Magazine Freebies May 2013

Hi all,

Just a quick post to tell you about the amazing magazine freebies on the shelves this month. I haven't picked any up myself as I'm trying to save :( However, they are great bargains so snap them up!

Marie Claire Magazine - A range of Avon cosmetics. (I'm still annoyed though about how Avon treated it's Irish sales reps grrrrrr!)

Elle Magazine - Mini Benefit They're Real Mascara. I have the full size product but if I didn't I would jump at trying this one. I love when Benefit comes free in magazines!

InStyle Mag - Pick from 3 full size Nail Inc Nail Polishes . (This one I think I will get, I can't resist)

Will you buy any??

Laura

One Step closer 2 Fabulous

I have wanted to type this post for a few weeks now, but have been super busy lately. It’s the final few weeks of the school year so I have been extremely busy preparing my exam classes for their exams in June. However, I really wanted to tell you about my trip to the home of onestepcloser2fabulous which is located on Clare Street in the city centre. 

From the moment I stepped through the door I was made very welcome. (Including a glass of champagne, that always goes down well!) The lovely Deborah then did my makeup. I loved this as it was a great chance to have a beauty chat about all the different products that One Step Closer 2 Fabulous have in stock. The range of cosmetics is huge, ranging from MAC, Urban Decay, Daniel Sandler and any other brand you can think of. If you are obsessed with beauty like me, you will be in beauty heaven. 

Deborah's Work

Deborah is also an expert on skin care and will analyse your skin and explain to you what products are best for your skin. My favourite thing is that they are not tied to a brand so she will tell you about brands that will suit ANY budget! 

Also there on the day was dolledup.ie . Dolled up sell a great range of beauty products including lots of Irish products. I love this as I love giving Irish products some business. They also sell in items such as sleep in rollers which are raved about in the beauty world. One item that really caught my eye was Canopi Sleeves. Canopi Sleeves is a seamless way of adding arm cover to a sleeveless item of clothes. Canopi Sleeves have a low cut at the front so no matter the dress nobody will know you are wearing them. I LOVE this idea and am definitely going to invest in one! 

A

Unfortunately I accidentally deleted the pictures I took on the day, boooo! However I sneakily robbed a few pictures from their websites. I hope you don’t mind! 

Laura x

Pink and Red For Valentines.....

Awear Red Chain Bag - €25 / £20

M&S Limited Collection Heart Blusher in Pink Mix £6.00

Awear Red Lips Clutch €15 / £13.50

M&S Limited Collection Applique Satchel £39.50

M&S Limited Collection Heart Lipstick in Rose £5

M&S Lip Shoulder Bag £25.00 

M&S Limited Collection Heart Cosmetic Bag £4.00

Some people love Valentine's Day, others hate it. I decided to get in the pink/red mood by showing some cute Valentine's inspired pieces that are in shops at the moment. Why not treat yourself to something nice!

Laura x

Avon Haul

Every so often I pick up a good few items from Avon. They have very good sales so it is well worth keeping an eye out. The following items below cost €42.50 but due to sales I only paid €21.50.

First up is Dog Lover Necklace €6.50 - I adore this necklace, sure it might be a bit kiddie but I love it. There are three charms a paw print, a little dog and a bone.

Avon Perfect Kiss Lipstick €6.50 usually €11 in the colour ‘Caressing Coral’ – Lipstick with natural oils to give you smooth lips. This lipstick feels more like a lip balm than a lipstick, it also smells gorgeous a vanilla/bubblegum scent.  Not only was this lipstick nearly half price but it also came with a free lip liner worth €8. I always line my lips when I use red lipstick so I picked up the shade ‘Red Brick’

I also picked up two makeup brushes. An eyeshadow brush €3.25 usually €6.50 and an all over face brush €5.25 usually €10.50. I was quite surprised with the quality of these brushes. The all over face brush is quite soft but has a heavy handle. The eyeshadow brush is good for applying eyeshadow to the lash line or a base coat to the lids. It would not be good for blending. However at €3.25 it is not bad at all!

Just to warn you all the Avon supershock eyeliners are only €4 in the current brochure. I have seen lots of reviewing raving about them so I will definitely be ordering one or two...!

Laura x

H&M Spring 2013

H&M can be very hit and miss. After working there for five years I realised that a lot of the time you really need to look hard for nice items. They can have way too much stock so it is tough to find items. Since I stopped working there a few years ago I now like to search their website for new stock. I find this much easier than rooting through endless items in the store. In the picture above you can see what has recently caught my eye. 

The Makeup section in H&M can be full of hidden gems. I would advise to always swatch the eye shadow though. One product can be very pigmented while another can be TERRIBLE. The nude and smoky eye palettes certainly look good. I will definitely be swatching them next time in a store. Some of the makeup brushes in H&M are quite good considering how cheap they are. They are EXACT copies of Topshop brushes at a fraction of the price. I use the eye shadow brush below everyday to fill in my brows. (The angled end) A great little bargain for €2.95

The H&M brush is nearly identical to the Topshop version and is more than 50% cheaper! 

Dis you see anything nice in H&M recently? If so let me know :)

Laura x

The Body Shop - Mango Lip Butter

To be honest I’m not the biggest lip balm fan in the world. Well apart from Carmex, I never really bother with others. However, this was before I bought a lip butter from The Body Shop. Have I converted to a lip balm world?

I went to London for Christmas to visit my parents, while there I bought a magazine which had a Body Shop gift card for £3 free inside. Free gift card? I wasn’t leaving London without spending this. When I went into The Body Shop I remembered the curse of hand luggage.... 150ml products. Since I could not buy any body butter or body oils I decided to try a lip butter. The Mango lip butter caught my eye, it was hand luggage safe and only £1 after the gift card.

I was actually genuinely surprised how much I liked this lip butter. It’s so creamy and leaves my lips actually feeling moisturised. (I know the whole point of the product but I have had a lot of ‘lip balms’ in the past that leave my lips even drier! Grr) I love the texture it’s smooth and doesn’t make my hair stick to my lips, which is always a plus. This also smells deliciously good.

Would I buy again? I think so. Yes, I think my official I hate lip balm phase has come to an end. Well for now at least!

What do you think of The Body Shop’s lip butters? Yeah or nay?

Laura x

I'm Back!

Hello to all my lovely readers. I’m finally back! After a long break from blogging I finally have time to get back into the blogging world. I started my first full time teaching job back in November so was up to my eyes every night with planning and corrections. I love the job and feel so lucky to have finally found a teaching job. I have settled in now and with the mock exams coming up I will have less classes so I can focus a bit of my time on my blog! Woooo! 

So just to ease myself back into the blogging world, this post will only be a small one. I just wanted to warn you all to get your credit cards ready as one of my favourite brands MUA is having a sale! 50% OFF AND FREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING! For all of you who have never tried MUA now is your chance. If you only get one product I would recommend the brow kit. It is amazing, I have received loads of compliments on my eyebrows since I have started using it. In the sale it is only £2 about €2.38. Too good to turn down. The sale starts tomorrow and MUA will put a sale code on their facebook page. 

Don’t miss this amazing sale, you will regret it if you do.

Expect more posts soon!

Laura :)