Beauty and the Beach 2

Last month I entered the TravelSupermarket.com Worldwide Wardrobe Competition. I then read about their Beauty and the Beach 2 competition and I immediately tried to come up with ideas for each category, Nails, Hair and Make Up.

I wanted to combine all three categories to create an overall look. The look that I came up with is something that I like to call "Modern Beach Pin-Up".

Make Up

When thinking of ideas, my main aim was to create a look using long lasting products that contain SPF so that the look can be worn during the day and quickly adjusted for a night out.

I started with Clarins Beauty Flash Balm as a primer, this is a step you don't necessarily need, but it's nice if you're just wearing the make up for a night out. If you need to during the day you could wear a primer to help your make up last longer depending on your skin type. I then used Double Wear Light foundation because it has SPF 10 so you could wear it during the day as it's a long wearing foundation and I know from experience that it is amazing for hot days. The SPF isn't too high so if you wear it at night you won't get flashback in photographs. I did my brows using a brow brush, some matte dark brown eyeshadow and clear mascara to hold them in place all day.

For eyes I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion in the colour Sin as it's a long lasting product that doesn't crease. You could wear it alone during the day with just some mascara if you wanted a low maintenance make up look for the beach. I added Sin and Virgin eyeshadows from the Naked palette and some waterproof eyeliner for a more glamorous evening look. I finished the eyes by curling my lashes and adding some Maybelline waterproof mascara.

I used a cream blush and some highlighter on the tops of the cheekbones  to give a nice subtle glow and define the face. I dusted some loose powder on my T-Zone to avoid my face looking shiny in photographs, but it's not necessary if you have drier skin.

For lips I used some red lip liner and a gorgeous Revlon lipstick on top, but because this is a fun holiday look, I added a pink gloss on top to give the lips a gorgeous high shine finish. This gloss also has SPF 15 so it's great to wear during the day as we often forget to protect our lips from the sun (well I know I do anyway).

Products Used:

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
Estée Lauder Double Wear Light in Intensity 1
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
No7 Beautiful Eyebrow Pencil in Brown
Revlon Matte Eye-shadow in Rich Sable
Urban Decay Eye-shadows in Sin and Virgin
Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
Natural Collection Lash Care Mascara in Clear
Essence Liquid Ink Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner
Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair
Estée Lauder Cream Blush in Evening Rose
theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighting Powder
No7 Perfect Light Loose Powder in Translucent
Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in Red Diva
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherry Blossom
BECCA Ultimate Colour Gloss in Flamingo Crush

Hair

When it came to hair I wanted a style that would be quick and easy to do. This whole style took me under thirty minutes and looks great the day after too.

Starting off with "beachy waves" or in my case my natural hair, I had already used an all in one treatment which included heat protectant.

I used a 25mm curling iron pulling the hair away from the face rather than towards or under, you can be as random or as particular as you want depending on the type of curls you desire. I was going for a more defined, retro Veronica Lake inspired curl so I used the curlers at the highest heat setting. This also helps the curls last longer. I then sprayed some hairspray on my brush and brushed out the curls to make them less like ringlets. This gives gorgeous soft sweeping curls and the hairspray on the brush helps them to stay nice and smooth and avoids frizz.

I parted my hair with a deep side parting and added some large flower clips to one side of my head. You could correspond the flower to your outfit or just wear the curls without any accessories. You can bring the small travel size hairspray out with you for touch ups too if you need to.

Products Used:

Uniqone All in One Hair Treatment
BaByliss Pro Curl 210 Hair Tongs
Hair Brush
Hair Grip
Umberto Giannini Beauty Secrets Travel Size Hairspray
Flower Hair Clips and Accessories

Nails

For nails I wanted to continue the retro theme so I gave myself a half moon manicure with a twist. After base coat I used a rose gold polish and then added the reinforcement rings and painted a second coat with a pinky red shades. The rose gold peaks through and is really eye catching in the sun. I also thought it was nice that the nails mirrored the colours I used in my make up look.

Products Used:

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat
Orly Rage
Essie Watermelon
Reinforcement Rings



What do you think of the looks I created? Is is something you would wear on holiday?

You can enter all three categories for the chance to win the overall prize of £1500 and there is a prize of £500 for each of the three categories individually. The competition is open until June 5th and you can find out exactly how to enter here. Please let me know if you decide to enter so I can see your looks! I had so much fun creating my entry.

Emma x

GlassesUSA

GlassesUSA.com got in touch with me recently and invited me to take a look at their site where they sell men and women's glasses, multifocal glasses and RX sunglasses. 

I don't actually wear glasses myself, although as you can see below I have done so in the past during my Film Style Inspiration series of posts. My boyfriend, mother, father and brother all wear glasses and judging from my family history, I will probably have to wear them eventually.  

I know from experience that having to wear eyeglasses can be quite expensive which is why I think more people are buying online and if I do have to wear glasses in the future I would definitely be one of those people. 

When you're buying a pair of online eyeglasses it can be hard to decide what will suit you because you can't try them on in person, but GlassesUSA.com make it really easy to choose the right pair by using their Virtual Mirror feature. 

 

You can search through the different types of glasses frames and "try on" the pairs that you like, comparing them with each other as you go. I tried out the Virtual Mirror and thought I'd share some of my favourite frames with you. I found that the Wayfarer, Cat Eye and larger frames suited me best. 

GlassesUSA.com have a huge selection of glasses including designer brands such as Armani, Tom Ford, Coach, Guess and Karl Lagerfeld to name but a few and they also ship worldwide.

You can keep up to date with all the news on the site by following them on Facebook and Twitter (@GlassesUSA). 

They have also given me some discount codes for you:

15% off + free shipping on your entire order
(orders over $50). Code: FS15
10% off any order of prescription glasses. Code: Blog10

Have you ever bought glasses online or would you ever try it?

Emma x

*This is a sponsored post.

300

For my 300th post I wanted to do something a bit different so I thought I would share with you some more childhood photos. 

North Beach, Skerries with my mam and my cousin Sean

Playing hair salon with my brother and friend

My Third Birthday

Kate, my mam, my cousin, my uncle and me in my Granny's back garden in Skerries

Playing in the pond in Ardgillan Castle

My aunt Liz and I

Zoo Babies

Skerries Head, I think this bench is still there, with Kate and Sean

Me, Sean and Kate (Can you tell we were the first three grandchildren?)

Kate and I at Versailles

One of our many picnics with Dad 

Me and my beautiful sister, so happy we're still best friends!

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my childhood. I couldn't have had a better one!

Thank you for continuing to read, here's to the next 300!

Emma x

You're Such A Budapest

You're Such a Budapest from OPI is the most recent addition to my nail polish collection. It's from their Spring 2013 Euro Centrale collection and is the prettiest periwinkle blue shade. I'll definitely be wearing this a lot during the Summer.



When I first saw it I thought of the highly popular Essie Bikini So Teeny from last year which I refrained from buying (for myself at least, I got it for my sister instead). I really love OPI polishes, this is my third full size (I also have a Minnie Mouse collection set of mini polishes) and the formula is very long lasting on my nails. The only downside is that they are hard to find in Ireland, but I order mine from eBay where you can get them a bit less expensive.

You can also buy OPI on Beauty Bay for around €12 with free international delivery.

What are you wearing on your nails at the moment?

Emma x

Around The World With Travel Supermarket

After entering the Worldwide Wardrobe Competition, the people from TravelSupermarket got in touch to ask if I would like to collaborate on a post about my dream shopping trip. It was hard to choose just one place. I would love to just jump on a plane to Paris again and shop on the Champs-Élysées or stay in London because I've never been before and go to Oxford Street. But for me, if there was one city I could shop in, I would have to choose New York’s Fifth Avenue. Find out why with this infographic that TravelSupermarket have designed for me and let me know if you agree!

Hopefully someday I will get to visit New York, but for now I'll have to just dream! Is there anywhere that you have always wanted to visit? 

Emma x

*This is NOT a sponsored post. 

Theodora

When I saw that Urban Decay were releasing two Oz themed palettes, I was so excited to see what they would look like. The Glinda palette is based on Michelle William's make up in the film and consists of paler, more pastel colour. The Theodora palette is based on Mila Kunis' make up and has darker more earthy shades and a red lip colour- right up my street!

Of course I went for the Theodora palette as I knew I would wear all of the colours more than the Glinda palette. What's really great about these palettes is that you get six full sized eye shadows (two of which are duo colours) and you can pop the eye-shadows out of the tin when they are done or if you want to add different colours and buy a single eye shadow to put into the palette instead. You also get a travel sized 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero and a full sized Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in F-Bomb. 

Products Used:

Monu Illuminating Primer (Review coming soon)

Estée Lauder Double Wear Light in Intensity 1

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair

Revlon Rich Sable Matte Eye Shadow (Brows)

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay Broken Eye Shadow

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero

Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Mascara (Review coming soon)

Estée Lauder Mad Men Collection Cream Blush in Evening Rose

Benefit High Beam

No7 Perfect Light Loose Powder in Translucent

Urban Decay Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Colour in F-Bomb


I decided to so something a bit different with the palette because any of the blog posts I had seen of this were using the 'Get the Look' card that is included with the palette. I wanted to create a simple look based on this Guide to Grungey Eye Make-up video by Lisa Eldridge that I watched recently just using the Eye Pencil and the Lip Colour. I wanted my skin to look quite fresh and illuminated so I used my new Monu primer and kept rosy, highlighted cheeks with the Estée Lauder cream blush and High Beam. I used a very small amount of powder as Double Wear Light doesn't really need to be powdered anyway. I added the last photo of me wearing the olive/golden colour from the duo Spell eye shadow almost as a liner beneath my eyes just to show the versatility of this palette.

I had been wanting to try the Glide On eye liners for a long time and I wasn't disappointed, they really do glide on and they are so easy to blend. The Super Saturated Lip Colours were another Urban Decay release I had been wanting to try out for a long time. It is so easy to use and feels very comfortable to wear. I love the glossy finish too. I'm definitely going to have to get another one of these. All of the eye shadows are velvety, highly pigmented and easy to work with and blend.

I added everything up and you actually get over €160 worth of products here, whereas I paid €36. I think that's a pretty good deal.

Once again , I'm so impressed with the quality of this Urban Decay palette. They always make great gifts or just a great addition to any make-up collection and such value for money. I can't wait to use it some more!

Emma x