So as all of us beauty lovers know, Bioderma recently made their way onto Irish shores. Bioderma were really the pioneers of micellar water, and also do lots of other lovely skincare products.

For Christmas, they’ve released a pouch containing 4 products.

irish beauty blog

I happened to see this while I was scrolling through twitter (I’m @beautynookie over there, shameless plug :). Then I saw the lovely Jen from Matte To Metallic chatting about getting one over on Snapchat. She had gotten it in McCabes Pharmacy in the Pavillion in Swords, so I high tailed it over to the Northside and grabbed me one too πŸ™‚

bioderma christmas pouch

If you have been wanting to try the Bioderma range (or you know someone who has), this is really a great buy.

In the Christmas Pouch you get:

A 15m of their Atoderm Crème.

bioderma atoderm creme

This is a fragrance free and paraben free moisturiser for dry to very dry skin.

You get a 100ml of the Bioderma Atoderm Gentle Shower Gel.

bioderma shower gel

This is a soap free gel for sensitive skin. So really great for any of us.

 

There’s also a full 40ml of the Anti Redness BB Cream.

bioderma anti redness bb cream

This on it’s own costs €16. It’s made for Sensitive Skin that’s prone to Rosacea. I’ve yet to use this yet, so I hope it works on my oily skin and the anti redness would be great for any blemishes. It also contains SPF 30 which is brilliant.

This is in the shade Light. When you first apply it, it looks really dark on the skin, but it blends in really well.

irish makeup and beauty blogbeauty blogirish beauty blog beautynook

 

The last product in the pouch is of course the Bioderma cult classic.

bioderma micellar water

You get a 100ml of their Micellar Water. This is hypo allergenic, so great for sensitive skin. I love using Micellar Water on cotton pads to remove the bulk of my makeup before full on cleansing. This means you are doing a double cleanse and are sure to be squeaky clean πŸ™‚Β  Cannot wait to give this a go. Everyone has such good things to say about it.

 

I am going to sunny Lanzarote for Christmas this year, so I bought this to bring with me.

The Bioderma Christmas Pouch will cost you €17.50, and is a great way to try some of the products without committing fully.

Have you tried any Bioderma? Let me know what you would recommend?

xxx

 

Lush treated us bloggers and the press to an up close look at what they have in store (literally ha) for Winter and Christmas 2015. As a big Lush fan, I was very excited to see so many new and well known products back for the festive season. They have gift sets galore to suit any tastes and budget, and of course most of the products can be bought individually too.

We were very kindly gifted the fabulous Lush Winter Wonderland Gift Set, and so I wanted to show you what is inside, in case it’s something you would want on your Christmas list.

Lush Winter Wonderland 2015There are some old faves and some newbies up for grabs in this pretty huge gift box.

lush bath bomb Snow Angel Bath Melt is in there. It contains cocoa butter and leaves your bath glittery.

beauty bloggerWe have Yog Nog Bath Bomb. This is a cinder toffee soak with spicy clove and ylang ylang.

beauty blogThe Ceridwen’s Cauldron Bath Melt looks really interesting. This plops into the bath as is and melts. It has sandalwood oil,oats and wildflower inside.

beauty blogger irelandThe Candy Mountain Bubble Bar has sparkles and fair trade vanilla to bubble up your bath with.

irish makeup and beauty blogThe Peeping Santa Bubble Bar looks funny right? This has shea butter and strawberry inside, so great for us with a sweet tooth.

irishbeautyblogThe Yoga Bath Bomb is great for relaxing with. It contains olibanum and ho wood.

irish beauty blogYou can reuse this cutie. This is The Magic Of Christmas Bubble Bar. It has clove and almond in it. You can just sweep it across the water a few times and then put it somewhere safe to use again.

lush christmas 2015I get a Holly Golightly Bubble Bar every year from Lush. I think it just screams Christmas, and it smells like it too πŸ™‚

irish blogOf course the Lush Winter Wonderland has a Frozen Bath Bomb this year. It contains grapefruit and Tunisian Neroli. Yum yum.

beauty blog beautynookThis is the Stardust Bath Bomb. It has vanilla and Rosewood in it.

irish beauty blog beautynookCinders is a lush classic. It smells like cinnamon.

top beauty blogI saw this Luxury Lush Pud Bath Bomb (mouthful)Β  in action when we were in Lush. It dissolves into the bath just how it looks in the bomb it’s really cool. It also contains lavender so good for a before bed time bath.

top irish beauty blogMy Father Christmas Bath Bomb got a bit bashed by its friends inside the box. He will turn your bath green though and smells like candy floss.

lifestyle blogI think bubble bars are where you get the most bang for your buck in Lush. You can just break pieces off and get as many uses out of them as you want. This is the Bar Humbug Bubble Bar. It contains Liquorice, not my favourite scent, but if you love DollyMix this one is for you πŸ™‚

irish beauty bloggerThe Lord of Misrule Bath bomb makes your bath wine coloured, so you could drink wine while you were having your bath and you wouldn’t even noticed if you spilled!

Lush Christmas 2015 (6)makeup and beauty blogMy So White Bath Bomb didn’t make it in one piece, but at least it means I can show you what it looks like inside. It contains bergamot and rose…yummy!

irish bbloggerGolden Wonder is my all time favourite bath bomb from Lush. It has lime oil in it, so it smells really zesty and when it melts away it leaves little stars in your bath!

irish beauty bloggerThe Butterbear Bath Bomb is great for dry skin, it has cocoa butter in it like the Snow Angel…I might actually use these together for an extra hydrating bath time!

bbloggerThe Comforter Bubble Bar is probably my favourite out of all the Lush bubble bars and is one I purchase all the time. It’s really sweet but not in a sickly way. It contains cassis and cypress oil.

beauty blog irelandThe Twilight Bath Bomb is the last on the list. As you would assume by the name and the look of this bath bomb, this is another good bath time bomb. It contains lavender and tonka and according to Lush makes your bath look like the night sky…we’ll see about that πŸ™‚

The Lush Winter Wonderland will cost you €117.50, it is one of the priciest gift sets instore. I think if you are wanting to buy a hardcore Lush fan (or yourself) a really special gift this is pretty perfect though.

Any of your Lush faves in here? Any you fancy trying? Let me know πŸ™‚

xxx

 

 

 

 

Yep they’ve finally gone and done it! Cocoa Brown have released an instant tan! They’ve answered our tanning prayers πŸ™‚

Cocoa Brown Marissa Carter

Us bloggers got all dolled up and headed to The Shelbourne this past Sunday where we were treated to a lovely and pink afternoon by Marissa and the Cocoa Brown girls. We were showered with gifts and the new Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gels were unleashed on us.

 

Marissa has created two different Instant Tan Bronzing Gels. One is matte.

Cocoa Brown Instan Tan Bronzing Gel Matte

And the other has shimmer running through it.

Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronze Gel Shimmer

Here’s the matte one Bronzing Gel on my hand.

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And here you can see the matte and the shimmer bronzing gel side by side.

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They both differ in consistency slightly, the matte one is more of a fluid gel, where as the one with the shimmer is, well more of a gel texture πŸ™‚

Both of the Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel’s apply to the skin super easy, there’s not much faffing about and they dry really quickly too. You can apply as many layers of them as you need to build up the colour you want without the product going patchy as they are a thin gel and blend really well.Β  Added bonus they smell really nice too πŸ™‚

Obviously, I’ve only had these babies since Sunday so I haven’t given them a full road test yet, but first impressions are really good.

I applied them on both my legs to give you a better look at the finish you are left with. I applied with my hands, but of course you can use a mitt if you want too. (Cocoa Brown have just brought out a double sided one fyi πŸ™‚

Here’s my pasty leg with nothing on it.

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I applied a couple of coats of the matte instant tan.

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Then it’s time for the shimmer instant tan. Again, my other pasty leg :p

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Then a couple of coats of the shimmer tan.

irish makeup and beauty blog beautynook

makeup and beauty blog

The shimmer is hard to pick up on my camera, but there’s alot of shimmer going on, I promise.

irish beauty blog

It really is tanning in an instant, and the product is splash proof, thank god with unpredictable weather like ours πŸ™‚

 

I for one am so happy about these releases. I hold my hands up and admit I am such a lazy tanner, it’s one of my least favourite things to do, so I love a good instant tan, it just takes the effort out of it really. Also if you’re pale like me and your developing tan doesn’t always develop enough, it’s handy to have something like this in your beauty drawer for back up.

 

Cocoa Brown Instant Tan Bronzing Gel should be hitting the shelves in Penneys stores near you very soon or you can order from Cloud10beautyΒ  here. Β They will both be €6.99 for 150ml tube.

Will you be picking one or both of them up? Let me know what you think.

xxx

I was lucky enough to the head of the launch of the newest Irish tan on the market a while ago. Simply named The Tan, It was created by the beauty powerhouse duo The Jenns who own the very gorgeous Vanity Rooms in Stepaside.

Let me start by saying…I bloody love this tan! I am down to the bare bones of this bottle of their Super Hydrating Liquid Gel Tan already.

Tanning if I’m honest is such a faff I don’t enjoy the process at all. The scrubbing, the application…the drying oh the drying. Standing on a towel naked with your arms and legs akimbo in the middle of your bedroom for 40 minutes waiting for tan to dry is one of the most annoying things to do in the world right?

Well I can honestly say you won’t have that problem with The Tan, it dries so quickly, I was astonished, five minutes and I was able to put clothes on without any transfer or sticky residue, hurrah!

So onto application.

My skin started out before showering with some left over tan on from the week before.

Here’s my lovely freckly Irish arm skin in all it’s glory πŸ™‚

irish beauty blog

Before Using The Scrub Your Body Exfoliating Mitt

I used the Scrub Your Body Exfoliating Mitt from Glove Your Body, with the Dove Deeply Nourishing Body Wash which I reviewed here. I am loving this combo at the minute when I really want to scrub my skin. The mitt is is gritty but doesn’t pull the skin, and the body wash is lovely and foaming so together they do a great job of getting rid of all the dead skin cells and the remainder or tan or product you may have on your skin without stripping it completely. The Scrub Your Body will cost you €9.99 here

Scrub Your Body

It’s not the most photogenic product in your beauty arsenal, but it does its job very well πŸ™‚

beauty blog beautynook

After Using the Scrub Your Body Exfoliating Mitt

So next step is applying The Tan. I have been using the Glove Your Body Tanning Mitt to apply my tan for the last few weeks and I have to say I am really enjoying it.

Glove Your Body

Glove Your Body is another Irish owned company which is fantastic. The Mitt itself is quite big as you can see. Inside, it has little elasticated rings to hold all your fingers in place…I know pretty nifty right? It means your fingers can still grip but you have the handiness of a flat surface on the outside on the mitt itself. The Glove Your Body is really soft and can be used on both sides without any products getting through and ruining your hands. It is also really durable, you can just pop it in the washing machine and it comes out like new! It will set you back €19.99 but it will last you a really long time so I for one think it’s worth the investment.

I am not a professional tanner, I just dive in and hope for the best πŸ™‚

the tan beauty blog

So, I apply some of The Tan Super Hydrating Liquid Tan Gel onto my glove.

glove your body the tan

I find the Glove Your Body doesn’t soak up any of the product so you can do a little a time. I start from the bottom of my body up in small circular motions personally but whatever works for you is a ok πŸ™‚

The Tan gel is tinted so it’s really easy to see which I love, as I am forever missing spots! After application, your skin will already have a hint of colour which is handy if you have somewhere to be straight away. The Tan is a gel formula so it doesn’t slip and slide when you apply it, it soaks in really quickly and you are left with soft non sticky skin.

beautynook beauty blog

After Applying The Tan

As you can see my pasty freckly arm already has a bit of colour, and that’s before development.

I tend to leave my tan on to develop overnight but you of course do whatever works for you skin.

The next day, my skin looks a bit like this.

The Tan By The Vanity Rooms

The Tan The Next Day Before Showering

 

The Tan develops into a night golden tan with no streaks. I’ve applied The Tan now on my skin probably about six times, and it didn’t streak any of those times. When applying it has a nice watermelon scent. It does smell slightly when developing, but honestly I have never ever used a tan that doesn’t yet!

The Tan by the two jenns

The Tan After Showering

After showering I am left with a nice golden colour much more pleasing to my eyes anyway then the pasty red toned skin after scrubbing πŸ™‚ Some people were blessed with lovely porcelain white skin…I was not πŸ™

The Tan Super Hydrating Liquid Gel Tan has lovely ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, Shea Butter and Sunflower Seed Oil. The Jenns say this mix helps your tan fade evenly. I think it really does. I don’t find it goes patchy at all, if you stop using it and exfoliate it just disappears.

Overall, I am loving The Tan products. I use their Gradual Daily moisturiser too when I want to prolong my tan and like the Hydrating Liquid Gel it soaks in super quick and leaves you skin feeling soft.

beautynook review the tan

If you don’t like to tan yourself, The Vanity Rooms also offer professional spray tan using their products, so you don’t need to miss out πŸ™‚ Well done Jenns, you are a force to be reckoned with. The Hydrating Liquid Gel will cost you €19.99 and the Gradual Daily Bronzer is €14.99

Also, Glove Your Body is such a handy tanning tool as is the Scrub Your Body Exfoliating mitt, I am completely converted..

Take it from a tanning novice, these products combined do the job and do it well πŸ™‚

xxx

 

 

Pixi Glow TonicAs you can see from the amount left in the bottle I have been using the Pixi Glow Tonic for a long time now. It has reached cult status and I can understand why.

Glow Tonic is an exfoliating toner. So as well as toning your skin and prepping it for moisturiser, it will gently remove dead skin cells, which in turn will help keep your skin smoother. It contains ingredients like Witch Hazel and glycolic acid (5%) to help with exfoliating along with aloe vera to help sooth the skin so it’s not too harsh. Just be sure to use SPF if you use the Glow Tonic in your morning routine as glycolic can sensitise your skin to sunlight, we should be wearing it anyway πŸ™‚

You use Glow Tonic as you would any other toner. Wet a cotton pad with it and apply to your skin. I use it down my neck and on my chest too. You can use it both day and night after cleansing whatever you choose or whatever works best for your skin.

I feel like the Pixi Glow Tonic does pretty much what it says it does for me. It helps keep any dry patches at bay, it helps keep my pores as clear as they can be rather than me using harsh scrubs or exfoliants in my cleansing routine. My skin doesn’t feel tight after using it, it does feel softer though.

Since picking up the La Roche Posay Serozinc, which I reviewed here I love using both this and the Pixi Glow Tonic together.

Serozinc Pixi Glow Tonic

I feel the Pixi Glow Tonic clears my skin of any impurities or as many as it can do and then the Serozinc keeps them at bay and helps keep the oil away for longer. Neither contain alcohol which is good in my book.

Overall, I really love this Pixi Glow Tonic. I was never really a toner user before, I would try one for a bit and then just get bored or found it wasn’t enhancing my skincare in any way. As someone with oily skin I find the Pixi Glow Tonic fits perfectly into my skincare routine and it actually helping rather than just being a step I am being told to do. Its targeted towards all skin types though. It has a strong scent so be wary of that if you have a sensitive nose.

I get my Pixi Glow Tonic from Mise Beauty They are based in Dundalk which is a bit of a trek for me from Dublin, but it’s instant gratification and they sell so many other cool products too, it’s always worth it πŸ™‚

xxx

 

Dove Deeply Nourishing Body WashBody wash? Yep we’ve all got to use it. Sometimes I feel like investing money into it and splashing out and sometimes I want a reasonably priced pick that I know I can rely on. For me, Dove is this pick. I was sent this new Dove Deeply Nourishing Body Wash, but I had actually done a basics shop in Boots a few days before and picked up a bottle myself!

I love the soapy “clean” smell of it…if that makes sense? πŸ™‚

Irish Beauty BlogIt has a thick consistency, so you can use it just with your hands and create a nice lather or with a sponge or a flannel, what ever your poison.

beauty nook review dove

I tend to use it on my hands when I am washing as normal. A little goes a long way and it feels really nice and silky on the skin. I use it to shave aswell. I am not really a shaving gel lover, and I find the Dove Deeply Nourishing Body Wash is a great alternative. And because it is so reasonably priced, I don’t feel like I’m wasting the product either.

Once or maybe even twice a week, I like to exfoliate my skin. Again, I can use the Dove Body Wash for that too.

Dove Beauty Blog

I can sometimes find gritty body scrubs a bit too harsh. Using the body wash, which feels lovely and nourishing, I apply it with this exfoliating gloves. You can pick them up in loads of different places. I get mine in Penney’s. I love this combo, because I am in control of the scrubbing, not the product and The Dove Deeply Nourishing Body Wash lathers up nicely and makes my skin feel nice and soft afterwards.

Overall, The Dove Deeply Nourishing Body Wash is a winner in my book. I have always loved the Dove range of body wash products. My skin doesn’t feel dry or dehydrated after using them. The Nourishing Body Wash is particularly good for this. At the minute it is €1.74 (half price) in Boots . Cannot argue with that really πŸ™‚

xxx