personal favourites? If so tell me, I always love to try new smells!

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Likes and Dislikes

I'm not the most confident person in the world, and for the last few days I've been really struggling with some issues that I just can't seem to shake off. Said issues are mainly my teeth. I HATE THEM. I know that sounds a bit over the top, but they are the one part of me that I'm terrible self conscious of. Years of grinding my teeth and acid erosion has taken its toll unfortunately, and that in itself I could cope with. But its the colour and appearance I can't take. I know teeth are naturally a yellow colour (my own dentist told me so), but my teeth are really discoloured, and there's also gaps in them that I've recently become so paranoid about. Anyway after all that, I decided to make it into a blog post, not a blog post about how much I hate things about myself, but about the things I like about myself, so maybe it'll counteract my ever growing paranoia about my teeth!


1: My hair: My hair is probably my favourite feature altogether. I've super curly hair, that so many people compliment me on on a regular basis. It takes little to no effort to style my hair, a bit of mousse in it after its washed and its good to go. Another positive thing about having such curly hair is that its very dry, so it doesn't tend to get greasy too quickly, so I could easily go 3/4 days before it needs to be washed. Yay! (This doesn't mean I don't wash myself more frequently though, obviously.)

2: My small feet: I'm petite at only 5'0, and because of this my feet are only a size 3/4. This makes it super easy for me to find nice shoes and trainers etc.... But it also means I can purchase shoes in the kiddies section! Yay!! :)

3: My eyebrows: This may seem like a strange one, but with eyebrows now becoming a staple part in so many peoples make up routine I'm lucky because I have very strong eyebrows that don't require much work. They are a little sparse in sections, but its not hugely noticeable, so I get away without having to do anything major with them, bar filling in with pencil.

 4: My waist:  I have a tiny waist, that I know many other girls would only love to have. I don't find buying clothes difficult to buy generally, but sometimes I can find dresses hard to buy because while I'm small on top, my hips and legs are slightly bigger... But hey, you can't have it all!

5: My Skin: Compared to other people, I am so so privileged with my skin. Bar the odd breakout once a month, my skin is usually quite good. It used to very sensitive when I was in my teens, but as I've gotten older it seems to have sorted itself out, and I usually can get away with using whatever I like on my skin.


So that's it for today ladies, a bit of a different post, but I thought it would be nice to sit down and think about what I like about myself for a change, instead of focusing on what I don't like.
What about you ladies? What are your likes/dislikes about yourselves?

Thanks for reading guys,
Alisha xxx

Rimmel Match Perfection Blush

Hey everyone, happy Friday! Today I'm back with a review of something in my collection that I absolutely LOVE, but I haven't seen too much talk about it in the blogosphere, so I thought I'd change that with my little opinion!

It is  the Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in 01 Light. It is part of the Match Perfection line  from Rimmel that is made up of a number of other products, including the well known Match Perfection Foundation, Concealer, and Powder.
First of all for me the packaging isn't great. Its the same as the Stay Matte powder, the product is encased in a plastic bottom, and its a plastic lid the screws on to protect the product from getting damaged. I've had no problems with it yet, but I would be afraid to pop it in my handbag as the last time I brought something similar to this packaging in my handbag, my bag got destroyed! But as it's a drugstore product, I won't dwell to much on the packaging, just something to be aware of! :)
The product itself is made up of 2 shades of blush although online it says 3, but I can only see 2, which can be used seperately or together. My preferred method of use is to grab my Real Techniques Blush Brush, swirl the colours together and then pop on to my cheeks. I find it gives a really nice natural flush of colour to the cheeks, which is what Rimmel say in their blurb for the product anyway. I was having a look on the Boot's site just to see the general consensus on the product, and some people seemed disappointed because they say it has very little colour pay-off, but if you look at the colours in the pan, they are very muted, understated colours, which is why I like it. It goes with any make up look. For the day time its perfect if you're just popping to the shop for a few bits and don't want to go ott with your face, for the night time its perfect if you're going out and are going for something a bit heavier, say a smokey eye and a red lip, because it instantly just adds a pop of colour to the cheeks, without distracting from the main elements of the look! The powder itself is nice, I find it easy to apply and blend, and no fall out, which can often happen with a blush after tapping your brush into it.
I had been intending to use this today and to take a picture to show you all what it looks like, but I had my make up done when I realised I'd used another blush! Sorry guys! :( I will add in a picture the next  time I use it though promise!
Overall I really love it, but if you're someone who likes noticeable colour on your cheeks, then I would probably give this a miss! But if  you are like me and sometimes like to look a bit more natural but don't want to skip out on the blush then do give it a try! Its only around the 6 or 7 euro mark so you can't go wrong.
Its available from all usual Rimmel stockists! :)

Thanks for reading everyone,
Alisha xxx