Dear Blog, I'm Sorry

Hello...

I'm Natasha, the ahem, writer of this poor neglected blog. I don't know what happened over this Summer because at the beginning I was so full of energy and had a serious love for writing. I just kind of, forgot? I felt like writing was a job, a chore and something I began to HATE doing. It made no sense really... I took up writing for an Irish website called Krank.ie and I've fallen back in love with it. I think it's time my little blog got a make over, and some serious TLC. I'm even thinking of a name change? Watch this space.

"The Best Lip Balm Ever"

A while ago I was having awful bother with my lips, they were so sore, I couldn't use lipstick or any lip products for that matter. They were flaky, dry and nothing was helping. Until Laura happened to pop me an e-mail with this little beauty. I'll be honest and say I don't actually use lip balms as often as I should, in fact I'm forever loosing them but this is different. This Living Forever is in a league of it's own. 

The product itself is small, compact and simple. Something I quite like in packaging actually!

Infused with Jojoba oil, it is the softest balm I've ever used. 

It cleared up my lips within a week, I carried it around and put it on every 4 hours maybe? or after I'd eaten etc... 

I wanted to give this product a really good test, so when you want the most brutal feedback where do you go? the Mammy. Yes, my Mum suffers with shockingly sore lips.They have gotten so bad that they have bled they were that dry and sore, and she has tried everything. The hunt for something to sooth it even ended up with her driving nearly an hour away to another a town to get some product that can't be got where we live. Dedication.

The Mammy's thoughts? This stuff is a miracle in a tube.

It softened her lips, as well as healing them from a recent breakout and she said that applying the product was a dream, because it felt like it was melting onto the lips.

So there you have it Ladies, I'm officially naming this stuff 'The Best Lip Balm Ever'.

Check out their website here.

Cleansing balms on a budget

Hello lovelies,

I have a post today about a product I have been loving this last few weeks, so much so that I think you should all know about it too. The product the Boots Botanics Cleansing Balm. I know that everyone and their Mother raves about the Emma Hardy one but I'll be honest, I don't know how to get my hands on it and If I did, I'm not sure I would fork out that kind of cash, at least not without trying some more affordable alternitives. I'm itching to try the Body Shop one too, but they have been out of stock the last few times I've been near a store. Boo. 

Anyway, at €15 this is a pretty awesome product. I even got it on sale for €8.95 making the experience even better (who doesn't love a bargain?) Opening it up, it is a yellow colour, quite solid (as expected) and smells lovely! 

I remove the bulk of my make up with a water cleanser first, and take a tiny bit of this in my hands and start to massage it into my face and the feeling is just... ooooh. It's silky, soft and feels a little luxourious all at once. I leave it on my face for about  minutes (more so because I like the feel it it..) and then rub it into the skin until it lathers up. Taking the cloth that came with the product, I rinse the product off with warm water and hey ho, my skin is lovely, smooth, make up free and clean.

I really reccomend this product to anyone who is after taking a curiosity into cleansing balms and don't know where to start. I also think it's a very underrated product, when I mentioned it on Twitter only very few had heard of it or tried it. The Boots Botanics range is one line that has impressed me more and more with every product I've tried from them. 

What do you think? Are you a Boots Botanics fan?

Avene Soothing Hydrating Serum

About two weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Emma of Escentual and was asked if I was interested in trying out the Avéne Soothing Hydrating Serum*. I jumped at the chance because I've heard this brand raved about and when it comes to skincare I'm an avid learner! In fact I blame Alix of I Covet Thee and Kate from Gh0st Parties or my ongoing obsession. 

The serum itself claims to help the skin become soft, and hydrated. It's also suitable for sensitive skin.This product is made with a large quantity of thermal spring water to provide a calming effect as well as added moisture into the skin. It seemed to the perfect product for me! 

A bit of background on my own skin, after years of suffering with terrible acne, I now have okay skin... it's combination to oily at the best of times, with a tendency for a dry nose on occasion - this really bothers me. I also suffer with slight redness too.

After all the promises this product made, I was stoked to get it in the post. I've been using it every night since I got it, and it' fair to say, its love. I work in an office meaning I'm stuck in doors at a desk for 8 hours a day, so my skin does be in need of a little pampering in the evenings. I always cleanse, tone and moisturise and now I've added this into the mix (along with some other bits & bobs) I can feel the difference that it has made. My skin has been brighter, and more balanced. I will defiantly keep using it & see where I end up but for now, yes, it's a winner in my eyes - even my Mum has been trying it out!

I can safely say that when this is finished I will be repurchasing. So worth it.

For the nice bit, Escentual has offered readers up to 1/3 of the popular French Pharmacy category for the rest of March including this Avéne Serum at 25% off!

Here's what else they have on offer -

- Vichy, La Roche-Posay and Nuxe at 33% off RRP

- Avene, Klorane, Rene Furterer and Pierre Fabre at 25% off RRP

- Caudalie at 20% off RRP

- A-Derma at 10% off RRP

Feel free to check out Escentual -

Twitter: @Escentual
Facebook: facebook.com/Escentual
Instagram: @Escentual

Wishin & hoping

Wishlists are great aren't they?

They allow to go virtual shopping without the guilty feeling of splurging too much!

Below are a few thing's I've had my eye on lately....

Silver Brogues

Velvet Chunky Boots

Dress

Blazer

Floral Jeggings

Watch

A girl can dream can't she?

Beauty Blogging Bargains

I own a lot of eye shadows... a lot. 

Palettes are a weakness of mine really, but these two are rather special.

NYC and Wet & Wild are two very affordable brands therefore I didn't expect miracles from either of these. After seeing Lily Pebbles talk about NYC eye shadows on her blog recently I decided I may as well pick some up - especially after falling in love with a mascara from the brand recently.

The NYC one was a mere €4.99. For four shadows, a primer and a highlighter, how on earth could you go wrong? I think there is around 5 different ones to pick from but I have this one in 'Union Square' and I am 100% picking up more from the range.

This Wet & Wild one in 'I'm getting sunburned' is another one that I really like. A gold, brown and pink choice from this one, and I love how each shadow tells you where you should use the shade i.e the brow bone, the crease or the eyelid. I think its cool for someone who has literally just started with eye shadow, as it's like a guide. Of course you can wear them whatever way you want though! For the small price of I think €2.99 this is an amazing product! The larger palettes for €6.49 come with 12 colours and I am itching to get my hands on a few of those too!

All in all, you can get both these palettes.... 7 shadows, a primer and a highlighter for under €10? In my opinion, it doesn't get much better than that!

Delving into the nude

Last weekend at the Irish Beauty Show I picked up this Fuschia lipstick in the shade 'pink ice'.

Its a colour I never thought in a million years I'd buy for myself because it's a 'nude' and I cannot for the life of me pull off nude shades, they do not suit me at all.

My sister picked up this colour at the Fuschia stand and persuaded me to buy it. I figured it was only €5.. hello show prices.. so I got it. I never thought I'd say this but I love it. It's more of a peach toned nude rather than a pink like the name suggests, and it looks quite pretty matched with peach cheeks and soft brown eye make up.. at least that's the way I like it.

Maybe I should embrace the nude look more often?