My Bad Day Pampering Pick-me-Ups!

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well! This post is my little way of trying to motivate you to have yourself  a pampering session. These last few weeks have been hard for a number of reasons which I won't get into. Needless to say, when times are hard or we are stressed out, we tend to neglect the simple things... This is why, when we are put to the test and pull through whatever challenge faces us, we like to reward ourselves! And what better way to do this then to simply take time for yourself, relax and pamper! It might sound silly but I find that doing this helps me unwind and feel totally relaxed!

All of the above products are on my must have list at the moment, for reasons which I will explain below, I think it's so important to find products that work for you, but at the same time feel luxurious and effective without breaking the bank! These are perfect and all of which can be found at your local Boots/Chemist!

First on my list is Clairol's new Extreme n' Easy, this has quickly become my hair colourant of choice mainly because I am prone to grey hair at 26 years of age, it's so bad that I use to have to dye my roots every 2 weeks. This gives me almost a month free of grey hair! It might not sound like much, but for me, that is a long time! With other colours they would start to show after 1-2 washes, not good value for money. What I like about Extreme n' Easy is that Clairol have branched out in their colour range so if you are like me and love your more vibrant colours... this will be right up your street!

Once my colour has been in for about 20 minutes I head for the bathroom to wash it out. for this I use Aussie's Colour Mate Haircare range. The Shampoo I leave in for about a minute and then rinse and repeat. The conditioner I apply generously and comb through with a wide tooth comb and leave for two minutes.

While I am waiting what I normally do is run a nice hot bath, with lots of bubbles and add my favourite bath salts and oils, I find lavender really helps or white musk. If I'm feeling like a walk on the wild side I'll mix the two (why not live dangerously?!) Before I hop in I rinse the conditioner out and apply a good amount of Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle Colour Deep Treatment, tie my hair back and just relax.

 Once I'm relaxed, I apply one of Olay's Total Effects Masks, these are individually wrapped stretching cloth masks. They are just amazing, I argued with myself about whether to post a picture of what the masks looks like on and in the end I said for the sake of blogging I would embarrass myself slightly and show you all, but first a warning... there is no way to make these masks attractive!

Stunning isn't it? My partner just went crazy lusting after me in this bad boy! But, it's not about how it looks, it's about what it does, and what it does is leave my skin refreshed, moisturised and feeling brand new. I love it! So once my time in the mask is up, I rinse out the 3 Minute Miracle, towel dry my hair and apply my hair oil.

After Ive taken the time to do all these little tasks I feel so much more relaxed and just generally feel a lot better about myself. All that's left to do after all that pampering is to pop on the fluffy socks, some nice PJ's and break out the Gossip Girl box set!

 So that's it for now ladies!

I hope you enjoyed.

Do you take the time to pamper yourself?

If so, what are you favourite products?

Let me know!

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea

Lush - Emotional Brilliance

Hey Ladies,

This post is all about the wonder of Emotional Brilliance by Lush. As soon as I heard that Lush were venturing into the world of cosmetics, I was excited. I adore Lush, some of my all time favourite products include 'The Comforter' (although my partner doesn't thank me for the bright pink loveliness in the bath) 'Rockstar' handmade soap, 'British Skin Nanny' facial serum, and lets not leave out the wide variety of massage bars, bath bombs and face masks I purchase every time I'm near a store! The Emotional Brilliance range consists of Lip colours, eyeliners and eyeshadows. There are 30 products in all (all of which are vegan!) and you are bound to find a product to suit your mood!

The concept behind 'Emotional Brilliance' is less about wearing makeup that’s in-season or someone else’s vision of what’s on-trend, it works in a way for you to wear something that’s designed for you - you choose the colours and then the corresponding words, such as Confident, Vibrance, Bubbly or Glamorous, they will then be of significance to you and your needs at that time and you wear them to get that point across. It really is more the power of suggestion, that it’s enough that you believe in it, you will then start to behave a certain way. You know, for example when you're told to wear red, as red is a power colour? That it will make you feel confident? This is the whole idea behind this range and I think it's really fantastic! How it works is, you spin the Emotional Brilliance Colour Wheel to get your personalised colour reading, you then choose the three colours that stand out to you at that time and these colours are linked to certain words that reveal a little bit about your current state of mind! Pretty clever, right?
 

This is the lipstick, 'Glamorous' I just love it, The packaging of these products are really fun. In all honesty I didn't really know what to expect from the lipsticks, but they are really great, they apply beautifully and the lasting power is pretty fantastic, they fade more like a stain but are not drying on the lips.

'Glamorous'

Next up is 'Vibrance' this is a really pretty coral/tangerine perfect for the Summer months! I'm really enjoying this one.

'Bubbly' is a burnt orange with a pink iridescent shimmer, it's really pretty, and I can't say enough good things about the staying power of these lipsticks, they're just brilliant. Although it does feel a little strange pulling these out of my purse for touch ups! I get quite a few questions!

'Focus' is a beautiful pearlescent, off silver with really light blue shimmer eyeshadow, it has a doe foot applicator just like the lipsticks, it's a little tricky to apply, but the colour pay off is excellent.

Last up is the liquid eyeliner in 'Control' this is just the most incredible navy blue liner. Perfect for when you need a little more colour than your basic black! This lasts all day. It's fantastic.

Left-Right Glamorous, Bubbly, Focus, Vibrance, and Control

So that's it for now ladies!

What are your thoughts on Lush's Emotional Brilliance?

Will you be trying out any of their new range of cosmetics?

Let me know what you think!

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea

Lancome - Hypnose Star Mascara

Hey Ladies,

Hope you are all well! Today's post kind of brings me back to an obsession that began in my childhood and has lasted right into my adult years, Betty Boop. When I heard that Lancôme had signed my beloved Betty Boop I knew from the off, I'd be jumping on that bandwagon!

One thing that always stood out to me about Betty Boop were her eye's and those lashes. Just stunning! This mascara was inspired by the hallmark 1930's movies. So we're talking yesterday's vintage glamour meets the glamour of today.

The packaging of this mascara is amazing, it's sparkling, sequined, and dazzling, it most definitely has a 'star' quality. The packaging actually reminds me of a dress that Betty herself wore in an old video I had as a child where she wore a long, sequined, sparkling dress. Betty was always a charming character, she was also the first ever cartoon heroine, even to this day she is seen as an established symbol of glamour

So, what makes this mascara special? Well according to Lancôme, this mascara has the combination of an innovative brush and and the 'black diamond' effect fluid formula, which enables you to sculpt the lashes precisely. Hypnôse Star plays on the balance between two types of wax, comprising of two formula's, for a feather light texture which promises to give incredible glamorous volume and voluptuous curl.

So, what are my opinions on this mascara? Well, I'm afraid nothing is going to knock YSL's Faux Cills Shocking mascara off my top spot, but I really like this mascara, It does what it promises and it's a great mascara. It gives length, volume and curl, and the staying power is great. Who doesn't love a bit of Betty inspired glamour?!

So that's it ladies.

What do you think?

Will you be trying Lancôme's Hypnôse Star?

What mascara's are you loving right now?

Let me know!

xoxo

Aundrea

My Haircare Routine

Hey Ladies.

My post this evening is about my haircare routine. The past few months have been a very rocky road with both my skin and hair care routine. I'm not going to bore you with the details but basically I have arthritis and I started a new drug called Methotrexate which is a very strong medication with is actually used in chemotherapy. So, with this new drug come an entire string of issues to contend with. My hair is actually falling out as a result. Nothing majorly serious, but it was a little scary the first time it happened, I'm hoping that once my body adjusts, things will start to regulate with my hair and skin. So, enough of the boring stuff and on to how I try to manage and pamper my hair.

Now, like every other women on the planet, I have tried my fair share of shampoo and conditioner. I am talking high end to drug store/chemist (or whatever the Irish equivalent of drugstore is) Now some high end ones were fine, but they weren't exactly life changing and for €30 plus for a bottle of shampoo it would want to be more than just fine.

So, on my journey to find my top shampoo and conditioner I came across Aussie, now obviously I had heard of Aussie before, but the thing that put me off, was they were kind of expensive for such a small bottle. When I discovered they had re sized to a bigger bottle for the same price, I was there! What I am using at the moment is the Miracle Moist shampoo and conditioner. I find that these have worked wonders. I shampoo twice and leave the shampoo in for 2 minutes at a time. Next I pop the conditioner in. I use a generous amount of conditioner and comb through with a wide tooth comb, leave it fr 4-5 minutes and then rinse.

Next on the list is the 3 Minute Miracle 'Colour' Deep Treatment, this is such a fantastic product, not my first bottle of the 3 Minute Miracle, but it is my first 'Colour' 3 Minute Miracle. Unfortunately, I have been cursed with the grey gene. I have to dye my roots at least once every 3 weeks. I have my mother to thank for that. This is an incredibly thick balm that I apply to my hair once a week just to try and repair some of the damage done by the colouring process and of course by styling tools. Now, again I have tried my fair share of masks/treatments and honestly this is so much better than my Moroccan Oil mask which cost €35! This does exactly the same job, if not better for a fraction of the price.

Let's start with the Moroccan Oil, this bad boy will set you back €40 for a 100ml bottle. What are the benefits? Well, I purchased this when the hair oil craze started and this was THE product to have. Yes, it's fine it does what it says on the tin but is it worth the money? No, I don't think so. It's not a bad product by any means but I just think that there are better products out there for less money. Just like the one I am about to show you.

This is Macadamia Oil. It costs about €28.00 and it's 150ml. What I prefer about this product, aside form the fact it's cheaper and you get an extra 50ml is that it's not as heavy as the Moroccan Oil. It's very difficult to overload your hair with this product. This is a healing hair oil and I have found with the combined use of all the above products and this my hair is in much better condition, Less split ends, it's silky smooth, less frizzy and my hair is so much easier to manage.

Before I finish up I have a little tip for you! The Aussie shampoo? It is the PERFECT thing to deep cleanse your makeup brushes with! It works wonders with them, it removes all the dirt and build up of makeup and leaves the brushes so, so soft. It's much better than any actual brush cleanser I have tried including the MAC brush cleanser! Give it a try, I guarantee you'll be impressed!

That's it for now ladies.

I hope you enjoyed!

What are you haircare products of the moment?

Have you tried any of the above?

Let me know!

xoxo

Aundrea