Autumn Is Here! - Berry Lips...

'If at first you don't succeed... apply more lipstick'- Benefit

Autumn is my favourite season. It's definitely not because of the Irish weather however, it's mainly because my birthday is in October, I get to go back to college and I love more Autumn/Winter appropriate makeup and warm clothes. So I thought I'd kick off this month with a how to post on one of Autumn's most popular makeup looks, Berry Lips. They can often be difficult to master so I thought I'd share my tips and tricks on perfecting a Berry lip colour. Im going to include close up pictures of the products I used at the end of the post.

So to begin with I always exfoliate my lips with my toothbrush while brushing my teeth, I then apply my foundation and powder as normal except I apply whats left on my foundation to my lips to block out the colour and make them less pigmented, it also kind of acts as a base for your lipstick and lip liner. If you have exfoliated your lips correctly you wont have foundation sticking in lumps on the dry parts of your lips.

The next step is optional but I really couldn't apply any lipstick without it. It's just to lightly apply some lip balm to your lips. Just gently dap it on so your lips are moist, don't apply too much. I find applying lip balm helps your products to apply so much smoother. I used Maybelline Babylips.

The next step is to apply a lip liner. When using a darker colour you really have to use a lip liner. It will stop the colour from bleeding out into your skin. It almost acts as a barrier between your skin and your lips. The line doesnt have to be perfect in terms of the bit on your lips but try to keep i=the line as crisp as possible on your outer lip. You can also create a better lip shape with a lip liner, enhance your cupids bow, make your lips appear bigger etc. Please make sure you don't ridiculously over draw your lips, that's not a good look on anyone! I used MAC's lip liner in Currant.

Next apply your lipstick over your entire lips, this is pretty self explanatory and dummy proof. My main tips would be to ensure that your lip liner and lipstick appear as one. Even if they are a slightly different shades you can blend the lines together using a lip brush. I've used MAC's Rebel here, I've found an almost identical shade by Barry M it's the shade 156. You can also add a gloss if you wish, I would recommend MAC's Cremesheen Glass in Colour Saturation. 

Lauren xo

  

From left to right: MAC's lipstick in Rebel, Barry M's lipstick in 156, MAC's lipgloss in Colour Saturation and MAC's lip liner in Currant.

Barry M's 156

MAC's Rebel

MAC's Colour Saturation

MAC's Currant

Maybelline Babylips

Gel Polish Is A Girls Best Friend...

'Your nails are like jewels, dont use them like tools' - Essie

I took a gap year from college when I finished school because my first choice of college course didn't work about for me. So instead I worked and I decided I was going to do something I enjoyed during that year, apart from working obviously. So I did a nail technician course. I was 19 when I did the course but I had always had an interest in nails and nail art. As a child I always had my nails painted with crazy designs on them. I used everything from pins to spaghetti to create my nail art designs. So for me doing this course was about furthering my knowledge of nails! I learned how to apply gel & acrylic nails and gel polish (or shellac as most people know it as). So enough about me! I'm going to tell you why I think Shellac is really a girls best friend!!


(1) Your nails remain shiney, don't chip and always look freshly painted. Obviously this is within reason, if you've had your shellac on for more then 2 weeks then of course the benefits of it looking good will wear off, it's called the 14 day manicure for a reason!!

(2)Your nails don't break near as easily. My problem before shellac wasn't that my nails wouldn't grow, it was that they couldn't because they kept breaking. They'd grow really fast and then one would break. I now don't have to deal with the daily devastation of breaking a nail, which was a killer. People say their nails are weaker when their Shellac was removed. I personally only have this issue when my nails have been able to grow longer because of Shellac and when I remove it they break, purely because without Shellac they would have broken beforehand.

 (3) My nails grow really long so I don't need gel or acrylic extensions. I never wear gel or acrylic nails because I think they really do damage your nails. My nails have grown so long and remained in amazing condition because of wearing shellac. You can also have your nails filed into stiletto, almond or squared shapes. If you get your nails done frequently and use cuticle oils you will have long and healthy nails.

(4) You can do shellac yourself! If you can get your hands on a salon services card or even if you have an ebay account you can buy all the products you need for doing your own gel polish. I used to buy all my IBD Gel Polishes from salon services Click Here but they were working out at about €20 a pop which is whaaay too expensive! So I searched the net and I found a seller on ebay that sells IBD Gel Polish so much cheaper, she is based in the USA but ships to internationally. I got my polishes plus shipping for under €10. If I can find her name I will post it below. 

So lastly I'm just going to give you a quick list of all the products you need to do gel polish at home and I'll also leave a link to a youtube video that I found really helpful when learning to apply gel polish at home Click Here. So here are the basics of what you need, initially it does cost a lot of money to purchase everything you need, but if you always have your nails done then it will save you so much money in the long run. Sooo.. you will need nail files, a nail buffer, nail primer, bonder, a gel polish base and top coat, colours of your choice, a UV or LED lamp, cleanser and cuticle oil. 


If you have any questions regarding nails please don't hesitate to comment below and ask me a question because I'll be happy to help if I can. The seller I used was named 'beautyzone2007' and I really reccommend both her products and services. I had no problems with contacting her or shipping and I was delighted with everything I received. Of  course though I can't take any responsibility if it doesn't work out for you as we all know what ebay is like! Thanks for reading...

Lauren xo

My Favourite Perfumes - Katy Perry Killer Queen...

'Your never fully dressed without perfume'- C. JoyBell C.

As much as I'd love to be able to afford expensive designer perfumes for everyday wear it's really not possible on a student budget. Of course I do have certain, more expensive perfumes for special occasions but in the past few months I've decided to delve into the world of celebrity perfumes. They are more affordable, some smell amazing and who doesn't want to smell like their favourite celebrity? There are so many to choose from but I seriously love this one, Katy Perry's Killer Queen.



Okay so for starters I threw out the box so I can't show you that, but really who cares what the box looks like because you wont be keeping that! The top notes of this perfume include wild berries, dark plum and bergamont accords. The main note is the velvety red flower Celosia. The base notes are cashmere, patchouli and liquid praline. It's described as being a playful, sophisticated, powerful, edgy and delicious fragrance. I would actually agree with this description, it's pretty accurate. The perfume has a sweet scent, almost tasty. For some reason it reminds me of Victor and Rolf's Flower Bomb, which I adore but have never owned. Currently this really is my favourite perfume aside from Lady Million by Paco Rabanne. If you don't like sweet scents then this perfume isn't for you, however its not sickly sweet. Its a mature yet girly perfume. The only flaw is that although when the perfume is first sprayed on it has a really strong scent it ddoesn'tlast as long as I'd like it to. It fades quite substantially after about 2-3 hours and then you can only really smell it off your clothes. In other words if you walked by someone they wouldn't get a whiff of your perfume but if they hugged you they would smell it off your shirt. This is a more affordable perfume without being too cheap. You can buy it in several places but I bought mine in Boots Click Here, it was on sale and I got a 50ml bottle for €17. Full price 50ml is around €35 but I would hold off until it goes on sale because it really can reduce in price.  So over all I would really suggest getting this perfume, I would give a 4/5, the only flaw being the longevity of the smell. Thanks for stopping by!

Lauren xo

Monthly Favourites - August 2014...'

Hi everyone! So these are my favourite makeup products for the month of August. This is my first post on this blog so I thought starting it off with some of my current favourite products would be a great idea. I'll give you pictures of each product, a mini review, price and of course a link saying 'Click Here' to where you can buy them if you so wish. So without further adieu here are my favourite makeup products for the month of August!

 So the first product that I am loving is the Loreal True Match  Foundation. This product retails for about €15 and you can buy it  in Boots: Click Here. I watch so many YouTube videos and this  product seemed to keep popping up. If you watch Lauren Curtis  you will have definitely heard of this foundation. It's a medium  coverage foundation but is definitely buildable to full coverage. I  wear the shade D3-W3 Golden Beige when I'm wearing false  tanner. It does have yellow undertones however, so if you have  Irish skin with pink undertones then this shade isn't for you!  However when I wear false tan the yellow undertone makes it  match my skin perfectly! If you have oily skin you will definitely  have to powder your face and may have to re-powder your t-zone, that is the only flaw I've found this product to have. This product isn't cakey, covers freckles & blemishes and matches my skin perfectly! I've found myself reaching for this product so many times this month! 

Next is a combination of two MAC lip products. They are MAC's Lustre Lipstick in Syrup and lip liner in Dervish. You can purchase MAC in Ireland in Brown Thomas Click Here or in any free standing MAC counters. Lipsticks retail for roughly €17.50-€19.50 and lip liners for €20.  I have been seriously lusting after whatever it is Kylie Jenner has been wearing on her lips and this is the closest combo I have come up with. It gives a gorgeous brown lip but with a pink tone, making it look less like you stole your Granny's lipstick! The lip liner is a brown your lips but better colour and the lipstick looks very brown in the tube but is actually more pink toned when applied. The lipstick is super moisturising but isn't too glossy. Although they are a bit pricey I think every girl needs at least one MAC lipstick, so a wearable colour is a must! I wear this combo nearly every time I'm wearing lipstick lately. LOVE!!

Again MAC peers its expensive yet amazing head! Usually I'm more of an urban decay lover when it comes to shadows and what I wear on my eyes but this month I bought a few new MAC shadows and I don't have any other colour similar to them in my other eyeshadow palettes. My four favourite colours this month have stayed in this palettes, of course I had to use some other basic shadows outside this palette for blending and highlighting but these 4 colours were the main feature of my eye looks this past few weeks. There are 2 shimmery and 2 matte colours. I was trying to branch out from the cooler toned shadows I tend to veer towards, so the girls in MAC helped me choose some warmer tones colours that would suit both my skin tone and eye colour. I do have brown eyes so choosing eyeshadows does tend to be a lot easier for me. This first colour I bought was called 'Swiss Chocolate' which is a very rich but matte brown colour. Its perfect for adding into the crease and also to warm up any look. Another matte colour I bought was called 'Black Berry'. This is a more purple toned brown colour and isnt as warm as Swiss Chocolate. The 2 shimmery colours are called 'Expensive Pink' and 'Star Violet'. Both go with their corrosponding matte shades but they can also all work together. So I brought this palette around with me when I wasnt staying at home and I could create so many different looks using just 4 different colours! MAC shadows in pan form as seen here retail for about €10, and are about €16 if you buy them in a pot. A palette that holds about 4 shadows costs €6.50 and you can buy MAC in Ireland at Brown Thomas Click Here. Pretty much every MAC eyeshadow I have bought is extremely pigmented and really high quality, they are worth the price. They are really buttery and have very little fallout, they are flawless. They are also coming down in price in Ireland which is always a plus! Along with my favourite shadows of the month I used my MAC 217 blending or crease brush. It's dirty in the photo as I had just used it with the eyeshadows I had bought. Its my holy grail eye brush, it does all the work for you and makes creating an eye look 100 times easier! It's definitely worth the investment. Click Here

 MAC is an obvious favourite this month which is unusual for me as most of my makeup isn't high end. I seemed to have treated myself to a few too many products this month.  The next product is another product I had always heard so much about but never purchased. I was always a loyal user of Urban Decays Primer Potion so I never felt the urge to try out anything new. So when my primer ran out I bought a MAC Paint Pot in 'Painterly'. It really did live up to expectations too! At first it looked like a jar of concealer so I was hesitant putting it on my eyes but it really was amazing. My eyeshadows really stuck to it, were more pigmented, didn't crease and lasted SO LONG. It really is everything you need in an eyeshadow primer. It retails at MAC for €20.  Click Here

Lastly I though I'd add a photo of me wearing nearly all the products (I wasnt wearing all of the eyeshadows, just the 2 matte shades). Excuse the silly face I was sending a snapchat. Ive also added some close up pictures and swatches of the eyeshadows below so that you can see them better. I hope you enjoyed my post and please don't forget to follow me so you can see my future posts! If you have any questions for me please don't hesitate to comment :)

Lauren xo

Expensive Pink

Star Violet

Swiss Chocolate

BlackBerry

Swatches

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