Well Dressed

I've never been big into blush, I've stuck to my Bourjois Little Round Pots for a long time because they are inexpensive, they last so long and smell amazing. My favourite one is Lilas d'or (shade 33) which I really should have reviewed by now (I will soon) since I wear it most days.

I wanted to try out a new blush coming into Autumn to change things up a bit. I actually only have four blushes, two cream and two powder. I kept seeing people wearing this on blogs and on youtube and I loved it every time so I decided to go for it after swatching it in person at the MAC counter. Well Dressed is perfect for giving a rosy glow to the cheeks for Autumn.

Foundation- YSL Le Teint Touch Éclat BR20
Concealer- Collection Lasting Perfection Shade 1
Powder- No 7 Loose Powder in Translucent
Brows- Revlon Rich Sable
Mascara- Estée Lauder Sumptuous Extreme
Eye Shadow- Urban Decay YDK, Revlon Vintage Lace
Eye Liner- No 7 Stay Perfect Metallic Eyes Pencil in Blackest
Lip Gloss- Benefit Nudie-Tude
Highlighter- Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Starlet Mosaic


As you can see the colour is so subtle and just gives a nice light flush of colour to the cheeks. It's a cool toned pale pink with a satin finish and very minimal shimmer if any. It's also not too pigmented so you won't end up looking like a clown if you have heavy hands with application. MAC blushes retail at €22.50 so it is pricey compared to the Bourjois ones but I think it's worth it since blushes always last so long.

What's your favourite blush for Autumn?

Emma x

PS. A very Happy Birthday to my Mother today!

July Glossybox Review

What with cancelling my subscription and everything I almost completely forgot to review the July Glossybox! I wasn't going to bother but there were some really great (and not so great) items in the box so I decided to go ahead and do a review anyway. 

I wasn't hugely excited about this Paul Mitchell Texturizing Sea Spray when I first saw it it the box. Mostly because my hair is naturally curly and I assumed these sprays were more aimed at people with straight hair who want some texture. I gave it a try anyway because I secretly have always wanted to try one of these products. I was really shocked with the result, it actually worked. My hair was not longer as curly as it normally is after air drying, instead the curls had fallen into a wavy texture. I was very impressed with this and it smells so good, but I decided to give it to my sister who has straighter hair than me as I figured she would get more use from it. If you want a texturising spray, I highly recommend this one.

I was so excited to see a lip product in the July Glossybox. I think it's the first one I've had in a glossybox apart from a lip liner which was completely the wrong colour for me so I gave it to my mam. I don't hate this product but I wouldn't repurchase it and in fact I haven't actually worn it outside of my apartment in the two months that I've had it. It seems to me to be aimed at young girls with the packaging and scent, it's like something I would have bought when I was 15. It smells very sweet, it comes in a tube that you have to squeeze out and I always squeeze out too much and then you have to apply it with your finger which I hate doing with a lip colour, especially if you're out and you need to touch it up which is mostly why I haven't worn it out yet. This is a full size which according to the product list is £10! I can't see any woman paying £10 for this and what 15 year old girl can afford to spend £10 on a lip product? I tried to find somewhere that sells this and yet again, impossible! Glossybox really need to consider how accessible the products they choose are to their customer.




This is the only thing I've gotten in a Glossybox that I actually had tried before. I adore this NUXE oil. It smells so nice, it's multi use so you can put it in your hair, on your body, your face, your hands and cuticles. It's just an all around fantastic product. NUXE is quickly becoming my favourite skincare brand. The only downside to this is it's price which is €30.50 for the 100ml bottle and €18.50 for the 50ml bottle in my local pharmacy but it makes a great gift to get someone because it's such a treat. This is already on my beauty wishlist.

I had heard really good things about Monu skincare but as far as I know it's a salon brand so again not the most accessible of products. This is a green tinted cream and it's purpose is to neutralise redness in the skin. I don't suffer from much redness in my skin so I don't feel like I can properly review it. That being said it feels really nice and I did try it a few times when it was a little red after exfoliating. It also contains Rutin which is renowned for healing broken capillaries so I can imagine for anyone who suffers from any skin redness this could be a life saver. This is £14.95/ € 17.23 at full price, but you can buy it on Feel Unique for €12.06 at the moment.

What can you really say about these skincare samples in sachets. I am never going to get enough product out of one of these to know that I want to spend a lot of money on the product. This Elizabeth Arden range is expensive and I didn't have enough in these samples to say anything conclusive about them. If you're interested in trying any of these products the sales assistants on the counter will usually be willing to give you some samples if you are nice enough to them.

I don't really know what to say about this except I hated it, but fragrance is such a personal thing so if you're interested in trying it please do (if you can find it). It's also super expensive at €100 for a 100 ml bottle. Not my cup of tea at all! If I was ever going to blow €100 on a fragrance it'd be Chanel Coco Mademoiselle.

So that's the end of my Glossybox experience. Having seen the August and September boxes I wasn't at all sad that I cancelled my subscription, I've saved €32 which will go towards some French goodies in Paris! Once again this is just my opinion and if you decide to subscribe you may find it more worthwhile than I did.

Are you subscribed? What did you think of the latest box?

Emma x

Autumn Eyewear with SmartBuyGlasses

The weather is definitely getting colder here in Ireland so I've been doing some online inspiration research to make myself excited for the Autumn/Winter season. One thing I am going to keep wearing through the colder days is my sunglasses because the Winter sun is just as harsh as the Summer sun and it adds something extra to a cosy outfit. I've been getting my inspiration from the ladies below.

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 Who doesn't love Michelle Williams? She's been one of my favourite actresses since Dawson's Creek and she also has incredible personal style. Now that I've joined tumblr I love seeing street style photos of Michelle, I just think she is so individual and one of those people who is never without her eyewear. You can see her wearing aviators similar to the classic Ray Ban ones above with a navy duffle coat and red check scarf which I love (the perfect check woollen scarf is on top of my winter wishlist). Michelle also likes to wear glasses which are similar to this pair of Ray Ban glasses, again wearing a camel coloured duffle coat and a navy woollen hat. I love her relaxed and comfortable Autumn Style!

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I adore Carey Mulligan, as an actress and her personal style. The Carte style of Tom Ford sunglasses are very similar to the ones Carey is wearing. I love this style, the round shape is just a bit more unusual than the classic Wayfarer or aviator shape. I love how she looks so cosy and monochromatic here with her navy trench coat, beanie hat and scarf, the sunglasses make this outfit in my opinion!

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As I mentioned in my previous post, Ray Ban are a firm favourite with celebrities. Emma Watson is wearing the Dark Brown Wayfarers with a taupe suede belted trench coat and trilby hat. I love seeing how her style is developing.

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Christina Hendricks looks really fresh in her stone coloured trench coat. I love trenches for Autumn because they're great for wearing layers underneath. Christina is wearing sunglasses very similar to the Tom Ford Lydia ones. I love opaque sunglasses for Autumn and these are such a classic shape and again something a bit different.

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Elizabeth Olsen is quickly becoming one of my new favourite actresses and style inspirations. She seems to be a really big fan of round sunglasses just like her sisters. The sunglasses she is wearing here are almost identical to these Gianfranco Ferre ones. I love this whole outfit from top to bottom, it just looks so comfortable and warm but the hat and fur coat add the individuality that Elizabeth is so good at creating for herself. I want to dress like this every day in Autumn!

All of the sunglasses linked above can be found on SmartBuyGlasses.com where you can not only find the most amazing Designer sunglasses (seriously, I have about 25 pairs bookmarked!) but they also have one of the widest selections of designer prescription glasses online.

So what's on your Autumn wishlist?  Have you got any style inspiration for the colder months?

Emma x

***Disclaimer- This is a sponsored post in association with SmartBuyGlasses.com***

Perfect Peony

You may remember my review of some of the Revlon Lip Butters back in April and how I raved about them.  I still feel the same way, they were a staple of my summer make up routine because they're so easy to wear and they look and feel amazing. I picked up a fourth shade, Peach Parfait, a few months back when the Revlon stand in Boots was having a three for two promotion and with it another Colorburst Lip Gloss in the colour Peony. I didn't even realise at the time how similar the colours were until I got home and took a closer look. I've been wearing these two together and separately quite a bit over the past few months. 

Peach Parfait worn alone

Peony worn on top of Peach Parfait

As you can see Peach Parfait (on the left) is actually more pink than Peony (on the right)

You can see above the kind of make up I've been wearing with these lip products coming into Autumn. The eye shadow is Urban Decay Snakebite from the Naked 2 Palette with some No. 7 Stay Perfect black eye pencil smudged into my upper lash line. 

Peach Parfait has some glitter in it which makes the texture slightly more gritty than the other Lip Butters I have, but I just adore the colour. It really is the perfect everyday lip colour and it goes with so many different eye looks because it adds just the right amount of subtle colour to the lips. Peony is more glittery as you can see from the macro shots above, it's so glossy and pretty and is a nice fresh alternative to a neutral lip colour.  I really love the Revlon Colorburst Lip Glosses, they smell lovely, the packaging is sleek and the texture is smooth. I also have the colours Pink Ice and Bordeaux which I've reviewed here. 

Emma x

Firmoo Eyewear

I was recently contacted by a company called Firmoo who offer high quality, inexpensive prescription and non-prescription eye-wear and asked to take a look at their site and choose a pair of sunglasses to review. 

I hadn't heard of the company before so I did my research and I was happy to see that they not only offer international shipping to a huge range of countries, but shipping is free if your order total is over $39. They also offer a great service that entitles every new customer to a free pair of glasses. You can read more about the free glasses here. 

Firmoo aspires to provide "Vision and Fashion the Frugal Way", which the way things are now should be the way more companies are thinking if they want to encourage sales and is why the free glasses for first time buyers is such a good idea. Everyone is looking for good quality at the lowest price available and their frames start at under $10, you can also play around with trying the glasses on virtually by uploading a photo of yourself to see whether they would suit you or not as I know it's tough when you're buying online to know if you'll like something if you can't try it on first.

Here are the sunglasses I chose; 

The sunglasses arrived 6 working days after I placed my order which is very fast for international delivery. Shipping to Ireland and the UK is a flat fee of $15.75 (€12/£9.70 approx.) which is an express courier service so you know your item is secure as you can keep track of it and you have to sign for it upon arrival. As you can see above they come in a hard, sturdy case with a cute map of Canada on it. You also get replacement screws and other bits to keep your glasses in working order. 

I chose these round ones because I don't own anything like them and I wanted to try something a bit different. I am honestly so impressed by the quality and feel of these. I wasn't too sure about them when I chose them but once I put them on I was totally enamoured! I've been wearing them every day since I got them. They retail at $42 (€32/ £25) which for the quality is such a great price. They also come in black but unfortunately I can't see them on the website anymore. I'd love to see more styles of sunglasses on their site as they don't have a huge selection at the moment but I'll definitely by recommending Firmoo to anyone I know who is in the market for some prescription frames. 

They also have a Facebook page where you can find out the latest news from them. 

Would you buy glasses online or have you before? I'd love to know what you think!

Emma x

Disclaimer- These sunglasses were provided to me free of charge, however all opinions expressed are honest, objective and my own.

Through The Shadow Of The Evening Sun

We were lucky enough to have glorious weather in Dublin last week. I broke out a pretty dress and sandals for what I can only assume will be the last time this year if the chill today is anything to go by! It was a nice treat to have such nice weather in September but I have to admit, I am quite looking forward to getting my scarves and woollies out again! 

Dress- Monsoon

Sandals- Marks and Spencers

Bag- Ms Tips Vintage via Etsy 

Sunglasses- Penneys/Primark

Bangles- mixture of Accessorize and Penneys/Primark

Ring- Zara Taylor 

Nails- No. 7 Devil's Delight (Fingers), Revlon One Perfect Coral (Toes)

Lips- Revlon Lip Butter Candy Apple, Clarins Colour Quench Lip Balm Blood Orange

I bought this binoculars bag with a gift voucher I won on Vixen Vintage last year and I've only gotten around to showing it to you now. I totally love it and it's surprisingly roomy. How cute is this umbrella print dress? It came into work back in February or March and I knew I wanted it straight away. It so easy to wear with the short sleeves and is the perfect length on me. 

I have some exciting news to tell you... we don't have to move! I told you yesterday about my living situation an was all set to continue the apartment search today but we got a phone call this morning that completely sorted it all out. I still can't believe it. I was beyond relieved and couldn't stop smiling all day! So thank you all for your kind words of encouragement, it really means so much to me (and Donnacha). I also received some treats in the mail today which made the day even better. I'll share some of the goodies later in the week! I feel so blessed today.

I hope you all are having a great start to your week.

Emma x

PS. A very Happy Birthday to my dad!

If You Go Down To The Woods Today

The weekend before last I went to Electric Picnic to film for Cock and Bull TV. The crew was a lot smaller than last year as Donnacha is currently doing almost everything himself. We filmed six sessions with some Irish bands in the woods outside the campsite. Here's what we got up to;

My sister Kate helped us out by recording sound

Luke, my fellow camera operator

Adventure Time T-Shirt!

There was a lot of waiting around (and even more insects!)

Spook of the Thirteenth Lock

Niall was on photographer/drinking duties

These lovely sisters are called Twin Headed Wolf

Eric McGrath (and company)

The Main Arena

Coffee Break

Candy Floss

Drinking Break

The Cure!!!

John Blek and the Rats

Doesn't this look like a mask from a Horror movie?

Not to sound ungrateful for getting to go to EP for free, but the line up this year was definitely not as good as last year. It was a completely different experience because there was lots of people on the crew last year and we had so much fun and I was probably over-excited because I'd never been before. This time it was much more laid back and we actually left early on Sunday because there were no bands we wanted to see that evening. We spent most of Friday and Saturday in the Media Area and the woods filming. We did get to relax and have a few drinks and watch some amazing performances. We saw Grizzly Bear, The Vaccines, Alabama Shakes, Patti Smith, The Cure (who played for 3 hours!) and Not Squares who were a bit of a highlight for me. 

After being fortunate enough to experience a festival this way and having access to nicer bathrooms, a private bar and seated area, having a lift to and from Donnacha's parents house nearby where we had nice warm beds and showers and proper food, I don't think I could ever camp at a festival. It's just not for me. I also think it's so hard to get into a performance because there are so many people in the audience just passing through or chatting to their friends or killing time or waiting for the next and on that stage. The atmosphere is never as good as when you're surrounded by true fans who have all paid to see the band play.  I don't know whether it's me getting older but I just found myself getting annoyed at people for having full blown conversations in front of me while I'm trying to enjoy someone play, or having smoke blown into my face on purpose because the person knew I was getting annoyed at him and his friends. Ok, I think I am getting old! 

Rude people aside, I had a great time and got to hang out with my sister and my friends and saw some bands I'd wanted to see for years and danced and ate gross food and wore wellies and laughed a lot. 

On a side note, we have to move out of our apartment due to circumstances we can't control. We are both really sad and wish we didn't have to move but we do and so the apartment hunt begins. There is very little available of good quality in our area for our slim budget so it's going to be stressful. I'm going to try and keep blogging as much as I can to distract from the stress and worry of it all but I'll be packing and going to viewings and all that so you might not hear from me much over the next few weeks. Please pray (if you're so inclined) that we find somewhere nice within our budget.

I'll leave you with two of the films we made at the Picnic in the woods. Remember to watch in HD!

Emma x