Bourjois Lips

I wanted to share with you some of the most recent lip releases from Bourjois for Spring/Summer. The first of the three products is an Effet 3D Lip Gloss in Rose Allégoric No. 59. This was part of the Belle Époque collection from Spring 2014 which consisted of various products including nail polishes, eyeshadows and eyeliners in shades inspired by the sea and sky.

I've been wearing these Bourjois glosses since I was a teenager, in fact, they were probably the first pharmacy brand lip products I really loved. The glosses have been reformulated and repackaged for their 10th anniversary and the formula is now paraben free. They are designed to leave your lips feeling hydrated for 8 hours while keeping that 3D shine effect. 

I love everything about this gloss, the sleek packaging, the sweet scent and the new and improved brush all combine to make what has continued to be my favourite "drugstore" lip gloss range. The shade is a very pretty muted coral with no shimmer. It's the perfect Summer lip gloss shade that would go with practically any eye look. The new brush applicator is more compact than the old one making it easier to use and the application more precise. 

I don't really wear lipstick all the much anymore as I'm a true lipstick fan but when I do fancy a glossy lip, these really are beautiful. It helps that the texture is smooth and the formula doesn't settle into the creases in your lips either. Wear time on these is supposed to be 8 hours but let's be honest I don't know anyone who doesn't top up their lip gloss several times a day, isn't that half the fun?

The next two products are the Rouge Edition Velvet liquid lipsticks in the shades Olé Flamingo 05 and Personne ne Rouge 01. I absolutely loved these from the moment they touched my lips. They are both gorgeous shades (Olé Flamingo is definitely my favourite of the two), the texture is light and creamy (unusual words to describe a lipstick, I know) and the applicator makes it easy to apply with precision. I have found that Personne ne Rouge needs a few coats for complete colour saturation whereas Olé Flamingo is more pigmented. It takes a few minutes for the product to dry to it's semi-matte finish. You can see the difference in the two photos on the right below, the middle photo was taken just after application while the second was taken a few minutes after application. 

Rose Allégoric, Personne ne Rouge and Olé Flamingo

The lasting power on these is very impressive, I've really been enjoying wearing them to work as I can apply them knowing they aren't going to wear off throughout my shift, yet they don't feel drying on my lips. As with any lipstick but particularly mattes, prepping your lips makes a world of difference. Every night when I'm doing my usual skincare routine I like to apply a little bit of my exfoliator onto my lips and buff it off using a face cloth to get rid of any dead skin that can make matte lips look unsightly. Alternatively you could use a scrub specifically for lips like the Lush or Fresh ones. The NUXE Reve de Miel lip balm is also great for wearing under matte lip products as the product won't slip around on top of it like it sometimes can do with other lip balms. 

Olé Flamingo

The glosses are €10.49 and the Rouge Edition Velvets are €10.99.

So have you tried any of these products? Are you a fan of glossy or matte lips?

Emma x

YouOrganic! Orange and Ylang Ylang Night Balm

Recently I've been trying out and loving more natural and organic skincare brands like Trilogy and Weleda. I love the idea of using natural ingredients and it seems like my skin is all the better for it. I was recently invited to try out Irish organic skincare brand YouOrganic founded in 2012 by Ursula Elmes who was an Acupuncturist and a Holistic Skin Therapist. Ursula began experimenting with Organic skincare after she had a bad reaction to a skincare product and this sparked an interest that would later develop into YouOrganic. 

For the past while I've been using the Orange and Ylang Ylang Night Balm which is a 100% natural product that promises to nourish and rejuvenate the skin and also contains antioxidant ingredients. I absolutely loved this product from the first use. It contains essential skincare ingredients like Vitamin E, Aloe Vera and Cocoa Butter as well as Almond Oil, Neroli, Bergamot and Ylang Ylang. 

Like it says on the packaging, a little goes a long way and the 20ml pouch has lasted me a long time. The only thing I found a bit tricky was dispensing the correct amount from the pouch as the texture of the product can change depending on the temperature of the room it's stored in but if you're careful and take your time it shouldn't be a problem. 

As I've probably mentioned before I have normal/combination skin so I found using the balm every other night has worked best for me. I've used it alone and beneath a moisturiser as more of a treatment/serum but to be honest I found it worked so well alone that you don't even really need a moisturiser on top of it. I love the mild citrus scent and the texture which is easy to apply and absorbs into the skin quite quickly. I've really been enjoying using this and I feel like it gives my skin such a nice overnight treatment and has helped with any dry areas which I can suffer from on occasion.

I can't wait to try out more products from the YouOrganic range, particularly the Orange and Mandarin Lip Balm and the Orange and Cinnamon Wood Wick Candle.

The Night Balm is €29.99 and can be purchased from the YouOrganic site with Worldwide shipping as well as from several Irish stockists. There is also a Botanical Apothecary Studio on Mary Street in Dublin where you can book an appointment for an organic facial.

What do you think about Organic skincare?

Emma x

No7 Matchmade Campaign

If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook you may already be aware of my involvement in the new No7 Matchmade campaign. I wanted to share everything here but I thought it would be better to wait until the campaign was launched so that I could give you the full story and show you my final campaign image.

On November 1st of last year I saw a post on the Boots Ireland Facebook page looking for someone to be the face of a new national campaign. In a moment of utter madness I decided to go for it so I emailed a photo of myself and a little explanation as to why to wanted to be involved (I included the photo below as I thought you might like to see what photo I went for). To be honest I regretted it straight away and I thought to myself "what the hell was I thinking!" but I honestly didn't expect anything to come of it.




The following week while I was in Paris, I got an email with a questionnaire attached asking for a little more detail about myself so I filled it out and sent it off thinking that was it.

Shortly after I returned from Paris I got a phone call from the No7 Casting Director asking if I would take part in a casting via Skype as they were based in London and wouldn't be able to see me in person. I agreed to do the Skype casting (a totally foreign concept to me, I didn't even really know what a casting was!). Monika called me and we had a lovely chat. She just wanted to know a little bit more about me and see me "in person". At this point I still didn't know the details of the campaign and once again I expected for that to be the end of it.

Towards the end of November I got a phone call one evening and to my absolute shock I was told that I got the job and would be going over to London in December for the photoshoot. My first reaction was, "Oh no. What have I gotten myself in for? Can I actually do this?". Then I thought about it some more and I figured that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that even though I was terrified, not just of taking part in a proper photoshoot but also flying over to London by myself for the first time, I knew I would regret it if I didn't do it.

I was then told a little more about the campaign, No7 were relaunching their Matchmade service and I would be one of seven "real" women (as in, not professional models) taking part in a national (UK and Ireland) campaign to promote the service.

I flew over to London (my first solo flight) on the evening of December 16th as there was an early call time for the photo shoot the following morning. I was the first to complete me shoot because they wanted me to be finished early to be on time for my flight home.

The first thing we did was some pre-shoot filming where I was asked to run around a huge studio filled with all of the different shades of foundation on big cardboard stands and choose which one I thought was my shade. The one which I thought was the palest shade ended up being 4 shades darker than what I thought. After that I had my make up done (this was also my first time having my make up done by someone else). My nails were painted in the shade Moonlit Shadow (which I actually bought in the airport on the way home) and my hair was left quite natural, only using the curling iron a little bit.

I was then fitted for the top I would wear for the photoshoot. As it was just a mid shot, the styling team only had tops and I actually didn't have any bottom half with me as I was wearing a dress so I ended up wearing my pyjama bottoms during the shoot which was quite funny and probably helped to loosen me up a bit. We ended up going for a pale pink top as it worked best with my skin tone and against the background in the test shots.

My photographer was Frederike Helwig, an incredibly talented photographer who has shot for Elle US and UK, L'Officiel, Muse, Harpers Bazaar and Bergdorf Goodman and has shot some of my favourite actors and musicians including Jason Schwartzman, Rebecca Hall, Matt Smith, The Stokes, Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard and Bryan Ferry. It was such an honour to be shot by her, she was a dream to work with. As I had never modelled before Frederike was very conscious of helping me come out of my shell and to relax and have fun and to get the most natural looking shot to suit the campaign. By the end of the shoot I was dancing around and screaming, it was so much fun!

After the shoot we did a little more filming and an interview which you can see a snippet of in this video. In the past month I've also been doing some press to promote the campaign in Ireland including a feature on the Boots Ireland site in which I review my seven favourite No7 products which you can read here.

This was the fist time I saw the leaflet in my local Boots with my photo on the front of it




I did a day of filming for Evoke.ie, you can see the video here




I also did a quick photoshoot for an Advertorial that is featured in this month's U Magazine

Like I said in my initial email, I was already a big fan of No7 products as you will know if you've been reading my blog for a while, so to be involved with a brand that I love is such an honour and something I am so proud to be a part of. I'm so thankful for such an incredible opportunity that I feel has really helped me to grow and learn more about myself. I want to thank all of the lovely people I met though out the journey including the other beautiful models who I met on the day and especially Catherine, Sarah, Maria and Jane.

Emma x

PS. Irish website Shemazing.net also did a video about the campaign which you can here.

PPS. Do go and avail of the match made service! I really did love it!

A Thousand Words #3

This is some of what I got up to during the second half of March.

Outfit of the Day- March 10th

I love LOVE Magazine

Yummy cupcakes at the Next Spring/Summer '14 Press Evening

Marta from Addicted To Fashion Forever, my friend Vanessa and I at the Next SS14 Press Evening

St. Patrick's Cathedral turns green for Paddy's Day

One of the best films I've seen this year

Throw Back Thursday- My love of sunglasses began at an early age!

Gorgeous vintage Bourjois packaging!

I finally watched Paris, Texas and absolutely adored it. Harry Dean Stanton is unbelievable

Next goodies for Summer. Sunglasses, Bag and Bracelet

Throw Back Thursday- Me in 1989

Cocktails with the birthday girl Brina in The Mint Bar

Outfit of the Day- March 23rd

The Grand Budapest Hotel Exhibition in The Lighthouse Cinema

My favourite Zara Taylor rings

Early morning in the gorgeous Grand Canal area of Dublin

Erm...

Limited Edition Tove's Jubilee Moomin mug from my cousin's trip to Helsinki. Such a nice surprise!

Mother's day with my precious mama! 

Oh behave Mini Me

Outfit of the Day- March 30th (my new favourite thing- H&M Kimono)

Nails of the day- Essie Cute As A Button; Barry M Matte White; No7 Peachy Keen; Essie On A Silver Platter

March was both one of the best and worst months of my entire life. There is so much I want to share with you all and in time I will because no matter what this blog has always had a personal element to it and I never want to lose that. 

I'm delighted to share that I've been asked to take part in a weekly Ask The Experts post for one of my favourite Irish beauty blogs- Make Up Monster. Please head over there to ask us any beauty questions you have or just to read our answers. 

Don't forget to follow me on instagram (so I can follow you all too!). I shared some very exciting news there this week that I plan on doing a full post on very soon. 

Emma x

The Colossal

I received Maybelline's The Colossal mascara in my December Glossybox and I loved it so much that I repurchased it in the waterproof formula as soon as it ran out. 

This is going to sound completely ridiculous but my taste in mascaras seems to have changed over the past year. Before I would have been looking for length and definition over volume but after trying out some different mascaras recently, I found myself really liking the voluminous, lashy look reminiscent of the sixties. I especially loved it during the Christmas period when I was wearing a bit more eye shadow than usual. It's also great with minimal eye make up and a bright lip or winged liner and nude lips for that Jean Shrimpton look.

 The formula is enriched with collagen so it's supposed to give your lashes lots of volume which it definitely did for me. I found the non waterproof one slightly better than this one and I'd go for that one over the waterproof when I buy it again. I was already a fan of Maybelline mascaras but I hadn't gotten around to trying this one yet.

I usually shy away from big mascara wands, but I love this one. I usually apply two coats depending on the look I am going for, one coat gives a more subtle effect. The formula is similar to The Falsies, the perfect medium of neither being too dry nor too wet so that it's easy to work with. I use an eyelash curler with all of my mascaras and I find that this holds the curl well and doesn't drag it down like some mascaras can do. I can attest to the fact that this is properly waterproof (yes, I have cried whilst wearing it, for review purposes only!). You will definitely need a waterproof eye make up remover for this one. It retails for approximately €9.99 which is a very fair price compared to some other high street brands.

What mascara are you using at the moment? Do you have any recommendations?

Emma x

Wind Was Blowing Time Stood Still

Here is what I wore to a wedding in Scotland earlier this month. 

Photos by Donnacha

Dress- Monsoon

Necklace- c/o Divine Boutique

Belt and Ring- Accessorize

Shoes- ASOS

Nails- Sally Hansen Gilty Pleasure (with Ted Baker Sugar Rush on ring finger)

Lipstick- MAC Plumful

I actually only bought my dress a couple of weeks before the wedding and the necklace which was a gift from Divine Boutique just happened to go perfectly with it. I bought the shoes last summer on ASOS. I saw them on Alix from The Cherry Blossom Girl and luckily for me when I clicked the link they were on sale so I saw that as a sign and bought them. They're so comfortable to wear to an all day event and I'm not one for high heels as I'm already quite tall so this is the perfect heel height for me. Also how cute is the little round gold heel?

I wanted to do something different with my make up as I would usually go for a red lipstick at this kind of event. I used a mixture of Dust, Buzz, Trick and Nooner from the Naked 3 palette paired with MAC Plumful lipstick. I loved the finished look, it was pretty pink Spring make up. I kept my hair really simple and just used a curling iron on it and brushed the curls out with my fingers.

Do you like getting dressed up for weddings or is it something you dread?

Emma x

La Roche-Posay Rosaliac CC Cream

Recently I attended the launch night of La Roche-Posay's Rosaliac CC Cream. The product is supposed to both correct and cover redness as well as containing SPF 30 to protect the skin. 

No make up/ CC Cream only

Full make up including powder

During the launch night we were given a full background on the product and told about the key ingredient Ambophenol which is anti-inflammatory, offers vascular protection and is anti-oxidant. This means that not only is the redness in the skin covered by the mineral pigments, but it also helps to correct the problem too so the redness is treated and reduced at the same time. 

Facial redness can be caused by numerous factors, mainly Sun Exposure, Stress, Hot Weather and Alcohol and seems to be quite prevalent in fair Irish skin tones. Thankfully I don't suffer too badly from redness, although I can get it around my nose and cheeks as you can see in the photo above where I'm not wearing any make up. 

The second photo in which I'm wearing just the CC Cream is a little more yellow than in real life because of the light changing on the day I took these photos, however because it is one shade only, it does run a little too dark for my very fair skin tone. I didn't find this to be a major issue as I found the product works best the less I used so blended out the shade difference is barely noticeable and in the summer it will probably be perfect for me. I tried it blending it in with a brush and using my hands and both worked fine for me. Perhaps a brush would work better for those who suffer badly from redness and don't want to aggravate it any further. 

I love the packaging, it's sturdy and easy to travel with and the pump makes it easy to dispense the exact amount I need. The product has a lovely fresh scent which I know can be off-putting for some people but I loved that it kind of lingered on the skin for a while after application. The consistency of the cream is more like a moisturiser than a foundation and a little goes a long way. On my normal/combination skin it has a very natural finish and the lasting power is very impressive, I just powder my T zone and it stays perfect all day.

I love that it has SPF 30 as I like to wear some form of SPF in my skincare or foundation all year round. The high SPF means that this is an amazing all in one product that will be perfect for Summer when I hate having to layer moisturisers, sun protection and foundation in the hot weather. 

La Roche-Posay has a whole range of Rosaliac products to cleanse, soothe, treat and moisturise skin prone to redness. The CC Cream retails for €22.50 for 50ml.

I have been using La Roche-Posay products for years and will continue to do so as you get incredible quality for such a reasonable price point. I can't recommend this brand highly enough for those of you looking for great skincare on a budget.

What is your main skin concern? Would you try this?

Emma x