Valentine's Date Outfit With House Of Fraser

House of Fraser are running a Valentine's Day blogger competition on their blog this week. All you have to do is create your ideal Valentine's Date outfit and post it to your blog. You can find all of the details on how to enter here. 

Untold Tile Printed Dress, £85

Linea Weekend Faux Leather Biker Jacket, £75

Dew Sterling Silver Heart Alphabet Pendant, £20

Whistles Lucille Ankle Boot, £150

L.K. Bennett Genevra Skinny Belt, £65

Lulu Guinness Red Clear Lips Clutch Bag, £245

Stella McCartney Eau De Parfum, £69 (100ml)

Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick in Envious, £24

Nails Inc Victoria and Albert Polish, £11

As soon as I saw this dress I thought of Twin Peaks (not very romantic, I know) and I thought it was perfect for a casual Valentine's date. As it's still freezing I paired it with these gorgeous Whistles ankle boots and a faux leather jacket to make the outfit more casual. I added a skinny black patent belt to break up the pattern of the dress. Then I added pops of red with this perfect Lulu Guinness lips clutch (I am dying over how amazing this is!) and matching red lipstick and nail polish. I finished off the outfit with this cute heart initial necklace and my favourite evening scent, Stella by Stella McCartney. 

I don't have any plans this Valentine's day but I could totally see myself wearing this entire outfit for lots of different occasions. What do you think? Do you like any of my choices?

Do you have any Valentine's Day plans?

Emma x

Baptiste

My mam got me this Illamasqua nail polish in the shade Baptiste a few months ago and I had high hopes after she raved about their nail polishes.




The colour is so beautiful, it's a deep shimmery purple that applies beautifully and wears really well. I actually didn't have a darker purple shade in my collection, for some reason I'd never come across one that I really liked but this one is so stunning. I now want to try out more of the Illamasqua polishes.

What are you wearing on your nails at the moment?

Emma x

BTX Hair Treatment

Back in November I was invited into The Art Team Hair Salon just off Grafton street in Dublin for one of their exclusive BTX hair treatments. BTX is a Botox effect treatment for the hair which sounds a lot scarier than it actually is.

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The treatment promises to revive and tame the hair giving it shine and softness and eliminating frizz. It's ideal for use on damaged, dehydrated, dull and weak hair. It is also recommended for mistreated, coloured or bleached hair and for the repair of split ends. Depending on your hair type your stylist will customise the formula, which contains caviar oil, B5, collagen and E vitamins, to meet your specific needs.

The treatment was added to wet hair and then a lamp was used for about 15 minutes, then the majority of the treatment was washed out leaving some of it still in the hair and then it was finished off with a blow dry leaving it shiny and soft. 

Since I stopped colouring my hair It'd gotten a lot healthier, I no longer suffer from split ends, but I do find my hair can get quite dry and is prone to frizz because it is naturally curly. I found that the treatment made my hair softer and less frizzy, it dried more quickly and took less time to heat style. 

The treatment lasts up to 4 weeks, takes just 45 minutes and costs €50. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who is suffering from damage caused by frequent colouring or perhaps if you have an event coming up or just even if you just want to give your hair a treat! 

Thank you to Hollie and the ladies at The Art Team for their generosity and time. 

Have you heard of this treatment? Would you like to try it out?

Emma x

The Storm Is Breaking Or So It Seems

I received this beautiful Nina Paisley dress from Ingenue London before Christmas and as soon as I tried it on I knew that I wanted to style it with some seventies inspired accessories and make up. I saw American Hustle just after Christmas and I took some inspiration from Amy Adam's character and added a Mac, Faux Fur and some big gold earrings. I definitely think this is something her character could have worn in the film, although she probably wouldn't have worn a bra with it! 

Photos by Donnacha

Dress- c/o Ingenue London

Mac- Dunnes

Faux Fur Collar- Chicwish

Bag- Zara

Boots- Monsoon

Beret- eBay

Gloves, Ring and Earrings- Accessorize

Lips- BM Cosmetics Nude Lip Gloss

Nails- No7 Disco Nights Nail Polish

I kept my make up a little more subdued wearing Mugshot from the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette blended out with some gel eye liner and added a nude lip gloss. I got this gorgeous BM Cosmetics one in my December Glossybox and I've been wearing it so much since which is unusual for me because as you probably know I'm rather partial to lipstick and bright lip colours but I just love the shade and the texture. I will do a full review of it soon.

This dress is also a little out of my comfort zone, I wasn't sure how it was going to look on me because it's not a style I would usually go for but I actually really liked it and felt really good in it.

Do you like to try things that are out of your comfort zone?

Emma x

2013 in Nails

I didn't photograph nearly as many nail shades as I would have liked to last year considering how often I paint my nails. This is but a tiny selection of my hefty collection (rhyming unintentional).




1. Lavendairy
2. Me! Me! Me!
3. Blanc
4. You're Such A Budapest
5. Beauty And The Beach 2
6. Amande Défilé
7. Hot Lava
8. Soft Peach
9. Evening Opulence
10. Velvet Voyeur
11. Rock N Roll Red

There were a few new nail discoveries for me this year. The Lime Crime nail polish really impressed me and I want to add more shades to my collection for Spring/Summer because they're all such pretty pastel shades. I also got into trying new base and top coats and my favourites were Seche Vite and CND Stickey Base Coat. Both I found worked really well together and made the polish last for days and days without chipping. My most worn nail brand was definitely No7, I think they are one of the best "drug store" nail brands. My most worn shades were No7 Hot Lava during the Summer and Essie Velvet Voyeur since the beginning of Autumn.

I have lots of nail shades that I want to share with you in 2014. What was your favourite polish of 2013?

Emma x

2013 in Make Up

The second of my year in review posts looks back on all of the make up looks I photographed during 2013. .





1. Sin
2. Smoked Peach
3. Violet Crush
4. Theodora
5. Beauty And The Beach 2
6. Mary-Lou Manizer
7. Rouge Buzz
8. Dior Poudre Shimmer- Rose Diamond
9. Soft Peach
10. Icon
11. & 12. Evening Opulence
13. Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Curl
14. Plum Bronze
15. Kiko Smart Lipstick In 914
16. Naked 3- First Impressions

I experimented a lot more with make up this year and had a lot of fun with different lip and eye combinations, strong brows and tried more shades of blush. I spent the majority of the hot Summer months wearing very little make up, mostly mascara and a bright lipstick. I also tried out lots of softer looks with pinks and peachy shades. My most worn products of the year were Estée Lauder Double Wear Light foundation, Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Curl Mascara which was my only mascara repurchase this year. NARS Sin blush which I've been wearing almost non stop since the beginning of Autumn and Bourjois Cream Blush in Nude Velvet which was my Summer blush.

My most worn lip products of the year were MAC Russian Red and Plumful, Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Apricot Shimmer, Revlon Smoked Peach and Peach Parfait and Rimmel Kate Moss 107.  For eyeshadows I mainly stuck to the Naked 2 palette when I wanted to wear something on my eyes, my most worn shades were Tease, Snakebite and YDK. I also used my No7 Stay Perfect single eyeshadow in Innocence almost every day as it's the perfect ivory shade for when you don't want to do anything fancy with eyeshadow.

Some of my other most worn items included Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin, theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer highlighting powder, L'Oréal Gel Intenza Eyeliner in Pure Black, Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers, Collection Clear Mascara (for brows), Revlon Rich Sable Matte Eyeshadow (for brows), Zeba Brush on Brow in Ash, Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector in Porcelain Bisque and Estée Lauder Double Wear Concealer.

What were your most used/favourite make up products of 2013?

Emma x