Poison Girl | Review

My favourite perfumes usually have a story behind them. My first proper perfume that I bought for myself with my very first student nurse pay check was Hypnotic Poison. 

I had already spent about a year before that taking the occasional illicit spray of my sister's bottle (sorry, Aoife. I'm a wagon but I smell great) so I was already in love with it and continued to be for pretty much my entire twenties. 

A whole decade of a favourite perfume means that I'll always love it. Being a beauty addict, I obviously also went through several other fragrances but I always went back to the heady and potent scent of vanilla in HP. I don't care what the base and top notes are, I just know that I love it. 

Every time I inhale it (and you best believe I inhale that shizz. I'm talking; fill-your-lungs, make an inappropriate mmm-sound, take-an-extra-deep-breath-of it-just-in-case, inhale) I'm transported back to college nights out, work nights out, time with friends, family, dates, holidays, everything really. 

I love it. Did you get that, yeah? That I love it? 

Grand, let's move on. 

So this Summer Dior brought out a brand spanking new version of Poison, Poison Girl. I have in the past had all of their previous varieties of Poison so, of course I had to try this. I spent plenty of time at Dior beauty counters sniffing and spritzing this one, trying to decide whether to get this or buy a new bottle of HP. In the end I just hinted like bejaysus to himself around the time of my birthday and lo and behold, here is Poison Girl:

Just in case you do in fact want an idea of what your olfactory senses are picking up, here's what you're smelling, as per Dior; 

Poison Girl is a gourmand with bitter orange accents, rose, vanilla and tonka bean. 

I'm with yis on the first three, Dior, but I've no idea what Tonka bean is when it's at home. Aside from that, the rose makes for a nice floral intro, which means it's Summery and a little sweet but then you get that warm and addictive hit that all the poison perfumes have. 

How then, you might ask, does it compare to my original fave, Hypnotic Poison?

Well, HP is an oriental blend, so you have jasmine, bitter almond, Jacaranda and vanilla and musk. It's a downright sensuous (major cringe at the word sensuous), captivating, intoxicating and slightly extravagant affair. 

Poison girl is very much its baby sister. In terms of longevity, I can smell HP on my coat days after wearing it. One spritz in the morning and I'm good for the day and I'll never get tired of it. 

PG wears off more quickly but I'm still drawn to it like a moth to a sexy-perfume-scented flame. 

PG is different for sure; a completely different beast, obviously but it's still a really gorgeous scent and is ideal for Summer. It manages to straddle the world of daytime and evening appropriate perfumes extremely well indeed. 

It's very lovely.

Gotta love that poison apple bottle design too. ALL the swooning. 

Anyone else tried Poison Girl? 

Anyone else also love it and also obsessed with Hypnotic Poison?

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Benefit Do The Hoola!

Don't you just love receiving an unexpected gift of make-up? It happens so rarely but when it does my eyes do that light-up thing, like the heart-eyed emoji.
Recently my in-laws were away and they brought me this fella back. If I were going to treat myself, make-up wise, I probably wouldn't reach for Benefit, purely because it's a bit pricey for a splurge- it's Boots all the way and a stop at a Rimmel or a Bourjois stand for me and my nurses salary.
Benefit, though, lends itself well to gifting purposes; it's all so goddamn fancy. These style of sets are so fun too; I love all the mini sizes and compartments in the book look-a-like box.

Do The Hoola is the Beyond Bronze kit for complexion, lips and eyes and is perfect for Summer.

Inside the lid there's a mirror and a tips and tricks booklet showing you how to get the most out of the set, which is always handy.

The products themselves correspond with the booklet, numbering 1-4 for the order in which you use them.

Number one is a brand new product and one I've been super eager to try. Dew the Hoola is a sheer, soft-matte, liquid face bronzer. You get 7mls in a pump-action bottle with a faintly floral scent. I feel like this is slightly too dark for my skin tone when I'm going au natural. If I have tan on, then it works well. Although it claims to have a sheer formula, I find it to be quite pigmented and it also mattifies pretty fast. Because of this it needs to be quickly blended nut seems to add more of a natural glow than a powder bronzer does.

Number two is a benefit best-seller; Hoola bronzer. I've previously only ever had a mini of this but I love it. It's a super soft, finely-milled, flattering powder that can be built up from glowing to bronzed in a matter of seconds. Would you just look at that dinky little brush too! Squee!

Number three is They're Real, this is the best selling mascara in the UK and it's easy to see why. I previously had a full size of this and the only thing that stopped me from repurchasing was how stubborn it was to take off. I have a pretty decent eye make-up remover on the go at the minute though so I'm hoping for good things.

Number three is Bene balm, a rose tinted, hydrating lip balm. I love the Benetint balms and this one is particularly flattering, plus mini size!!! Cuteness!!

Lastly, there's Hoola extra plush lip gloss. This smells like Summer; kind of like a Pina Colada. It feels super comforting on the lips; there's a good slip there and it's not sticky- more like a glossy balm than anything. It goes on clear but there's a peachy/golden shimmer in there that adds a subtle and flattering extra dimension to the gloss. This is one you need to try for yourself, cause I know if I heard of a peach/gold shimmered gloss, I'd run a mile. Not with this though, it's very nice indeed. The combination of this and the Bene Tint underneath is lovely too.

Have you tried the new liquid bronzer from Benefit? 

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Beautiful New Books! Part 263 (probably)

My birthday in June brought with it a host of gorgeous new books to drool over and add to the increasing strain on my bookcases.

I love a gift of books and the possibility that your new favourite read could be in there, waiting to be picked up! As always, I'm judging a book by its cover cause these are all stunning!

Without further ado:

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf.

Up until now, the only Virginia Woolf novel I've read is Mrs Dalloway but I've had this on my to-be-read list for a long time so I'm delighted to have it in my grasp, and such a beautiful edition, too!

Love Stories; The Everyman's Pocket Classics.

This is an assortment of short stories, about, you guessed it; love! Featuring some amazing authors like Margaret Atwood, Roald Dahl, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ali Smith and D.H. Lawrence, to name but a few. This looks like a really varied and interesting collection of stories and of authors. 

Fierce romantic too, fair play to Himself!

The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

I'm a big fan of Emily, have been since my Leaving Cert and I probably always will be. This, along with Love Stories and the Virginia Woolf were all presents from Himself. Yes, my husband buys me Virginia Woolf & Emily Dickinson books for my birthday. I know. #BestHusbandEver. 

Anyway, look at that cover! Embossed with her own poetry! Swoon! And the birdcages on the inside! Pass the smelling salts!

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

My lovely sister bought me this, knowing my love for Aziz. I actually listened to this on audio last year because it was narrated by the man himself but I really felt like I missed out by not having a hardcopy  as there are a truckload of diagrams, graphs and other illustrated elements to the book that obviously, I didn't have in the audio version. 

In fact, it kept happening that Aziz would be reading away and then have to stop and go "if you had bought the actual book you'd be looking at a graph of the study's findings right now but you were lazy and got me to read it to you instead". 

I'm gonna re-read this now I can partake of the more researchy elements of the book!

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff.

This was sent to me for review this week and I'm super excited- it's been nominated for all sorts of awards and has received absolutely glowing reviews. I'm only on chapter 2 but it reads like poetry; the writing is just so beautiful. It's well matched with its cover, which let's face it, is glorious:

Shrill: Notes From A Loud Woman by Lindy West.

This was a birthday present to myself. Last month myself and my gals went to see Lindy West in conversation with Irish author Louise O' Neill at a Tatler event.

I love Lindy anyway (I read her column in the Guardian on the regular) but it was great hearing her speak and it made me want to read even more from her so I bought her new book on the night. Unfortunately, I was far too slow on the update to get a signed copy as I was too busy eating cupcakes and quaffing champagne. Thanks, Tatler! A great evening was had! 

I'm well into this one and am LOVING it! Full review to come soon!

The Vintage Tea Party Year by Angel Adoree

This was another one from my sister and I'm big enough to admit I squealed a little when I saw it. I've previously bought older editions in the Vintage Tea Party range as gifts but have never had my own copy- till now!

What I love about this is not only is it packed with vintage recipes and cocktails but it's full of lovely illustrations and gorgeous photography with a serious amount of attention to detail. 

It's extremely kitsch, which I am ALL about. 

And that's the lot! 

Have you read any of these?

Thoughts?

To the comments!

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My Husband's Wife | Book Review

*Huge thanks to Penguin for this Advanced Reader's Copy. As always, all opinions are my own. 

I was sent this book a while ago to review in advance of its release on the 26th of May on Ebook and on the 25th of August on paperback. So this is a proper head's up for you to put this one in your diary…or, if you're a normal person (not me), pre-order it, I guess!

Anyway, this is a big read, all 520 pages of it and a debut novel from Jane Corry. 

Lily is a twenty-something year old lawyer, who we meet on her first day of married life to Ed, a graphic designer who secretly wants to pack it all in to be a freelance artist. It's a pretty recognisable scene; husband and wife, hurriedly downing bowls of cereal as they get ready for their respective days ahead. This first page actually really pulled me in, straight away; as Lily narrates her fears for their burgeoning marriage, looking back on their honeymoon and also worrying about the work day ahead, she describes their tiny Clapham apartment where she has to keep her one tube of rimmel foundation in the kitchen drawer due to lack of space. 

It sounds frivolous but I knew I was on board with her from there on in.

 While it starts as a normal enough morning, Lily is on her way to a prsion to meet her first criminal law client who wants to appeal his sentence for murdering his girlfriend. That one day changes both Lily's life and all of those she comes into contact with. 

We're brought on a completely different path in the next chapter where we meet Lily and Ed's next door neighbour, an Italian child called Carla and her mother, Francesca. Carla becomes a second narrator, taking us with her on her extremely grim schooldays and her home life where her mother is making ends meet by seeing a married man. I thought the double narration was effective and it meant that the characters were well developed so that I felt like I knew them and could understand (if not always appreciate) their motives. 

The book cleverly discusses elements of fate, revenge, and how inter-connected we all really are. 

It's worth noting that I had literally no idea where the story was going- I was happy to go along with it but every so often did that book-sleuth thing in my head where I tried to figure out what could possibly happen, to no avail! 

I thought My Husband's Wife was very clever, all-consuming and gripping from the start. I'd definitely recommend this for a holiday read this year!

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Iceland; My Top Ten Things To Do!

In April we ticked off a major item in our bucket list; a trip to Iceland. Because it's such a unique and beautiful country, it's a good idea to plan in advance what you want to do. It's lucky for me then that I'm married to the world's biggest planner because we literally saw everything there is to be seen.

I'm limiting this to my top ten with some tips at the end for brevity's sake; otherwise we'd be here all year!

Reykjavik

The Blue Lagoon

We were concerned before we went to the Blue Lagoon that it would be a tourist trap but we really loved it. It's a geothermal spa and is considered one of the 25 wonders of the world. You should pre-book tickets to save disappointment and there's four options; standard, comfort, premium and luxury. We went for the comfort package which included entrance to the lagoon, a silica mud mask while you relax in the water, a free drink of your choice, an algae face mask and a towel when you get out. I can honestly say it was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable experiences ever. Sipping Prosecco while wearing a cleansing mask followed by a moisturising mask and all the time floating about in lovely warm, soothing water is the very best. It's worth every penny. We felt so refreshed after it (except that himself's shoes were stolen in the changing rooms but that's another story). The Comfort package is €65 each. 

Reykjavik Cathedral

This is a must see. Obviously the building itself is beautiful but inside, it's so peaceful and sparsely decorated. No gilding the lily for Iceland, that's for sure! Entry is free but you can pay €6 to get the lift to the top where you can see stunning views of all of Reykjavik (that's the photo at the very start).

Walk around Reykjavik

I always say that the best way to get to know a city is to walk around and see it from ground level. Reykjavik isn't huge either so you'll get a feel for the place pretty quickly. There's lots of tourist shops to pick up gifts for home but they are all quite pricey! There's also lots of very cute and interesting little clothes/homeware spots and plenty of quirky coffee places etc. It's a very colourful, lively city.

Harpa Building

The Harpa is near the docklands in Reykjavik and is a concert hall/conference centre. It's an architecturally stunning building and is more than a little surreal from the inside looking out. You can pay for a tour of the building which we didn't do but we did pay in to a David Bowie photography exhibition, which was very cool. I think Bowie would've been happy to have his portrait hanging in such a bizarrely beautiful building. 

The Northern Lights

I don't have a photo of this for one very good reason- we didn't bring the correct lens for the camera so our trusty Canon couldn't actually pick up the Lights, which is really annoying. But yes, they are beautiful. We actually saw them on our first night there, which was super handy because it meant we didn't have to stay up any other night after that in the cold! I know there are tours that will bring you out in the hopes of seeing them but I can imagine that would be costly and has a strong risk of being unsuccessful. We had rented a car so were quite free from that perspective. It is kind of the quintessential thing to do/see while you're in Iceland but it's a good idea to go into it without getting all your hopes up! Tips below on how to catch them!

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

Yeah, that's right, giant blocks of ice cracking and breaking away from each other on the lagoon, then floating out to sea. The bottom photo is of more blocks of ice that were washed up onto the beach. It was surprisingly warm that day so we were just wandering around beside all this ice but sweltering in our fleeces! We could've spent all day there, it was such a striking place.

Black Sand Beach, Vik.

I think the photos speak for themselves, but to emphasise it; I haven't used a filter, it's actually that monochromatic in real life. Black and white everywhere as far as the eye can see. Again, surreally beautiful. Like so many places in Iceland, we were in awe. 

Gulfoss Waterfall

Iceland is well known for its impressive waterfalls but I'm including this particular one because it's often mentioned alongside Niagara for it's scale. It's certainly worth a visit but the wind was bitingly cold that day so I didn't get too close! Beautiful though.

Thingvellir National Park

If you're into your history and like to know the roots of the places you visit, a trip to Thingvellir National Park is the place for you. This is where the first Icelandic parliament was originally founded in 930 and remained up til 1798. That big ridge of rock you can see there is the tectonic plate boundaries of the mid Atlantic ridge. So…not something you see very day. We walked the full park and there's plenty to see as you go around, lots of photo opportunities!

Geysir Hot Springs

This is more of the geothermal water that Iceland is famous for. Deep down in the geysir, the water temperature is 125 degrees Celsius so you can imagine the pressure form all of that seriously boiling water- it's not gonna stay down there for long. Obviously stay well back and enjoy it from a safe distance! It goes off every few minutes to much hand clapping from surrounding tourists, which is understandable because it is very impressive!

Top tips!

• Be prepared for how expensive everything is. Having been to Norway before, we expected similar pricing and so we weren't surprised to see the locals buying their alcohol in the duty free when we landed, as we had seen the same in Oslo. We didn't pick up anything in the airport but it's not a bad idea to do so. We ended up stopping off at a supermarket for some craft beers and a bottle of wine that was much the same price as the airport so it hardly makes that much difference. You'll really notice the price hike when ordering a beer or a glass of wine in a restaurant, however so we ended up mostly not drinking with our meals. If you can, it's a good idea to pack a lunch for a day out and have plenty of snacks like fresh fruit with you- all available in the supermarkets, of course. Otherwise you end up eating a lot of junk food.
• Outside of Reykjavik, I could not find a decent cup of coffee for love nor money. I chanced one of the coffee machines that are at regular stops but it was vile. Save your cash and keep the memory of what coffee is supposed to be like in your mind (I'm only half joking there to be honest). Below is the delicious cup I had in Reykjavik. That cookie was good too..

• Food wise, you'll find that fish and lamb dishes tend to be the specialities. I don't eat lamb but himself enjoyed all the lamb that he tried while I revelled in big hearty bowls of fish soup after being out in the biting winds. The fish soup is kind of like a chowder, and I also had an amazing fish gratin that I'm still thinking about…We were advised by an Icelandic person not to eat whale- it's often listed on menus as a speciality but the locals frown upon it and would never eat it themselves, it's just a gimmick for tourists (a gimmick that involves killing whales). 

• We stayed in Skuggi Hotel in Reykjavik which was pretty reasonably priced, nicely decorated with friendly staff and it was centrally located but there's always Airbnb if you'd prefer your own space. When we checked in we got a booklet of discount vouchers which meant that I got 30% off my Icelandic woollen jumper! Score!

• So, the Northern Lights. You're more likely to see them at the start and at the end of the year. They're generally visible up until May but not after that so plan your dates accordingly. We went in April so I think we were just lucky really. You need a clear, dark sky and the locals should be able to tell you whereabouts they normally appear. Wrap up super warm (layers are your friend! I'm going to do a separate post on what to pack) and for the love of god, bring the right camera lens! There's also an online site that provides regular updates on the weather changes in Iceland (of which there are many) and that will give a better idea of your chances of seeing them. 
• If you're renting a car, be aware of potential add ons to the insurance when you arrive to collect it. When we got there they freaked us out completely about driving conditions- the risk of sand storms/grit storms/super strong winds that can pull your car door off etc. Basically, just drive carefully and keep an eye on that weather site I've linked in the previous bullet point.

And a waterfall rainbow for good measure!

Have you been to Iceland?

Any plans to go?

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