The Perfect Mascara... Could this be the one?

Hello lovelies,

I hope you are all doing good. So as the title suggests, this post is about the long and winding road of finding the perfect mascara. I'm going to be really honest and say that every hyped up mascara has been a bit of a let down for me. My latest run in was with Benefit's They're Real! Such a let down. My lashes actually started falling out, and I still have a gap in my left eyelashes that you could kick a field goal through! I'm not saying it's the worst mascara I have ever tried but it just didn't live up to the hype for me.

So, after months and years of searching, I've found it. I've met what I think could be 'The One'. And like they always say, it happened when I wasn't looking. It was literally dropped into my lap. My partner bought me a bottle of Chanel No. 5 for our anniversary this year and the very nice lady at the Chanel counter gave him some samples for me. One of which was the Inimitable Intense mascara. I immediately fell in love. It did everything it promised and more...

It's a beauty. I bought the full size when I had exhausted the sample and it's worth every penny!

What it Promises: Volume, Length, Curl and Separation.

This mascara lengthens like a dream, curls the lashes beautifully, thickens perfectly and separates the lashes too. There are no clumps, none of that spindly lash effect or little fallout flakes. It's just amazing. I really feel like this is the one.

The wand on the mascara is lovely. The mascara itself isn't wet but it isn't dry either, it strikes a happy balance and dries in no time at all. I get all day wear from this mascara. I really can't say enough good things about this product. I feel like I could sweep the floor with my lashes when wearing this, I don't feel like any other mascara will trump the Inimitable Intense.

So that's it for now ladies!

Let me know what your favourite mascara's are, give me your recommendations!

Tell me your mascara disasters!

Until next time...

Aundrea

xoxo

The Body Shop - My Top Products

Hello Ladies,

Hope you are all well. My post today is about The Body Shop, and the products I'm really enjoying from them at the moment! My love affair with The Body Shop began at the tender age of 11, when I was helping my mum with a raffle for my primary school. There was a White Musk basket full of assorted goodies such as soap, body spray, perfume and powder. My brother won it and I was distraught! He was 7 at the time, so I offered to trade him 3 weeks pocket money for the basket, he of course agreed and was £1.50 richer 3 weeks later!

The girl at my local Body Shop is so friendly and helpful, she hands out generous samples of everything and is more than willing to help in any way she can, thank you Emma! All of the products below, Emma recommended and I honestly cannot find fault with any of them.

I have 6 products to talk about in total, and they are all winners!

This is the Natrulift Softening Cream Cleanser with Organic Pomegranate. It's a beautiful cleanser with anti oxidant properties. It leaves my skin feeling soft, clean and supple. It also fights sign of ageing and it firms too. I can't really speak for the anti-ageing yet, but it feels like it's doing my skin good, I've had less breakouts since I started using this.

The famous Hemp Hand Protector, This cream is for very dry skin, and contains hemp seed oil. I have dry skin on my hands and every so often my cuticles suffer because of this too. The scent of this product is pretty hard to describe. It smells very earthy, almost like clay or soil. It's not a bad scent but it's not one of their more fantastic scents, but as long as it does the job, I'm happy!

The Neroli Jasmin Body Mist. This is absolutely divine! I adore this product, it's incredible! I stumbled across this accidentally one day, I'm not a body mist type of gal... I'm a strong perfume drown myself in it type of girl. This comes in perfume form too, but funnily enough the body mist is much nicer, and stronger too. It's a really seductive scent, and I think it could pass as unisex too. At least that's what my partner tells me, he steals mine whenever its left out!

This is the Vitamin C Skin Reviver, this is one of my holy grail products, it's truly amazing. It's marketed for dull skin, I use it as a makeup primer, it smoothes and gives a beautiful radiant glow underneath my foundation. It smells like fizzy oranges and it's a real pick me up for my skin. I believe Kylie Minogue is a huge fan of this product and she has said it's a staple in her beauty and skincare regime.

The Vitamin E Facial Oil for dry skin. This is a fantastic product, I use this at night time to help sort out my stubborn patches of dry skin. A little of this oil goes a long way, the product comes with a little pipette dropper, which is fantastic to help control the amount of product you use. I find it moisturises and soothes my skin fantastically.

The last product on my 'must have' list is the Hemp Moisture High Balm for very dry skin. This is an incredibly rich balm that I use once or twice a week. I don't use it all over my face, just on my problem areas. This takes a long time to sink in but the results at worth it. Once again, a little of this product goes a long way, and it's not just for the face, it can be used on any problem areas of dry skin anywhere on the body.

So that's it lovelies, my must have list of The Body Shop products!

Let me know if you've tried any of these little treasures.

Which products have you tried and loved/hated?

Let me know if there is anything you recommend that's not on my list!

Until next time!

Aundrea

xoxo

Chanel - Soleil Tan de Chanel (Bronze Universal)

Hey Ladies,

I hope you're all doing well! My post this evening is about Chanel's infamous product Soleil Tan de Chanel.
This has been on my list for quite some time, but like other pale skin ladies, I was a bit hesitant to try it, I was afraid this might have the dreaded oompah loompah effect on me. I couldn't have been more wrong!

Unfortunately my 'local' Chanel counter is 2 hours away so any purchases I intend to make are always pre-empted. While I was in Dublin I decided to bite the bullet and head into the Chanel counter in Arnotts. The lady I always try to catch while there is Yvonne, she's amazing and will always give me an honest opinion (even if it means hurting my delicate feeling sometimes) When I asked her about it, and told her my oompah loompah fear she sat me on the chair under those really harsh unflattering lights and went to work with what genuinely seemed a huge amount of product on the brush. She advised me exactly where to place it on my face, what brushes to use it with, and to buff, buff, buff.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked in the mirror, my face looked radiant and beautifully structured. It wasn't dirty looking or orange or too dark for my face. It really shocked me to be honest, all my reservations faded away. I bought it and took it home, removed all my makeup and re applied it to put the product to the test. I followed Yvonne's instruction's exactly, and I ended up with the same great results.

The bronzer itself is a solid creme consistency with the tiniest amount of shimmer to it, which I only discovered when I bought it, all the reviews I had read said it was a matte, trust me it isn't, there is a very very subtle shimmer to it. So, what can you do with it? Well, Ive been experimenting with it and I have found that it can be used as an all over base for foundation, it can be worn lightly on its own, as a contour or whatever your bronzing purposes may be! It just gives a really healthy glow to the skin, I'm surprised at how much I have taken to this, and that's coming from a girl who ran a mile from bronzers of any description.

I use my Real Techniques buffing brush to apply it (is there anything that brush can't do?!) It works perfectly to blend and buff it into the skin. I really think you need a dense brush to make this product work. Add a little at first, and build to the desired coverage. As far as wear goes, it really seems to last all day, I've not had any issues so far and it's been sweltering heat the past day or two.

It's available at Chanel counters everywhere although according to Yvonne and my other sources once it sells out its very hard to get back into stock, she said 100 units were delivered last week and they had 10 left when I purchased mine. I really can see why its such a cult product. At €39 it is a bit of a splurge but, you get a huge amount of product in a pretty impressive jar, so I do believe you're getting value for money, plus... It's Chanel. I've never tried a product from Chanel I haven't fallen in love with, as you will see from my next few blog posts!

So that's it ladies, let me know your thoughts on this product.

Have you tried it? If not, do you intend to?

Tell me your favourite bronzing products!

Until next time,

Aundrea

xoxo

My Urban Decay Collection

Hey Ladies,

I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the weekend. My post today is about my Urban Decay collection.
I love UD, it's a fantastic brand, it's fun, edgy, unique and best of all it's cruelty free; what's not to love? You've probably seen my post on the deluxe shadows, so I'm not going to bore you with a big speech about how much love I have for this brand.Before I start I'm just going to warn you that this post will be picture heavy.

A quick overview of my collection

The Show Pony Palette

Top: Snatch, Mildew, Flash.

Bottom: Painkiller, Smog, Toasted.

The Sustainable Palette

Top: YDK, Flipside, Grifter, Uzi, Twice Baked.

Bottom: Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Flash, Oil Slick, Kiddie Pool, Half Baked.

The Black Palette

Top: Black Dog, Barracuda, Jet.

Bottom: Sabbath, Cobra, Libertine.

The Deluxe Palette 

Top: Fishnet, Honey, Ransom

Middle: Graffiti, Zero, Peace.

Bottom: Shag, Scratch, Underground.

The Ammo Palette

Top: Smog, Mildew, Oil Slick, Lastcall, Chopper.

Bottom: Maui Wowie, Shattered, Polyester Bride, Grifter, Sin.

The Vegan Palette

Top: Minx, Urb, Gunmetal.

Bottom: Twice Baked, Smog, Half Baked.

15th Anniversary Palette

1st Row Down: Midnight Rodeo, Midnight 15, Vanilla, Flow, Chase.

2nd Row Down: Tainted, Omen, Evidence, Deep End.

3rd Row Down: Deeper, MIA, Ace, Blackout, Half Truth.

Book of Shadows NYC

1st Row Down: Perversion, Midnight Cowboy, Haight, Radium.

2nd Row Down: Uzi, Last Call, Maui Wowie, Snatch.

3rd Row Down: Loaded, Rockstar, Smog, Suspect.

4th Row Down: Rush, Money, Bordello, Psychedelic Sister.

Book of Shadows IV

First Row Down: Blue Bus, Bender, Midnight Cowgirl, Bust.

2nd Row Down: Gunmetal, Gravity, Sin, Missionary.

3rd Row Down: Cobra, Lost, Midnight Rodeo, Skimp.

4th Row Down: Baked, Hijack, Crystal, Zephyr.

The Naked 2

(I'm not going to list colours for Naked 1 or 2, I think everyone knows or has them at this stage)

The Naked Palette

Single shadows in Last Call and Midnight Cowboy.

Afterglow Glide on cheek tint.

Indecent

Big Fatty Mascara

24/7 Liquid eyeliner pen in Perversion

Primer Potion in Original

Super Curl Mascara

So that's my collection, if you want any more details on anything please do let me know. As I've said before I just adore Urban Decay products, if there is anything you have that you think I might enjoy, please let me know! Let me know what your favourite products are!

I'll see you all soon.

I hope you enjoyed!

Aundrea xoxo