July Favourites!!

I can't believe August is already upon us, where did July go?  I was just talking to my brother yesterday about how it's the last month of the Summer holidays before he heads back to college which is crazy!! For me July will be remembered for the amazing weather we had here in Ireland and of course going to see Justin Timberlake in concert! We don't get the Sun a lot but when we do we never stop talking about it. For two weeks straight the sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky. Fast forward to the first week in August and already the clouds are back, I miss the nice weather already!  On a brighter note I'm heading to Spain with my family next month. It's the first holiday I've had with my familia for years, I have to admit I'm really excited. Sun, Sea and nice food for a week whats not to like?! The city we're staying in is close to Gilbratar so I'm looking forward to going there to do a bit of shopping of course. Before I start rambling on about my upcoming holiday to Spain, I better start with my favourites as I do have quite a lot to show you this month.

I love finding products that are simple and easy to use, Benefit's Creasless Eyeshadow in No Pressure! is definitely one of them. I picked this up a while ago in Brown Thomas with a gift card I had floating around my bag for an age. It's gorgeous taupe shade with a few specks of gold shimmer. In the mornings I've been applying this to my eyelid and blending it out to create a quick and easy smokey eye. For night I layer it up and use Mac's Embark in the crease. This certainly has been a great addition to my makeup collection as I've been getting a lot of use out of it, well worth the €22.50 that I paid. I absolutely adore the new Colour collection packaging, this product comes in a really pretty art deco cardboard box which I have kept myself. I already have my eye on another shade Bikini-tini that I heard Essiebutton rave about so I know I'll definitely like it.

A nail polish favourite from July has to be Butter London's Cake-Hole*. It's a gorgeous neon pink shade that brightens up any outfit, it pretty much hasn't left my nails all month. I've gotten so many comments this nail polish when I'm wearing it, Cake-Hole is definitely one of those shades that stand out (just look at the name). Only two coats of this is enough to achieve the finish that you can see in this photo here from a previous post. I guess you could get away with one but I'm so used to doing two by now.

When I was in London in June I did go a bit wild and bought a lot of beauty products, two of which have made it into this months favourites. First up is this Crown Brush makeup brush (C45) I picked up at IMATS. It's from their new Infinity line and I've been using it to apply my foundation. Excuse it's appearance, I didn't get a chance to clean it before I took these pictures. The brush is similar to the Real Techniques Buffing Brush but the bristles are tightly packed making it a little more denser. I did buy a couple of brushes from the Infinity line but the C45 is definitely my favourite.

 There has been whispers that a Victoria's Secret store is opening in Dublin Airport which I'm super excited about even though I know it will probably be tiny. When I was in London I knew there was one in the Westfield Shopping Centre beside my hotel in Stratford. Of course I ended up dragging Paddy and if you've already read my Haul you'll know I picked up a lot. One of the products that I bought that I've been loving this month is the Sparkling Citrus Lemon Escape Fragrance Mist (pictured below). This stuff smells amazing, it's a mixture of sweet lemon and coconut which I've been using literally everyday. I haven't taken it out of my bag yet as you can see from the bottle I'm almost half way through the bottle. I bought this is a set for £20 which included a shower gel and a body lotion in the same scent. If you're in Victoria's Secret I'd definitely recommend picking up a set as there's such good value. Just be warned that this spray is 125ml so if you're travelling light with carry on luggage you may not be able to bring it back on the plane. I can't wait until I go back to Manchester at the end of the year as I do believe they're opening a Victoria's Secret store in the Trafford Centre. I'll definitely be picking up another bottle of this scent when I visit and check out some more while I'm there.

At night I've been using the Neal's Yard Beauty Sleep Concentrate*. I was given this at a Press Event a couple of months back and I stumbled upon it while cleaning up my room recently. I've been using this on its on at night but you can use it alongside other products in your nighttime routine. Apart from being moisturising, I haven't been using it long enough to see a significant difference in my skin but I adore the calming scent. It certainly makes me feel relaxed going to bed at night. This product is 90% organic aswell so I'm happy to know that I'm not putting anything nasty onto my skin. The bottle may seem small but you literally only need 3-4 pumps of this stuff so it will last a good while. After busy days on the go I think it's so important to give my skin some TLC and this has been working a treat.

With July being so sunny for the most part I had to include these two products from Hawaiian Tropics. Like everyone I know how important it is to use sunscreen even when the sun isn't shining (pesky UV rays and the likes) so I was using this duo a lot. They are both from Hawaiian Tropics Silk Hydration so aswell as protecting my skin from the Sun they are super moisturising too. Did I mention that they also smell amazing? The After Sun's Coconut Papaya scent reminds me of holidays and I can't get enough of it. I did buy these in Tesco on special offer a while ago so I'm not too sure if that is still on. I do remember it being a great bargain! Needless to say seeing as the Sun is no longer around I may not need these as much now but I'll be bringing them along on my holidays to Spain.

Here are two of my random favourites from July as you all know I'm big into reading. When I was given Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare I left it aside for a while I'm not going to lie. I thought it was going to be another Twilight kinda book which I knew I wasn't going to be interested in. Now that I'm almost half way through the book I couldn't have been more wrong. This has a really good storyline to it which I'm not going to explain as knowing me I'll definitely give too much away. I have a feeling there's going to be a love story in this at some point but the background plot is really good. If you're like me you won't want to put it down. Clock Angel is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments series which is has been made into a movie that is going to be release this month. It stars the babe that is Robert Sheehan (The Misfits & Love/Hate) and Lily Collins, whilst the movie is based on the 1st book in the series the City of Bones which I haven't read yet I can't wait to go see it! Once I do finish this book I'm going to pick up some more in the series as they are currently on 3for2 in Easons. The other random favourite of mine is this bag I bought from Accessorize. I usually don't go for bags with short straps, I much prefer when they're long as I find them way easier to carry around. I was between to minds when I got this but I think I made the right decision in the end. This bag is huge and fits absolutely everything in it, e.g my camera, notebook etc. It also contains a removeable pouch which for me makes the bag more secure as I can put all my important stuff in there. Coming in two different colours I opted for the black/brown option as I think it would go with more compared to the green/navy offering. If you'd like to see a "What's in my Bag?" post in the future let me know in the comments.

What made it into your July Favourites? Did you get up to anything exciting last month?

Laura<3

July Empties

Sorry for the serious lack of posts during the month of July, I've been unbelievably busy and haven't gotten a spare second.  I'm happy to say I'm back again, I have a couple of ideas for a series that I'm hoping to start in August which I'm sure you guys will love. I'm not going to say too much about it in case it falls through but it's looking promising so far. Seeing as it's the end of July I guess it's time for another Empties post. As you can see from the picture below I don't have too much to show you guys. I don't think I've done an empties post before that hasn't micellar water, I fly through them at a ridiculous rate.

I'm sad to have come to the end of my Ralph Lauren Big Pony Fragrance (#4).  I got this in a set in the January Sales so it has lasted an age considering it has been my signature fragrance for the last couple of months. Many people have commented on this fragrance when I wear it. It is a light floral scent which isn't offensive so I'm guessing a lot of people get drawn to this one. Of course I love the bottle as my favourite colour is indeed purple. I still have the body lotion in this scent left over from the set so I'll certainly be using that up too. I may make a sneaky repurchase of this in Dublin Airport the next time I'm going on holidays which is in the near future.

I've already repurchased Catrice's Camouflage Cream and it was pretty hard to come by as it was out of stock in most Penneys  that I visited. Penneys on Henry Street was a winner and picked one up in there over the weekend. When I first purchased Catrice's Camouflage Cream I wasn't expecting too much from it but  I ended up falling in love with this product. When I'm having a bad skin day this is a full coverage concealer that will hide anything. Considering I purchased this for around €4 I was super impressed with it and believe me when I say this little tub with go an awfully long way. The only issue I think people will have a problem with is the shade selection. I  use the shade Ivory which is the perfect match for me but it is also the lightest shade and I can see it being way too dark for people.

 Of course as I said above it wouldn't be an empties post without a micellar solution. My Cleansing Water empty this month comes from No7. I featured this countless times already in a favourites and an empties post so I won't ramble on too much about it. I've been using No7's Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water for ages now and I always go back to it. In the evenings I apply some to a cotton wool pad and it removes my makeup effortlessly. I find this doesn't irritate my eyes either which is a plus. I do tend to stock up on these when Boots bring out their No7 vouchers so if you want to try it I'd definitely keep and eye out for those. A makeup remover I wasn't too impressed with was Loreal's Gentle Eye Makeup Remover. I had to go through so much product just to remove my eye makeup. If you want a eye makeup remover to take off your eye makeup quickly this definitely isn't it! It's disappointing considering I absolutely loved the micellar solution in this skincare range but in my opinion this is a product to stay clear of.

Lastly I have a mini bottle of OPI's Nail Envy. Even after using this all up I can't give a verdict on it as I did find the bottle to be quite small. My nails aren't in tip top shape at the moment and I think they would need more than a tiny bottle of nail strengthener to be in good condition again. Saying that I have read really good reviews on this product so I may take the plunge and buy a full sized bottle the next time I'm walking by Sally's in town.

Have you tried any of the products above? Would love to hear your thoughts on them?

Laura <3

July Favourites

I don't have too many favourites to show you from July as I was so busy during the month with my trip and the like. I know this post is going up a tad late but I thought you guys would still like to see what I've been liking lately. All the products I'm going to mention are new finds for me par one which is an old favourite of mine.

Here are three makeup products that I've been loving during the month of July. They are all new finds for me, two of which I brought to Manchester with me. I was glad I brought Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain with me as I ended up using it constantly. I have the shade Honey which is a gorgeous everyday shades that is easy to pull off. I also found this product to be quite moisturising aswell which is definitely a positive as I get very dry lips during the Summer. Another product I brought to Manchester with me is MUA's Undressed palette*. There are twelve lovely shades which were perfect for daytime and nighttime looks. I brought two eyeshadow palettes on my trip but I only ended up using this one for the duration. I already did a full review on Undressed while I was on holidays which you can see here. Lastly my newest find was Maybelline's Colossal Volum' Express mascara, it's amazing. I'm a big fan of mascaras from this brand so I was surprised I hadn't tried this one before now. It was half price when I bought it, at €6 I couldn't complain. It has a ginormous brush which coats all my lashes leaving them looking big and bold, without clumping. I'm going to repurchase this again when I run out.

I'm a big fan of Kiehl's and I've gotten on well with the majority of products I bought from them in the past. I was pondering whether to buy their Soy Milk & Honey Whipped Body Butter for a while as it's expensive but I'm glad I caved in the end. This is one of the nicest body butters I've tried, it's very thick but a little bit goes a long way as it spreads alot. The product itself leaves my skin feeling so soft. Did I mention how lovely this smells? The next time your in Kiehl's you have to give it a whiff it has the nicest sweet scent. Onto my haircare favourite of this month, TRESemme Keratin Smooth Treatment Masque. I have quite damaged hair from years of straightening it to bits, it just looks so frizzy and I have the work scraggly ends you have ever seen. I've been using this masque twice a week in my hair and it literally works miracles. It leaves my hair looking healthy and sleek with no frizz in sight. I really want to pick up some more products from the Keratin Smooth range as I've gotten on so well with this. Another product I've been loving this month is Korres Guava Showergel, the only way I can describe this product is to say it smells like holidays and that's good enough for me. I have a mini bottle but I know you can get this in a large size too so don't be suprised if you see this in a haul in the near future. My last July favourite is YSL Elle, this is their special edition fragrance that comes out for the Summer. I've had this particular bottle for nearly a year now and I have a little less than a half a bottle left so its last me ages. I don't personally think it smells similar to the original Elle fragrance, it has a fruitier scent that I like more. This perfume only comes in a huge 90ml bottle which I never bring out with me as it would weigh down my handbag and I'd love ridiculous pulling it out. My solution for this is my nifty travalo, I'm not going to go into great lengths explaining what this is as you all probably know what it is already. I just find them super handy and they are not too pricey which is great.

What has made it into your July favourites?

Laura<3

July Empties

Sorry I haven't blogged in quite a bit, most of you know I've been away in Manchester. I only got back on Sunday and life has definitely been hectic over the past two days, having a bit of free time on my hands I've decided to pop up my empties post for July. Alot of people on Twitter said they'd like to see a haul post featuring what I bought while I was in Manchester so I'll try to get that up shortly followed by a vlog style post telling you guys what I got up to over the nine or so days. On to my empties, the layout I've been sticking to over my past empties post has been working for me pretty well so I'll be continuing with this format from now one. During the month of July, I've finished alot of haircare and shower products mostly, looking over my last couple of months empties post I can certainly see trend forming as I consistently use them up.

I'm going to start with the haircare products I've finished this month. The first two are the Deep Conditioner and Full Body Shampoo from John Frieda's Full Repair range. I absolutely love the shampoo and I've already repurchased it. I use it alongside the Full Repair conditioner which I never seem to run out off. The shampoo gives a great lather, I know this is caused by sulphates and the like but I need my shampoo to do this. I just don't feel like my hair is clean otherwise. I'm undecided if I like the Deep Conditioner or not, it doesn't way my hair down like alot can but I did use this up really quickly. Maybe I was using too much who knows, it did leave my hair looking lovely and soft though which I can't complain about. I can remember this being kind of expensive so it remains to be seen if I'll repurchase this again. I finished my Scwarzkopf  Guardian Angel heat protector this month. I've had this stuff for ages, not going to lie when it came to using this sometimes I'd forget. It's probably why it's lasted so long. It is a good product and it does come in a fairly big bottle so I'll definitely be picking up another one of these soon.

As I only have a shower in my house I do fly through a lot of products. If I leave them in there they may disappear even quicker. Again I've finished another three shower bits. I'm going to start with the one I liked least, Kiehl's Creme de Corps Nuturing Body Washing Cream. I'm a big fan of the original Creme de Corps body moisturiser but I just wasn't feeling this product at all. It would be great for people who dislike scented body washes, it just wasn't for me at all I like when my shower products smell good. Don't get me wrong though it does moisturise your skin so it does its job, I just wished it smelt nicer. Also €10 for this size product as well is a bit excessive in my opinion so I won't be repurchasing this anytime soon. On to two products that I love and are repurchases for me. I love all Soap & Glory scrubs, especially this one in particular. It has such a beautiful scent that is right down my street. The fun packaging ticks all the boxes for me too. My other favourite is L'occitane Almond Shower Oil. This stuff is amazing, it leaves you skin so smooth and smelling lovely. The eco friendly refill I used up fills  two of the 250ml bottles. I made a bit of a saving buying this too as opposed to buying repurchasing one 250ml. If you haven't tried this stuff yet your missing out.

I've had both of these primers for an age so it's certainly been a relief to finish them up. I got them both in sets with other products a while ago. I've heard alot of things about them so I couldn't wait to give them a bash. After using up these two samples sizes, I can honestly say there's nothing too special about them. At a push if I had to buy one I'd go for Smashbox's Photo Finish primer, maybe I'd try the oil free version though. For the price that both these products are I'd have to be a 100% percent sure that I liked them before I bought them and that's really not the case at all with these two products. My primer of choice at the moment has got to be Too Faced's Primed & Poreless, it's not the cheapest around at €27 but I've nothing bad to say about it. I need to use a primer before I apply my makeup as I do have quite oily skin and this does the job perfectly. I was really excited to try both of these primers so I'm disappointed I didn't like them too much.

I finished four products whilst I was in Manchester. I already bought a backup for my YSL Touche Eclat in Dublin Airport before I ran out completely. It's much better value to buy some high end brands there as you do make quite a saving. I'll be talking about more of the bits I bought on holidays in my haul post. I got my tan done while I was in Manchester as there was a Spa at my hotel. It turned out nice but I still had to rush out and buy a scrub to get rid of some unwanted tan. Not that there was too much. The scrub I got was Superdrugs own brand Pomegranate and Cranberry. I didn't particularly like this too much. It did its job but the artifical scent was sickly so I couldn't wait to be done with it. I know alot of you will see Lush Snow Fairy shower gel and will be thinking where did she get that? Well the answer is my Mom bought a hell of alot during the Christmas sales for me and I decided to bring this mini on holidays. I love the smell of this stuff it's unreal. I wish they stocked it all year round. The last empty from Manchester were a packet of Nivea wipes. Over the past few months I've stayed clear of these and I've definitely noticed the difference in my skin. I just bought a packet for my holidays to take off my heavy makeup but I wouldn't put these anywhere near my eyes anymore. For that I actually picked up a bottle of the Caudalie Cleansing Water in Boots and so far so good I really like it. I'm half way through the bottle already, I fly through this stuff unbelievably fast.

I have four miscellaneous empties this month that don't really fit in anywhere else in this post. I've been flying through anti bacterial hand gels, I always have one in my bag. The two I used up over the last while are Bath & Body Works Lemon Pomegranate and Soap & Glory Hand Maid. I've already repurchased the latter, not only is it my favourite out of the two but it's also way easier to get a hold of. If you don't like the alcohol scent which is a given with hand gels, I'd go for Hand Maid. It has that gorgeous recognisable Soap & Glory scent. I was sorry that I finished my Sephora purse spray this month as again it's almost impossible to get a hold of in Ireland. The pineapple grenadine is amazing and is perfect for Summer. The product size is perfect aswell as it doesn't take up too much space in my makeup bag and it did last for ages. The last of my miscellaneous empties is this super bottle of nail polish remover. I must have this for at least a year now, it took me that long to finish it. I don't know the name of the brand that makes it but from what I can recall I got this in Penneys. It was around €3 so it was definitely worth the money for the amount of time I got out of it.

Have you tried any of the products above? What do you think of empties posts?

Laura<3