Monday 19 August 2013

One of my favourite places...

Hey guys,
So today's post is not beauty related at all and more so to show one of my favourite place in Dublin! Dun Laoghaire is one of my favourite place to go in Dublin, especially for a relaxing walk with my boyfriend! One of the best days I've had this year was a bank holiday Monday spent down here with one of my best friends Niamh. We went for lunch along the sea front and it was so peaceful. 
Myself and Mick went for a stroll last night and it was so relaxing, even if we did get caught in a shower on the way back to the car. We usually walk along the pier and talk about the stupidest stuff... Like literally the most irrelevant things ever! We usually walk the East pier because its a little bit more friendly on the feet and its 1.3kms long, the West pier is slightly longer but doesn't have as many lights along it and its more gravelly!
Along the East pier there are lots of little exit points which lead to a slope down the water front. These are perfect for fishing.
At the end of the pier there's benches which look out onto the sea and you can see Howth perfectly, it never looks far away and I'm convinced that if there was no water it would only take a matter of minutes to walk between the two. 
If you are going to walk it, I'd suggest you bring an umbrella or something with a hood, as we all no how indecisive Irish weather is and there's no shelter from the rain. Also when u get to the end of the pier be prepared for wind! 
Have you ever walked Dun Laoghaire pier?! What do you think of what the tow has to offer?!
Dawn
xXx
                                                     Bloglovin Twitter Facebook

Friday 9 August 2013

Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff

Hi ladies,
I got an early birthday present last week and it really couldn't have come at a better time. The present was Cocoa Browns new Tough Stuff and I was dying to give it a try. The previous week I was at my cousins wedding and on the Wednesday I got my spray tan done down in Carter Beauty (it of course came out fantastic). The one thing I hate about getting a spray done is when it all starts coming off, I always think my skin looks scaly or something. I stupidly didn't moisturise to help it come off more naturally so I was left with chunks of tan all over my body. My original plan was to just put tan over it for the Saturday night and hope for the best... But I was so thankful Tough Stuff arrived before I even started. 
So the product itself comes in a little sachet, that's of course pink. You can apply this mix either wet or dry (applying dry will give a deeper scrub). I opened the package and was pleasantly surprised that Cocoa Brown kept to their pink theme and the scrub itself was pink. It also smelt fantastic. Although the sachets look quite small I got a full body scrub out of it and had some left over. Now I actually hate scrubs because I always find they hurt too much and make my skin really dry but this was quite easy to rub in (my hands got a little sore the more I scrubbed, but I needed a good  scrub)! 
You know when you go to the beach and you arrive home with sand EVERYWHERE, and you jump into a shower to wash it off...that's what this feels like, which is something I actually love (it reminds me of holidays). Also a huge bonus about Tough Stuff was that it didn't make my shower really slippery like other scrubs do (whenever I use Ted Bakers body scrub I end up slipping when I'm getting out of the shower!). 
Before and After of my arm
Overall the product worked really well and made my skin so smooth, so much so that I actually told himself to feel how soft I was. It smells fantastic, looks super cute and is easy to use (absolutely no mess was made!). And best yet.... Cocoa Brown have kept to their low prices, Tough Stuff retails at €2.99. The one thing I would love though would be if this product was available in a tub because the scrub that was left in the sachet was thrown out because I don't like leaving products open for too long. Other than that I really couldn't fault the product. 
My legs are still swollen from bites and my cream didn't react well with the tan,
but tough stuff removed the majority of the blotchy tan.
Have any of you tried Tough Stuff yet? What did you think of the results?
Dawn
xXx

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Keeping Make Up Brushes Clean

Hi guys!
So today's post is about keeping make up brushes clean and bacteria free. This is something that actually scares terrifies me and I hate doing… so much so that I used to never do this until I realised I was having terrible breakouts when my brushes had been left too long. I remember the days when I first started using make up and applied foundation with my hands and eyeshadow was applied with the little brush that come in the eyeshadow set (and the only mascara i used was a clead one because blak mascaras gave me spider lashes). I eventually moved on to using sponges and later moved up in the world, and purchased my first foundation brush. I was the first of my friends to get one of these and I distinctly remember being at a sleepover when I was 16 and applying my make up the next day and the girls literally couldn't stop laughing at me, because it looked like I was painting my face… needless to say they ALL own a foundation brush and couldn't live without one now!
Ok so back to the daunting cleaning process. About 2 years ago, I became an inglot addict and went through a phase of getting my make up done before every night out (I obviously had a lot of disposable income).
Inglot Brush Cleanser €10
I was talking to one of the girls about keeping brushes clean and she recommended using their brush cleanser. It costs about €10 and would last you a good 6 months if not more. At this time I also purchased a new foundation brush as the one I had was becoming a bit worn and I was in need of a new one (even though I had only had it a few months). Now take in mind I apply foundation every day and this inglot brush has now last me 2 years...that's 730 days. I don't know if this is because it's a really good quality brush or if me cleaning it everytime it has been used has helped to maintain it… probably a bit of both.
My Inglot foundation brush
So everyday after I use my make up brushes I'll use this brush cleanser, especially on my eyeshadow brushes… the last thing you want is to be applying an eye shadow and the black shadow from last night ending up all over your face, not a good look. I'll admit I can be lazy sometimes and not bother, but when they have been cleaned applying make up is so much easier. I usually spray a little bit onto either a pad or a baby wipe and use this to clean the brush. I prefer using baby wipes to be honest as sometimes the pad tends to fall apart. 
Once a month I'll give my brushes a really deep clean by washing them all and leaving them to dry on my window sill. I usually use shampoo to get everything off them and then use conditioner to keep the brushes soft. I've been told that baby shampoo is the best for this but I have always used whatever shampoo is in the shower at the time. By actually cleaning my brushes once a month and using the Inglot cleanser my brushes are all in top notch quality… including my MAC set which I got for 19th birthday 4 years ago!

Majority of my brush don't look at old as they are...
...Until you look at the faded names on each of them.
How do you keep your make up brushes clean? Have you tried Inglots Brush Cleanser?
Dawn
xXx
                                                       Bloglovin Twitter Facebook