Lovely Lady Lunch at the Shelbourne Hotel

Yesterday I went along to The Shelbourne Hotel for lunch to celebrate the launch of the newest offering from Cocoa Brown, their Night and Day Tan. It's always so nice to catch up with old faces and get to meet lovely new bloggers too. We enjoyed a gorgeous three course dinner, having never been to The Shelbourne Hotel before I'll definitely be going back again. It was the perfect spot to hold a launch and I had such a brilliant time. The dinner was so yummy, I opted for the celeriac soup for starters and a lovely risotto for my main. I held off getting desert though as I'm still sticking to my Slimming World program. I did take a sneaky picture of Sarah's chocolate fondant to show you guys, doesn't it look scrumptious?

 The lovely Ellie & Ali

I'm obsessed with the original Cocoa Brown 1HR Tan so I was super excited to learn more about their new offering. I'm not the biggest tan lover, I always end up ridiculously orange which is certainly not the look I want to go for. However this never happened with the original tan I was left with a gorgeous natural glow after one hour which is exactly what I desired. The new tan is something different, applied before a night out you get a dark tan when watched off the next day your left with a natural healthy glow. I think this sounds perfect for any girl like myself who is heading to work the next day after a night out and doesn't want a dark tan from the night before. I haven't put this to the test yet but I'll be putting up a post soon to let you know my thoughts.After being blown away with the 1HR Tan I'm really looking forward to giving the new one a try. Marissa herself is so enthusiastic about her latest product that I know it's going to be a good one. Again the packaging just like the original is beautiful, something I know I'll be displaying on my shelve in my bedroom. Being a student it's great to find a tan that's good quality but also affordable at €7.99 which you can't go wrong with in my book. The new addition will be launching in stores in the next 2 weeks so definitely keep your eyes peeled for it. I just want to thank Marissa and Sarah for such a lovely launch, it was so nice to have so many bloggers sitting around the one table. I have so many new ones to check out now.

Have you tried Cocoa Brown's 1HR Tan? Are you looking forward to trying the new addition to the range?

Laura<3

Flora Mini Marathon Update #1

If you read my last Slimming World update you'll probably already know that I've decided to take part in the Flora Women's Mini Marathon in June. It will be my first so of course I'm a little nervous. Both my Mum and Sister have taken part in previous years, they both really enjoyed the experience and said it was so much fun. I've opted to jog the marathon which is huge for me, it's 10km which is a lot so I hope I'm cut out for it. This time last year I couldn't have even imagined walking it let alone jog it. I just hope we have good weather on the day, it can be so unpredictable in Ireland I wouldn't be surprised if it rained.

I've started jogging daily with one of my work buddies with one of my work buddies Alison, who is also taking part in the Marathon with me. I'm not going to lie for someone who isn't the fittest person out there it has been difficult so far. I've been training for nearly two weeks now but I know I have so much more work to do. I feel jogging has really helped out how I'm doing at Slimming World each week too. I'm not going to give up though as at this stage I'm determined to jog it, for me it would be such a huge accomplishment and would be the cherry on top of the wonderful year I've had. I have just about 40 days (countdown has officially started) to train for the marathon, so I'm trying to put every free second I have into it which is extremely hard with studying for college exams and work. I believe that I can do it though. I'm collecting my race number at the end of the month at the Woman's Day show in the RDS which I'm looking forward to, I'm going to bring my Mum along with me on the day.

The charity that I've chosen to jog for is St Luke's Hospital. A close family member of mine passed away ten years ago from a terminal illness. She spent her last months being cared for in this hospice. I can't remember too much of this though time but I've been told how kind and nice the staff were. I'm hoping to raise a good sum for my chosen charity. I feel like I'd be helping more people get brilliant support during the hard times they face. I know I'll have a wonderful guardian angel on the day cheering me on.

Have you taken part in a Marathon? I'd love to hear your tips!

Laura<3

Benefit's Most Glamorous Nudes Ever Eyeshadow Kit

Benefit have been rolling out a lot of gorgeous palettes lately. The packaging like the brand itself is fun and eye-catching so you can't walk by a counter without being drawn to them. I'm loving their latest release, The World Famous Neutrals palettes. All three can be used to create gorgeous eye looks for day and night. I already own their Big Beautiful Eyes palette which I love. My Mum got it for me as a gift for my 21st birthday two years ago and it's still going strong. I find myself reaching for it quite regularly too as it's so simple to use. I do like how Benefit have brought some new updated neutral palettes into the mix.

 I was lucky enough to be given Eyenessa's Most Glamour Nudes Ever palette* at a recent Benefit event. I had my eyes on one of these for a while and was planning on getting one on payday so I was delighted when I won it during a quiz at the end of the night. To say I've been using this a lot is an understatement. Where do I even start with this palette? It literally has all you need to create a beautiful neutral eye look. If you're like me and like keeping things simple, there's a tip &tricks guide showing the perfect day and night look included in this kit. I love the selection of cream eyeshadows included, dare I say I may like these more than my much loved MAC paint pots. I know that's a pretty strong statement in itself. I love how the two creaseless cream eyeshadows are removable which makes them ideal for travelling, they're so tiny so they'll fit perfectly into any makeup bag. The shadows in the palette are more on the bronzy side of things which I love as they'll be perfect for the Summer months. I'm hoping we get the lovely weather to go with it very soon.

I know these palettes are a bit on the expensive side at €34.50 but in my opinion they are definitely worth the money for what you get. It probably wouldn't be a palette I'd cart around everyday, simply because I'd be afraid that it would get bashed around in my bag. When your finally finished with all the loveliness in the palettes, you can remove the tray and use it as a trinket box. This is exactly what I'll be doing with it as it looks so pretty sitting on my shelf. A nice little touch by Benefit that you'll see with the majority of their palettes and I love it. I already have my eye on the other two kits to choose from.Sure you can never have too many neutral eyeshadows if like me you use them all the time.

What do you think of the World Famous Neutrals Palettes? Which one do you have your eye on?

Laura<3

Slimming World Update #11

It's been nearly a week since my last blog post so I wanted to get another one up today. I though I'd come back to you all with a Slimming World update as I haven't done one in a while now. The reason for my absence from the blogosphere over the past week you may ask, I finished college!! It's technically my last ever class tonight and I'm beyond proud of myself for sticking out the whole year. My exams start in a month so I'm officially in study mode, everyone spare moment I have I basically read over all my lecture notes. I really enjoyed the course and who knows after a little break over the Summer I may go back again. I'll keep you guys posted on that one.

It's also been a pretty successful month for me in Slimming World. I lost a total off 3lbs over the past couple of weeks which I'm really happy about. I'm losing the weight gradually, a few pounds a week which is the best way to do it. In my last two updates I mentioned the gym and I have to put my hands up and admit it wasn't out for me. I know people enjoy going to the gym but in my case it's just not my sort of thing. However I have started jogging with one of the girls from work which I'm really enjoying. I wouldn't call myself a brilliant jogger yet, it's all just a bit of fun but I do put a lot of effort in. My next big goal is to jog the Women's Mini Marathon in June which for me would be such a big accomplishment! I feel like I've achieved so much over the past year so I definitely think anything is possible right now. I'm a pound and a half away from hitting a total weight loss of 6st 7lbs which is huge for me. I'm complete confident the next time I write an update I'll be over that milestone. I feel my target inching closer and closer, I can't wait to reach it.

Until my next Slimming World Update,

Laura<3

Boots & Disney Haul!

I've been trying to be good this month and save a little more than usual. I'm going to London in two months time, I haven't booked my flights yet so I have to get cracking on that. I did make a couple of small purchases in Boots as they had their fabulous 3 for 2 on, it would be rude not to in my opinion. I didn't go to crazy I bought things I knew I would use and some other bits that I'd heard a lot of good things about.

I picked up three Revlon products, two of their ColorStay Ultimate Suede lipsticks and a lip butter. From the Ultimate Suede range I got two of the darker shades available, Trendsetter and  Backstage. Not what I'd usually go for but I'm going to try and make them work. They have such a good range of shades to choose from, I seriously just wanted something different and out of my comfort zone. I've used these a couple of times already and boy they do not budge! On the other side of thing I picked up a really wearable lip butter shade, Juicy Papaya to fall back on if things don't work out with the Ultimate Suedes. It's a peachy colour that I know I can pull off.

I also picked up three Loreal skincare products that were on special. I'd never seen these before on my recent trips to Boots so I was intrigues to see what they were like. So far I've tried the cleansing oil and micellar solution. I'm not too keen on the latter but I'm absolutely loving the oil for removing my makeup at night. With my Boots Advantage Card points I picked up the new Garnier 5 Sec Prefect Blur Smoothing Perfecting Primer. This product has just launched over here during the week and I'm really excited to try it. I'm all for wearing a primer under my makeup as I definitely feel that it holds my makeup in place for much longer. I haven't heard much about this product yet so I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

I'm a bit of obsessed with Disney mugs, I have quite a lot of them. When I seen this OZ mug I couldn't leave it behind. Just look at it, it's amazing! If you haven't watched the movie already I'd recommend going to see it, James Franco is the leading man you seriously couldn't ask for more. I absolutely loved it, one of my favourite movies (after Les Miserables) so far this year. When I was at the till buying this mug the lovely sales assistant told me I could get a Finding Nemo towel for an additional €9.90 on promotion. How could I say no? It's another movie I love and the towel is super soft too! Sorry I didn't include it in the picture above, it's huge and I doubt I would of gotten a decent picture anyway.

Lastly I bought a book in Dubray Books. I haven't read many Jenny Colgan books so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into this. I love the cover art it's so pretty, I also like how there's lots of yummy recipes at the back of the book to enjoy. Who knows they may get featured in one of my future Baking Sundays posts.

Have you treated yourself to anything nice lately?

Laura<3

March Favourites

March definitely has been my least favourite month so far this year. Less than three months into 2013 I got news that kinda bummed me out. Towards the end of the month things turned themselves around but it's weird how you can be having the time of your life and then something can happen that shakes you to the core. My Mum usually tells me to look onwards and upwards which is exactly what I'm going to do. I have so many positives happening in my life at the moment, I don't want to dwell on the drama that happened in March too much.

Now onto the part of the month I love, the beauty favourites. I have quite a few to show you guys so lets get started!

MUA released their BB cream a while back and I only started using it over the past month or so. I'm not too keen on BB creams so I even surprised myself when I started using this one a lot over March. Compared to other BB creams I've tried MUA's All in One Beauty Balm* offers a bit more coverage whilst still being lighter than your average foundation. I use the shade light and it's the perfect match for my skin tone. The packaging is great too as it takes up little or no room in my makeup bag. For £3.00/€4ish you can't go wrong with this product, it's super affordable which is a plus for students like me.

Next up I have a product from Catrice, a brand that is super affordable and definitely worth having a look at if you come across it. I've been using their Camouflage Cream for over a month now and I've been really impressed with it. In a nut shell this is their drugstore version of a full coverage concealer. I bought the shade Ivory which is the lightest shade available, they don't have a big selection of shades which I think will be the only thing that people will find trouble with. I've been using this mostly on blemishes, it's definitely too heavy for my undereye area. This stays in place all day and I've had it over a month now and I haven't even made a dip in the product. Great considering this concealer retails for less than €4.

I have two favourites from US brands, Bath & Body Works and Tarte. We can't get either brand in Ireland so I was delighted when Chie sent me these as a part of my birthday gift. I've been using Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in Blissful practically everyday throughout March. It's a gorgeous wearable peachy shade that is perfect for everyday. I can't vouch that this blush last for 12 hours on the skin but it definitely does the job for me. I love the packaging too, it's so pretty! I'll definitely be picking up some more of these when I go to New York. My other stateside favourite is Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar Fragrance Mist. As you all know already I absolutely adore vanilla scented products so I knew without a doubt I'd love this. It's just a lovely all round sweet scent that I'm sure most people would love. The size of the fragrance mist is also perfect for my bag which is handy. The full sized bottle has already been added to my New York Shopping List.

A nail polish favourite for me this month is YSL's Rouge Expressioniste nail lacquer*. I do believe that this was a limited edition shade for Winter 2012 so I'm not too sure if you can still get your hands on this one. It's a beautiful dark vampy red shade which I personally love. I'd happily wear this all year round, it just looks so classy. Only one coat of this polish is needed so there's no messing around with this one. I adore this polish so I don't know what I'll do when I run out.

I'm forever trying new eye makeup removers, some for me aren't worth the hype at all. Clarins Instant Eye Makeup Remover* for me is worth every penny. I'm usually not too fussed with bi-phase makeup removers, unlike some this doesn't leave a oily mess around my eyes. This stuff even removes waterproof mascara and I don't find myself using to much product in the process either. Nothing bugs me more than when I buy a new eye makeup remover and it's gone in a week. In the long run I wouldn't mind spending more on a makeup remover if it means it lasts me that bit longer. I'll definitely be repurchasing this when I run out, while I'm at the counter I want to check out their new Summer collection too.

Last up is a haircare product from TreSemme. I use to always use this brand in my schools day but recently I haven't been giving it too much loving. With so many haircare products being released regularly sometimes it's easy to forget old favourites. I've been loving their new Platinum Strength Stay Soft Leave In over the last few weeks. The product claims to repair up to two years of damaged hair, I wouldn't go that far but this does leave my hair looking healthy and soft. Purple is my favourite colour so of course I love the packaging. The product smells really nice and fresh too. I may pick up some more products from this range the next time I'm at Boots.

What made it into your March Favourites?

Laura<3

Jotting down Blog Ideas!

I've always jotted down my blog ideas into a notebook. I don't know if it's just me but if I don't do this I usually tend to forget them completely. They just slip my mind, I blame the stresses of that current day. I can come up with ideas for certain post at any time of the day, even in work so I always carry a trusty notebook around in my handbag. Moving on I find that using a notebook helps me build up a post aswell as working out when I want to publish it. A lot of ideas end up on my blog straight away but others I hold on to for the perfect time. I'd be seriously lost without my notebook.

I would never spend a lot of money on notebooks as I don't think you have to, anyone standard one will do. One thing I do require is lined paper, I hate when a notebook is plain and blank as my writing automatically turns into a complete and utter mess. I wouldn't know where to begin reading it. This has always been the case so I tend to stick to good old lined paper. The best notebooks I've found in a while come from Penneys/Primark. They are really have a great homeware department, their range is so affordable. I would literally buy everything if I could. The selection I've pictured above were all only €1.50, I know bargain right? They are a pretty decent size too, they fit perfectly into my handbag. The covers are also really pretty, I love the cupcakes one, it's my favourite. I'm currently using it for college/blog stuff. I know it's a bit messy using one notebook for two things but I get over this issue pretty quickly by using post its to mark certain pages.

Do use notebooks to jot down ideas for your blog?

Laura<3

March Empties

It's time for another Empties post, I didn't finish up too many products this months but I like them all alot so I though I'd share them with you guys anyway. I can't believe we're four months into 2013 already, I don't know where the time goes. Saying that March went pretty slow for me. I had some major issues with college that I'm not going to get into but it left me pretty stressed out all the same. Thank god I only have another two weeks left of class. I'm not going to say that the year was enough for me as I do want to go back and do another course in September but I know I'll enjoy the long break over the Summer. March was also a  five week month meaning I only got paid last Friday since the end of February. I've never felt so broke in my entire life, shockingly I've been quite reserved in my spending since payday, I bought new clothes and a few bits from Boots (love their 3 for 2) but that's about it really. I'm trying to save for London and New York so I kinda need to start. Without further ado lets get cracking on with the empties.

I've gone through another bottle of Liz Earle's Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion. I use this stuff in two ways, as a refresher for my tired eyes in the morning and as a makeup remover to get rid of any mascara that stays lurking on my lashes. I get quite a while out of one bottle and for €13 it really doesn't break the bank. I'll certainly be heading to Wilde & Green to pick up a replacement very soon. Next up I have three shower gels to show you. I'm  a big fan of L'occitane's Almond Shower Oil, I got this particular one in a Christmas gift set. I think it's usually €30 to buy this particular size. Not really having the funds myself I doubt I'd fork out this amount of money on it. Don't get me wrong it's a lovely product and leaves my skin smelling amazing but it's a little bit on the pricey side of things for me at the moment. On the other hand a shower gel I'll definitely be repurchasing soon is Soap & Glory's Sugar Crush Body Wash. I'm pretty sure I featured this in a favourites post not too long ago. This stuff smells amazing like juicy sweet limes, I love it! It comes in at about €11 so it's definitely more affordable than the L'Occitane offering. If you like the scrub in this particular scent you'll love the shower gel too. It also comes in a body butter which I haven't actually used much yet, I'll have to search my room for it. My last shower gel is Winter Candy Apple from Bath & Body Works. This is a brand we can't get in Ireland but if we did I know all beauty lovers would be raiding the stores. I've loved every product that I've tried so far from their range and Winter Candy Apple is no exception. It smelled exactly like I though it would. I'm surprised it lasted so long to be honest, Chie sent this over to me in December as a Christmas gift and I really tried to make it last. This particular scent is only available at Christmas time so I'll definitely be stocking up when I go to New York in December. The last product I have to show you guys is a lip product from another American brand called Fresh. This is one of their tinted lip treatments in the shade Sugar Rose. I wouldn't say this beats Nuxes in the race to the best lip balm but I love the hint of colour that it left on my lips. I'll definitely be checking out their range of products when I hit up Sephora too.

Have you tried any of the products above?  What Fresh products should I check out when I'm in the States?

Laura<3