McBusted Shenanigans.

I promise I have lots of beauty posts coming, but I just HAD to blog about this night. As many of you know, I was recently in Liverpool with my gorgeous sister Carla. It was brilliant to see her, and even better was that main reason I was over was to go see the amazing, gorgeous boys that are McBusted! Carla, our friend Kat and myself all went to see them in the Echo Arena in Liverpool and words cannot describe how amazing our night was, so here are some pictures... Although these don’t do it justice either.

Here are a few snaps before the madness! I was unfortunately running late so I didn’t get a great picture of my make-up. I stuck with the old faithful of brown smoky eyes with a purple lip! Though instead of a matte finish on my lips, I used my new Metallic Lip Tar by OCC. It was a bit of a change but I still loved it. I did thankfully get a picture of my outfit. I kept it quite simple with a dress, boots and a hat! This dress is from Topshop and I can safely say it’s the most comfortable thing I’ve owned in a long time! It was a great buy for a gig as it was really cool and flowy! And I adore the folksy pattern.

I also acted make-up artist for the night and did Carla and Kat’s makeup! These two girls have beautiful skin so it was a dream to work on. I did their bases and eyes quite similar (smoky with soft contouring) but used ‘Glissade’ by Illamasqua on Kat, and ‘Howl’, also by Illamasqua, on Carla. I love how these two looks seem so different purely because of a lip colour. (Kat even loved Glissade so much she went and bought it herself.)

Glissade is showing up very pale and I have no idea why. Sorry!

Day in the Life: Let’s Talk Blog Challenge.

Hello everyone! Today marks the first day of Sarah Hamersley’s blog challenge that I’m super excited to be part of. Be sure to check out her and her amazing blog on http://atthebeautydesk.blogspot.ie/!  I’ve been wanting to get into lifestyle posts for a while now but wasn’t sure how to start, so this weeks topic has given me the perfect excuse!

So.. a day in the life of me. Well from Sunday – Thursday this involves me going to work in a teeny supermarket called Mace (all my Irish girls will know this one). So to spare you the ins and outs of a lotto machine and a till, I thought I would catalogue my day off.

It starts, as all Fridays should, with catching up on my favourite blogs in bed! Reading everyone elses posts usually inspires me to get writing myself so I’ll get up, make my bed and plot out some ideas with a frothy coffee in hand. If the weathers bright I’ll usually try and take some pictures for up coming posts, us bloggers have to make the most of all the sunshine we can get!

My favourite place.

View from my bedroom.

Once I’ve done my blogging for the day I usually chill for a bit (hardcore) and this involves reading a good book with my favourite candle burning (currently a Yankee - Sparkling Snow). I’ve read so many recently but I’m currently on Death at Sea-World by David Kirby. It’s written on a topic that I’m very passionate about, killer whales in captivity. A big no-no for me! I won’t get into it here but if any of you are interested in this topic I’d recommend watching the documentary Blackfish, it’s amazing! 

Elliott's Christening.

Hello lovelies! If any of you follow me on twitter/know me in real life you’ll know that it was my beautiful godson’s christening yesterday. It was such a lovely, family-orientated day and the weather was beautiful! I just thought I’d share with you all some pictures of it, what I wore and the make-up looks I used to go from day to night. I hope you enjoy!

A few before shots, can you tell I was excited? My dress is from Ark, and its the Lillian Peter Pan Collar Dress. I bought this way back in January and I was really excited to finally have an excuse to wear it! I got lots of compliments on it and it was so comfortable! My shoes and bag are from any irish girls favourite.. Penneys! (Irish version of Primark for all you Brits). I really rate Penneys for their shoes, I wore those all day (and walked up a massive hill in them) and they didn't hurt one bit! Yay for platforms. 

A Very Nosey Beauty Tag.

I am super late in getting this post up, but my week away meant I simply couldn’t fit it in. The lovely Gillian from purplegillian.com tagged me in this and I think it’s such a good post to let you all know a little bit more about me and my beauty preferences! So here we go…

Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners and lip products or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows?

Probably all my palettes and shadows, I couldn’t live without my purple lips!

Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Never be able to cut it again. Currently trying to grow my hair after getting it chopped 2 years ago ahh, never again!

If you had £500, would you spend this on clothes or makeup?

This is a silly question, makeup!

Would you rather only use one eye-shadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life?

One lip colour definitely. Eye-shadows change up a look so much I couldn’t sacrifice that.

Bright nails or nude nails all year round?

Nude, although I don’t often wear nail varnish to be honest. When I do it’s pinks or topes.

Would you rather never be able to use lipgloss or paint your nails again?

I never really use either.. but lipgloss + wind = nightmare! So I could probably live without that one.

Describe your perfect mascara. Have you found one?

Lip Tar by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.

Hello everyone! Hope you're all well. I'm back from my little break away and with that comes a post that I'm super excited about! 

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics are a company I’d never even heard of until I saw another blogger post on them, and then all of a sudden they seemed to be everywhere! I was already intrigued by the brand as they are 100% vegan and cruelty free, and when I saw the Pixiwoo girls using Lip Tar I knew had to have it. I unfortunately couldn’t find anywhere in the UK that stocks OCC at a reasonable price, but thankfully my gorgeous cousin Zara was off to New York that week so she kindly picked it up for me!

I went for the colour ‘Black Metal Dahlia’ as we all know I love a purple lip, but I wanted a different finish from my usual matte.

Baby Skin by Maybelline.

Hello lovelies! Hope you’re all well. I’m currently in Liverpool (woo) so wanted to get a little post up now before I have no time, it's going to be a busy week! In my recent haul I mentioned that I picked up Baby Skin by Maybelline, I’d read so many reviews of it and thought it sounded like my kind of product – and I was so right!

It’s described as an instant pore eraser that gives poreless looking skin and a baby-soft feel. The product itself is quite a thick balm that has a slight silicone feel to it. You simply smooth it on the skin using a brush or your fingers before foundation, or on it’s own. I tend to use my fingers as their warmth melts the product slightly and makes for an easier application. The formula is enriched with insta-blur technology and I have to say it really works! As someone who has a large pore problem (no pun intended) it makes such a difference. My skin is silky soft and prepped for foundation, which in turn goes on like a dream because all those pesky fine lines and pores have been filled and all is even!

The primer has a really matte finish (my personal favourite) and keeps my face shine free all day, even without powder! The product also has the added goodness of cherry extract that is super high in vitamin C. Vitamin C helps produce antioxidants, which prevent skin aging, and boosts collagen and elastin production. These two lovelies help your skin retain moisture! I think this is amazing as it means the mattifying qualities of the product won’t dry your skin too much.

-       A little side note. My mum also bought this product for her dry, more mature skin and she said she absolutely loves it! Eileens first mini-review.

 The packaging of this product is adorable and girly and personally drew my eye on the shelf! The product gets top marks from me on value for money. It definitely works as well has my high-end primers, and keeps my everyday make-up in place all day! Well done Maybelline xo

Face Contour Kit by Sleep MakeUP.

Frequent readers of Rosy Smiles will know that I am absolutely obsessed with contouring at the minute. Who knew it was so easy to change your bone structure? Since discovering Illamasquas’ amazing Sculpting Duo (review here) I’ve been on the hunt for a dupe that will give me the same look but at a more affordable price, I can’t bear to use expensive make-up for work!

Although I’ve never owned a product of theirs, I’ve read an awful lot about Sleek and in particular their contour kit so I thought I would give it a go! I ordered this product in ‘Medium 885’ as I like my contour to be really defined (in hindsight Light probably would have been better – but live and learn).

 I adore the packaging of this product! It’s very rich despite being so reasonably priced.

Miss Manga Mega Volume by L'oreal.

Confession time! I’ve never owned a L’oreal product (that wasn’t haircare) before this. Oops. When it comes to High Street I tend to stick to my old faithfuls Rimmel and Maybelline, but as soon as I saw this mascara I knew I’d have to try it.

Big, open-eyed looks are my go-to and I rarely go a day without using some tip or trick to make my eyes appear larger. Recently I’d been using Volume Million Lashes by Maybelline (which is a firm favourite of mine) but I like to mix things up from time to time. Miss Manga mascara comes in 3 colours, black, purple and turquoise. After accidentally purchasing it in turquoise (doy) and returning it I finally got to use it properly.

Touche Éclat by Yves Saint Laurent.

Okay I know am so late on this bandwagon but I have jumped on it with full force and seen the errors of my ways! Why did no one tell me I was missing out? When I was carrying out my rather extensive spring haul I picked up Touche Éclat in 2 colours, Luminous Radiance and Luminous Silk. Admittedly a bit extravagant but because I’d never had one I was unsure of the colours and couldn’t decide!

I was delighted when I opened up my parcel and saw the gorgeous gold packaging I have seen everywhere! I couldn’t wait to try them out so I quickly popped them on. Luminous Radiance is a pink-toned colour, whilst Luminous Silk is a much more neutral shade.