New Brush set and amazing new brush cleaning tip!

Hey everyone!

 So last week I was at the ploughing championships in Ratheniska. Contrary to what people believe it isn't just aul lads, cows and tractor everywhere. But it caters to everyone. There were so many shops and stalls and arcades. It was tough to walk around and I more than likely didn't see half of what was there, but it was such good fun! So, at the retail arcade, I went in and saw a beautiful tan organic stand selling some amazing brushes. The kind woman behind the table was shouting out offers and I overheard her saying the brush set was down to 25€ from 100€. Usually any brush sets there are knock offs but the quality in these brushes was undeniable.  I purchased and so far am so happy with it! If you happen to be going tomorrow I would suggest checking this out :)

 Inside it has: 

"Large powder brush: A full, soft brush designed to achieve a light base application.

Flat Bronzer brush: Use for an all over powder application when looking for medium to heavy coverage.

Angled blush brush: Use to contour the cheek bones with colour when applying blush.

Foundation brush: Allows for smooth and even application of liquid foundation or creams.

Eye base: Use to apply an eyeshadow base colour over the entire eyelid.

Lip definer brush: Use to apply lipstick or liner to the lips and to enhance definition.

Crease brush: Designed to give a light or heavy contour application to the eye crease.

Precision camouflage brush: A precision tool used to apply concealer to the smallest, most difficult areas such as skin imperfections.

Dual brow/eyeliner brush: Use wet or dry with eyeshadow or a cream liner to define the lash line and the brows.

Smudge brush: Designed for applying eyeshadow near the lash line and for blending and contouring to create a smokey effect."

If you want to look at this and maybe some of their other products have a look here :D

http://www.skinlogiconline.com/

Now for the amazing cleaning tip! 

So I had tried all of the usual tips to get the stain out of one of my favourite blending brushes and eventually I decided to try a soap, rather than soapy liquid or gels. An actual bar of soap :) So I reached for a lush sultana soap( I love the smell! but any soap will do) and started scrubbing the brush hair with it and then running it under the hot water. I kept scrubbing the brush hairs and running it under the tap and the hair was soon back to it's original colour of white! :D I was so happy with the outcome that I nearly used the whole bar for all of my brushes. They look as good as new again :D so happy! 

'sultana' soap by lush :) 

I hope this helps if you are looking for something cheap and effective :D 

Thanks for reading!! 
Sandy.S
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Back to videos!

Hey everyone, so I have finally discovered a way to make more videos. With a broken comp, little internet and an old camera, I did it! Dedication :P 

SO if you could all have a look and let me know what you think, I would be so greatful :D

Have a click and a look down below...

My video :*

So excited!! 

Also, suggestions for a new youtube/blog name? Or is it ok? I'd appreciate some feedback :) 

Thanks guys :* :* 

Sandy.S

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Urban Decay Smoky Palette

So, I finally got my hands on the long awaited Urban Decay Smoky Palette. 

Excitement!

So what do I think of the highly anticipated sequel? 

I would give it a 3/5.

 I have tried a few looks by now and even though I do like it, I wouldn't leave the house with just this and no other, unlike naked 1 or 3... I feel like I would need to bring some more mattes with me, even though it has some beautiful colours combined  in the one palette. It is definitely a palette you would keep for occasion wear or nights out. Or if you're brave and like wearing dramatic makeup 24/7 :P It has by far my favourite metallic eyeshadows, but I prefer the one or three for the mattes :) 

The colours, although they claim to be brand new, are very similar to some recent colours in other Urban Decay palettes. 

Smoky Palette's high and dirty sweet very similar to...

Naked 1's sin and half baked.

However I do lie it and highly recommend for creating that beautiful smoky eye!

Here's one I did earlier :) 

A 'how to' will follow up soon :) 

Thanks for reading guys!! 

Sandy.S

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Autumn Must haves/trends/wishlist 2015

So it is already Autumn, though it is not much of a surprise here in Ireland with the crazy weather we have been having lately, especially in the west :( 

I have recently been browsing the web, magazines and all websites possible to see what we can expect to come our way in the beauty and fashion industry, I have to say I am very excited! :D

So far in cosmetics I  am seeing plenty of what are called '90's lips', basically berry coloured lips, bronze eyeshadows rather than gold and silver, naturally flushed cheeks and an easy dramatic eye with plenty of crazy liner.

In terms of fashion, it's all about tassels, fringes, bold prints, burgundy, tan suede, denim and plenty of monochrome. It's looking like we're staying in a step back to the 60's and 70's, with a futuristic twist. The pastels have been taken away for the sale racks and burnt oranges, coppers and burgundy are creeping in. I love this time of year :D 

According to Primark, the transition to Autumn will see inspiration from 'the exotic souks of Morocco - bright tiles prints and intricate linework - while elements of traditional 70s paisley also come into play, especially when it comes to blouses and cut-out shoulder smock dresses. Despite many pieces within the collection looking minimalist and clean-cut, texture and print can still be achieved through layering with tribal printed capes and subtly fringed kimonos.'

Primark Autumn 2015

I cannot wait! 

Below are some examples of Boohoo's new collection, hello boho vibes! 

For makeup trends I have located some gorgeous new products coming soon to a shop near you! I am very excited about these :) 

First off is the maybelline color sensational creamy mattes lipstick. I am so excited to try some out, they come in 8 shades from nude to scarlet. Have to give these a try!

The Maybelline Master concealer. I have always loved Maybellines concealers and cover sticks and I hope this will be no different! 

Maybelline's Fit me Range. I wasn't able to just narrow down to one, but after the revamping of the excellent fit me range I just had to include them all! I have tried their balance stick and powder and was so upset when I ran out. With new formulas especially for dry and oily skin, they really are catering for all. There is even a questionnaire online of how to find the best fit. Get me to boots!

Next up is Catrice.

I just need a moment to appreciate these...How pretty does all of this look? And the great thing is...you could buy all of these and not be bankrupt! Just look at the rich purples and nudes. I especially cannot wait to try the foundation and deluxe eye palette. Catrice are really bang on trend this Autumn. Wait until I review some of these!

Of course I have to review this. The Urban decay long awaited naked Smoky Palette. Personally I haven't bought this yet, but I am going to as soon as I can. God bless  my sister for giving me a voucher for my birthday :D I think the colours are very similar to those in previous palettes, despite the different names. Still, I love the look of it, the gorgeous various shades in metallic and matte, Can't wait to try some gorgeous looks with this. 

In Homecare I have to say Penneys always win for me, but I like to browse Argos too :) Autumn winter is cosy season, cups of tea by the stove, slipper socks, fuzzy blankets. But it's also time for students to go back to school and college, Penneys are taking care of that :)

All items in both pictures range from 2€ to about 12€...where would you be going? :D 

Here are some of my favourites from the new homecare range :D I am so excited! Rose gold is a big trend this Autumn, perfect for a girly room. 

I hope you all enjoy my recommendations :D If you try any of the products let me know! 

Hopefully I will have some reviews soon <3

Thank you for reading!

Sandy.S

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A guide to Positivity

Hey guys, so this is a bit of an odd blog :D 

But I got to thinking lately about the toxic negativity people are letting into their lives and what it's doing to them. 

With depression and anxiety on the rise, the world is fast becoming a place dominated by people's image and self obsession. Nobody wants to be themselves anymore! Everyone wants to be Kim Kardashian, or Khloe, have the perfect body, perfect abs, fitness, perfect life etc etc. Everytime I go on my social media accounts all I see is #health, #fitfam, #lifegoals, #hyliejennerlips and so much more. What happened to just being YOU? People have become so obsessed with being fit and beautiful, drawing eyebrows, lips, contouring in cheekbones and a cleavage (I'm guilty of this myself) destroying our bodies with protein shakes and fast food, before agonising at the gym. Meanwhile not realising what this is doing to our bodies. 

Call me old fashioned, but whatever happened to the odd treat, can of coke or bag of munchies and just exorcising regularly? Rather than gorging on peanut butter and fast food and breaking your legs doing squats and burpees the next day. If you ever take a look at our grandparents era, they worked and worked all day, in the bog or the fields etc (I'm sure we've all heard the stories) they walked everywhere and they only had so many meals a day. Yet they had plenty of fatty bacon, apple pies and sweets. The difference is unbelievable. I tried doing it the old fashioned way for a few weeks, just cutting out the crap, sticking to a few meals a day, not stressing over it and making sure I got my daily walk in. About a week after I noticed a difference in myself and I stopped caring about other peoples bodies and weight. Everyone is made unique for a reason, not to be a carbon copy of anyone else. We each have our own finger prints, our own dna, so why do we try to be like others? Only when we realize our unique value will we be able to be positive in our own beings.

Somebody said to me not so long ago, that after they lost weight and changed their image, people noticed them way more and they got more attention on facebook. I was in shock, but I noticed it too. Every day my feed would be riddled with 'transformation tuesday' pictures of people who lost weight or toned up and they would get 100's of likes. So this is the only way to get noticed anymore?

 What is the world coming to? People might post photos or statuses to get attention, but they will start to depend on them and their insecurities will grow when they don't get enough.

Personally I am all for a person wanting to get healthier, in a natural way, but do it for yourself, not for facebook or instagram. Because you are only going to be happy if you do it for yourself. Comparing yourself to others on social media is worthless, because realistically, it is all a front! People aren't always what they post to be. So do everything in life for yourself, life is too short to do it for anyone else. Here are some steps I have to being happier and being more positive n your life. 

It is hard to transform into a positive person overnight and even the happiest of people aren't always happy. Everyone has bad and good days. But the trick to overcome the bad, is to remember that good days happen and will happen again. Think of a day you were extremely happy and remember what you felt. You will feel that happy again. 

Be thankful for you, have an attitude of gratitude! Try to be grateful for everything good that does happen in your life. This boosts the positivity. Slowly you will start to notice good things happen to you more and more and you will appreciate them.. Be thankful for your life, your health, friends, family, job, etc, even that nice cuppa you made at lunch! It will make you appreciative of every thing.

Cut any negative people out of your life. Negative people feed on negativity like oxygen, they literally live just to see you unhappy. Just like pulling out a thorn from your skin, you have to get rid of what does you harm. Even just spending less time with them and more with people that bring out the best in you will help. Delete them off facebook, block them, etc. Because some people literally live to see you upset and want to do better than you. Once they see you ignoring them and living a happy life, they try what they can to break that bubble. 

Preach positivity to others. If you teach others around you what you have learned, they will start looking on you as a dependable person and someone to help them. It will even make you feel helpful and proud of yourself. Even sending a nice quote you saw on pinterest to them may brighten their day and make you feel good for helping them. 

Have positive friends. When you grow older, you will start to notice your circle of friends get smaller. People change, as will you , it's all part of growing up. But it is also necessary to cut any negative friends from your life and keep the positive ones closer.They will grow with you and nurture you, rather than dragging you down.

Some people will always try to drag you down or talk about you and spread negativity like a plague.  It is best to just ignore it and stay away. Unfortunately some people get dragged down into the negativity and can't think for themselves, Stay positive always and be yourself! I myself have dealt with this situation plenty of times recently and always it is the same negative person coming back to cause drama, Just ignore it and move on like I have!  

I hope this blog helped you if you are feeling down and lacking positivity :) I just had some issues myself with people and decided to take my own advice of preaching to others :P 

Hope you enjoyed ! 

Sandy.S

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10 Things...that city people miss out on.

So I recently applied for a job with the well known 'Her.ie' website for Irish women. This is the article I came up with as part of their '10 things' featured pieces

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 My feature Piece on the style of the regular ’10 Things’ Piece.

10 Things that…City People miss out on.

So, we all know that every county in Ireland has its mixture of city and country folk. When both come together, it can be quite interesting to see the vast differences between the two and even the major personalities clashing. According to Dubliners, every county outside of their own is considered bog land and ‘culchieville’ Even though each county in its own right has its population of ‘townies’ and ‘boggers’ . So what really is the difference between them? What do the city folk miss out on that is common place for the Country people? 

Here are ten things that country people pride in experiencing over their rivals.

       (1)    Silage cutting.

Ahhh the annual cutting of silage during the summer. Whether you actually live on a farm or not in the country, you most likely live near one, are related to a farmer, or you’re friends with one. Every year the perfumed smell of freshly cut grass fills the air and the rows of grass are made to jump over. To country kids, these rows are made into a game, where you have to reach one end of the field, jumping over every row without upsetting the grass (god help you if you do!) The whole process is pure excitement, from seeing the flashing orange lights on the tractors speeding over the potholes to the shiny black bales and towering silage pits.

2. Lack of Public Transport.

One thing City people take for advantage is the level of Public Transport. Living in the country, if you don’t drive yet either you walk, cycle or pray that your parents or siblings will be home on time to drop you to a friend’s house or a bus to the nearest town.  You have to time that one bus that says it leaves at 9.30 sharp, but really leaves anywhere between nine and ten in the morning. You learn to drive at the age of five, because let’s face it; you’re screwed if you don’t at least have your provisional at the age of 17.

     

     3.  Animals, everywhere.

     So there you are, making yourself a cuppa in the kitchen and all of a sudden you look out the window to make eye contact with a few cows and maybe the odd sheep. But it’s ok, because such and such a neighbour has a new fencing system that’s a bit dodgy and his animals always break out lately.

4. Sense of Direction.

So, a tourist, or even a townie stops you up while you’re going for your evening walk and ask you where a certain landmark is. Even though you know perfectly well where it is, you have to think for a second how to phrase it because these people aren’t going to understand “down the road there” or “up yonder”. You have to use actual place names. 

5. Sound level.

When your cousin from the city comes down to stay for the summer and they can’t sleep because it’s so quiet that it’s deafening to them, meanwhile you’re snoring your head off next door. Also as soon as they hear a fox crying, that’s it, no more summers at Aunty Mary’s farm in the country.

6. Neighbours.

So in the city, you might know a few people in the houses around you in the estate, if you’re lucky. In the country, you might know people as far over as the next couple of villages and of course they’re all your neighbours that live down the road. “That’s the man with the fancy house” “there goes herself and her toy boy” “that’s your man that got the new bull” can all be heard after mass of a Sunday.

7. The Electric Fence.

City dwellers will never understand the excitement that comes from getting to test the electric fence with a blade of grass. It’s dangerous and could possibly kill a person if high enough, but that’s part of the thrill.

8. Beware of the Badger.

Even though the quieter areas of the cities might witness some wildlife, they are the least of their worries when walking at night. But to country people, the badger is the scariest thing to run into. Most are brought up to know that you have to walk with a stick when walking down a country road at night.  Why? Because according to your gullible mother a badger will bite and not let go until he hears a snap. Hence the need to have a stick with you to crack and sound like bone breaking and give her piece of mind.

Never mind masked murderers or killers, a badger could be on the loose!

9. The lack of…everything!

So you’re craving a bottle of coke, or a pizza and there’s nothing in the fridge, what do you do? Forget it. Unless you can drive or persuade someone to drive you to the nearest town, you won’t be able to get them. Not like the city where you can walk 100 yards to your nearest grocers. As well as that you also have to get used to the lack of a good internet facility, no phone reception, less of a social life and not being able to go to the movies when you feel like it or pop to the shops. All the same, it makes you appreciate these things more when you do get them.

10. The bog.

You have to listen to the story every time you put a piece of turf into the fire “there’s no cup of tea like the cup you have in the bog” from a grandparent or older family member. Then you’re forced to sit down with your fifth sandwich and mineral drink of 7up to hear stories of times gone by, that you have probably heard a million and one times. 

Still, you wouldn’t trade any of it!

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think! :D 

Sandy.S

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Maybelline mini haul :)

Hey guys! 

So recently I was in Boots and decided to take advantage of the great offers in there :) Particularly the 2 for 3 offer in Maybelline :)

I picked up the new Lash sensational Mascara, Flawless Nude dream foundation in Ivory and Instant Age Rewind concealer in Light.

I was really impatient to try these out as I have heard so many different reviews, especially on the foundation. 

The first thing I tried (literally leaving town, in the car :P) was the Lash Sensational Mascara and I love it! It created such a beautiful, natural curl to my lashes and made them appear instantly longer. I was asked was I wearing false lashes at one stage! I would highly recommend this :) 

Secondly I tried the Foundation and unfortunately I wasn't massively impressed. It comes with a small stick applicator in a beautiful shaped bottle. The colour is a bit too dark for me, and it has very poor coverage. I had to mix with another foundation (Revlon Colorstay) just to get a nice coverage. For someone who has a lot of freckles, especially around this time of year, it felt like it was barely there even when I applied loads! It was also very drying :/ However I am going to try it with some different primers and moisturisers to see if I can change my opinion :) 

Last but not least the age rewind concealer :) I actually really like this. It is very light but manages to cover any dark circles, veins or redness. It is very subtle but good. I also love the applicator, a really soft sponge that glides and blends on the skin.

Overall, not my most favourite foundation, but good concealer and mascara :) Maybelline get 2/3 for me this time around!!

Thanks for reading :)

Sandy.S

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