Avoiding Counterfeit Cosmetics

Unfortunately, it's that time of year again where the availability of Counterfeit Cosmetics is even bigger due to Christmas stands on our high streets. Last year I posted on the old blog how to spot a fake and some other helpful information so wanted to re share it with you.

Over the last few years,there has been an increase in the availability of fake cosmetics in Ireland (MAC and Benefit to name a few). These cosmetics are purchased cheaply from Asia and lure people with the cheap prices. But you are getting more than you bargained for when getting that lust have product at an insanely low price.

You can never be sure what exactly has gone into these fakes, alot of the ingredients are extremely harmful and can give you a pretty nasty allergic reaction or worse. ( I recently read that some can cause burning to the skin)

So, how do you avoid and spot a fake?

• Common sense will take you a long way. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is!
• Never buy MAC,Bobbi Brown etc on any website (including Ebay) other than the official websites or department stores.
• Look for typos on the packaging. This is a dead giveaway as a professional brand will always have proper spelling on their packaging.
• Eyeshadow palette’s that have triangle eyeshadows are fake.
• Eyeshadow that is imprinted with MAC’s logo are fake.
• Real MAC lipsticks and lipglasses should have a distinct vanilla smell to them.
• Nars never writes their name on their products.
• Genuine Bobbi Brown palettes always have proper B.B. brushes with their logo! Fake palettes have these plain black, cheap sponge applicators.
• Authentic B.Brown palettes always have proper names on the box such as surf & sand, pink raspberry & mauve face. The fake palettes DON’T have these names just some madeup title such as 12 colours eyeshadow palette or Eyeshadows Palette 12colour shimmer 02!
• Real MAC eyeshadow shouldn’t have a fragrance.  Fakes might smell like cinnamon or another fragrance.

There are loads more tips if you would like to email me and I can share them with you.. The reason I don’t want to share all of them on here is that the manufacturers of these fake products spend hours on the web looking at blog posts to see how they can make their product look more authentic.

xxx Hope you find this helpful xxx

Love Irish: Nature7.ie

I'm a huge supporter in buying Irish so decided to introduce a new section on the blog called Love Irish. Here I will share with you all the latest Irish beauty, fashion or jewellery businesses I come across. to start off I would like to introduce you to Nature7.ie

Nature7 started out in 2000 with an aim to introduce the people of Ireland to natural and organic products.Back in 2000 there were very few of these products available and most that you could find were uncertified. 

On the website you can find a huge selection of beauty and healthcare products as well as household items. I was recently sent some products to try.

Green People Fruitful Nights Cream €17.75

 This lovely arived just in time as I had run out of my ni9ght cream a few days before hand. This is a rich cream that smells kind of like berries. It sinks into the skin quickly and leaves skin feeling soft.

Borlind Seide therapeutic Dandruff Shampoo €13.05

Luckily, I don't experience dandruff, but the hubby does. So I got him to road test this instead of using the old reliable Head & Shoulders. How'd he find it? Well being a typical man I struggled to get much out of him other than it seemed to get rid of his dandruff.

If you spot anything you like on Nature7, postage will cost you €3.50 or it will be free if you spend €28. Which you would easily do with the selection available. Orders should take 2-3 days to arrive. They also have a loyalty point system where you earn 1 point for every 3 cent you spend. Save these up and you could get a significant discount on a big purchase.

xxx Have you discovered Nature7 yet? xxx

Womens Stocking Fillers

I'm a big child when it comes to Christmas.While I'm excited to see what's under the tree,I'm even more excited to see what's in my Christmas stocking. If any of these were in my stocking I would

be a very happy camper.

Pixy Natural Mint Lip Balm €3.99

Beaded Owl Necklace £4 (approx €5) from Misbehaveboutique

iGlove £6.99 (approx €8.70) from Room31.co.uk

Paese Matte Makeup Base €8.95 from Cloud10Beauty This is a pic of my one in better days, only last week the lid broke on it :(

Blue Owl Scarf £8.50 (approx €10.50) from Funky Dory

Detox Body Scrub €19.95 from Bia Beauty

 
xxx What do you like to see in your Christmas Stocking xxx

Christmas Tag

A few weeks ago, the lovely Girl Friday tagged me in a post all to do Christmas.

Question 1:
What’s your favorite thing about Christmas?
Definitely getting the Christmas tree all set up. I'm a big child especially since the little man will be much more interested this year. 

Question 2:
What’s your favorite makeup look for the season?
I'll be having smokey eyes, with a flawless foundation and some shimmer.

Question 3:
Real tree or fake tree?
I love real trees but a real one would be a complete nightmare, so it will be a fake tree going up in our house/

Question 4:
Giving presents or receiving presents?
Definitely giving presents. I love seeing peoples faces when they open their gifts. 

Question 5:
Do you open your presents Christmas morning or evening?
Since the little man came along, we have taken to opening presents Christmas morning. It's hard to get used to since we've always swapped presents Christmas eve.

Question 6:
Handmade Christmas cards or bought?
I would love to give handmade cards but don't have alot of time so I bought mine. I've had them writtend for weeks.  

Question 7:
What’s your favorite Christmas movie?
Miracle on 34th Street, purely sentimental reasons as I would always watch it with my granny.

I’m going to tag: Dolly Rouge and Makeup Monster

and anyone else who wants to join in the festive fun!

Love Irish: Cocoa Brown Tan

I'm a bit of a false tan fiend.When I heard of a new Irish offering from the stunning Marissa Carter, I knew I had to give it a try. Named Cocoa Brown Tan, this lovely is a mousse tan that is very budget friendly and can be done the same day as the event you need a tan for.

Before I go into the full details on the lovely, can I just say how gorgeously girlie the product is. It's Pink and practical in a can container meaning if it gets dirty,you can simply stick it under the tap and rinse the makeup off.  Marissa wanted Cocoa Brown to be a dressing table product, one you would be proud to have on display. I definitely think she has pulled this off and mine will be taking pride of place on the dressing table after I do a second application tomorrow.

Gorgeous Girly Packaging

How Incredible Is the Volume In The Mousse?

Marissa has taken a lot of care in choosing her ingredients for Cocoa Brown and have kept us girls with dry or sensitive skin in mind. There are lots of exciting ingredients in Cocoa Brown but the ones I particularly am fond of are:

• DMI which grabs hold of the DHA in the tan and pulls it into the deeper layers of your skin, ensuring the tan doesn't oxidise and leave that yucky biscuit smell. DMI is also a tan accelerator, so your tan will develop in one hour for a light tan, if you like a medium tan, leave for 2 hours and if you like dark tan leave for three hours then rinse.
• A natural alternative to nasty parabens
• An innovative ingredient that can also be found in eye drops and orange juice that helps the tan glide on incredible smoothly.
• The alcohol content has been halved to 12.5% meaning that it wont aggravate dry or sensitive skin but it doesn't sacrifice on drying time.

 What about the smell I hear you say? The tan has a gorgeous floral Tahitian Gardenia scent and because of the DMI I didnt smell anything like biscuits. Unlike other tans Cocoa Brown isn't masked with a scent.

I applied the tan the next day and found it so easy and foolproof. I always dread applying tan but Cocoa Brown applied effortlessly. It took me 5 minutes to apply and as soon as one area was tanned, it had dried. So there was no walking around like John Wayne waiting for it to dry. There was also no tan stain on my clothes. The result? Liking a dark tan,I would have done three hours but by the time little man was in bed, I only had time for two hours. Two hours was the perfect amount of time for an incredibly natural golden glow.

Cocoa Brown Tan only launched a few weeks ago and is already in 320 pharmacies across the country. It retails at a very reasonable €7.99. There is also a very girlie pink tanning mitt available which I really like. I usually find my tanning mitts move all over the place when I'm applying tan but this lovely stayed put.

xxx Have you tried this lovely yet or will you be heading to their Facebook page to find your nearest stockist? xxx