irish beauty blog beautynookI just got my third lash lift and shared some of the experience on my Instagram, as I always do. There was lots of questions so I thought it might be worth doing a blogpost about my thoughts on it here.

 

I had my first one at the beginning of 2017 in the Vanity Rooms in Stepaside. They invited me out to try out their LVL lash lift. I was so excited because I have super straight lashes. It’s  something I always moan about. If I want a curl to last, I have to use a decent lash curlers and then go in strong with the waterproof mascara to maintain it. I toyed with the idea of lash extensions. But I am too much of a picker, and I love eye makeup too much 🙂

******Disclaimer, excuse the brows from these throwback pictures, I’ve come along way :)******

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top irish beauty blog

So what is a lash lift? It’s basically a perm for your eyelashes. In my experience, it’s a three step process. I have had both LVL (a brand name of Nouveu lashes I believe), and then I was invited to try Yumi lashes too in Elysian Brows, it seems to work the same way for them all.

lash lift Vanity Rooms
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lvl lash lift vanity rooms

You’re prepped and your eyes are protected. A plastic shield is put on above the top lashes and then the lifting solution is applied in upwards motions moulding your lashes around the shield. Very gently and precisely I might add. That’s left to do it’s work, then removed.  A setting solution is then applied and you let that do it’s thing. After that in most places, A tint is applied to make your lashes look darker and more defined.irish beauty blog

beauty blogger ireland

A lash lift is not particularly a comfortable treatment. Your eyes are closed throughout and they are being prodded at, so going to a professional in my humble opinion is a must! It’s uncomfortable for sure, but it’s not painful, nor should it be.

lash lift elysian brows
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beauty blog ireland

It’s also way less maintenance than eyelash extensions. It’s just your own lashes curled, so you don’t have to maintain them necessarily, although it’s good to brush them through regularly and try not sleep on your face if you can 🙂 Some single lashes can go astray, so combing them through helps keep them on the curl and narrow ha! They say you don’t need mascara after getting it done, I use mascara to make them look more full and I get the six-ish weeks out of my treatment. Just don’t do anything crazy for the first 24 hours! You can of course purchase specific serums and mascaras in the salon that may help prolong the effects, I don’t do that myself.

A lash lift lasts as long as your natural lash cycle really, so it can be up to eight weeks. You’ll see the curl disappear, and you’ll want another one 🙂irish beauty blog beautynook

 

My latest lash lift was in the Brow Boutique in Jervis Street shopping centre. At €55, it was the cheapest place I could find in the city with decent reviews and a reputable name. They did a great job and I’m super happy with the outcome. I would recommend all three salons.

If I can fork out the cash every six-eight weeks, it’s something I would definitely keep up! Have you had a lash lift? What has been your experience?

xxx

irish beauty bloggerIt’s that time of the year again. Time for black Friday deals, and Cyber Monday to boot. I’m more of a Cyber Monday gal myself. I don’t tend to bother with the crowds 🙂irish beauty blog

 

As a disclaimer, I will just say. You are under no obligation to buy any black Friday deals. I am doing this just because as a blogger I get sent a lot of the codes, so it’s easy enough to put them in one place. And also to be completely transparent, some of the links I will share are affiliate links. You pay no more using an affiliate link. All it means is that if you click on my link and choose to buy something, I make a minuscule commission.black friday deals

Anyway, let’s get onto the black Friday deals. I’ll insert the ones I have already and then update this post as often as I can with more codes/links and cyber Monday deals too.

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top irish beauty blog

I’ll update as I source more or things change. Happy and safe shopping 🙂 And if this was helpful, please do share. Thanks.

Gemma

xxx

top blog irelandI am back again with another beauty shopping lust list!! I can’t help myself, when the new products come rolling out, there’s always a few that take my extra fancy 🙂

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Now unfortunately my ‘beauty budget’ doesn’t stretch really far, so I have to be selective on what I pick up. But I find curating a list of the new releases and explaining why I want them helps me to make a decision. And sure it might help you too! My last one was here if you fancy checking that out and I picked up a good few items from that.

First on my list is the new Urban Decay Born To Run Palette.irish beauty site

If you’ve been around these parts before you know I’m a huge UD fan. Not to say that everything they release I want, but this collection is very pretty. The palette and the eyeliners in particular are on my radar.urban decay ireland

I love the concept of the packaging. All of the photos are holiday snaps from various Urban Decay employees. It’s meant to be the perfect palette to take with you on your travels. You can create a nude look and have options of pops of colour too. It just looks really my speed.

Next up is completely because of the colour. Beauty Blender have just released a sapphire blue blender!irish beauty blog

I’ve been toying with getting an original Beauty Blender again for ages. I use to buy them all the time when they first came out. But, obviously they’re pricey and the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge is awesome and under half the price. I’d really like to compare them myself though.

My next beauty lust is a whole collection!

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This lusting is completely based on aesthetics. It’s the Lancôme X Proenza Schouler collaboration. I saw this and shared it on Instagram weeks ago now and just haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.

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This palette in particular looks right up my street!

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Would be a complete beauty treat, but I’ll defo be going in to BT for an oul swatch asap 🙂

If you know me, you know I’m a huge fan of the Pixi Glow Tonic, I did a post on it yonks ago here and I’m constantly replenishing it in my skincare stash. Well now they’ve only gone and released the Pixi Retinol Tonic.

Pixi Retinol Tonic

Retinol as we know, helps the production of new skin cells. It’s basically vitamin A in topical form. It can help with fine lines, discolouration and even acne scars depending on the dosage.

My last beauty lusting is from a brand that is a tad controversial at the moment. But I have been waiting for this to launch forever, so I had to add it in. It’s the Kat Von D Lash Liner.

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It’s such a cool, unique concept. A liquid liner for your waterline!! I know I’m a bit of a beauty geek, but this blows my mind and I think I just have to try it. I’ve read mixed reviews online, so I’m super curious to see if it actually lasts, or if it bleeds or makes loads of black gunk in the corners of your eyes 🙂

Oh, I’ll stop the beauty lusting there. Have you your eye on anything in-particular?

xxx

 

I’m a teeny bit late with my June Favourites, apologies. I reckon this heat is making us all a bit loopy and unproductive though, right? 🙂

June was my birthday month, and although life is a bit of a rollercoaster at the minute being by mam’s side while she’s so ill. (Fuck Cancer!), every awesome person around me made my birthday bloody awesome. I got treated to afternoon tea by my bestie, had a BBQ in my honour in the gorgeous sun and was just generally a spoiled brat.June Favourites Beauty

There wasn’t many stand out June Favourites for this year. But I managed to sit down and think of a few. One skincare, of course makeup and even an oul fashion fave that I got for my birthday.

June Favourites 2018

Yep, I am talking about the giant sunglasses upon my face :). They’re from Quay and I got them on ASOS.top irish beauty blogger

I am on my second tube of the Pixi Rose Cream Cleanser, so I definitely thought that was worth chatting about a little bit.beauty blog irelandbeauty blogger ireland

I have a post with chats and swatches about the Too Faced Chocolate Gold Palette here if you want to see the colours in action.top irish beauty blog

The Clarins Summer Bronzer is something I’ve already harped on about before here too. I haven’t used another bronzer since getting it though, so it really had to be in my June Favourites.top irish beauty site

Then finally my go to lip combo for the past two weeks which I demonstrated on Instagram here.

This is the Flormar Waterproof lipliner in 201.  With Laura Geller’s Color Lustre Lipgloss Gilded Honey over top.t

And that is my June Favourites tied up in a blogpost and video bow 🙂irish beauty blogger

irish beauty blog

Hope you have the greatest July. Try to be present and take in the awesome weather we are having. Safely of course, we don’t know how long it’s going to last.

Thanks as always.

Gemma

xxx

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I love skincare, but I’m always a bit hesitant to talk about it too in depth. Just because I think it’s such a personal, specific thing. I do review products, but generally it’s because I really really love them or I really really hate them 🙂 I’m definitely no expert either, so that comes into play too. But, I figured I would just go through another updated daytime skincare routine. It’s less committal and just shows you what I am using right now and why.

My daytime skincare routine is quite basic. I like to keep it pretty simple. I have oily skin overall, but the older I get the more dehydration I get too. The two ailments are conflicting completely, luckily nowadays there’s products out there that will help with both skin concerns at the same time.irish beauty blog

I am obviously chatting about what I use and why I use it in video form. You can watch above or click here to go directly to my YouTube channel here.Daytime Skincare Routine

Blogging and having to research products and of course being sent product to trial has for sure helped me on my skincare journey. I have to learn what works for me and why so I can talk about and hopefully point readers in the right skincare direction. What I am using right now is my summer daytime skincare routine, things would vary a bit in the colder weather.

For toner I am using the Pixi Rose Tonic.

It’s gentle, minimises redness and also helps balance the skin’s PH balance.

Eye cream is the Exuviance Age Reverse Eye Contour.

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This is a brand I wouldn’t have gotten to try if I didn’t blog, but I really enjoy this eye cream. Exuviance is created by the people at Neostrata. They say it reduces puffiness and smoothes wrinkles. I like it because it’s a thin formula that absorbs quickly, but still leaves my under eyes hydrated and smooth. A lot of eye creams can be too rich for me, this one does the job perfectly.

For moisturiser, I use the Vichy Minéral 89 Serum.top irish beauty blogger

It’s created with mineral water and hyaluronic acid. A lot of people would use just as a serum as it’s more a gel formula. For me it works brilliantly as a daytime moisturiser. It plumps my skin and skins in really quickly without leaving a residue that might interfere with makeup application.

As it is Summer, I am using a hefty SPF. This one is new to me, but it’s literally been love at first application. This is the Eucerin SPF 50+ Oil Control. Yep oil control.beauty blog ireland

This is the first Summer I think that I’ve been confident enough to use a stand alone SPF on my face. Usually the formula is oily and would have me a shiny mess within the hour. Not this though, and it actually feels really nice going on too. I apply this in the morning and then I’ll use a spray something like the Ambre Solaire Sensitive Mist over my makeup if I’m outdoors throughout the day.

Last but not least I always apply a lip balm before I do my makeup. What one it is does vary, but as the weather is so darn nice I’m using one with a high SPF at the minute. I am really liking the Shiseido UV Lip Color Splash with SPF 30.beauty blogger ireland

The tinted ones are nice too, but I use the clear one on most days. It’s not sticky and lip colour applies nicely over top of it.

And there you have my current daytime skincare routine. Have you tried any of the products?

xxx

*********PR SAMPLES INCLUDED************

 

 

 

irish beauty bloggerI was planning on doing an overall sum up of my favourites for the year. To include food, fashion, the works. But I would literally be talking and typing until probably 2019!. So, I just decided to do beauty favourites! Hope you don’t mind.

irish beauty blog

Beauty is my thing after all so if I was going to talk about something, this would be it 🙂

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Everything I chat about in my beauty favourites video here, I believe has it’s own blogpost. Of course, I talk about them somewhat in depth within video form. But if you want to see close ups and more put together reviews, I will link the posts below. I am much better at putting my words together when I write them down. I get a bit carried away when I am just chatting.beauty favourites

  • Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette. Blogpost here.
  • I don’t have a stand alone review for the Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Torch, but I did use it in a makeup look here.
  • Estée Lauder Double Wear Nude Foundation. I have a review here.
  • Tarte Shape Tape Concealer. Full review here.
  • Maybelline Superstay Matte Ink Liquid Lipsticks are here.
  • Max Factor Creme Bronzer in Light. Review here.
  • Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow. Review here.
  • Clarins Double Serum. I did a full review of this here.
  • Jo Malone Basil & Neroli Cologne. I chat more about this here.

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Have you any stand out beauty favourites from 2017? It was definitely a year for so many new releases, both good and bad!

As always thanks for sticking around these parts. For reading, watching, engaging and just being a part of this Beautynook journey with me. I really appreciate it. It definitely makes all the work a bit sweeter knowing there’s people actually paying attention 🙂

Hopefully 2018 is another deadly year for makeup!

Gemma
xxx