Blonde Brunette or Redhead????

I'm confused I know I'm a blonde (all be it a bottle one!), why am I drawn to the redhead and is there an inner brunette in me just dying to get out!!! The reason I'm so confused is mac's new collection - it supposedly has the perfect cheek eye and lip colour to match your hair colour. So why then do I love them all???

I bought 2 of the msf's in blonde and redhead. The blonde is a lovely pink colour which I will use as a cheek colour while the redhead is more of a peachy colour and I used today as a highlighter. To me the brunette was just too dark - It looked more like a bronzer and i'm pretty sure I would look oompa loompa with this on so I skipped it. I am somewhat confused over the purpose of msf's and am not sure i'm using them correctly - any tips on how you use yours?

blonde on the top, redhead on the bottom

Next i got the 3 new brushes mostly because they are limited edition and I know I would be mad down the line if I didn't have them and couldn't get them. The only one i've used so far is the 165 the biggest one the I used it to apply highlighter and it did a lovely job, its just the right size for this job. I cannnot wait to try the blending brush the 226 as so many people say it is way better than the 224 or 222 both of which I find very big for me small eye space!

Finally the eyeshadows, I've seen a lot of youtube videos on a combination of these colours and in person some of these colours are amazing! they are so unlike any of the other mac shadows that I felt it was an investment to buy them. The only one I didn't go for was the green one called henna, a lot of reviews said it was the same colour as sumptuous olive which I have and have never used. To me green eyeshadow just doesn't work it just looks wrong so I gave it a miss.

Back (l - r) Knight, Top Knot, Fig 1 (not from bbr collection dont know how it got in this pic),100 strokes

middle (l-r) Pincurl, Deep shade, Femme-fi.

Front (l-r) Flip, French cuff.

My early favourites are Femme-fi a great colour for applying all over the lid is a veluxe pearl and gives a lovely finish i think this will be a very versatile colour. 100 storkes is also a gorgeous very unusual colour it is a combination of purple and bronze and has a lustre finish will be great for crease or outter v when doing purple looks. Next is top knot, this colour is almost black with purple sparkles in it buy not chunky sparkles it is a velvet shadow and applys beautifully to deepen the outter v!! Can't wait to try out more combinations of these shadows!!

I wasn't sucked in by any of the lip colours, the lipsticks I may get one or two with the back2mac, when I depot my shadows but the lipglasses didn't look like anything "new" to me so I gave them a miss!! Thankfully said my wallet!!

Blonde, Brunette, Redhead look.

Today I tried out some of my new products from the blonde, brunette, redhead collection. On my eyes I used femme-fi all over the lid it is a gorgeous all over colour, then I used100 strokes in the crease and some top knot on the outer edge. It gave me a sort of smoky look. I used my new cvs eyeshadow brushes and I love them. They are quite small and allowed me to be quite accurated with where I put the shadow, as sometimes I feel that with the bigger eye brushes I am just putting the eyeshadow everywhere!!

I also tried curling my lashes today - something which I never do and then I used my new Sheisido mascara base it is brilliant I found it really helped my mascara go on smoothly with no clumping and left my eyelashes looking as if I had falsh lashes on - Result. Then I applied a coat of covergirl last exact mascara in black.

I also used the redhead msf as a highlight colour and so far I really like it. I think I will try the blonde one tomorrow as a blusher as it has more pinky tones in it!

I used Nars sin blusher on my cheeks and found out the hard way that you have to go very sparingly! Thank goodness I found this out last night just before I took my makeup off, I gave myself a quick swipe of sin to see what it was like and wow its a deep pink on me. so thankfully today I knew to use my 187 brush and to go easy on the colour!!!

On my lips I used Nars sabrina but funnily enough I am not that gone on the smell, I like how it makes my lips feel and how they look natural with just a light pinky gleam but I think the smell is slightly sickening - just my opinion!

A whole lotta haulin!!!!

Hi all, have finally gotten round to photographing some of the stuff I bought have been so busy since we've gotten home!

Will start with the non makeup items first:

I was in a toy shop and spotted this little notebook and pen - and well with me and my list making I couldn't resist - I guess i'll be recording all I want from the hello kitty collection in this!!!




I got some funky vests and tshirts in Forever 21 and also some really nice earrings, bangle, necklace and notebooks! It's a really cool shop and dirt cheap!

I really wanted to go and get my nails done but while I was away I had second thoughts what with all the bottle washing I do I decided to give it a miss and just cut my nails short and bought some nice polishes to do them myself! The thoughts of the upkeep of gel nails just put me right off as well - I don't really have the time or the money now to do that once a fortnight!

So here is this weekends nail colour its OPI Lincon Park after dark its a really dark almost black berry colour I love it on short nails!
These are the 3 OPI nail varnishes I got Lincon park after dark, Mrs O Leary's BBQ, and I'm with Brad. I also saw the Out the Door topcoat that I had been looking at on ebay in a drugstore and it was only $4.99 so I was thrilled with that. It is supposed to be amazing just put it on after polish and your out the door in 60 seconds - so will be back with a review once I've tried it out once or twice!

These are the sunglasses I bought - I spotted them from a distance mixed in with loads of designer sunglasses I thought they would be very expensive but I tried them on regardless (doesn't hurt to try on!!) I loved them and couldn't believe they were only $50 when I turned over the price tag. I also got 15% off as I had a visitor card! They are by Jessica Simpson - who I love by the way so double bonus!!!

This is what I bought at Sephora. This place is what I imagine Heaven would look like for me!! I could have happily stayed here all day playing and experimenting! The staff are also really helpful and tried out a couple of different things and also recommended a few things. I kinda knew what I wanted and I had my list - mostly things from the blogs or yt videos that people rave about and things I've wanted for a long time. I had to really restrain myself as all the big name brands are here and it was hard to stick to the list. Here is what I got:

• Nars blusher in sin, just swatched it so far, and I like it. This is going to be tomorrows cheek so will take a photo and post it with my initial report!
• nars Sabrina lip balm. Now this had been on my wish list forever and I could never get it in stock. I tried on the white lipbalm as it was in the sabrina spot and loved it. so when I opened sabrina and realised it was an orangey colour, I'm a little disappointed as I think I prefered the other one but I will stick with it before ruling it out.
• Make up forever kabuki brush have wanted this and the hd powder for ages!! This brush is soooo soft will be perfect for buffing in my msf natural. I didn't buy the hd powder as I loved the sample of it I had but have since fallen in love with my msf natural so didn't buy it!
• I also got the mufe full cover, extreme camouflage cream in no. 10
• Shiseido Mascara base - Lisasz09 on yt keeps raving about this
• A sephora lip pencil in no. 114 its a nice nudey pink colour.

Swatches of nars sin, mufe full cover and sephora lip liner

Now onto the Mac:

I have wanted the Shadowy lady quad for quite a while and have considered buying it on ebay as my mac store in Dublin had sent all theirs back and had none left! So I was thrilled to pick it up. Now I just have to figure out a few looks to do with it - may have to consult my old pal youtube!!

The colours in it are Lightfall, Smudged violet, deep truth, shadowy lady.

***** Swatches of eyeshadows and lip products to follow.

As I've been using a lot of purples and lilac colours lately I wanted a paint pot or paint that would make those colours pop! The girl in mac recommened fresco rose paint pot as they had no purpley one but that this will also work well with pinks - we shall see!!!

I got a blush palette and 3 new blushers to put in it - Top are Pink swoon (left) and Pinch O peach(right) and dollymix on the bottom. Now all I have to do are depot my old shadows - not a job I relish!!!

These are the shadows I got in pan form, most of them are ones that I have seen used either on blogs or on videos and thought - "I Must get that" so I put it on the list. I just put them into an empty palette but I will get around to mixing them with my old shadows according to colour!! (Someday!!)

Back row (l to r) - sketch, texture, gleam

middle row - shale, paradisco, haux

front row - saddle, antiqued
Cant wait to try them out!

There's still more to come - my blonde, brunette, redhead collection - so watch this space!!

Twitter Twit!!!

Hi all,

have just signed up to twitter - I don't want to be missing out on all the up to date gossip! But i'm having trouble figuring it out have found all you lovely ladies but dont know how to follow you! Help!!! I am such a dummy when it comes to all things technical. My twitter name is Avril0407 so maybe you could come and find me instead.

Thanks girlies hope to be twittering to you all soon x

It wasn't all shopping!!

Contrary to popular belief I did do more than shopping when in New York so here are the pics to prove it!!

My favourite thing by far was going ice-skating. We went to the Rockerfellar centre on Sunday morning and the ice rink was fairly quiet so we deciced to give it a go!! I have been a few time before on school trips with the kids I teach and was a child of the boot skates generation but my Hubby had never been. Now he is very athletic and likes to think he is good at all sports. On the way down he was saying "I think I'll be fairly good at this" and well he wasn't hee hee!! Hilarious!

Here's me in action on the ice!!

We also went up the Empire State building at nightime and although we couldn't see the landmarks, the lights and view were amazing - it was freezing up there so we had to keep going in and out to get a heat, my hands felt like they were about to fall off!

I just happened to stumble across the Magnolia Bakery when I wandered down a side street one day and nearly had a heart-attack, any sex and the city fans will know what I mean! I had to buy a cupcake and yes it was as good as they look! We also passed the New York City library where Carrie and big were supposed to get married in the film and I nearly had another heart-attack there on the middle of 5th Ave. I felt as if I was in a film myself!!!

We went into the shop Abercrombie and Fitch on 5th Ave and the only word to describe this place is MENTAL!!! The shop is full to bursting with drop dead gorgeous staff who could easily be models. The music is pumping it actually feels like your in a nightclub! There are staff standing at the top of each stair case just "greeting guests and dancing their funky moves and that is their job!!! CRAZY! After about 20 mins we just had to get out!! As I had commented the whole way around the shop about the 2 babes welcoming you at the door - my husband mortified me when we were leaving by asking the two guys would they take a picture with me!!! CRINGE - I could have died I felt about 14! But they are gorgeous and smelt divine!!

My Abercrombie Babes!

On our last day I had booked us in for Lunch in the Central Park Boathouse - we got engaged in central park in 2003 and it always holds a special place in our hearts so we wanted to do something really romantic!! We took a horse and carriage ride through the park to the Boathouse restaurant - now that is travelling in style!!

The food was amazing and we had a brillaint view out ove the frozen lake (in Summer people can hire boats and paddle out on the lake!!) It was a lovely thing to do and it brought a special end to our trip!

The funniest thing happened on the way to the airport. Friends of ours just happened to be in NY at the same time as us and were on our flight home, so we all decided to share a taxi back to JFK. We asked the guy at the door of our hotel could he get us a mini-bus taxi as we had a lot of luggage and there was 4 of us. He said they couldn't ring for a taxi and he could only call one on the street but he could get us a limo for $85. Now it cost $60 just for 2 of us in a normal taxi so at $42.50 each how could we refuse!! The biggest thrill we got was pulling up at our friends hotel - we just put down the window and shouted out for them to get in. Their faces were a picture!!! Hilarious! So we giggled and laughed all the way to the airport. The perfect end to the perfect holiday.

Although by that stage all I wanted was to get home to see my little man and couldn't believe the welcome we got!!! Awwww!!

Home and broke!!!

Hi girls,
I made it home from New York yesterday and I had an absolute blast. The weather was cold the first day or two and then it was freeeezzzzzing! But I didn't really feel the cold where I was - in the shops!!!

I asked my hubbie to take this photo for my blog - so I was thinking of you girls as I shopped in CVS!!!! Just spotted my notebook in hand - how sad am I!!!!

This blogging business has done me no good at all - as my shopping list was growing by the day with each blog that I read before I went. I think I brought home enough makeup and products to keep a small country looking good for at least a year!!

My camera is out of battery and I can't find the charger- probably still tucked up in a suitcase!! So I will give you a quick run down of some of the things I bought and will try to photograph them and upload them tommorrow. I can't wait to try out my new goodies and share my views with you all!!!

Some non-makeup shopping first:

• A tiffany charm bracelet - my Mam gave me dollars for Christmas so I thought it would be nice to actually have something good to show for my pressie. Also my hubbie can add to it by buying me charms for birthdays, anniversaries etc.... (hope your reading this Mr. C)


• 2 pairs of jeans, one 7 for all mankind and a rock and republic pair - bought in Century 21 at huge knock down prices!!!


• A cool new pair of sunglasses - all we need is the sun!!


• Not one but two guess bags - well they were so cheap it would be rude not to!!


• Victoria Secret Underwear - I just love this shop and no I won't be posting pictures - nobody wants to see that!-shirt


• Some funky vests, t-shirts and jewellery in Forever 21 - its a bit like a cheaper version of River Island!!

I also hit China town - am not sure how you all feel about buying fake goods but I don't mind. I do have a few genuine designer bags so I don't feel too guilty about buying the fakies! I got a Marc Jacobs Stam and a huge Louis Vuitton I would loooove these bags but my poor teachers wages would never stretch that far so now I have the next best thing!!!

Makeup Goodies:

• I hit cvs and got some brilliant Essense of Beauty brushes


• Milani eyeshadow quads - they were buy one get one half price


• Milani blushers and sunset duo


• 2 opi nailvarnishes - I cant believe they sell these in drugstores and are sooo cheap compared to home!


• 2 covergirl mascaras that Lisasz09 did a review of on youtube so will be doing my own little review here when I get a chance to try them out for a week or two!

The Mac Haul:
I got my Mac Pro card about 2 weeks before I left so I was only too thrilled to use my 40% discount (yes its 40% in the US!!)

I actually didnt make it down to the pro store, as I had bought so much makeup already I decided there was only so much makeup a girl could use and if I went to the pro store I knew I couldnt resist!! See I can be good!!!

So this is what I got:

• Empty eyeshadow palettes


• Empty blush palettes


• Blonde and Redhead msf


• the 3 new bbr brushes


• 8 of the 9 new eyeshadows - I didn't go for the Henna as I'm not into green and I already have Sumptuous Olive and have actually never used it!


• Fresco Rose paint pot


• 3 blushers in pan form - pinch o peach, dollymix and ....... am not sure (not a new blusher I just cant remember!!)


• Some pan shadows - will list them with photos tomm


• Brush cleaner


• Fix +


• 128 small eyeshadow brush

That's all I can think of for now- its enough!!! Will post a proper list of the makeup I got with photos tomm. when i'm thinking straight!

Fake Tan help!

I never usually wear fake tan in the Winter I just can't be bothered with the application, the smell and the wearing off, I do wear it when I'm going out though as I love looking tanned! I normally always use Lancome Flash bronzer either in the spay or the mousse version and I get great results from this.

I am just wondering if anyone uses anything that might not be quite as expensive as Lancome?

Calgel nails for me!!!

I've been doing a bit of research on the net about a good place to go to get nails done in new york. I have this vision in my head of me sitting in a "real" american nail bar getting my nails done! don't ask me why but I've always wanted to get this done - I suppose I watch too much television!!

Anway, after much research I found this Japanese nail bar that specialise in Calgel!! This place has got amazing reviews on yelp.com. So I figured this was the place to go!

What is Calgel I hear you ask!! Well, its the new alternative to acrylic and gel nails. It is totally natural and allows your real nails to remain healthy underneath yet you still get that beautifully done look! It is used "to strengten weak and soft nails while beautifying the surface with a honey-like wet look." - so their website says anyway. The calgel system doesnt contain any toxic chemicals so you can soak them off without any damage to your real nails. Your natural nails are able to grow and breathe under the calgel layer and they last 3-5 weeks!! Sounds perpect. Well I'm all booked in next Friday at 5.30pm!!

I will be on to give my verdict on the whole experience and of course to show off my calgel nails - hope i'm not disappointed!!!

In one word only...

Thanks for the tag Laura, I love doing these! Here goes will type the first thing that pops into my head:





1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen
2. Where is your significant other? Work
3. Your hair color? Blonde
4. Your mother? Friend
5. Your father? Loving
6. Your favorite thing? Son
7. Your dream last night? Nightmare
8. Your dream/goal? Happiness
9. The room you're in? Study
10. Your hobby? Makeup
11. Your fear? Loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Selfish
15. One of your wish-list items? Stam
16. Where you grew up? Dundalk
17. The last thing you did? Tea
18. What are you wearing? Casuals
19. Your TV? Love
20. Your pet? None
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? Grumpy
23. Missing someone? Lots
24. Your car? Seat
25. Something you're not wearing? Rings
26. Favorite store? River Island
27. Your summer? Heaven
28. Love someone? Always
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Weeks
32. Are you a bitch? Yes
33. Favorite Position? Nope
34. Favorite Past Time? Hurling
35. Are you a hater or a lover? Lover
37. Are you genuine or fake? Genuine
38. Any Vices? Alcohol
39. Pro Plastic or Natural? Natural
40. Dream Job? Have

NARS Fakes on ebay!!!

I think I've been well and truly had!!! I was browsing on ebay and found some nars blushers listed at a starting price of £2.99 - maybe that should have been my first warning!!! Anyway I went ahead and bid on one and paid £6 for it plus postage.


I was really excited when it arrived yesterday but to my disappointment I saw an immediate problem. The box it came in was very old and battered and it said "NARS eyeshadow duo on it!" Ok so it was in the wrong box. I had a look at the blusher and it looked ok, until I compared it to another one I own Mata Hari.

First off the containers are the same but the blusher I bought was called Tokyo now this does not exist - I have done major searching and Nars did an eyeshadow duo called Tokyo but not a blush. Secondly the sticker on the back is upside down compared to all other Nars products. And lastly the word Nars is actually imprinted onto the blusher which is not on any other ones I have.

I know its not the end of the world - £6 but I just wanted to point this out to other people just to beware that there are fakes out there and to be careful what you buy on ebay!! It came from England and was listed brand new in box! No colour was listed just pink Number 402! I won't be making this mistake again!

My Mac palettes

I was asked by Retrospeck_Glamourcheck to show what eyeshadows were in my quad. I decided to do a post showing all the shadows I have. I have 2 palettes of shadows some of which date back years as you will see from the state of them - I have hit pan on quite a few!! Most of them were before the days of palette form so they were ones that I depotted a long time ago and didn't make a note of colours. so I actually have quite a few shadows that I don't know the names of!!!!

This is my quad and the colours in it change regularly depending on what type of look Im going for. I find that it is brilliant for travelling as I can just bring my fav shadows without hauling around a full palette or 2!!

At the moment I just depotted the 2 shadows I got from the chill collection, wintersky and arctic grey and added 2 other colours that I can mix and match with those - print and dazzlelight.

This was my very first palette and I depotted all my old shadows into it. It's a real mish mash of random colours!!! Some of the shadows I don't even have names for!!!

Last year I started a new palette and made a real effort to try to slowly build up a nice neutral palette as I generally play it safe with colours and head for the more neutral muted tones. I think I have achieved that but I still am constantly changing them around and swapping them in and out!!

This is what I use to label my shadows and to keep the shadow from getting everywhere. It is just a sheet of acetate that I have cut to size and placed 3/4" labels onto it for the names of the shadows.
It just sits perfectly on top of the shadows so I now know which one is which!!!

What's in my bag......

My bag:

I was tagged by Laura from Laura's Bloggy blog to do this post. The contents of my bag is not the most exciting I can assure you but I thought it might be fun to do anyway!!

So here it is:

My bag is from Gucci ( a Christmas present from a few years ago from my beloved)!

My purse is Gucci (a knockoff i'm ashamed to say, hubby couldn't afford both!)

I carry a little notebook and pen for all my lists!

I have a couple of receipts floating around in my bag too.

I always carry Hermesetas sweetners for my coffee addiction!

I have my house and cars keys with a keyring with a photo of my little man Donovan!

I have Calgel - a tube of teething gel as the little man is expecting his first tooth!!

I have a second coin purse from Accessorize in which I keep my sterling - I live very close to the border and go weekly to shop across the border in the North of Ireland.

I carry a hairbrush as the wind and rain plays havoc on my hair.

I don't carry makeup around with me for touch ups during the day as I never seem to have the time. I do carry around quite a few lip products and have started to store them in this little pouch from the holiday collection.

I have carmex, 3 mac lipsticks - creme d'nude and to swoon for, a mac lipglass in delicate crush my gosh lipstick in darling and an ysl rouge volupte in no. 2.

You will notice the absence of my mobile phone - I gave it to my baby to play with during the week and he drooled all over it and it has stopped working (my own fault!!) so will have to sort it out, hate being without my phone!!!