La Vie En Rose - La Vie Est Belle

This one the seal of approval the second day I wore it. Having spritzed that morning, I arrived to Boyfriend's house after work to be greeted with - "Oooh, you smell nice."

He likes it. I love it. Lancôme is on to a winner.

The Glitter-fobe

I have a love/hate relationship with glittery nail polishes, in face any nail varnish that isn't an opaque block colour I'm wary of. When I say love I mean I used to love them. I loved them when my first nail polishes were pink and blue with silver sparkles. When my 11-year-old self's go-to polish was a horrid dark green with gold flakes. When the first time, at age 7, someone applied a beautiful rainbow glitter I've pined for ever since.

The Girl Behind the Mask - Aesop Parsley Seed

I'm fresh out of a bathroom spa treatment session with my sister where I declared - if I could only have one face mask for the rest of my life, I would be perfectly happy if it was this one.

At some point everyone of my go-to beauty bloggers have posted a picture of their masque-smeared visages so when wandering through the streets of London en route to Selfridges and Aesop came into view around a cobblestoned corner, I stopped dead in my tracks, grabbed Boyfriend's arm and made a b-line for the door.

Re-Moving' On Up - Nothing Can Stop Lidl's Nail Varnish Remover

Acetone Free and only €1.49 - there has to be a catch, right?

As the sister and I browsed the aisles for the ingredients for our Paul Flynn recipes I couldn't help but check out the Holy Grail section as I like to call it.

I'm already a big fan of Cien handcream, both classic and the super-nourishing anti-aging, as well as their antiperspirant, random - I know.

That's how this little beauty came into my life. Ladies and nailvarnish-wearing gentlemen, this is the bomb!

Brow-Wow - Benefit Gimme Brow Vs Maybelline Brow Drama

Brows are a big thing. Of that there is very little doubt. Thankfully the evolution of brows has only gone from over-plucked, pencilled-on, to over-drawn and over-dramatic to nice and natural.

Now mine, are invisible. They're there, but you just can't see them. Yes, I could get them tinted - but I'd be back in the chair every 2 weeks. Ain't nobody got time for that!

So I've been road-testing a couple of the newcomers to the brow scene that claim to help me transform my meek little caterpillars into blossoming butterflies - there's an odd image.

Let's Call a Dupe a Dupe - W7 In the Buff Pallette

€37 versus €7 ... which would you choose?

MUA were brazen with Undressed but w7 are being just plain bold. Imitation is supposed to be the highest form of flattery, and yes the popularity of the perfectly put-together Naked pallets have meant more beautiful more affordable neutral palettes on the open market, but there's taking inspiration and there's taking the biscuit.

So let's call a dupe a dupe and compare Naked 2 with its latest doppleganger - the w7 In The Buff palette.

Tried & Tested - Paul Flynn's Family Food from Lidl

All this and change for a 20 ...

You just can't ignore Lidl, no matter how hard you try. What was originally the cold, lifeless foreign concept that people were skulked into hoping the neighbours didn't see - is now a bragging right and the dirty little secret at the same time. In the same breath we'll gloat at our latest Penney's purchase we're itching to spill about the great deal we got in Lidl. It's an addiction.

Now they've switched tactics from bargain basement to family favourite with their focus on Irish produce and value for money. This month they launched Family Food, in association with their spokesperson chef Paul Flynn.

So naturally when I got my hands on the book the sister and I figured we had to take a few of the recipes for a spin. And seeing as it's Sunday, it seemed fitting to talk family feasts.

Scents & Sensuality - Roger & Gallet Gingembre Rouge

This review wrote itself within 24hours of owning this perfume.

Instantly, I loved it. Although, as a complete perfume obsessive - I'm can be equally easily pleased and critically cynical. But the delicate, citrus-y florals of Gingembre Rouge was right up my ally.

But my morning spritz was not the moment that won it for this scrumptious scent, it was what happened that evening.

Red Lip Re-Do - Nars Satin Lip Pencil Hyde Park

My love for red lipstick knows no bounds. It's like red nail varnish, it goes with anything and everything.

The trouble is, however, it's usually only under the cover of night time do I break out a red lip, being far to shy to sport one in the office.

So when the craze behind the Nars Lip Pencils began I told myself I could have one, but only if it was a wearable colour. And so, here it is - Hyde Park.

Let's Face It - My Favourite Face Masks

Show me a girl who doesn't love an at-home pamper session with a face mask and an optional (read: necessary) glass of wine, and I'll show you my best "I Don't Beliee-eeve it" impression.

As much as I'd love to book myself in for facials every other week, it's just not practical. Instead the bathroom cupboard has become a breeding ground for face masks, a collection which has grown even after I snapped the shot above not 2 weeks ago.

The Bloggers' Bags: The Zara Office City & Mini

The preface this ramble with a disclaimer - I hate buying bags. I look at other people with beautiful bags, admire them, but I can never own them. Purely because I never shop for them.

You can't properly shop online because you have to see what it's like on - who's with me on trying on bags in the shop? Try shop in store and it's frustrating for no logical reason except it's annoying. So I'm cursed, basically.

Until Zara happened.

Just Look At That Glow Go - Inglot Multicolour Highlighter

This dewy, radiant,  glowy finish thing is totally my scene. When matt finishes were all the rage I was so completely lost. It just didn't seem natural.

Now, however, everything is different and no powder comes within 2feet of my face unless is shimmery, sparkly and distractingly shiny.

Best of Beauty 'Hair Heros'

The fantastic response to week 1 of the Best of Beauty Blog Challenge, which was Skin Care Saviours, has made me even more excited to be cracking on with week 2.

From skin to hair, and our favourite products or tricks for hair. Mine is very new to my regime, but seeing as my hair care regime doesn't usually stray much further than the odd bit of hairspray, this is as good as we're gonna get!

Wax On - Hair Off. Waxperts Win Me Over

Let's be honest, or I will at least - if I was single I probably wouldn't even bother shaving my legs. There, I said it. Being a blondie, my hair is very, very fair so you'd be hard pushed to spot any fuzz unless you got up close and personal (giggidy) so I'm incredibly lazy when it comes to this side of the beauty world.

As well as almost invisible body hair, I'm also plagued with Keratosis Pilaris all over my legs (and it's spreading, good times), so if I was ever to wear a skirt it's always accompanied by thick, black tights.

But this year I've banished the insecurities of my early 20s and I'm embracing womanhood with a plan I'm calling "Operation Love My Legs". Join me, won't you?

Best Of Beauty 'Skin Care Saviours'

Skin Care Saviours feat. Clarisonic, Vichy, La Roche-Posay and Trilogy

I'm delighted to be be taking part in Samantha's Best of Beauty Blogger Challenge. I'm in desperate need of something to keep me on track with blogging-type stuff.

The first topic is one dear to my heart - and one I've had a mental note to write about for ever and ever, so no time like the present.

It's Not Just The Weather That's Wet n' Wild

First of many forays to the freshly stocked Wet n Wild stand ...

Wet n Wild was up there with Lucky Charms, Tootsy Rolls and Sephora when it came to stocking up while on holidays stateside.

The penultimate budget beauty brand their products, eye shadows in particular, was hailed as a holy grail of buttery pigments and stand out pay-off.

But now, the panicked days of impulse-buys in the airport and raiding a lonely Walgreens stand because Wet n Wild have landed on our shores and they're here to stay! Hip, hip, hurray!

Get Your Glow On - Everyday Dewy Foundation

I am a girl obsessed with many things. To name but a few, they would be things like bushy brows, ashy blonde hair, Irish wolfhounds and dewy foundation.

My go-to for a long time was YSL Touché Eclat foundation but I generally keep that for special occasions. So I've been on the lookout for an every day, drugstore alternative.

Dear RTE ...

Subject: Promotion of Discriminatory Views

January Detox - Hair Edition

There came a point in January when I felt rubbish. Generally rubbish from head to toe. Granted a lot of that was to do with the over-indulgence on foods my stomach repeatedly reminds me I hate. But it wasn't just that, like I said, from head to toe I felt rubbish. Hair included.

Lip Balm Low-down

La Roche-Posay and Nuxe lip balms

Christmas might be over but winter is far from finished. It takes its toll on just about everything. Skin, hair, hands, lips - you name it, and there's nothing I hate more than sore, cracking lips.

A year ago I stopped using any and all lip products that contained petroleum, which has done wonders all in itself in helping my lips stay naturally moisturised and reducing my dependence on constant reapplication.

In recent weeks I made a point of seeking out my ideal lip products, and tonight, the results are in.

One of my first beauty-blog-buys was Nuxe Rêve de Miel. Very much a lip treatment in my opinion. A very rich balmy texture, it's almost slightly grainy when you apply it but whatever that is melts away on application. This little frosted pot of pout perfection lives exclusively on my bedside table where I liberally apply it before drifting off. In the morning my lips are soft and smooth and often times I barely need to apply any lip balm during the day, or at least not until after lunch. Even the most weather-worn lips are brought back to life in a matter of hours with this little wonder. The texture is non-greasy, almost semi-mat so dabbing a smidgen under your daily lip colour and you're only laughing.

Cicaplast is a range within La Roche-Posay well-known for being, well, brilliant. Baume B5 has a cult following for being an all-purpose wonder product, I named it last year as one of my Dry Lip Superheros (also featuring Rève de Miel) as a great emergency treatment for sore, swollen lips. Now, somehow, the magical properties of Cicaplast has been channelled into a neat barrier repairing balm which fills in cracks and creates a soothing barrier that repairs and protects long suffering lips. La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Levres came into my life only a few short weeks ago but I've already repurchased a new tube and re-gifted a tube to my sister, who sings its praises to the tune of "you don't have to apply it as often as other lip balms and it's particularly good overnight."

As my first tube of Cicaplast Levres began showing signs I ventured out to repurchase and got drawn in, in the name of blog research, to Nuxe Rêve de Miel Lip Moisturizing Stick. Could it be that honey-scented miracle I knew and loved was available in a handbag friendly twist-up? Well, not exactly. But it's close. The formula isn't a rich, obviously to allow for the new application method, but it is effective. I find it's the perfect accompaniment to it's more luxurious sister as a top up during the day.

On the same day, my eye was drawn to La Roche-Posay Nutritic Lips. Nutritic is the range that produced the moisturiser that saved my skin, and to which I owe nearly two years of flake-free face so when I read "transforming care for very dry lips" my heart skipped a beat. As a standard stick lip balm goes it does exactly what you need. Keeps lips soft, moisturised and generally satisfied. It will remain in my collection as my "oh crap I need lip balm" lip balm.

Nuxe Rêve de Miel comes in at just under €12, Cicaplast Lips €6.50, Rêve de Miel Moisturizing stick €6.99 and Nutritic Lips at €4.

Do you take lip balms as seriously as I do?

Lots of love

Lisa

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