Skin Analysis and Facial With Skin Essentials By Mariga

While down in Wexford at the weekend, Skin Essentials By Mariga invited me for a complimentary  Skin Analysis and Facial. Knowing how much of a guru Mariga is, I jumped at the chance. 

On arrival, I had a skin analysis done. To prep for this, I had to go bare faced for most of Saturday (the horror!!), all I could use was a sunscreen on my face and even with that I had to remove it two hours before my appointment. There is a good reason for this though as Mariga wants to see how your skin is in its natural state.

 

During the analysis, the following was checked

• Overall health of my skin
• Hydration Levels
• Identify any problem areas
• My current skincare and lifestyle regime including any medications or supplements I am on. I'm not on medication but do take a multivitamin and pro biotic.

I've always been a bit afraid of these type of procedures as I know my skin could be better. I go through phases where it is extremely dehydrated and other times I get a spotty outbreak on my chin. The other times my cheeks will redden thanks to a new skin product.

 

The analysis revealed that I have reactive skin with low oil levels and some texture issues. Mariga recommended a few products for me to improve my skin so I am definitely going to start buying those. I'm 28 and thought my skin age would be 28 to somewhere in my 30's but the analysis revealed I have the skin of a 26 year old. Mariga contributed this to exfoliating very little.

 

Afterwards, I was treated to a facial from the lovely Jane. I haven't had a facial in forever so it was nice to chill out a bit and let her work her magic. On the cards was a heavenly facial massage followed by an enzyme exfoliation using Mariga's own exfoliator with an ultrasonic tool that got deep down to clear out any dirt in my skin . To finish Jane applied an high strength hyaluronic acid treatment and sea kelp mask then a SPF 30 moisturiser.

I learnt so much from both treatments including what types of products that I should avoid. It was also an eye opener into so many of the skincare brands that I am familiar with. Some things I found out were a complete shocker and completely opened my eyes. I tend to read my ingredients on products before I buy them but now I am going to research products a lot more before parting with my money.

 I would definitely recommend the trip down to Mariga for a skin analysis. The treatment costs €50 and takes around an hour. This is an absolute bargain because you will learn so much in that time. I know that if I lived closer to Wexford, I would go to Mariga and Jane exclusively.

Have you ever had a skin analysis?

 

Shellac Nails At Dylan Bradshaw

Myself and my lovely blogger friend Donna had a few hours to spare between appointments last Thursday. So on Wednesday, we thought why not treat ourselves to a manicure. A google fest commenced to find a nail bar that we might get a walk in for. In the meantime, the lovely PR folks for Dylan Bradshaw contacted us and offered us a complimentary manicure in their nail bar. 

On arrival, we were blown away by the stylish salon and friendly staff. When we were seated, we were offered as selection of drinks including Prosecco. Which I think is a lovely touch. We were then offered either a file and polish or Shellac nails. The whole day, we had said we would just get a file and polish but both of us are a bit late to the whole Shellac/2 week manicure craze so we decided to try that. 

The night before I had to take off my existing polish and leave my nails bare until the appointment. This felt really alien to me as I always have something on my nails. Here's a pic of them Au Naturel....

Shellac at Dylan Bradshaw costs €30 and takes about 40 minutes. I opted to go with a colour combination of a gorgeous deep purple and sheer pinky peach which gave a final teal effect. Then because my favourite colour is glitter, I choose a feature nail in the most amazing holographic silver and on the nail next to it, a little hint of glitter. I love the effect and next time will get that on every nail. 

I've always liked the idea of not having to touch my nails for weeks at a time so Shellac is definitely a winner for me. I also really liked the salon and plan on returning for a wash and blowdry asap and I think I will definitely be keeping the Shellac for a while, I already have my next colour picked out. 

There are lots of other nail and hair treatments available in the salon, be sure to visit their website for all that's on offer

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Have you ever tried Shellac?

A Weekend In Wexford

*Pic Heavy Post xx*

Back in June, I decided to book a bit of time off work for hubby's birthday and treat the three of us to a family weekend. I wanted somewhere that wasn't too much of a drive and somewhere that had a pool. We normally go North but I thought we would head South for a change. I got lots of recommendations on where to go but settled on Wexford Town.

 I spent a lot of time around Wexford when I was a child and loved it. The scenery down there is amazing.After looking at what seemed like 100's of hotels, I chose White's Of Wexford for 2 nights B&B and 1 Dinner. I heard good things about the hotel, it was reasonably priced using Supervalu Get Away breaks and it had a pool.  Hubby literally only found out a few days before we went as I wanted it to be a surprise.

  

We headed off early on Friday and stopped off at Secret Valley Open Farm. Secret Valley was a mixed bag. The indoor area was lovely, you got right up to the animals and had some petting time with the smaller animals but outside the animals were a good bit away from us. In my opinion not worth the €15 we paid.

We got to Whites around 2 and headed to the room. The room was huge and had a lovely view of The Courtyard and the sea. Friday evening we had the dinner from the package in the Terrace restaurant and boy was it good food! The staff  were really friendly and kept Jack amused.



 On Saturday we headed to RavenWood Nature Reserve, this is a massive walking trail and where Saving Private Ryan was filmed. We did the entire loop and we were exhausted afterwards. I also popped in to see Mariga from Skin Essentials by Mariga for a bit of R&R. Saturday evening we went to acclaimed restaurant The Yard for their early bird. Again another lovely meal.

Check out on Sunday was at 12 but we took our time coming home and stopped off at Blackwater Open Farm. This was a far superior farm, you can get very close to the animals and the atmosphere just had a nicer feel to it. We did have to pay in for Jack,something I usually don't agree with for kids under 3 but it didn't bother me too much as the farm is well worth the €14 we paid in for all three of us.

 If you are looking for a weekend away, Wexford is the perfect place. It was so relaxing  and there is no shortage of things to do.

Say Hello To What Salon

Have you ever been in town with a few hours to kill and wanted to treat yourself to a blowdry, manicure or some other treatment? I often find myself in town with a few hours to spend between appointments. Usually I would kill the time with shopping and on some occassions, I would see if I could get a walk in. Usually this is a complete fail but last week I was introduced to an app that is going to change everything.

Say hello to What Salon. A genius new app for both I Phone and Android (Android is still in development but it will be here soon for all us none I Phone users) The app is designed by Cork men Kieran Walsh and David O'Flynn

 

What does it do?

What Salon is a mobile app aimed at both customers and salon owners. The whole idea is to help you find what treatment you want within the area you are in. You choose the treatment and time you want it for. Any salons that are in your area with last minute appointments pop up in real time and you choose to contact them. The salon gets notified of your request and they hit a button saying whether they are available. If a few salons have appointments, you choose the one you want and pay a small deposit which comes off your bill in the salon.

 

How does it help me?

This app will help you locate salons in your area that have appointments available that same day. Ideal if you have an hour or two to pass and you want some pampering or if you wake up deciding you want a treatment today. Both situations have happened to me and I can never find somewhere.

It also eliminates all the ringing around as you are give a choice of salons within a matter of a couple of minutes and because you are choosing from a few salons you can select the one that is most price friendly for your purse. 

I cannot wait to download What Salon, it is such a revolutionary app. When I was introduced to it, I thought how has no one ever developed this before? It is such a clever idea and something I will definitely be availing of.

What Salon is free to download for users so if you are in Cork or Dublin, get downloading. For those in other counties, there are plans to launch into more counties asap.