Want To Come to a Party With Me?

Are you free on Wednesday the 8th of December? Want to come to a great shopping evening at Harvey Nichols with the Sunday Times Style Magazine? Free cocktails and 20% of fashion and 10% of beauty. And I'll be there doing some party makeup looks. Pass this link on, the more the merrier....

There's another great reason why you should come...

I will be launching my new partnership with Harvey Nichols on the evening and I'm pretty excited about it! I will now be available in a beautiful private suite in the store for one on one makeup lessons where I will pick the best products for you from all the store has to offer and teach you how to use them to best effect. It is a two hour personal beauty shopping experience and it is only offered by me in Harvey Nichols. You cannot get this service in any other department store.

It's a great way to get access to an experienced professional makeup artist who is only focussed on you. I will edit your current makeup collection and advise you on what to buy to create the looks I show you. I work with your budget and your personal taste to design your new looks and update your makeup collection.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by all the brands facing you when you walk into a department store, here is your solution. Come and see me...we'll have such fun!

P.S. It's a pretty cool Christmas present and gift vouchers will be available from Harvey Nichols.

Get in Line

This is my new toy; La Ligne de Chanel. It is an old fashioned cake eye liner from the revered cosmetic House of Chanel. With super makeup artist Peter Phillips at the helm, Chanel has become so much more fashion forward, with it's seasonal nail polishes rapidly becoming collectors items and this year's Rouge Coco lipsticks out-performing most other lipstick brands; it seems we would all like a little piece of Chanel. Particularly when our dreams of owning a quilted bag or classic boucle jacket have been shattered by our new prudent shopping habits, we can at least take some of the brand's glamour home in a black polished compact with the intertwined C's.

There is nothing more glamorous than a classic, deep black eye line and this product is the prefect way to achieve it. The compact contains the tools you need and by dipping your brush in water and then into the inky palette you can easily create a gorgeous line. (Aim as close to the upper lashes as possible to keep the line tight) . There is a dark sparkly side to complement the deeper tone and I find that it's great when you add a bit on top of the line you have just drawn for extra shimmer. You can also use it as a shadow all over the lid.

Wouldn't it make a nice stocking filler? It's time to start with the hints ladies!

Toasty

I love checking out the new seasonal campaigns from Toast...their Christmas images are always so evocative and romantic.

I really want this gold paper bunting for my house...

Sweet, old-school hot water bottle covers...

I just like this shot - no real reason!

Tables and Chairs

Just saw this fab online interiors site called Rue. I like the grey walls and metallic features in the room above.

Nice Autumnal spread...

Cute floral chairs...

Lovely curved lines and studding on these great chairs...

Brrrrr

Well, Winter is well and truly here my friends! We are in the biggest deep freeze we have seen for years and I am loving it! We live on the side of a beautiful hill right beside the sea and it's like a proper winter wonderland. These amazing pictures were taken yesterday, just 5 minutes from our house.

It's pretty unusual to see dolphins in Ireland but these three have taken to our local shore and are much loved by us all...

Creamy Smooth

Oh my word, Laura Mercier's new Creme Smooth foundation is just lovely. I mean, really lovely. I don't usually lean towards Laura for foundations apart from her tinted moisturisers, which are very good indeed. I find her original foundations to be a bit too opaque for my taste for sheerer things. But I tried this in Space NK in Harvey Nichols the other day and I will be going back for more. For both myself and my makeup kit. It is creamy and luxurious with a very good coverage that stays smooth and soft with no caking whatsoever. It leaves a polished and groomed look to the skin which is almost mannequin-like. Bear in mind that a little goes a very long way, so just use a tiny amount and buff it lightly over your face, building up layers where you feel you need it. It's quite a grown up foundation with a very grown up price point at €60, but in Laura Mercier HQ they say that one pot should last you two years if you use it correctly. So going by their projections, it's actually a budget foundation at not even one cent per application! (I'm somewhat dubious of this claim, but time will tell!)

Rose Gold

It was Victoria Beckham's shoes that got me thinking about rose gold and what a beautiful tone it is. Brian Atwood designed these shoes for her latest collection after she was inspired by her rose gold Rolex. It's such an old fashioned tone and it reminds me of my granny's old wedding ring, but look how current it is now.

The shoes. The beautiful shoes.

The perfect dress colour palette to combine with rose gold details...romantic and beautiful.

Flesh tones and rose gold...a match made in sartorial Heaven.

The Rose Gold eye shadow pigment by MAC. This is stunning when swept over the eye lid for a soft burnished glow. The rose undertones are so flattering on all skin tones.

This is YSL's latest limited highlighting powder; Palette Collector Pour Le Teint which is a soft approach to wearing rose gold. It's gorgeous if lightly dusted all over the face for a winter pick me up or pressed on to the cheek bones to add a light and lift.

Try some Rose Gold somewhere in your look this winter, it's softer and less obvious than bright, yellow-y golds. And much classier...

I Fell In Love Today

...with this Acqualumiere lip gloss by Chanel. It is shade 75, and it is the most gorgeous orange based red tone with a sheer consistency yet with enough coverage to look like a decent red lip, yet not be a full-on red lip. You got me?

Anyway, I fell hard for it and it will be my party season failsafe this year.

Nothing else to say really, except I think it is love!

Paris Perfect

French women...they are more chic than any other nation. By miles.

How incredible is this bicycle lady!

I love how elegant this woman is...check out her electric orange nail polish to balance her classic look. Love her!

(images from here )

Saving Grace for Skin

I have been searching for a skin saviour for recent months. For reasons unknown, I have developed what is know as 'hand dermatitis'. Yep, sounds awful and is awful. In fairness, it merely equates to very dry skin on my hands, but the constant washing and baby wiping them is pure torture to my lipid barrier and my hands are screaming out for relief but can't tolerate anything...even water stings at the moment and causes tiny little blisters to erupt. It's Hand Hell.

I've been trying to find a soothing balm to help. The dermatologist I saw recommended Neutrogena non-scented hand cream which he told me to apply 15 (!) times per day, but even that stung like crazy. So did Aveeno, E45, Elave, Allergenics...you name it; I tried it.

I finally got around to trying the new and much lauded cream from La Roche Posay called Lipikar AP with added 'anti-scratching' technology. It worked! It took a few days to take down the flare up I was experiencing last week, but it did and now my hands look normal. It hasn't healed the condition as I can still feel it and the little blisters have been popping up from time to time but they are so much better. Almost un-recognisably better in fact.

Here's the science bit...

Lipikar Baume AP offers an anti-scratch efficacy which breaks the vicious spiral of itching thanks to the addition of a new active ingredient, a high concentration of Niacinamide 4%. Niacinamide stimulates skin's natural defences against irritating factors. It helps to re-build the cutaneous barrier and thereby limits the penetration of irritants and curbs the release of histamines.

Active Ingredients - Lipikar Baume AP boasts a fragrance-free & paraben-free ultra-penetrating texture with the ability to replenish lipids in the most severely dry skin in record time and contains high concentrations of specially selected active ingredients. Lipikar Baume AP contains 20% Shea butter, a reference dermatological active ingredient to restore skin comfort 10% Glycerin to hydrate the skin, 5% Canola oil proven to be naturally resistant to oxidation and anti-inflammatory, and 1% Glycine which is particularly soothing. Lipikar Baume AP also contains La Roche-Posay Thermal Spa water which has been dermatologically proven to be anti-free radical, anti-irritant, healing, soothing and decongesting

The winner of the Friday Freebie is Ria... email me!

The Friday Freebie

I'm a bit low maintenance when it come to my hair, perhaps when I shouldn't be. I fear it's a bizarre hair styling laziness that I suffer from. I know, however, that I need to take more care in order for my locks to look good and less parched from all the blowdrying and central heating. So I enlisted the help of this Take The Heat leave in cream from Aussie. It's a light cream that you massage into damp hair before you blow dry. You may be familiar with these type of creams and I have tried (and abandoned) a few over the years myself, but I liked this one. It's texture is light, so you know it won't weigh your hair down. It protects hair from heat, tames frizz and genuinely gives a smoother, more glossy sheen. I have added it to my non-existent hair styling regime. Who knows what I may use next. Mousse, gel, sprays...a whole new hair world awaits!

I have one of these wonder creams to give away to one of you lucky lovelies. So leave me a comment below and lustrous locks could be yours...

Happy Weekend my dears!

*pssst.....just found out that there is 20% off in Space NK at Harvey Nichols this weekend! See you there!*

Bakeri

I saw this gorgeous little village bakery over on Sunday Suppers and now I want to go there. Very badly!

It looks like such a lovely little place.

Love the old school weighing scales...

Pretty pastries.

Loose flowers in jugs...gets me everytime.

I could happily while away a few hours in Bakeri with some lattes, pain au chocolat and Vogue magazine!

Dear Santa...

I have been a very good girl this year...

and when I saw this dress on this gorgeous website, my heart sang a little...

Please can I put this on the top of my Christmas wish list?

I promise to leave out some Guinness and mince pies for you and some carrots for Rudolph...

Thank you Santa,

lot's of love,

Ellie x

Great Big Bag

Yes, small bags are on trend but big bags just work. This gorgeous one from Zara would serve me so well. It could probably contain several nappies, baby wipes, a few lipsticks and random bottles of foundations, my wallet, my phone, my diary, some tissues, old receipts, a pair of Lu's tights and some mini boxes of raisins and and still look good!

(yes, you guessed it; that list is what my current bag contains!)

Second Skin

I've always been a sucker for anything that promises a 'skin like' finish. I'm rarely that impressed though as so many end up looking just too makeup-y. But, I've found the answer and it's a budget superstar too. It's the Second Skin Foundation by Max Factor. I've been wearing it every day for the past two weeks to really get the measure of it and I love it. It glides on smoothly and is light in texture yet actually has a decent level of coverage. A light dusting of powder keeps it in place for the full day. It contains some magic little illumination ingredients so my skin looks full of life, so much so that my Mum thought I looked great and had some sleep (not the case due to Lu's 5.30am starts!). I showed it to some of the lovely ladies on my makeup course yesterday and they loved it too. It's well worth a look and it's great price point make it a winner in my book.

Blue Monday

Oh dear, it's all economic doom and gloom in Ireland today. The radio stations are full of people whining and lamenting Ireland's glory days of materialistic excess and the fallout we are now experiencing. Now, I'm not getting on my soap box about this as there is no doubt we are in trouble; we're broke and we're losing our young people to other shores again. What's most infuriating is that it's not our fault.

However, my feeling is that it'll never turn around without an injection of positivity. Call me naive but I don't care. Good feelings are contagious....spread it around.

Tell someone a stupid joke! Go on, I dare you....

Exclusively Eilis

10th collection from Eilis Boyle on Vimeo.

I'm so thrilled to be part of this online exclusive. Today at 6pm this piece of fashion dreaminess goes live on a select few blogs to celebrate the 10th collection by wonderful designer Eilis Boyle. Enjoy a few minutes of beautiful escapism from one of Irish fashion's true visionaries...

Congratulations to Eilis on this milestone collection.

Style Crush

Lauren Santo Domingo. One of the contributing editors of US Vogue. She has a style to die for and her lifestyle is pretty envy-inducing too by all accounts. She married a billionaire and wore a dress that had many levels. In that it started out huge and, dare I say, meringue- like, but she shed layer after layer throughout the day until she ended up with a mini length, off the shoulder-cocktail dress for partying in! Don't believe me? Google it...

I love her look; Classics with a fashion edge...

Love this dress she wore to the Met Ball. It's such a hard colour to pull off but she does - with aplomb.

She has a kind of Christy Turlington thing going on, doesn't she!

I think this is a great look and I'd like every piece of it...

She rocks a trench with over the knee leather boots - a perfect mix of trash and class!

Best Brogues

Some of you may remember that I have previously waxed lyrical about my love of brogues. Well, that passion is still going strong this winter! I've just come across these softly distressed leather beauties by N.D.C on Net-a- Porter and I love, love, love them. Can my pre-Christmas budget stretch to them I wonder? The answer, I fear, is a big NO, but I'll look at them daily on the site and dream.

Stella's Kids

As well as recently giving birth to her fourth child, Stella McCartney has also launched her latest kids collection for GAP. I love the grey jeans and cool jumpers and the yellow wellies are so cute... I have to get some for Lu!