Sorry! - What I've been up too & Christmas

I honestly can't believe how long I've been away! From the new year I'm hoping to post at least once a week. 

I've been so busy with college with all the exams and assessments I honestly forgot about my wee blog, sad face - but it has been an amazing month and I've passed every exam and assessment with flying colours :) yay. 

I've really missed blogging, which is why I have taken an hour out of my day to write and talk to you guys - because I love doing it :)

So I guess the most important thing is Christmas right? Christmas was awesome, unfortunately it didn't snow but hey, two more months of winter so you never know :) I was spoilt this Christmas, from my family and my boyfriend, I couldn't ask for any more special people in my life, they really did make Christmas. I'm not going to list what I got and from whom I'm just going to name a few things...

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette 

White Water Speaker

Lady Gaga Perfume

Books

Dresses and all that good stuff 

Then it was mine and Lee's two year anniversary on Boxing Day, *aww* so we went out for dinner and exchanged gifts, it was very sweet, I love him lots :)

And for New Years Eve, I don't know what's happening yet, though it will probably involve a lot drinking and dancing - hopefully lol. 

I hope you's all had a wonderful Christmas and have a fab New Years and I'll talk to you guys soon :)

Rachel x

Make-up Removal

I have recently bought two new products to remove my make-up with. As most of you's should know by now, I love using face wipes, especially the Nivea Daily Essentials or Simple - but what I've found, especially with the Nivea, is it leaves my skin feeling very dry and somewhat tight - which would be great for people who love to use soap (which I wouldn't recommend) but it gives you that very squeaky clean feeling, personally I don't like that feeling.

So when I was in Tescos I was looking at all the skincare brands and I noticed a product that I'd never seen before, it was the Garnier Soft Essentials, Comforting Cleansing Lotion. The only other times I have used a lotion to remove make-up is in my Facial class and I loved it. It was very hydrating and didn't leave your skin feeling dry so I had to buy this product. It is enriched with Rose extract and is for dry skin, which I have during the autumn winter months and can be used on the face and eyes.

I've been trying this product out for a few days now and I love it! I use it every night to take off my make-up  with some cotton wool pads and the effect it leaves on my skin is wonderful. It's very moisturising, especially because it's for dry skin, and it keeps my skin hydrated throughout the night and even into the morning. It takes off my make-up really, even waterproof mascara so it's a win win all round! Plus it smells divine :) 

I picked this up on sale for only £2.00

I also picked up Simple's Eye Make-up Remover. I love Simple with a passion, it's my favourite skincare brand EVER. I picked this up because I didn't know how the Garnier Cleanser would do with all of my make-up and as I've used this product before and it was magic, I decided to get it again. 

It takes off my eye make-up easily using cotton wool pads and as there are so many caring vitamins in the Simple products, it didn't leave my eye area feeling dry and it didn't leave it irritated

Love Love Love it. 

I picked this up for £2.00 also :)

I picked up the Large Cotton Pads for 99p in Tescos :)

Halloween Make-up and Outfit

This is my make-up I done :)

This is the outfit I bought - I didn't get any pictures taken of me wearing it so I just thought I'd show you the picture of it. I didn't wear the necklace or ears, and I tucked the straps into the dress because I really didnt like the red :)

I love Halloween, it's my second favourite holiday just for the fact you get to dress up and carve pumpkins and eat a lot of junk food haha and this year was my firt ever year I carved a Pumpkin! I was brill.. what do you think?

For a first attempt, I think it's bloody well good! haha

But for a costume this year, I decided to dress up a little differently - usually I'd sway more towards fairy tale/princesses because I thought they were they best things to dress up as, but they've become so popular it's unreal and I wanted something a little different were I'd get to play around make-up more but still keep it in my comfort zone... So this year I decided to be..

..

..

SCAR (from the Lion King) 

I. Am. So. Excited! I cannot wait to do the make-up for this! I have my lion dress etc. at the ready so I'll more than likely do a post on Saturday showing my entire outfit and make-up look!

Happy Halloween! Hope you's all have a brill day/night whatever you's get up too, stay safe!

xo

Book Review - The Liberator (Dante Walker #2) by Victoria Scott

Bad Boy meet Bad Girl

Dante has been granted a second chance with a shiny new cuff provided by Big Guy himself - he is now, a Liberator - to seal the souls of those who do good things for others and themselves. When Dante is given his first mission as a Liberator so save the soul of 17 year old Aspen, he knows he's got this, but Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations.

With Charlie becoming the girl she never was able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast - Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he'd return to in order to save the girl he's been assigned to and keep the girl he loves.

I honestly wasn't sure whether this book would live up to the first instalment, The Collector - you can check out my review for it here - but I was wrong, it was just as good if not better! Dante is back and he's as incredibly irresistible as ever.

The plot for this book was a bit of a mystery until the last few chapters. No one is telling Dante why Aspen is so important - he only knows it has something to do with Charlie, but what? Throughout his time with Aspen, he learns a few things - she's troubled, she drinks to hid away from it and the people who she thinks are he friends are using her, and Dante has a suspicion it has to do with the assignment itself.
While Dante is away - Charlie is not being herself. She goes out, drinks, does dangerous dares with two guys she hardly even knows but worst of all - she pushes then pulls Dante. First she proclaims her love, then bites his head off. And I'll be honest, I wasn't all that fond of Charlie in this book. Her temperament was driving me insane and I wished Dante had seen that Aspen was basically perfect for him!
But anyway, when you get towards the end and the plot is finally uncovered and you know now why Aspen and Charlie for that matter are so important - you will be in shock. It was a pretty awesome plot and I know the next book will be just as awesome!

Dante was his usual self - cocky, badass and hilarious. It takes a while for him to get into the role of the liberator but when he does, he can feel the difference and he wants to help Aspen anyway he can. He becomes loyal like a brother and will do anything to complete his assignment.
Charlie like I said annoyed me - her mood swings were driving me insane.
Aspen I really liked - she was literally the girl version of Dante. She had a lot of troubles that she kept bottles up and because of that, she expressed herself differently, she was strong mentally and physically but loved with a ferocity that shocked me.
All of the other characters like Red, Max and Annabelle had a lot of input in this book also - they helped Dante and Charlie anyway they could in completing his mission even when he entered back into hell but they stayed true - which is a big thing to ask.

There is also a sneaky like twist which I loved and I guarantee you's will love it too! I was so shocked I honestly thought it was some kind of game and that it would turn out to be a disaster but it didn't.. and I loved it!
Overall a really good sequel to The Collector and I can't wait to read the next instalment! :D

The Liebster Award #2

First off I would like to than Ana for nominating me, I really appreciate it and go check out her blog http://xoxocitygirl.blogspot.pt/ :) this is also my second nomination, if you want to check out my first post on this click here

This is an award designed to give bloggers with under 200 followers some exposure for their hard work in creating and writing blog posts so let's get started.

Ana's Questions

1. Why did you start a blog?

I started a blog mostly to get my opinion out there. I love to read and watch people sharing their opinion on different things like clothes, make-up, books etc. so I thought why shouldn't I. I have an opinion about most things so I figured it would be fun and help me meet knew people in the process

2. If you had to change your first name what would you change it to?

This is tricky, I'm pretty fussy with names.. I don't know what I'd change it to, it'd be different and unique though haha

3. Do you like to go out or stay in?

It really depends what mood I'm in. I love to go out but I love to stick my nose in a book and snuggle up and bed

4. What are you most thankful for in 2013?

Having my family and getting the opportunity to study what I love

5. How many languages do you speak?

Well English obviously but I studied Spanish in school, so 2 I guess

6. Do you have any pets? What are their names?

My house has a few pets but mine specifically is a cat and she's called cookie :)

7. What has been the most terrifying moment in your life and why?

Hmm.. I can't say I've suffered a terrifying moment before - the scariest was when I was in an accident and had to get taken to A&E

8. Do you remember you first blog? What was it about?

I do indeed haha it was a quick intro into what my blog would consist of and that I hoped everyone liked and enjoyed it!

9. What's your favourite TV show of all time?

The Big Bang Theory

10. What's your favourite holiday and why?

I love Christmas - mostly because I love the atmosphere when it starts to come up, people are more friendly, grateful and happy

11. What are the best and worst things about blogging?

I love being able to get my opinion across - but it's kinda pants when no one acknowledges it lol

I would like to nominate;

Nicole

Abi

Catriona

And whoever else would like to do it!

My questions for yous..

1.Why did you start your blog?

2. What's your dream career and why?

. 3. What's your favourite season and why?

4. Christmas or Halloween?

5. If you could choose to be a celebrity for a day, who would it be?

6. What's your favourite winter drink?

7. Who's your biggest inspiration and why?

8. Would you prefer to stay in with a good book, or a movie?

9. Where's the one place you'd love to visit?

10. What's your favourite animal?

11. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Thank you again Ana for nominating me and make sure to check out the blogs which I nominated! :)

My Skincare Routine

Skincare is one of the most important part of our daily activities, no matter how old you are, what skin type you have and where you live. These are actually some of the main factors which influence what type of skincare regime you have. For example - people who live in colder climates would tend to have quite dry skin, and because it's cold, they would have the heating etc. turned on. But having the air conditioning on, drys your skin out more and can even make it dehydrated so it's imperative that people who live in colder climates drink the recommended 6-8 glasses of water a day and moisturise their skin in order to keep it healthy and moisturised. 

My skin type is Combination and I also have Sensitive skin so it's important that I use products that don't contain oil but have enough moisture to keep my skin nice and lubricated and that won;t be too harsh on my sensitive skin. I'm also quite prone to comedones (which are blackheads) so I need a few products to help minimise those.

The products which I use don't change that much because they're suited to my skin whether it becomes more dry, oily or both. But in Winter, my skin tends to be more on the dryer side so I use products which would help ease that and keep my skin moisturised.

As you can probably tell, I love Simple. It's great for people with sensitive skin and it also contains no oil so it won't make me more oily but at the same time is very moisturising. On my more oily days I tend to get quite a few spots and blackheads so for those I would use my Garnier Pure Active Anti-blackhead scrub which I have a post on if you want to check it out here along with my Clean&Clear blackhead clearing cleanser and for spots I would use my Tea Tree Oil which I also done a review on if you want to check it out here. 

On my dryer days, I would use my Simple Foaming Cleanser and it is quite moisturising and really gives you that squeaky clean feeling without leaving you dry. I would also use my Simple Oil balancing Exfoliator as it helps to balance the level of oil on my skin whilst also getting rid of any dry patches of skin I may have. For days when I'm staying in the house I would use my Simple day moisturiser and for days where I'm going out or heading to tech I would use my Nivea Express Hydration Primer for normal to combination skin which I have also done a review on if you want to check it out here and for my lips I would use my Carmex lip balm in Cherry flavour.

  

To remove my make-up I would use these Nivea wipes for dry and sensitive skin especially coming into the Winter months as they help to moisturise my skin.

Here are some tips to help you decide on what kind of skin regime you should have;
1. Skin Type - is your skin dry, oily or a combination?
2. Skin Condition - is your skin dehydrated, mature or sensitive?
3. What are your problem areas - blackheads, spots, eczema, milia? 
If you answer these, then you'll now what type of skincare routine you should have, and what products you'll need 

I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know about your skincare routines, I'd love to read them! :)

My Make-up Storage/Set-up

So I've been debating doing a blog post like this for a while now, mostly because I haven't been 100% happy with it and I'm still not, but I figured that it's going to take a while for me to get the set-up I really like so I might as well give you all a general idea of what way I set up my make-up. 

..

I've seen a lot of Youtubers rave about the acrylic cases you can buy and use to store your make-up in, so I new I had to get them. I ordered mine from MUJI - http://www.muji.eu/. Muji is great for all different kind of storage, especially if you don't want to splurge on acrylic storage which is that bit more expensive but anyway. I bought three items from Muji which were;

- Acrylic Box with 2 drawers and a flip top lid - £8.50

- Acrylic Box 2 drawers, wide - £10.95

- Acrylic 5 drawer box - £24.95

All of which you can see below :)

I didn't organise it in a particular order - I was just going in order from top to bottom in what I would apply first onto my face. 

This drawer contains all my liner and mascaras. It also has some random tools and eyelash glue

This drawer is for my go-to eyeshadows which I would use on a daily basis

This drawer also contains some of my more popular eyeshadows which I would use regularly 

This drawer contains the eyeshadows that I don't use all that much - its pretty abandoned lol

This drawer contains all of my concealers, eyebrow tools and some product samples

This drawer is my Favourite lol it contains all of my glosses, liquid lipsticks etc and is the most colourful, which I love 

This drawer is sort of miscellaneous. It has random bits and bobs of everything and some products which I haven't used yet 

This drawer contains all of my bronzers

And this drawer contains all of blushers and highlighter

That was all of my acrylic drawers and what I have in them. Beside it is where I keep my lipsticks, brushes and palettes which you can see below

 My lipsticks are being held in a 24 clear acrylic lipstick holder which I got off ebay

As you can probably tell, I haven't included my foundations or powders - that's because I don't have anywhere to store them as of yet, they're just sitting on the floor beside my unit. When I do have some type of storage for them, I will do a post showing them :)

I hope you liked this post! :)

The Beauty Show 2013

So yesterday, the beauty classes within my college, and every other college within Ireland, along with professional make-up artists and companies went to the Beauty Show which was held in Dublin. The Beauty Show is an event where different companies such as Dermologica and Hd Brows are able to promote their businesses to people who are in that field. They were all really nice and answered any questions and also gave demo's and some people gave free samples which was really good! There was also a few make-up and nail competitions which was really exciting to watch.

 It was really good and the venue was huge! I've never been to that part of Dublin before so it was a new and exciting experience! Here are a few pictures of the businesses which were there...

We were also allowed to bring spending money - because I didn't know what all was going to be there, I didn't want to bring too much because it is pretty hard to change the euros back into sterling so I only brought 50 euros.. which I know may seem like a lot - but it really didn't last! Here are the products I bought :)

This nail was actually given to myself and Rebecca as a sample. It's basically a machine that prints any image you want, and even has a camera so you can take pictures of yourself, or friends and then print it onto the nail which is what me and Rebecca done. The machine is going to be sold to shops like Debenhams.

I hope you liked this post anywho, and don't forget to follow or comment!
Rachel

Book Review - Deception by C.J. Redwine

Baalboden has been destroyed. The commanders whereabouts are unknown and Rachel, grief stricken - needs Logan now more than ever. With a ragged group of survivors, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need and abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the wasteland. But someone is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The uncertainty of each day puts Rachel and Logan's relationship through unbearable strain and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering and to make matters worse - the commander will stop at nothing to destroy them.

Can they make it out of the wasteland alive?

Okay so after reading this, I have a correction to make. After I read the first book Defiance and wrote my review which you can find here, I stated that due to the lack of information given as to what time frame and where they actually were in the world, I had to guess the century they were in, I guessed the 20th, but I was wrong. Throughout the book and Rachel and Logan's journey, you uncover bits and pieces of the old civilisation which in the book, was 60 years beforehand and from some of the items and such that they find, I now state that they are in America and are in the 21st Century - but anyway, onto the review!

After reading defiance, I knew this book was going to have one heck of a plot and a story and I was right. From the very beginning there's suspense, drama, romance and of course a few battles. The overall plot of the book was amazing. A traitor among their own ranks? The commander and army after them? A hidden tracker following their every move? And lets not forget about Rachel and Logan's blooming romance - I mean, it could've went wrong in so many ways but it didn't. There was excitement, suspense that kept me on the tip of my toes dying to turn the page, there were a few sad moments again and I'll admit I got teary eyed (I'm an emotional reader lol) but the story just kept going! Deception is the best title and most fitting title for the book because that's the main plot in it. 

Rachel again in this book is in her shell. She is just a shadow of her former self and is really just being the cause of it. I know she's only 16 and whatnot, but there are a hundred odd people depending on her and Logan and yet all she can do will wallow in her own guilt - that's a big no no for me - rub some dirt on it and move on. I will admit though toward the end she started to focus on what really matters, and let go of her guilt in order to get things done which I liked.

Logan is just, well, he's something else. At 19 - he's an amazing leader. He plans out everything in explicable detail and knows what to do and how to do with every possible scenario and outcome covered - I mean, I was dumbfounded. He knows Rachel isn't right and that puts a strain on their relationship because she won't let him in, but he doesn't give up - he loves her too much. You also find out a lot about Logan's past which did leave me open mouthed - I was definitely not expecting it but at the same time - you can understand and even see how some of the things that happened and were said in Defiance, could lead this conclusion.

All of the other characters have been really well developed and each had a good impact on the story. I loved how you got an insight into Quinn and Willow's background because it's always been so mysterious - they've really grown on me over the story.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. It was a great sequel to Defiance and definitely didn't lack in action. This is a must read and with the ending - I'm definitely hoping the next book won't disappoint!  

First Impression - Bourjois Bronzing Primer

I got this product the other day as an early present (weird I know) but I was looking it for ages and couldn't find it anywhere, but then I seen it on Amazon so I asked the mother if she would get me and thankfully she said yes! lol I was really interested in this product because I've seen tons of reviews on Youtube and blogs etc. and the majority said it was really good - so it didn't take much to twist my arm! 

They only have one shade which is pretty light, I dont think this prodcut would work well on darker skin tones and the best thing about it is.... it smells like chocolate! When I opened it I was so tempted to eat it because it smelt that awesome haha

As you can see, it has a very creamy almost moose like consistency which I really like because it glides onto the skin and a little really does go a long way

Heres a swatch so you can get an idea of the colour on the skin - granted I am incredible pale it's just my lighting was terrible making me looking darker but the colour of the bronzing primer is true to real life

And here is the before and after! :)

As you can see from the before and after - it goes very nicely with my pale skin, it doesn't look too orange or dirty, it just gives a nice healthy glow to skin while adding dimension also. It also helps to add a lot of colour to my complexion because as you can see, I'm ghostly white lol. So far I love this product and I intend to repurchase when this on runs out!