Image Map

Wednesday 28 March 2018

Clarins Hydra Essentiel Eye Mask & Lip Balm | First Impressions

As a long-time haver of dry skin, I'm already a big fan of the Clarins Hydra-Essentiel range, in particular their moisturisers. You can only imagine how happy I was to see that they've added an eye mask and a lip balm, two areas I tend to struggle to keep from drying out completely. 


Moisturising Reviving Eye Mask*

There's a discrepancy in opinions on the benefit of eye creams/gels etc but personally I like a nice light under-eye moisturiser, prone as I am to dark circles and generally looking exhausted at all times (I'm not sure any eye cream can help with dark circles thanks to them usually being caused by genetics and/or dehydration. I do like to help out the dry skin from the outside where I can though). This is a cooling, melting cream that feels like a gel. You can use it in two ways; as a mask that you leave on over night (my preference) or for a quick 10 minute boost (you take the cream off afterwards. I think this is a waste so I leave it on, even when I use it in the morning. And yes, I put my make-up on over it but it's a moisturiser so it all works out well for me). I've been using this pretty religiously twice a day for about two weeks now and I'm loving it. I've noticed a definite plumping to my under eye skin and even better, it's noticeably softer. This is a lovely treatment; it's comforting, cooling, moisturising and sinks in almost immediately. 

Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm*

If like me, you find yourself permanently battling dry lips, you need this fella. My ultimate lip balm, Nuxe Reve de Miel usually sits on my bedside table and I wear it as a lip mask every night. I finished my last pot of that sometime last year however so I've been in need of a new, hard working lip balm and this is the one! What sets it apart is the addition of blue lotus wax to nourish and cocoa extract to stimulate the production of hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump the lips. There's also a shot of rosy pink in there for a flattering, natural glow. I've been using this as part of my nighttime skincare routine and occasionally during the day too. It's a really good balm; moisturises, comforts and is non-sticky, non-slippy and almost mattifying, so there's very little chance of your hair getting stuck to your lips. Hurrah! 


Price wise, the eye mask is €33 and the lip balm is €21. I know that sound like a lot, and trust me I balked a bit when I saw the prices first myself but having used them, I cam see why they are the cost they are. They're full of good quality ingredients with all of Clarins' skincare knowledge and innovation packed into each tube. I've noticed a definite change with both and that's often hard to tell with skincare products. Both are available on counter form April the 16th.
Will you be checking these out?
XX


*indicates these products were provided for review. This post was not sponsored or paid for and as always all opinions are my own 

Monday 26 March 2018

Recently Read: February

Oh, I read some great books last month! You can follow me along on my goal to read 70 books this year, HERE on Goodreads. Let me know if you've read any of these and of course, what you're currently reading yourself!


Still Me by JoJo Moyes
I was one of those people that absolutely loved Me Before You; the story of Louisa Clarke, a young woman who's lost her way a bit and takes a job looking after Will, a former finance manager left paraplegic after a road traffic accident. SPOILER ALERT but they fall in love and Will eventually makes the heartbreaking decision to opt for euthanisation, in spite of the happiness Louisa brought to his life. I raced through it, fell a bit in love with Louisa and Will myself, and cried my eyes out at the end. The sequel to that, Me After You is about Louisa trying to pick up the pieces of her life after this tragedy and it, perhaps understandably, didn't live up to its predecessor. Still Me sees Louisa finally taking the jump Will would have wanted her to- she moves to New York, takes a job working for a wealthy family and tries to find herself again. This was a real return to form for this character- new friends, new romantic prospects, new career opportunities, new adventures with the same great personality she had in the first book. I really enjoyed this, it was nice walking in Louisa's shoes again and the story flowed along so well. I almost hope she doesn't write another one though, it's a good ending to a trilogy.

Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
I love Roxanne Gay's writing. I read Difficult Women last year and decided on the spot that she was now one of my favourite authors- searing, shocking, insightful, beautiful prose that stayed with me for a long time afterwards. Bad Feminist is a collection of essays organised under different headings; Gender and Sexuality, Race and Entertainment, and Politics, Gender and Race. Although it was only written a few years ago, parts of it feel a bit outdated already; mentions of Bill Cosby and not in a "he's a rapist" kind of way, for instance. Having said that, I thought it was really interesting and found myself wanting to keep reading on to the next essay. 

The Dry by Jane Harper
The Dry is a thriller set in the Australian countryside- think depressing, practically empty small-town, rather than community-friendly Home and Away. Aaron Falk is now a federal agent but he has to return home after his childhood friend Luke has been found dead, apparently by his own hands, along with his wife and two children. When they were teenagers, Luke gave Aaron an alibi after their friend was found dead but the townsfolk never believed it and so Aaron finds himself facing a lot of hostility on his return. He refuses to believe that Luke would have hurt his family, however and sets about finding their killer. This was a really good thriller. Yes, I guessed one of the bigger twists but getting to that point was still exciting and I loved the setting of the story- most thrillers out at the minute are set in America or the UK so this was refreshingly different. 

About Face- The Smart Woman's Guide To Beauty: Your Essential Skincare and Make-Up Bible for the Changing face of Beauty by Aisling McDermott and Laura Kennedy
When original Irish beauty blogger and all round ledge Aisling McDermott passed away recently, I felt it would be a fitting tribute to her to read the beauty bible she co-wrote with journalist Laura Kennedy. I took my time flicking through this one, there's separate sections for skincare (and subgroups within that), and then make-up broken down into foundations, eye make up etc etc. I mostly skipped the parts that weren't relevant to me; oily skin, mature skin, teenage skin etc. This is a lovely book for beauty lovers; full of gorgeous product photos and lots of great tips and product suggestions. 

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown*
Set in Essex, England in 1645, Alice returns to her her childhood home widowed, pregnant and alone with no prospects and forced to live with her stern brother, Matthew. In her time away he's become wealthy and powerful and uses that influence to elevate himself to the position of chief witch hunter. Thanks to a lack of education and a fear and suspicion amongst the townspeople, Matthew becomes all-powerful and can torture and abuse any woman he decides is a witch, with complete immunity. Worse still, knowing how precarious her position is, he forces Alice to help him but she has other ideas and vows to escape his clutches. Can she stop him before he destroys them both and kills more and more women? I really enjoyed this book, it's so atmospheric and although it's disturbing at times, it's so well written, you'll be completely absorbed by it. Plus it's based on real people and real events and I personally find that time in history fascinating, especially after visiting Salem a couple of years ago. Oh and that ending! My jaw dropped! 

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
This was our book club choice this month but I flew through it in February in early nerdy preparation! Set in Nigeria in the 1980's, this was for sure a very different setting than books I've read previously. Yejide and Akin are happily married and have been in love since they met in college. Unlike other couples in their community, Yejide has her own business and a car, even though Akin has a good job in the bank. Also unlike other couples, Yejide is the only wife in their marriage, that is until it is decided by their families that Akin will marry another woman in the hopes that she can provide him with a child, something Yejide has not been able to do so far. This is a devastating blow for Yejide and she goes to desperate measures to keep Akin all to herself. This was a really interesting book and an insightful look into the way things were in Nigeria at that time. It also spoke to me (and my all female book club) about the expectations placed on women and the presumption of what their place in society is. It touched on so many topics; infertility, tradition, chronic illness, motherhood, love and family amongst many others. 

Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates*
This has been billed as one of the bigger thrillers for 2018 and to an extent, it didn't let me down. The book opens with a shocking scene- a young teenage girl tied to a tree, bloodied and broken, two of her male friends nearby, one holding the weapon used to torture her. Twenty something years later, their lives have changed more than they could ever have imagined. The three meet again in New York, with devastating consequences. I think while the book started out incredibly strongly, and I was really intrigued by what their futures would hold, I felt it waned slightly with a lot of talk of food blogging (which I mostly enjoyed...nom!) and the origin of a cement factory, which went on a bit longer than I would have liked. I really appreciated that we got to hear from more than one of the characters in flashback form, telling their version of the story years later and then also the conversations between the characters. It felt like we got a well rounded view of the events depicted in the book. All of those points of view converge later on but it wasn't the dramatic ending I expected. Personally, I had a very different idea of how the book was going; I thought the character of Hannah was doing an Amazing Amy on us at one point and honestly, I was totally there for that! In spite of all of the "read this if you love Gone Girl" book recommendations over the last few years, it really felt well-suited to this book because it had a similar Gilian Flynn vibe. That's probably my own fault for going off on a mental tangent though! Overall, it's slow paced but simmers with tension. I loved Hannah's character and would gladly have read more from her. 

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Susan Ryland is an editor sitting down to read bestselling author Alan Conway's latest manuscript. She's worked with Conway for years and is fond of his reoccurring character, Atticus Pünd, a German detective post-war, finding himself solving murder mysteries in a sleepy English village. Susan states with a certain amount of doom that this book will change her life irrevocably, and then we get to read the book for ourselves, stopping just before the big reveal and bringing us back to the real world, where Susan is. She stops because the last chapter is missing and begins to suspect that the disturbing murder depicted in the book has a link to a real life crime. She then sets about solving the mystery herself. I'm a big Agatha Christie fan, so I really enjoyed the Atticus Pünd book and was actually a bit put out when I didn't get the solution to the mystery when I was expecting it! I also really enjoyed following Susan around on her quest for the truth. In general, this was a really good read; if you like murder mysteries, thrillers and whodunnits then this is for you!

Paper Girls Vol 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
This is obviously the third in this series- a beautifully drawn, super vibrant graphic novel series about four kick-ass teenage girls in 1980's America, battling against giant monsters, time travel and various past and future versions of themselves. It's very cool. 

And that's the lot for now! I'm currently reading some really good thrillers, I'll be back with more reviews soon!
XX


* indicates books that were provided for review. This is not a paid for or sponsored post. All opinions are my own, as always!

Sunday 18 March 2018

The Top Recommended US Drugstore Beauty Products- Reviewed!

I find shopping in Sephora and US Drug stores confusing, if I'm honest. Even when I've prepared myself and made a list of things I want, I always find myself feeling a bit overwhelmed; there's just too much beauty stuff.
The gap between what we can't get here and what you can only get in the states has definitely narrowed, but there's still the few items that most Irish gals will be on the lookout for when beauty shopping in America. The last time we were over (November 2017), I knew exactly what I wanted from Sephora but hadn't thought a huge amount about budget beauty so I found myself scrolling through "the top ten drugstore beauty products you need" articles online in our hotel room one night and sure enough, I made my way to a CVS the next day.
These were all recommended by various magazines, I haven't tried them all yet but they didn't cost the earth so I thought they'd be worth a go! (there was also many more products recommended, that either didn't suit me, wrong hair or skin type etc or else products that I already have/have tried).


E.L.F Hydrating Face Primer
This is part of a series of face primers from the budget beauty brand E.L.F (Eyes. Lips, Face). I have dry skin so this seemed a no-brainer and every online magazine raved about this one in particular. If memory serves me correctly, it cost less than $6. It has no fragrance to speak of but I do notice a slightly chemically scent that does wear off as you wear it. It's clear and looks a bit like Vaseline when you pump it out. I've only used this once because I just didn't love it. It is somewhat softening and provides a base in the same way a silicone-heavy primer would. On me, it felt a bit greasy and unpleasant. I'll give it another go but for the moment, I'm not a big fan. I would save your $6 and put it towards this one instead.


Aveeno Positively Radiant 60 Second In-Shower Facial
This was hailed as a new miracle product and one that I sense will take me a good long time to finish. This idea with this is you pop it on your wet face while you're in the shower, leave it on for 60 seconds and gently massage in a circular motion, then wash off. I like to do this while my conditioner is doing its thing. It has a little bit of grit in there (gentle grit, there's no plastic beads in here) but it's mostly the alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that does the exfoliating. I've used this a few times now and have noticed my skin is nicely smooth afterwards and my make-up applies well after using it. I've since found out that Aveeno test on animals so I won't be buying from them again but for now, I'll use this up. It's good.

Almay Healthy Glow Makeup + Gradual Self Tan
This is a medium coverage foundation that supposedly perfects your skin while you wear it; when you take off your make up, you have a natural glow. This has a pump function and two separate chambers that combines the self tan and the make up together when you press down. I got the shade light, which was the lightest there was. There's also an SPF 20 in there, which is good. I've only tried lip products from Almay, which I liked and again, there was great excitement online over this fella. This is a reasonably good colour match for me, if not slightly darker than my own skin tone. It does have that fake tan scent to it, which is never nice but goes fairly fast once it's absorbed. I also quite like the coverage of this; it's buildable but looks natural. So far, I like!


Carmex Daly Care Moisturising Lip Balm 
I love Carmex and didn't need any encouragement to get this three pack of lip balms. I usually use either the tubes or pots of Carmex but I haven't tried the stick version, plus this was only a few dollars. There's a cherry (my fave), strawberry and wintergreen and they all have an spf15.


Covergirl Outlast All-Day Concealer
This is a concealer with a soft-tip applicator, designed to erase the appearance of dark circles and blemishes. It's oil-free and doesn't clog the pores. I got the shade fair. I think this is Covergirl's version of Maybeline's under eye eraser concealer yoke (that I also love and also featured in every top drugstore beauty product article out there). I wouldn't say this is as good as the Maybelline. It's quite a light formula but feels a bit drying. I also don't think it covers my particular dark circles as well as other concealers do. 

CoverGirl Ink It! All-Day Eye Pencil
This is a twist up pencil that glides on like an ink but with the crease and fade-resistance of a kohl pencil. It's also waterproof. I got the shade Charcoal Ink cause I wanted a liquid eyeliner effect. When I opened it I didn't think I'd like it based on how the top of the pencil was packaged but actually, it applies really nicely. I would say; it's not the blackest of the black liners but I can get over that. It's not a super messy liner but you can smudge it if that's your thing (it is mine). Overall, I like!

CoverGirl Ink It! All-Day Eye Pencil

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Oil
I love Burt's Bees so of course, I had to get this. These are supposed to be moisturising and comforting on the lips while providing a shot of natural looking colour. I wanted a more nude shade but they were all sold out, so I got Crimson Breeze instead. I LOVE this and I need more shades!! I was surprised by how much I like this shade too, I was worried it would be too dark but it's more of a flattering pink plus it feels so lovely on! The only flaw I can see is that it wears of fast but I find that happens with all oil-based lip products. But I like that it's a light gloss and the oil means that it's softening on the lips. So good!

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Oil. CoverGirl Melting Pout Gel Liquid Lipstick

CoverGirl Melting Pout Gel Liquid Lipstick
Pretty sure these are a rip off of the Too Faced ones but at a fraction of the price. I got this in the shades Don't be Gelly and Evan-Gel-Ical (I can't find that one to take the photo, it's more than likely in the bottom of a bag somewhere). This has a soft tip for application. The formula of these are nice but the quality of the overall shade application varies according to each colour. I like these but having not tried the Too Faced ones, I can't make a proper comparison. 

That's my take on the top recommended drugstore beauty products. Have you tried any of these? 
Thoughts?
XX

Monday 5 March 2018

(Possible) New Favourite Beauty Products

There's doubt in that title purely cause some of these have only just come into my life and as yet have to be tried out but there's also new beauty bits in here that I can confirm that I'm loving! 
The make-up pouch (Bath & Bodyworks) is somewhat misleading, is what I'm saying, but isn't it pretty?! 


Yes, you can spot seven lip products there. I am a lip balm/lipstick fiend. 


First up; my thing with these creepy sheet masks doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I will try every brand, as long as it suggests hydration as an outcome. I just finished off a box of Farmacy ones that I got in the states that were fab- more from that brand later. For now, here's a Boscia Deep Hydration Mask I also got in America, which I have yet to use. I'm a beauty horder. We are however just coming to the end of a very cold snap here so I'll be popping this on this week! 

The Ariel one is by a company called Made Beauty, I previously got a Chip and Mrs Potts lip balm set from them, which was frankly, adorable. This mask is infused with cucumber to cool, hydrate and moisturise the skin, which sounds ideal but who knows what it'll actually do. I got this on Asos, where you'll find a selection of Disney Princess masks!


I'm a marketing persons dream. I saw the banana range on The Body Shop's Insta, along with their new lip balms (below), so of course, in I popped to get them for myself. I used the banana shampoo and conditioner way back in the day and guess what?! They still smell the exact same!! Hello nostalgia! 
I went for a hair mask this time, purely to add in a little hydration and it's honesty a divine experience. I put it on this morning after shampooing, put a shower cap over it, left it for five minutes then washed off. My hair has been super soft all day and maybe I'm imagining it, but a little more voluminous too! Plus, that smell! Love it!!


And these are the aforementioned The Body Shop lip balms. These are the Lip Juicers; 100% Vegan, moisture-boosting balms with smoothie-inspired combos. They look a little like the top of a giant pencil and aesthetically, remind me of Eos a bit but other than that, these are far superior from a moisturising perspective. My favourite is the Coconut/Carrot/Passion Fruit, which both smells fantastic and gives the lips a nice colour but they were buy one get one half price, so you know what happened next. I also got Strawberry/Pomegranate/Aloe which I like too but the scent isn't doing it for me as much. 
Anyway, there's three more in the range so who knows what'll happen next (we all know).

In between them is the NYX Turnt Up! Lipstick. I have this in the shade French Kiss, which on the website (this was part of a "I've put my back out, I'm feeling sorry for myself" purchase) didn't look quite this pale a pink, which I'm not sure suits me all that much. Anyway, I've mixed it with other shades which seems to make it work better and it's a lovely moisturising formula.


Ive mentioned this here before and on Insta and Facebook cause it's so damn good. I got a sample of this in Sephora, having never tried anything from Buxom before and fell for it big time. It's a cream gloss that plumps the lips, tingles a little, smells like vanilla/mint and makes my lips look INCREDIBLE. Himself has actually said "that lip thing you have on is really nice on you". SO YOU KNOW IT'S GOOD. I have the shade Rose Julep and I got it in Debenhams. Also worth noting that this is the lip gloss I keep going on about cause it reminds me of the long gone gloss from Pout that came in those vacuum packs and were beloved by all. WHY did they leave and never come back?!!


Lookit, I know, it's another lip balm but this one was bought last November and I was waiting 'til I finished my Elizabeth Arden one, which is almost gone so it's time for this fella to shine. I love Fresh products, especially the lip balms, which are really soothing. I normally get the Sugar Rose one but this Sugar Lip Caramel Hydrating Balm was new and I'm also a sucker for new products, so here we are. And yes, it smells unbelievably good.


I was harping on about spending the end of a Brown Thomas gift voucher on a 30ml size of Jo Malone's Peony & Pink Suede Blush, when lo and behold, the loveliest gal by the name of Samantha pm'd me on instagram and told me she had a bottle she wasn't going to use and would I like it?
Of course I said yes and in the end we resurrected the old Beaut. i.e Swap Siopa just for the two of us, which was lovely. Anyway, this is a truly beautiful fragrance. It's delicate but not sweet, powdery and floral and an utter classic. I adore it! Thank you again Samantha!


I got a set of these Darkness eyelashes in Korea town in LA for $4 and I wish I had bought more. They're quite natural on so they don't look overly dramatic but they still add a little sumthin' sumthin' to your eye make up. Plus, and this is very shallow but, I like the packaging rather a lot.

I got a gorgeous Rifle Paper Co. set from L'Occitane, free with a sale order just after Christmas and I'm getting around to using the contents now. There's a Shea shower oil, a micellar water and a few other bits as well as this Light Comforting Cream. This is designed to be a non-greasy and comforting face cream with 5% Shea to moisturise for up to 48 hours. I just started using this a couple of days ago but I think the scent is possibly too strong for use on my face. It's a nice face cream though, so I'll give it another go. 


This was a mini freebie with the points I built up on my Sephora card and is from the previously mentioned Farmacy, known for cultivating their own ingredients, for a "farm-to-face" philosophy. I've liked anything I've tried from them and my sister is a big fan so I was looking forward to trying Honey Potion; a warming antioxidant hydration mask with echinacea greenenvy (their star ingredient) honey. You apply this after cleansing, massage it with your fingers to warm it up and then leave it for ten minutes. This really does warm up, and gets a little tingly. Once you've washed it off it's supposed to restore moisture levels and repair stressed complexions. I've only used this once and I'm still not really sure how I feel about it, or if it made a difference. I'll keep testing! 


These aren't anything new but Himself bought me the full Crayola box set of the Clinique chubby sticks last year (I couldn't get them anywhere and he presented them to me on anniversary. He's kind of a legend) and I've been using these two a little more than the others of late. Red Violet is a plummy shade while Mauvelous is a perfect nude pink for daytime. These are both nicely moisturising with a slick of colour, if you don't like a full-on lipstick, these are perfect for you. 

Have you tried any of these?
Any personal favourites amongst this lot?
XX







Friday 2 March 2018

The Best of February!

Yes, we may be in the middle of a snow storm right now, but it's nice to look back on the parts of the month that did not result in me being forced to stay indoors, watch the Tom Cruise version of The Mummy and eat the only snack foods that were left in my local petrol station (you can imagine) after Snowmaggedon set in. 

West Cork 
I think the country and its mother listened to this Audible original podcast this month. Based on the ongoing investigation into the mid 90's murder of French woman Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork, it's similar to the This American Life podcast Serial but possibly even more interesting as it's so close to home. Chief suspect Ian Bailey is interviewed throughout and although he comes across as a terrible person, it's still hard to know whether he's actually innocent or not. It's a weird one but definitely worth a listen! If you don't have Audible, you can get a free trial and an audiobook of
your choice to try! 

The Dry
I'd had this on my to-read list and my kindle for a while but even though I read lots of good books this month, I'm specifically recommending this thriller set in the Australian countryside where a cop has to return to his oppressive hometown after his childhood best friend and his entire family have been killed. They shared some dark secrets from their teen years about the death of one of their friends that neither of them have ever quite moved on from. It's very atmospheric- well worth picking up, even though I read the entire thing in my head in the voice of several characters from Home & Away. 

Black Panther
We'd been waiting for this one for a while and it didn't disappoint (not completely anyway). The character of the Black Panther and pretty much every woman in this film are just brilliant. The women are all warriors- not something you always find in a Marvel movie, or any film for that matter. Plus the exploration of various African tribal costumes, cultures and traditions were really well depicted. There is a but, however. I felt it was too long. Like, could-have-been-a-half-hour-less-too-long and I would happily watch more scenes with Danai Gurira kicking someone's ass. Extra points for Michael B Jordan though. Swoon. 

Hey Donna
We've been planning to go to this new restaurant in Rathmines for a while now. It's where Jo Burger used to be and is owned by the same people. Since the changeover, it's really bright in there, there's books, plants and light everywhere so it's a nice place to go with friends or for a very pleasant date night! Plus, Lebanese food is always a winner. I would suggest the roast aubergine, the labneh, the roast potatoes and the apricot gin cocktail. Himself recommends the lamb! I also went there for lunch with my sister another day and had an excellent chicken salady wrap thing.


Buxom Lip Cream
I had originally picked up a tiny sample size of this with my Sephora rewards card when I was in Vegas, wore it for the night of our vow renewals and quickly became obsessed with it. It's like the original Pout lip glosses if you remember them? 
Pure cream (No shimmer), a tingly sensation that puffs the lips up a bit, a minty-vanilla scent and a gorgeous flattering pink shine. This is the perfect gloss. I bought a full size and some on-sale Paddywax candles from Debenhams online when I was feeling sorry for myself after putting my back out and I have zero regrets. I love it! (the candles were also a winner). You can find the lip cream HERE, on sale, although the shade I got, Rose Julep is low in stock. 

Halo Hair
I finally got my hair reblonded after leaving it be for the last 4 months. I tend to let my roots grow out as long as possible cause my own hair colour is pretty light but every so often it's fun to go super bright blonde. It felt appropriate coming in to Spring but what wth the snow I guess I'm looking more like an Elsa tribute act now. Anyway, the blonde is courtesy of the wonderful Alison in Halo Hair on Drury st, to book find them online HERE

The Start of the Snow
Look, we all got excited there at the start of the last week in February when we found out we were getting some snow. Of course, it's turned out to be so bad that people have lost electricity, some have had holidays cancelled, have had injuries, can't get to work, or worse (in the case of a lot of my colleagues in the health service) have had to sleep in work or nearby hotels. Zero craic. It was beautiful to begin with though. Snow make everything pretty. 

Contributing to Happy Magazine
I was delighted this month to be asked to be a contributor by the lovely Holly, formerly of Sweet Like Cinnamon blog and now editor of Happy Magazine, a site created to provide daily positivity for people going through cancer in Ireland. I'll be sharing my book reviews there and there's some excellent articles to be found on it, so if there's anyone you know who you think would like Happy Magazine, you'll find it HERE!

Beautiful New Shoes
These are from the bridal collection on asos but that did not stop me. I've been practically stalking these shoes and they kept selling out while I weighed up whether or not to get them until they got them back in stock recently and I said feck it and bought them. They are very high and extremely fancy but I am nothing if not a trier so I'll make the extra height work and as you may be aware, I am myself, very fancy so I think I can pull these off...Find them HERE. (I'll show these in more detail on Insta, the photo here is small and they deserve more of a spotlight ;)



And that's the lot for February. 
How was your month? 
Do we have any overlapping favourites?
I'm guessing West Cork could be in there somewhere?!
XX