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

Sneak Peek: Clarins Double Serum

On a cold Thursday evening, I headed off to see check out the latest skincare product from the skin care experts Clarins.  What was revealed to us was their new Double Serum. Double Serum has been around for 27 years and originally came in two separate bottles. Over the years it has gone through some changes with the latest in 2007.

All the way through the talk on Double Serum ,I was bursting to get my paws on it and give it a whirl. I wasn't left disappointed.

Double Serum is two treatments in one, one oil based and one water based and includes 20 active plant based ingredients. Double Serum targets 5 key areas that are essential for younger looking skin: hydration, nutrition, oxygenation, protection and regeneration. 

What I really like about Double Serum is that it can be used by any women no matter what their skin type, and off all ages from 25. Clarins recommend you use this in the morning and night for full efficacy and use 3 pumps. I find 2 pumps is enough for me, but try both and see how you go.

This will be available from the 4th of February and will have an RRP of €69.50, which is quite a price tag but if you are thinking of buying serum, you can;t go wrong with Double Serum as it is a true multitasker.

xxx I'll be road testing this lovely over the next month so keep your eyes peeled for a review. I'm expecting big things from this lovely but what I can tell you is in the few days I have used it, my skin feels tighter and my pores look smaller. xxx

Sneak Peek: Spring Summer 2013 With Lancome

During the week I headed off with Donna from Not Just Inside and Aundrea from Dancin With Disaster for a sneak peak of Lancomes offering for Spring/Summer 2013.

The collection is called In Love and features the stunning Emma Watson

In Love is a fresh, fun and colourful  fun collection which includes a vibrant blush, a gorgeous turquoise eyeliner, coral nail polishes and incredible pink lipsticks. 

Here are the pretties up close

The In Love collection is available at Lancome counters nationwide from 2nd January 2013.

xxx Once I have price details and some swatches, I will let you know but for know is anything from the collection you like the look of? xxx