Monday 27 May 2013

Match made in eyelash heaven, They're Real! Benefit Mascara & Sephora Eyelash Curlers.

I've been meaning to put up this post for, well, a long-ass time now! (excuse my french) And as someone who has been on a mission to find a mascara to lengthen my short-pointy eyelashes, I think I can say, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!



I bought the They're Real! Benefit mascara awhile ago now after reading a lot of good reviews about this product. So one day whilst impulse buying (nothing new there!) I picked it up along with a Sephora eyelash curler. When I got home and tested this combo out I literally was beaming with excitement as a walked in the living room fluttering my eyelashes to Clément asking does he notice anything new (us girls love to keep our man on his toes with the "notice anything new?" test haha). 

Normally I'm not a fan of plastic/rubber wands but this one leaves just enough product on your lashes without clumping and separates them nicely. It really added the extra "wow" factor to my usually short and straight eyelashes and kept the curl from the Sephora eyelash curler in really well. If you are like me and have quite straight lashes I would definitely say curl your lashes for maximum effect with this product.

It's a little steep at €24 but definitely worth it if you're looking for the long lashes you've always dreamed of!



















See you soon! 









Saturday 4 May 2013

How To: Style Short Hair



 HI THERE ! Want to know how to recreate this messy mop? Read on! 



Last week I went to the hair dresser and got more than a couple of inches cut off, I wasn't exactly Rapunzel or anything, my hair was just below the shoulder but to us girls even an inch of hair from the "split ends" can be traumatic (why is it so hard to part with it?). I know I definitely leave that trip to the hair dressers to the very last minute, when my hair just takes the form of a monster on my head and no hair straightener, serum, brush, clips and bits can rule the beast. Okay I think I might by slightly over doing it here, but when my hair gets that unruly and stubborn, I do tend to talk about it as if another creature stuck to my head. The day before I went to the hair dresser I started to slightly panic as I didn't know what I wanted. I started looking for photos to bring with me, as my francais isn't exactly fluent, I wasn't taking any risks! Here's what I found and thought, to hell with it, chop the beast off!



I brought this photo in with me to the hairdresser from the latest edition of Glamour magazine, love the super cute heart dress too, unfortunately it doesn't come with the hair cut *sigh*. Although the model in this photo is stunningly beautiful, I think this hair cut would suit a lot of people. If your hair has a natural kink and you're looking for something easy to maintain, then I think this could be for you too. I love how this hair cut is just to the jawline as it really shows of the neck in a pretty, feminine way. I also love how long earrings get showed off a little more too with this cut. It's a win win situation.

More onto the point though, how to style this look? well it's super easy! If your into big hair with lots of volume then look no further.

At the moment my hair routine consists of the Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly shampoo and conditioner and after the shower I put in a large pump of the L'oreal Kérastase Elixir Ultime serum (that's a mouthful!) that my sister gave me to try out (it smells beautiful and leaves hair soft but not weighed down, thanks Anna!). And then I only half blow dry my hair, leaving it a little to dry naturally.





I then use my Remington hair straighteners to put a loose curl in my hair, they are so old now but they get the job done, so I can't complain! I work my way from the very back to the front pieces of hair throughout each layer.






I always curl my hair in layers, it's a lot easier to do as I always miss pieces of hair in the back if I don't. I lightly spray my hair with the Toni & Guy Firm Hold hairspray as I do each layer, making sure the curl doesn't drop too much along the way. 




When I'm finished curling all of my hair I gently pull my fingers through, teasing the curls apart to give a more natural wave. Finally I rub the roots of my hair with my fingers to give extra volume and give a final spritz of hairspray.




I normally would just leave my hair like this, leaving those wavy curls bouncy and wild, but for more of a sophisticated look I like to twist a little piece of my hair from the front, on the side where my fringe doesn't fall and pin it back with a clip, like the flower one below.


I don' know why I'm stretching my neck out like a giraffe, but I told you guys I can't pose!
Gotta love a blurry photo! never know what the iphone shots are gonna give ya.

And there we go, that's my how to style short hair! Let me know if you guys find this helpful in anyway or if you have any suggestions for me on how you style your short hair, I love reading all your lovely comments :) Also if you have any hair products you think I should try out, please tell me! I'm always up for new things to try.

See you soon beauties! 




Friday 3 May 2013

Smoothie Friday!


On Wednesday me and Clément went out to buy Holly (our dog) some food and came back with a smoothie maker and waffle machine. Needless to say we got slightly distracted at our local electrical appliance store! Some people could say it was impulsive, but life is starting to feel a little more complete now the waffle machine is around.  The excitement of coming home with all these new kitchen gadgets was hard to contain, so not long before I plugged in the smoothie maker, that baby was being put into action! 

Here is the the recipe for my oh so scrumptious banana, pineapple and strawberry smoothie! If these pictures don't send those healthy vibes through your computer screen and make you want to make this, then I don't know what will ;)

You will need:

  • 2 bananas 
  • Handful or two of strawberries
  • Half a pineapple
  • Around 3/4 table spoons of natural yogurt 
  • Table spoon of Honey
  • And a splash of orange juice 





Prep all your delicious fruit by chopping everything into small chunks. I'd recommend not using the core of the pineapple as it doesn't blend too well in smoothie machine, and we don't want to ruin your smoothie after all that hard work chopping!



You can use any juice you have lying around if you wan't to, I just had this "le pur jus d'orange avec pulpe" in my frigo so I poured a little of that vitamin C goodness into the mix.



 Pop everything into the machine, on goes the lid and get blitzing! I used a pot of greek yogurt I had in the fridge with honey already in it, so if your feeling lazy like me that'll work fine.



ET VOILA! Quick, fruity smoothie that contains your five portions of fruit for the day! This makes about 4 glasses of smoothie so just pop it in the fridge for later when you feel a bit peckish but wan't something healthy :)


Let me know if you give this a whirl! And if you like these sort of posts, I thought I'd try branch out a little since beauty is all in our food too ;)




Wednesday 1 May 2013

Liebster Award (again!) & Versatile Blogger Award


The rules of the Liebster Award are:
1. Thank your Liebster Award presenter on your blog
2. Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Present the Liebster Award to 5 blogs of 200 or less followers who you feel deserve to be noticed
5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.
  

Bonjour!

 So since arriving back on the blogging scene I've realised I have some award catching up to do! And since these two awards are relatively similar what not do them together? Wow genius over here huh! 

Thanks to the lovely Cerys-Eve over at One Brush Beauty for nominating me for the Liebster Award to take part in! Cerys-Eve has an awesome blog going on over there so you should definitely go check it out, if not just for her eyebrows, serious eyebrow envy going on here haha! they're fab.

The Rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you.

2. Include a link to their blog.
3. Select 15 new blog/bloggers you've recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. Nominate those bloggers for a Versatile Blogger Award, leave a link to their page and a comment on their latest post to let them know they've been nominated.
5. Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.




And thank you to the lovely Carrie from Carrie Brighton for tagging me in the versatile blogger award, been following Carries blog for quite sometime now and can really say she's just as lovely as her blog :) And thank you to Haley from Girl Meets Glamour World for nominating me too, just starting reading more of Haleys blog and she's so much fun to read! So please go and check them out, you won't regret it, I promise ;)


SO let's crack on with the 11 Randoms Facts about Moi: (7 facts for the Versatile blogger award)

1.  I don't really like TV, I never get into TV shows and not the type to arrange my day/night around a TV programme or anything like that, if the TV's on it's just a bit of background noise in this household (especially if cléments got the football on).

2. My ALL TIME favourite dessert, ever, the only thing that claims that little space in my heart and earns the favourite dessert title is,  lemon tart. Lemon meringue pie also qualifies, anything along the lines of a pie or tart with lemon, I'm gonna be on it like a car bonnet!

3. Even though I live in France, a place of tea's and coffee, I always go down to my local Irish store to stock up on "Barrys Gold Blend" Irish tea, god knows what would happen if there was no barrys tea in the flat, all hell would break loose thats what!

4. I am easily addicted to games on my iphone, once it's downloaded and I've played non-stop for an hour, I'm a goner. You'll be lucky to hold a conversation with me whilst the gaming action is commencing. Yes, I am a victim to the new Candy Crush, and I need help!

5. I don't wear make-up every single day, or sometimes maybe a few days. If I haven't got anywhere to go or even if I have, I think what the hell! Sometimes it's so much effort to put all my make-up on to go grocery shopping, who am I trying to impress, pineapples?

6. I haven't got a ton of friends, I found school really hard growing up and struggled to "fit-in" as I was super shy, even though I'm still kinda shy, I've a couple of really close friends I met when I was really young who have stuck by me through thick and thin and that's good enough for me.

7. I have a French Bulldog and she is my baby, even if she farts ALOT, she makes these really cute noises when she's tired and wants to get comfy so I jut can't help but love her.

8. If I could just win the lottery I would buy a plane ticket tomorrow to travel the world and high tail it outta here! I'm always itching to go new places and see the world, it's the romantic and spontaneous side of me.

9. I would love to own my own little shop or café, selling all home baked cakes and treats (lemon tarts hehe) and life would just be perfect.

10. I love candles, I could never get enough of them, if anyone ever wants to buy me presents, they can never go wrong with candles! I got these beautiful smelling candles for Christmas from cléments parents and ohh emm geee do they smell guuurd.

11. Daisies are my favourite flower, I will love anything with a daisy design, clothes, shoes, earrings, cups, wallpaper, anything!



Now for Cerys-Eves questions!


  1. What made you start blogging?
I started blogging after I watched beauty youtubers for awhile and started reading a lot of beauty blogs, even though I'm not ready to make any youtube videos I still love to make blog posts, taking nice photos and spending time talking and sharing with other like minded people. 

     2.  Whats your guilty pleasure?

Oh gosh I have tooo many, when I think of guilty pleasure it's always food, food is my weakness. What better feeling is there than indulging in a big mac meal with fries, and oh yes it's the large meal we're talking about here, go big or go home haha!

    3.  What brand could you not live without?

Ohhh interesting question, I guess I couldn't live without Bourjois, they are a bit hit and miss sometimes with their products, but I think on the whole they are a really good brand and I love the packaging too.

    4.  If you were an animal what animal would you be and why?

I would be a biiiiird, flying freeeee!

     5.  If you could only carry 3 makeup items in your bag what would they be and why?

Foundation, powder and mascara. Those are the essentials in my books, powder because I have oily-ish skin and if I don't powder I can just say goodbye to my foundation during the day! And mascara because my eyes look dull and tired without it.

     6.  Liquid or pencil liner?

Uhhhm, Gel! I really love the Maybelline gel liner so I'd have to choose that. But between liquid and pencil I'd go with pencil because I make such a mess when it comes to liquid liner, epic fail every time.

     7.  Is there any where that you would really love to travel to?

YES! New Zealand, I don't know why but it's been a destination on my mind for a long time, I just heard that the people are really laid back and that it has beautiful landscape, so I'm all up for that! Somebody take me? please?

     8.  Favourite book and why?

I really loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and that whole trilogy, but my favourite is still the first, I don't know why with the rape and everything but the whole story of this misunderstood girl who is super intelligent and bad ass just really made me love Lisbeth the main character.

    9. What is your classic look?

I go with a nude eye, just heavy on the mascara on the top eyelashes, pink cream blush on the cheeks and a pinky-nude lip. All very plain! 

10. Highend or Budget products and why?

Budget for me, I do like to indulge in a few high end products when the budget allows, but my make up definitely contains more drug store brands because over-all I like going in and rooting around those products more.

11. Every cloud has a silver lining...true or false?

I sure hope so! 


I feel like every blog I read has already done the lovely Liebster award sooooooo, if anyone is reading this and hasn't been nominated for it, I nominate YOU! Yup that's right, taking rules into ma own hands here and nominating any new bloggers on the scene to join on in here and do the following questions, please leave a comment if you decide to do it!


1. What is one of your talents that you are secretly proud of and like to do?

2. Do you have any funny hobbies like stamp collecting that not many people know you do?

3. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?

4. Are you a home bird or do you like lots of change and travel?

5. If I told you that I put 1000 euros/pounds in your bank what would you use it for?

6. Can you play any musical instruments? 

7. What was a nickname given to you by family/friends and why?

8. Is there any childhood thing you did that lasted a little too long (watching cartoons, etc) that perhaps you secretly still love? 

9. What is your favourite film and why?

10. If you could speak another language, what would it be?

11. When your not blogging, what is your other favourite past-time? 

That's it for the Liebster award, now onto my nominees for the Versatile Blogger Award Ohhhhhh ! ;)


Chrisitie Christie Mariee

 I hope everyone I nominated has fun doing this too! See you in my next post!