The Joy of Bubbles

These bubbles are in honour of my little Lulu! My Mum recently introduced her to them and she squeals with sheer delight when we blow them over her head...

She chases them around trying to catch them and they inevitably pop when she reaches them much to her amazement.

But her enthusiasm never wanes. Every time the bottle is brought out she is happy beyond measure. Her sense of wonder delights me daily...

I hope you have a great bank holiday weekend full of bubbles and happy squeals!

See you on the other side my dears.

(beautiful bubble pics via cup of jo)

The Friday Freebie

I have a treat for you beautiful creatures!

I have a lovely little red brush set to give away to one of you. It contains 6 useful brushes in a mini zip case. Perfect for prettifying up your makeup bag...

You know what to do; leave me a comment below and one of you will be chosen at random. Check back on Monday to see who is the winner!

Good Luck!

My New Budget Look

Yesterday afternoon I did one of my favourite things; I pottered around my local chemist trying out colour combinations and I bought these three things which I am really happy with.

The velvet touch lip liners by Danish brand GOSH are wonderful...I have never used them before and I will now be a loyal fan. The texture is fantastic; smooth, silky and full of colour. I bought Nougat Crisp which is a deep tea rose colour.

I then moved to Bourjois which is a range that I rate quite highly for budget beauty...it's not a heavy hitter in all it's categories but the colour ranges are strong and certainly give value for money. You can stock up quite a decent collection for relatively low cost which is music to all our ears these days right? I bought the 3D lip gloss in shade 42 which complements my new lip liner perfectly!

Sure I couldn't just leave it there now could I? I had to complete my new lip look with a nail polish to match! On trying this Bourjois shade called Beige Glamour I initially thought it was a bit of a strange colour...it's an unusual deep nude-y mauve and quite like the shade my very vintage piano teacher used to wear!

I tried some on my nail and put it down but after I looked around some more I realised that it is a great shade and it actually felt quite contemporary so I snapped it up. It's a departure for me as I normally wear pale or red polishes but I love this now... it'll be fantastic with all the greys, nudes and camel tones that I'll be inputting into my winter wardrobe ( I hope!)

A Lovely Wedding

Look at how gorgeous, cool and fun this wedding looks! This couple, Max and Margaux, have certainly got style. Look at her skirt and top ensemble; it's so chic.

Great photography. Such a lovely expression in her eyes...

Happy People (and fabulous top!)

I love the hazy look to the shots...

Cute... (she changed her dress for the evening)

Great cake and toffee apples! cool idea...

Don't you wish you were a guest!

(photography by our labor of love via once wed)

Stella's Style

Stella McCartney is a classy woman and her Autumn /Winter 2010 collection proves it. I love the pared down elegance and polish of these looks. The colour palette of neutral blacks and greys with pops of fuchsia and orange makes my heart sing!

Stripes and perfect black trousers...

This look embodies Chic...

Love the line and swing of the coat...

Grey with nude. Try it? Yes I will...

Rock Chick all grown up...

I love the nude sheer overlay...this was quite a theme on the runways (the model is far too thin though)

Love this look...Sheer sophistication

(images via style.com)

Nailing it

I love Essie polishes. I think they are the best out there and I get excited about their new shade releases each season...if you're not in a position to pre-order the seasonal fashion collections (who can?!) you can perhaps afford to sate your shopping hunger pangs with a new wardrobe of on-trend nail colour.

I'm wearing this shade at the moment; Playa del Platinum. I love the admittedly slightly odd trend for grey nails at the moment, and this pale, greyish sliver is gorgeous. It's great with tanned hands and a load of silver bangles stacked up your wrist.

You can get it here

Introducing Beauty

Ooooh...when I saw these I got quite excited! Aren't they divine? I love the new heel shape, and the lack of platform (so sick of platforms everywhere). The ostrich leather bow on the toe is cute and classic. No wonder they are called 'Beauty'...by Louis Vuitton for Autumn /Winter 2010.

Good work LV

Budget Beautifier

I ask a lot from a foundation product; I expect it to have a decent coverage but not too much. I want natural skin tones, not an orange hue. I want a glow not a matte mask or a glittery oil slick. I want it to look like my skin but better, and I don't want it too cost too much. So basically I want a lot for a little!

However, I don't feel I am being unreasonable, of course not...we all want the same things right?

So finally I feel that the cosmetic houses are listening as there are quite a few nice options out there to choose from....

Last week I was wearing the Second Skin foundation from Max Factor for a few days and I liked it a lot. At first I thought it may be too sheer to have any effect whatsoever. They say it 'provides coverage that is almost undetectable' ...well what good is undetectable? I would like to see the improvement in my skin thanks very much, not so slap it on and wonder if it's having any tangible result.

But it is good. It is light in coverage similar to a tinted moisturiser formula but it has a bit more magic than that; it adds soft luminescence to the skin and it was very flattering...I genuinely felt as though my skin looked younger and more hydrated. Both of which are welcome benefits believe me!

I was very happy with this budget star, it fulfilled all my expectations.

(High maintenance, moi?)

Todays Dream House

Today I am living here in my imagination! I think the Yoshitomo Nara prints on the wall are great, I love a mix of prints and actual artwork on walls. The more mix and match the better I feel...

How great is this kitchen... I know it's all very white but there's so much room! Imagine the parties that could be had here with the room full of music, food and friends (and lot's of wine of course)

Neon & Nude

Yes Please...

Dior Pumps it Up

My lashes really don't know what's hit them... If they were to ask I would tell them that many, many layers of various mascaras are what is hitting them and on a pretty regular basis these days! I'm trialling my way through lot's of tubes to find my new favourites. Unfortunately a lot of them are pretty rubbish; I expect a lot from my mascara and I'll only tell you about the really worthy offerings.

This week I've been wearing Extase by Dior which promises 'flash pumping in record time' ...whatever that is supposed to mean!

I've found it to be a nice one but I still prefer the original DiorShow to be honest. The brush with Extase has peaks and valleys on it which I presume are supposed to load up the volume at points along your lashline...a little unnecessary I think, but it's nice all the same. It is volumising and very dark, so it does the job and That Is All.

Don't expect wonders but certainly give it a try.

The Only Way Is Up

I love stairways. I don't think I could live in a bungalow; I like the idea of retreating upstairs away from the inevitable hullabaloo of life downstairs! They also provide a backdrop for interesting design details and your own personal gallery space. Where else can you hang the old family pics or artwork that doesn't quite work in the living room?

I love the feature wallpaper above, the pale wood and the great contemporary banisters...

Is this the Stairway to Heaven?

I adore this stripy carpet and red wall hanging on the landing...I want this house.

Most people put dark tones on the bottom, but I like the reverse. This chocolate tone is gorgeous...warm and welcoming.

(images from here)

Celebration!

Happy Monday my dears! Did you have a good weekend? I had a great one... I worked with some gorgeous brides on Saturday and met lot's of lovely people at our makeup course yesterday. In the midst of all that action, we got some great news...Ivan is joining the kitchen at our favourite restaurant Coppinger Row. It's been a long and winding road as they say, but he's made it...his transformation to professional chef is complete! It's a scary and amazing thing to change your life so totally at our age and with a brand new baby but it's done and I'm proud of him.

'Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next...delicious ambiguity!' - Gilda Radner.

Dear Future, let's be havin' ya!

(image via happenstance)

A Thought...

Yesterday at the Prudence Beauty Awards judging day we spoke a lot about anti-aging products and the fervour with which women pursue and obsess about the younger looking version of themselves. All the time this quote was ringing through my head! To me age is irrelevant...you look as good as you feel and behave.... Just a thought!

Have a great weekend, see you on the other side!

Beauty Awards

My dears, I apologise for the lack of usual posts today... I spent the day away from my computer and surrounded by other skin and makeup experts as we judged the Prudence Magazine Beauty Awards 2010! I had a great time; it was a fun and informative day...I love listening to other people in the beauty industry as they knowledgeably discussed their various categories. I learned so much and I'm going to embark on a brand new skincare regime now that I'm quite excited about. I've so many tips and new product recommendations for you but my lips are sealed until the awards are published in the September issue! In the meantime I have the awards night to look forward to at the end of August...I love my job sometimes!

Thank you Prudence and the fabulous Kirstie from Beaut.ie for a great day!

The Essential Gloss

This is Viva Glam V by MAC. It is one of the best lip gloss shades ever made; gorgeous on blondes, brunettes, redheads and silver foxes! I can't live without it and hope I never have to...if MAC ever discontinue it, there will be marches to parliament if I have anything to do with it!

Grey-t Wedding

Pardon the awful title, but I feel like celebrating the colour grey today! I have always loved grey..I know it's a bit of a non- colour but it's an excellent backdrop to other pops of brightness especially when it comes to wedding colour palettes...

So, I was inspired to see these pretty cool grey bridesmaids dresses... they complement all skin tones and the yellow flowers look fantastic against them. I have to admit I'm growing tired of all the purple and pink bridesmaids that I see. These dresses hit the mark for me (love the suede mustard shoes too!)

A very cool wedding...

(images via once wed)

Make it Mauve

I love this mauve Mouret dress on Carmen Kass in July's Vogue....it's a gorgeous colour and quite uncommon and therefore totally cool in my eyes!

(image via definitely golden)

Best Sandcastle...

...Ever!

I Shadow

I've been trying out these Revlon shadows this week and I like them a lot and I like the price even more. Four quality colours for €11! They are quite sheer but very smooth and make for excellent daytime eyes. If you're looking for more intensity, try their matte single shadows which are some of the best I've tried in years; dark yet smooth and easy to blend.

Back to the quad though; I love the amount of options you have from super light to more smokey and sexy by layering them all on top of each other. Have a play with them, you really can't go wrong. The colours I've been wearing are Coffee Bean which is a lovely neutral warm colour way...

Layers of Tulle

I've fallen for this romantic wedding dress by the wonderful Irish designer Eilis Boyle. I love the layers of tulle and flower corsage details. So, so pretty and refreshingly different...

Her lovely designs are available from the equally fabulous Bow Boutique in the the Powerscourt Townhouse which is a treasure trove of beautiful things...

Long Wear Wonder

We're all on a hunt for long wearing eye shadows, right? There's nothing worse than carefully blending your shadows only to look in the mirror an hour later and they are nowhere to be seen! Typically, cream or liquid shadows have been the worst for staying power so I'm always happy when I find one that delivers.

These little pots of pretty are in the 'Yes Ma'am, we'll deliver' category for sure! They are the Masterpiece Colour Precision Eyeshadow by Max Factor and yesterday I wore them all day and all the way to bed time without them budging at all.

Smooth them on like a lip gloss using the felt applicator and blend the edges with your finger. If you find that a clump comes out, just use your finger to apply it completely. They have a very nice level of shimmer that isn't glittery (ugh) and they come in six useful shades. I tried the Icicle Rose, (second from the left above) which is a very pale, creamy pink. It doesn't sound nice but it brightened up my eyes a treat. I lined my lashes with a thin line of soft grey kohl and loaded on the new lengthening mascara from Clinique and I'm not going to call it a masterpiece, but I was happy...

Throw Some Shimmer On Me

I think these shimmery, sequined pieces are gorgeous and they work so well with the more casual features like the grey cardigan above and tan leather belt and shoes below. Simple makeup and tousled hair complete the sophistication. These ladies got it goin' on!

My Dress Divine

I love picking through the couture collections every season and imagining the ones I would buy if I were a multi-gazillionaire! This is my pick from J. Mendel...

I'm loving the warm oranges and burnt coppers that graduate into nudes. They are tones that haven't been used for ages and they look really fresh now...

I adore this dress; the fabric and cut are stunning...

So sassy yet extremely elegant...

Metallic draping...divine

I love midnight blue as an alternative to the ubiquitous black, black, black...

Dear Monsieur Mendel, please process my order for the above dresses ( I wish!)

(images from here)