ArtDeco Dip Eyeliner

 ArtDeco are absolutely fabulous. Everything looks so glam, and so incredibly 1930s. I just love their sleek designs. The lovely Yav from Makeupmonster.ie sent me these beautiful eyeliners so a huge thank you for that!!

The applicator is so precise and incredibly easy to use. I have difficulty with applying liquid eyeliners that have the long kind of tip on them, so I am delighted with these!

 I love the turquoise shade! It is such a beautiful colour.

 The black liner is just fabulous, it is one of the best I have ever used! A quick flick of this and you are good to go!

For a pop of colour I applied the turquoise liner over the black. I adore this so much!

Both of these eyeliners stayed on all day, no problems there at all. Also they were quite easy to take off with eye make up remover. I had some issues with an Essence pen eyeliner once where it left a "stain" of eyeliner no matter how much you tried to remove it! These ArtDeco ones tick all the boxes for me. Easy to apply, stay all day and easy to remove! The colour payoff is amazing too. Definitely check these out if you can!

Nails of the Day - Catrice "Bloody Mary To Go"

Everyone talks about Catrice polishes - this is actually my first time ever trying one. They had lots of fabulous shades but I chose "Bloody Mary to Go", a beautiful deep, elegant red shade.

It was quite easy to apply and (so far) seems to be quite well-wearing. I used two coats and it seemed to dry fairly quickly too. There is nothing nicer than a sophisticated red nail!

Fred wanted a piece of the action while I was photographing this polish! 

Lancome Hydra Zen Neurocalm Moisturiser

 This little sample pot of Hydra Zen was part of a free gift from Debenhams I got recently. I love all kinds of moisturisers so I have been using away at this (it has lasted me over 6 weeks now!). Lancome describe this as a soothing moisturiser for long-lasting hydration. I seem to be prone to dry skin lately so it seemed perfect for me.

Firstly I will say that this is a scented moisturiser. I am not keen on using scented products on my face. It has quite a heavy, perfume scent. Anyway, this moisturiser is very thick and luxurious. At first I was not using enough of it, so I felt it dragging across my skin. Now I am using a generous dollop and it glides on smoothly and sinks in almost instantly. To be quite honest, since I started using this my skin has never looked better. It is definitely more hydrated, I think it makes me look a lot fresher and my skin is definitely brighter.

For 50ml of this product, it is £39.00 so it is not cheap. I am not sure I could afford that! However, when my little sample runs out, I will definitely miss it! The only bad thing I can say about it is that it is a little too perfumed for my liking. But the results I am seeing outweigh that one minor little point.

If you have tried this let me know what you thought! I will have to put it on my Christmas list... ;)

Essential Burt's Bees Kit

Recently I bought the original Burt's Bees lip balm and I have been kind of addicted to the scent. I can't even describe it, but I just love it because it is just so natural. I saw a lot of Burt's Bees stuff reduced in Debenhams, and I really wanted to try some more of their products. I thought this essential kit would be a good start!

This Beeswax Lipbalm is quite nice, however it is a peppermint one which I am not keen on. I don't really like balms that leave your lips feeling tingly. It is really good but I much prefer the honey lip balm.

This deep cleansing cream is absolutely fantastic! It smells so fresh and clean, and it leaves your face feeling so deeply cleansed. You know, it leaves that "tingling" feeling which I really appreciate as it makes me feel like this product has definitely done it's job! I wouldn't use it every night though, just maybe once or twice a week.

The milk and honey body lotion is absolutely lovely. This has the most "natural" scent of them all. I have been using this one quite a bit, so I think I will have to get the full size! My skin absolutely feels so nourished and moisturised. The lotion itself is quite thick and creamy. When applied it doesn't really feel sticky, which is what I usually hate about body lotions! So I absolutely adore this!

This foot cream is absolutely phenomenal. I wouldn't really call it a cream though, it is more like a gel/paste kind of texture. It is quite sticky, and the instructions suggest that you apply this at night and wear cotton socks all night. I actually did this and the results were incredible. I am so happy with this!

This hand salve I thought was quite unusual. I was expecting a hand cream, but when I opened the tin I realised that it is more of a Vaseline texture. However, it isn't even quite as soft as Vaseline - it's so difficult to describe! The scent is quite medicinal and I absolutely love it. I would take a little bit of this product and massage across my knuckles which would tend to be the driest. It really is so nice to use and effective too.

I hope you enjoyed this post. This little kit was a nice taster for me and I definitely am left with a good impression of Burt's Bees. I would really like to try out more of their products!

My Dressing Table!

I am so so proud of my new dressing table. I have wanted one like this since forever, I think they look ultra glam and very elegant. Perfect for a Ziegfeld Girl - haha! Let me give you a tour...

 On this side I have just displayed a couple of mini Yankee Candles, Soap and Glory Hand Food, Lush Lip Scrub and the picture is a vintage postcard - circa 1939 - of Hollywood actress Deanna Durbin. Not many people have heard of her nowadays, as she retired quite young in the 1940s, but she was very famous back then. I thought the framed postcard looked quite fitting on my dressing table.

 Along the front of the mirror I just displayed my perfume bottles, and a little handheld vintage style mirror.

 On top of the second little drawer I just have a sample size of Lancome Bi-Facil eye make up remover, and the "Kitten" box is the very first Benefit product I ever bought - it is a huge powder puff that I just adore. I got it in San Francisco back in 2005. It is so glamorous looking and it is full of tiny shimmers too that you can just pat on yourself.

 In the little drawers I have stored some make up that I don't really use, but inside this big drawer is the bulk of my make up collection that I use pretty much every day. There is no real order in here, and someday I will get a drawer organiser but right now everything is just all laid out any old way!

I absolutely am in love with this, I feel like a Hollywood movie star when I am sat here doing my make up!

I hope you liked this post, I love seeing photos of people's dressing tables!

Clarins Splendours Colour Quartet & Liner Palette

Recently I decided to treat myself to a kind of "high end" eye palette. I was thinking of getting a Lancome Hypnose palette, but this turned my head at the Clarins stand...

This is my first ever Clarins product. Even the outer packaging is so luxurious! The palette comes in a little velvet pouch, and there is a card with a couple of looks you can try with these shadows.

It is difficult to capture this gorgeous palette as I keep getting the reflection of the window in there! But it is a beautiful sun dial design, it looks so sophisticated and beautiful. Now of course to show you what's on the inside!

These shades are absolutely beautiful. As you can see there are four shadows and one liner shade. I love the patterns on the shadows too.

I cannot express how much I adore these shades. The gold shade is a particular favourite of mine. It's so unusual.

These are the cards showing a couple of different looks you can try. I have been using this to follow the smokier look, and it is absolutely fantastic.

My one criticism is that I am not really fussed on the eyeliner as an actual liner. I have been using it to darken my outer corner and contour. That is just my preference as I have to have my gel liner on every day!

I have been wearing this palette every day! In the mornings going to work I just sweep the two lightest shades over my eyelids. My absolute favourite is wearing all the shades together as seen in the above photos. It is perfect for summer and I am absolutely delighted with this palette! Clarins has totally won me over, and I would love to try out more of their products!

Has anyone else tried out this palette?

MAC Prep & Prime Face Protect Protection SPF 50

Recently I got kind of freaked out about my skin and sun exposure. Now, I do not particularly like to be in the sun but many people do not actually realise the amount of sun damage to your skin from just going about your day-to-day life. A quick search led me to this product with a massive SPF 50. How could you go wrong with that?

This product cost me £22.00 from Debenhams. It seems quite expensive but it will last me a good few months. I did not really know what to expect from this product, I don't think it is as much of a primer as it is for protection only, but that doesn't matter to me. You could use your own primer over this.

It's a squeeze tube so I was careful not to squirt out too much. I love the packaging, it was hard to photograph but it's black with green glitter! (Reminds me of "Wicked").  Anyway, pumped out you can see it just looks like a regular moisturising product. But I felt it was more oily than a regular moisturiser. Still, I applied it onto my face and it absorbed pretty much instantly. There is no greasy feel and it is completely invisible.

This is an oil absorbing primer (I can't really comment as I do not have oily skin though) and my make up lasts pretty much all day with this. If you like more silicone-y primers then you can use one after using this, as the instructions suggest to use more Prep & Prime products in addition to this. I would like to know how this product alone holds my makeup in hotter weather.

This is a hard product to review as I bought it purely for the SPF 50. I wouldn't tell you all to rush out and buy it, it's great - but it is the highest SPF I have ever came across, and now even if I am not going to wear makeup, I would stick a bit of this on in the morning. I am becoming oh so vigilant now with regard to sun protection! Don't want wrinkles!

EDIT - Well after the recent heatwave in Ireland I can now confirm that this product is simply incredible! Not only did it preserve my makeup throughout the day (and the heat), it was great knowing you had that extra protection on your face too. I have now made a pact that I will never be without this product, especially during summer months!