20 Dec 2014

Video • My Everyday Winter Makeup Routine


Time for a new video!

This week I'm showing you my everyday Winter makeup routine... basically, when I have next to no time, this is my go to look! Check out the video to find out how I achieve a super quick soft, blown out smokey eye and warm lip combo!

... and while you're there, if you feel like subscribing that'd make me a very happy girl! G'wan, spread the festive cheer! :P


What's your go-to look this season?
Let me know in the comments! 

XO, G.




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9 Dec 2014

Gift Guide For Him

Gift Guide For Him

Men... there's only so many watches and sets of aftershave you can get them before their Christmas gifts start getting a little bit repetitive!

For today's gift guide, I've put together some presents that are just a little different from the usual - although there are a few aftershaves for him to add to his collection! Haha. From Touchscreen Gloves (amazing idea!) to Moustache Airfresheners, the quirkiest of things sometimes make the best presents! 

I actually bagged that Heisenberg Travel Mug for my man for his birthday this year and he LOVED it (one for all you Breaking Bad worshippers out there!).

Maybe your man can snuggle up in his reindeer onesie whilst making use out of his Netflix Gift Card (that's a little present for you too ;))!

Gift Guide For Him


See anything that himself might like?
Have you picked up anything for the men in your life yet?

Let me know in the comments!

XO, G.



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8 Dec 2014

Gift Guide • Kris Kindle Gifts Under €20

Kris Kindle Gift Set

Kris Kindle... a great idea but a bugger when it comes to trying to find a good gift for your gal pal when the spending cap is €20! So I've decided to make it just a teeny tiny bit easier for you by grouping together some fab gifts that won't break the dreaded spending cap!

From Home Alone inspired Christmas Jumpers (I want btw - Mom & Dad, wink wink) to Benefit gift sets to jewellery to the quirkiest of phone cases - theres something here for just about everyone!

If your spending cap is a little over €20 you might even be able to bag a few of these goodies for your Kris Kindle!
Gift Set • Kris Kindle Gifts Under €20

Some of these also make FAB little stocking stuffers if you're not on the lookout for a Secret Santa present. Who wouldn't love a Yankee Candle that smells like Christmas Cookies - so good you could eat it (watch me obsess over these in my Christmas Tag video HERE)

See anything you like? ... I know I do! Haha
Let me know in the comments! 


XO, G.




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7 Dec 2014

The Christmas Tag • Expanding The YouTube Channel




Can I get a hells yeah for my first YouTube video that's not a cover? Haha
I've been meaning to expand my Channel for ages and I'm FINALLY getting around to it! So expect lots more beauty, fashion and lifestyle content! To kick things off I decided to do the Christmas Tag - me being the merry little elf that I am!

I really hope you all enjoy the new addition to my channel! <3

If you'd like to subscribe while you watch you'd make me a very happy gal!

XO, G.




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4 Dec 2014

My 'Kylie Jenner' Lip


Kylie Jenner - Queen of the Selfies

Seriously though, she should write a book on how to look that amazing in a picture, seeshhhh! Everybody everywhere knows the youngest of the Kardashians / Jenners for her statement pout so I'm here to show you how I achieve my version of the 'Kylie Jenner' lip.

Most people tend to skip the lip liner step when applying lip products, slap on a bitta lipstick and it'll be fine (I was of that opinion until earlier this year too)... but that is pretty much the most important step in recreating Kylie's killer lips. Apparently she hasn't had any fillers and simply overdraws her lip line to make her lips appear larger (I'm not so sure). She's also revealed that she uses only lip liners - no lipstick.

But I have adapted Kylie's routine to suit my own lips and my routine goes as follows:

  • Line the lips with a darker lip pencil than your lipstick (mine is 'Stripdown' from MAC - Kylie uses this liner or 'Soar' for her pinker tone).
  • Fill in the lips with your chosen lipstick (mine is 'Myth' from MAC).
  • Go back in with your lip pencil and begin to blend the lip pencil into the lipstick.
I tend to not overdraw my lip line - I look straight up stupid when I do - so I find that the two toned nude effect works best for me! What a difference a lip pencil makes.

The Kylie Jenner Lip

Want to try out the look without committing yourself to the MAC prices? Just pop down to your nearest drug store and try something out in similar tones - go on, give it a whirl! :P

Are you a fan of the 'Kylie' lip?
Have you tried it out yet?

Let me know in the comments! :)

XO, G.



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3 Dec 2014

Christmas Gift Guide For The Sis

Gift Guide For The Sis

Hey Lovebugs!

Sometimes shopping for a christmas present for a sister who has everything (or a gal pal in general) is the most stressful thing in the world - believe me, I attempted it yesterday and nearly pulled my hair out. So I've decided to put together a little gift guide stuffed with goodies ranging from as little as €4 to to the more expensive €56 to give you a few ideas!

Gift sets are always my go to Christmas presents so I've pulled out some of my faves from this year - Benefit's are always great value for what you get and they never fail when it comes to cute packaging.

Don't forget that presents don't always have to be completely serious too - you can pick up some pretty funky stocking fillers in places like Primark, Accessorise, River Island, Boots & Urban Outfitters - everyone loves a random pair of Christmas printed fluffy socks or a 'Parties With My Bitches' photo album. So think outside the box!

All of these could fall into the category of 'must casually point out to my other half / parents as gift ideas for myself' too... I've got my eye on the Crazy Cat Lady mug from Urban Outfitters!

See anything you like?
Let me know in the comments! :)


XO, G.


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30 Nov 2014

COVER • Yellow Flicker Beat | Lorde


Hey Lovebugs!

My attempts to sort out my life with blogging and YouTube videos have kinda gone down the drain in the month of November... whoops! But hopefully this is the start of something a little more organised! I've been trying to post this new cover since Friday but my laptop had decided that it didn't want to play ball until this afternoon. Nevertheless, I come baring a new video!!

I'm kinda obsessing over Lorde's 'Yellow Flicker Beat' from The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt 1 soundtrack at the minute, and not only because I'm all over the movie (it is amazing though!). Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe - there should be lots of new content appearing this month now that I've semi got my act together! 

XO, G.



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24 Nov 2014

The Beauty Blender • Is It Worth The Hype?



The Beauty Blender. I'm sure we've all heard about how amazing it is by now. From YouTubers to celebrity makeup artists, just about everybody has been hyping up this little egg shaped sponge as a miracle worker, but is really worth all the buzz that surrounds it?

If you'd have told me back in January that by Christmas I'd start using a sponge to apply my foundation again I'd have laughed in your face and thought 'not a chance'. Memories of using those little wedged sponges that you get in boots with a foundation a good 3 shades darker than my skin tone kinda haunt me. Apart from that, as an avid brush user, I like being able to buff my foundation into my skin to give it a flawless finish... but that takes time, time that I don't always have at 7 o clock in the morning before work, so theres that too.


So what's it supposed to do?
Basically you use this sponge damp to stipple your foundation / concealer onto your skin and it claims to leave a completely flawless (gotta say it like Beyonce) finish. You can also use it to apply powders but the thoughts of mixing wet and dry products on the sponge kinda freaks me out. I wouldn't do it with a brush so I most likely won't be doing it with this. Haha.

The sponge doubles in size as you dampen it, leaving a broad side (great for fast foundation application) and a more tapered side (ideal for under eye concealer and getting into places like the sides of your nose).


What'd I think?
My fear of sponges is ready to be boxed away after using this little thing - I've been converted. Although I do still love the finish that buffing foundation into the skin gives (and I'll continue to use that method when doing makeup on others), I think that the Beauty Blender gives just as good of a finish in half the time which is kinda perfect for early mornings when the last thing that you want to do is sit for 10/15 mins applying foundation and concealer.

The only drawbacks I can think of are the cleaning of the sponge (which doesn't look like its gonna be too fun) and the fact that you're bound to use up a little more product with the Beauty Blender than  with a brush - there's really no avoiding that with a sponge though.

I'd definitely give it a thumbs up just for the sheer speed that I can apply foundation in - an extra 10 minutes in bed is always good - but if you're still feelin' a little sceptical there are LOADS of BB dupes out there for half the price, so give them a whirl first and if you're feeling good about it, you can always upgrade!

Have you tried out The Beauty Blender?
What did you think of it?

Let me know in the comments lovers!

XO, G.




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18 Nov 2014

Not Your Ordinary Stationary • Kate Spade


Hey Lovebugs!

Yes, I'm one of those stationary obsessed crazies who lusts over cute sticky notes and quirky pens and pencils. I can't be the only one who's favourite part about going back to school / college was doing the stationary run for brand spankin' new copies and pencil cases. Haha.

Anyhoos, when I heard that some of, New York designer, Kate Spade's stationary had hit the shelves at Brown Thomas' Marvel Room, I made sure to drop a few not so subtle hints to the fam just in time for my birthday and lucky for me those extremely obvious hints didn't go unnoticed - I woke up to these fab little bits and pieces last weekend!

Talk about a stationary lovers dream!










From highlighters, to sticky notes and those unbelievably cool paper clips (I mean, come on. There's a hashtag there!!), I'm in my element. I'm one of those people that needs to write lists / notes for everything, so I'll be getting a crazy amount of use out of these!

My little Kate Spade obsession has grown considerably since Erika from Retro Flame moved to New York and is forever posting drool worthy pictures of the New York store on Instagram! BUT lucky for us Irish fans, Kate Spade has recently opened a boutique in Kildare Village of all places! You know what that means - you can get all of this stuff and lots more at discounted prices! Amazing Christmas prezzies, no? I'm ridiculously excited to get down and clear out the store. Haha.

Anyone else have a Kate Spade obsession?
Or even just a stationary obsession?...

Let me know in the comments! 

XO, G.



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13 Nov 2014

The Perfect Present



Hey Lovebugs!

I'm sure you're all well aware by now that I celebrated my 22nd birthday over the weekend. I was absolutely spoilt by my nearest and dearest and I really wanted to give this little box of wonder pride of place on the blog because, basically, I think it's the most perfect gift for the beauty lover.

At this stage, I think we're all kinda wracking our brains for Christmas presents so this might help those of you who have come to a dead end.




Every year, MAC release the most gorgeous Christmas gift sets and somehow Mommsss managed to get her hands on one of this years releases before they all flew out of the store! Ladies & Gentlemen, feast your eyes on MAC's 'Objects of Affection' pigment & glitter set. These gift sets come in 2 colour ways, as far as I know. This is the 'Gold & Beige' set and the other is packed full of more cool toned shades.

In reality, I'd never pop into a MAC store myself and start playing with pigments - I usually get sucked into the lipsticks or eyeshadows. You know, when you're spending that amount of money on products, you wanna make sure you're gonna get good use outta dem babies! Hence, why I think this makes such a great little present - it's not something you'd buy for yourself, but something you wish you could bite the bullet and splurge on. It's also glittery and fabulous, so there's that too. Haha.


The set contains 4 pigments (L-R: 'Lithe', 'English Gilt', 'Pretty It Up' & 'Deep Brown') and 1 glitter (Centre: 'Gold'). These things will, guaranteed, last you a lifetime. I have 5 pigments from years ago that I still use today. Needless to say the pigments are stunning and the gold glitter will definitely be added to my beauty arsenal around Christmastime!

Are you a fan of MAC's pigments?
Loving the idea of finding this under the tree on Christmas morning?

Let me know in the comments!

XO,G.



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11 Nov 2014

22


Hey Lovebugs!

Over the weekend I celebrated my 22nd birthday (I'm currently sitting writing this in a room full of a mixture of helium balloons, a gigantic foil '22' and Christmas decorations - yes, already. Haha).  The whole weekend was so chilled - a night in with the girls (with enough food to last a week) and a few nice meals here and there. Myself and himself finished off the celebrations by staying in Dublin after a ridiculously good meal in Marcels (I've wrote a blog post on it HERE, if you're in Dublin you gotta go! Lots of good noms!) and this is what I wore the following day shopping! I'm kinda going backwards with outfit posts but whatevs. Haha.

It was frickin' freezing and obviously I was gonna be doing a lotta walking (trekking from shop to shop is more or less a marathon, right?), so I opted for comfort! I picked up this turtle neck jumper and skirt in Zara last week and couldn't wait to wear it! Now that it's getting quite cold it's so nice to be able to snuggle up in a cosy knit but still look somewhat put together, so my jumper was a real score! I feel like I'm gonna be living in it all Winter! To finish off, I threw on my oversized MK watch, a little cross body bag and my tortoiseshell cat eye glasses from River Island!

Is the turtle neck trend one that you'd rock or avoid completely?
Let me know in the comments!

Hope you all had a good weekend!

XO, G.






 Jumper: Zara | Skirt: Zara | Boots: River Island | Bag: Michael Kors | Watch: Michael Kors (Similar HERE) | Glasses: River Island | Ring: Pandora


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7 Nov 2014

Celebrity Inspired Makeup Look | Cheryl Fernandez Versini



HAPPY FRIDAY LOVEBUGS!

For today's post I'm gonna throw it back to last weekends X Factor... no I'm not getting into the Cheryl miming scandal, but I am going to obsess over her makeup look for just a little bit! Gurl was workin' the purple smokey eye look, so I've decided to recreate it myself!

If you're one of the few lucky ones that haven't gotten sucked in to the X Factor (again) this year, here's a little snap of CFV smizing her little heart out - Tyra would be proud! I HEART it!


To be totally honest, this look is super easy to achieve... as long as you've got a few purple eyeshadows knockin' about your makeup collection - I used a few from Inglot (346, 377 & 441)! You take the standard steps to create a smokey eye (3 different tones of the same colour and keep the darkest against your lash line), add a few falsies, a slick of a berry toned lipstick (this is 'Eggplant' lip pencil from Fuschia) and you're good to go!



I thought I was gonna have to wipe this all off and slap on my usual neutrals after I was finished snapping photos for this post but I think I'm gonna keep it on! I don't experiment with coloured shadows as much as I'd like to and the purples kinda make my eyes pop... so this look's a keeper!

For now, I'm off to start my 22nd birthday celebrations! So expect lots of birthday content next week! 

Let me know what you think of this look in the comments!
Do you like to play around with colour or are you more of a neutral gal?

XO, G.



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5 Nov 2014

Current Style Crushes

Hey Lovebugs!

I put together one of these style crush posts wayyyy back at the start of the year, so I thought it was about time that I updated that shiz! My style crushes are constantly changing (with the exception of an odd few, one of which you might see below - obvious hint. haha), I'm always finding someone new whose style I can totally relate to.

When it comes to my personal style, I wear a lot of neutrals (for the most part) - black, white, camel, grey, cream - and mostly accessorise with colour. I like simple shapes, tailoring and anything that's gonna keep me toasty, so layering always gets a thumbs up at this time of the year! 

For me, the gals below are totally killing it at the minute when it comes to their personal style. 


Ever wonder who that fierce lookin' blonde teetering behind Kendall Jenner is? Yep, that would be this stunner - Hailey Baldwin. Somewhat of a new 'it' girl, she's earning a name for herself in her own right (never mind her actor father Stephen) as the new face of REVOLVEclothing.com. Since she chopped her hair up into that bad ass blunt bob her style has just been blowing me away. Something about it just screams casual chic but then she goes and rocks something as elegant as that white, tailored strapless jumpsuit and has me drooling all over again! Love love love!


To me, Kendall's style is the epitome of 'off-duty model chic' - leather jackets, skinny jeans and fierce footwear. What I like about her style is that there's always something to give her looks an extra edge - like the blue & black panels on those white skinnies or the mesh crop top paired with those classic tailored trousers. But let's face it, at the end of the day the girl wears a lot of black, no wonder I like her. Haha.


Olivia. This is one of my style crushes, strike that, style icons that will probably never change. I think she nearly always hits the nail on the head when it comes to her personal style. There are so many words that I could use to describe this woman's dress sense - cool, elegant, chic, etc. etc. but one thing that I think I admire most in her is that she wears everything with confidence. She never lets a piece of clothing wear her. From an oversized blue coat to double denim, she always makes her outfits her own. HUGE girl crush.

I'd LOVE to know who your current style crushes are!
Let me know in the comments!

XO, G.



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4 Nov 2014

The Berry Lip 4 Ways


Hey Lovebugs,

Slightly cheating with my post today as I've also included it in the latest edition of The College Tribune (UCD, Dublin's campus newspaper if you're not familiar with it! You should check it out. Lots of talented writers!) - but I couldn't let you miss out on all the lip product goodness!

Winter has well and truly made itself known here in Ireland at this stage (it's frickin' freezing - almost). I don't know about you all but Winter is my favourite time of year, not only is it my birthday but it also calls for cosy nights in with family and friends, chunky knits, lots of food, toasty fires, festive to-go cups (I don't know why I love them so much. Haha.) and CHRISTMAS (yes, I said the 'C' word)!!

In terms of Winter makeup, I can't think of anything more fitting than a berry lip but not everybody gets as hyped as I do about going over to the dark side (tee hee), so I thought I'd put together a few different ways that I like to rock the seasonal trend!

Berry lips are one of those trends that you can either dip your toe into or jump into wholeheartedly - hence why I've shown you 4 different ways to wear them. Those of you that want to give the darker lip colour a bash without it looking like you're clinging on to the last remnants of Halloween can opt for something a little more sheer / pale, like the options that I've aptly named 'The Everyday' (Dior Kiss – ‘Lychee Rose’ Lipgloss) or 'The Inbetween-er' (Fuschia – ‘Love Affair’ Lip Lacquer*).

If you're feeling like embracing the darker lip (something that I tend to do more often than not) then 'The Classic One' (Fuschia ‘Vamp’ Lipstick*& 'The Night Out' (MAC ‘Rebel’ Lipstickare the shades for you gurl! In the picture above I'm rockin' MAC's Rebel with a black liner blended in - not as scary looking as you'd think, right? Obviously you don't have to go as heavy on the eye makeup as I have but that's what my face was feelin' that day!

The number one thing that you've gotta remember about a berry lip is that it's a little bit like liquid liner, it can sense your fear. So as long as you approach that baby with confidence you'll be flying!

How do you wear your berry lip?
Do you have any of these shades in your makeup arsenal?

Let me know in the comments!

XO, G.





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