5 Instagram Account You Should Be Following

Hi Everyone !

Instagram is one of my biggest sources of inspiration. It's a great place to see pretty pictures and it always puts me in a good mood. I follow lots of different accounts and they all inspire me for different reasons. Some inspire me with vivid colours while others inspire me by the simplicity in their photos, but above all they all have fantastic photography style and will help inspire you to up your Instagram game...

From Roses

I Covet Thee

Design Love Fest

Tessa Neustadt

Meghan McNeer

Who are your favourite Instagrammers ?

Erin X

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Elite Munster Bloggers Network Event !!!

Hi Guys!

This is just a quick post to let you all know that myself and Steph from S2u Beauty and Blog are running an event for bloggers! We set up the Elite Munster Bloggers Network and our first event will be on the 16th of August in the beautiful Strand Hotel. I am so excited !!!

SO the reason we are running the event is because, most/every other event that happens in relation to blogging is always in Dublin, with the exception of the ITWBN events. There are never any events in Limerick and brands have no idea that there are hundreds of bloggers here in Munster. So we wanted to have an event down the south and get to know all the other bloggers from around this region.

Here is the link to get the tickets ! https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/elite-munster-bloggers-network-event-tickets-17881661531

Now anyone can come to the event as long an your a blogger. You don't have to be from Munster, it's just that myself and Steph are based in Munster and so are the events. So more details on the event ???

Ok so we have some a MAJOR treats for all the lovely bloggers that come to the event. We have some fabulous speakers including, a skincare specialist from Forever Living, a networking expert from BlueChief Social and an Inglot makeup masterclass in which the MUA will be showcasing two different looks.

As an added bonus, the very talented Steph from S2u Beauty and Blog will be doing nails on the day. She will be using all the SO SU nail polishes so it's a good chance to try them out.

We will also have some brands there on the day so that the bloggers can interact with brands face to face, sample some of their products and get to know the brands a little better.

We of course have a lovely goody bag for all the bloggers too full of wonderful surprises ! I did let my snapchat viewers in on one secret, so it's only fair that I tell you guys too. Inglot will be giving all of the bloggers at the event, some exclusive Pro Cards. The Pro Cards allow you to buy anything from Inglot at a 20% discount ALL THE TIME ON ANYTHING YOU BUY!!!! Usually it's only fully qualified MUAs that are given these Pro Cards but Inglot are loving our little group so have exclusively given it to all bloggers who attend the event.

The event will run from 12.30 to 5.30 ! There will also be lots of fun after the event with the Strand Hotel doing up a very special 'Bloggers Menu' full of wonderful cocktails and treats !

It's going to be a fabulous day and I cannot wait ! If you are a blogger and would like to come to event, you can buy your tickets HERE ! The Early Bird tickets are only €10 but will be ending by the 1st of August so hurry and get your tickets ! The general tickets after that will be €20.

I really cannot wait, it's set to be a fantastic day ! Let me know who's coming...

Erin X

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Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE

Hello

Today I'm back with a little bit of a different post. As I explained in this post, I want to expand what I talk about on this blog. As I work for a social media company, I love social media and all the tools needed to use social media. That includes a smart phone! I am always on the go and rely on my phone A LOT ! I own the Sony Xperia 5, I got it for Christmas but have been on the lookout fro a new phone because the internal space isn't great. So when Microsoft Social got in touch and asked if I'd like to trial a phone for a few weeks, it was like music to my ears!

I had never previously had or used a windows phone, so I was very intrigued! Ok so down to business, this is a great budget friendly phone. It runs windows 8.1 operating system which is perfect for anyone who uses windows 8.1 on their laptop. There's very little difference so it's easy to get used to. It has a 5 inch screen with a quad core processor.

Aesthetically, it's beautiful. The corners are ever so slightly slightly rounded. It comes with a matt black cover/case so it doesn't slip out of your hand easily. It's very chic but practical. While the screen is great, you might want to keep a screen cleaner around if you're particularly bothered about fingerprints. I'm not so it didn't bother me. Over all the design is very minimal, there is a simple round hole for the speaker grill, the camera and Microsoft logo are positioned in the center, keeping it to a very minimal design.

The phone is completely touch screen and is very responsive. It's 8.8mm thick, so it's very thin meaning it's easily manageable in one hand.  Considering the price (approx €180), it's very impressive to see a display with a pixel density of almost 300ppi. At 294 pixels per inch, the resolution is high enough at distinguishing individual pixels is quite difficult.

For me the camera was one of my favourite aspects, as a blogger being able to take good quality photos from a phone is just ideal. There are lots of settings that you can play around with. It's very clear and the colours come out true to life. I was super impressed with the still shot results as well as the video quality. Also the phone has 1G of RAM with is ideal for storage.

The phone is easy, quick and smooth to navigate. It is a very quick phone, the only times I ever experienced lagging was when I was loading web pages and games. But nothing that would annoy you. It also has a remarkably good battery life, at moderate use you can just about get two full days out of it.

For me, working in social media and being a blogger/YouTube, I use lots of apps on a daily basis. I found that getting the apps I needed such as snapchat wasn't an option. This was quite annoying but to be honest, it's the only thing I can criticize about this phone. It really is an incredible phone for its price point and performed admirably. It will also be up-gradable to windows 10 when that's released.

Have you tried this phone? What are your thoughts ?

Erin X

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W7 In The Nude Palette Review

Hello Everyone!

I heard a lot of hype about this palette being a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette. It's not, It's no where close! Now I don't actually own Naked3 but I have used it before and the quality of these eye shadows are nothing in comparison!

First of all the packaging is awful. After having the palette for only a few days and only opening a few times the lid came off !!! Now I can slot it back together, but every time I open it, it just comes off again so I tend to just click it on the top instead of properly securing it now. Very annoying!

You can see from the swatches that they are not very pigmented at all. The lighter shades are barely noticeable. I did use a primer at the top of each of the swatches, which is why they are more noticeable at the top. Without a primer even the darker shades are barely showing up. The eyeshadows are very powdery and leave a lot of fallout under the eyes and a mess in the palette itself.

I have used them numerous times on my eyes and not once have I been impressed with them. I think this palette is around the €7 mark, but it's a complete waste of money in my opinion. It has put me off trying any of the other palettes from W7 too. This is so disappointing because I am obsessed with the W7 liquid eyeliner and Absolute Lashes Mascara. 

Have you tried this palette or any of the palettes from W7 ? What are your thoughts ?

Erin X

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Manicure Monday

Hello my lovelies,

Happy Monday! Today I'm back with another SO SU nail polish, this time it's 'Rock Candy'. As you can see from the photo, this colour is a beautiful light pink. I really like this colour and think that it'd look great with a tan. Again, I like the packaging and the brush but unfortunately that's where the good things ended for me...

I really don't like the formula! You definitely need at least two coats, otherwise it will dry, streaky and patchy. The polish didn't sit right on my nails and even after two coats still came out a little streaky. These polishes are branded as gel polishes, they're definitely not gel ! I'm glad that this colour was sent to me because if I had paid the full €7.99, I would be very disappointed. 

And I am disappointed! I wanted nothing more to come on here this morning, to tell you that this is a beautiful polish that you NEED in your life, unfortunately I can't. I have never lied on this blog and I don't intend on starting now. I'm so disappointed because I've been hearing lots of talk around the blogosphere recently kind of bashing the SO SU  polishes. I am a big fan of Suzanne Jackson and she is such an amazing role model for the rest of us Irish bloggers, I want nothing more than to support her. 

Last week I reviewed the shade 'Bright Lights' HERE and I loved it and thought that perhaps there was just a slight touch of bitchiness and jealousy in the blogging community and that's why other people were coming down so hard on the polishes. Unfortunately now I see why they came down so hard on them and I do agree with them. I wouldn't purchase this polish and will be very skeptical in trying any other non sparkly shades. 

I'm sorry that this post was negative, but there's no point in lying! Have you tried the SO SU nail polishes ? I'd love to hear your thoughts on them!

Erin X

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YouTube Lately and The Body Shop Giveaway

Hello ❤

I have been loving YouTube lately, some months I love blogging and other months I prefer YouTube. I think it just depends on my mood. Recently I've been in a weird mood, I love reading blogs but making videos. I've decided on a set upload schedule for my YouTube channel and from now on, I'll be uploading every Wednesday at 5pm and Saturday at 7pm ! 

I recently hit 100 subscribers! My first milestone in the YouTube world, I am so happy and thankfully for each and every person that hit the subscribe button, to say thank you I have teamed up with The Body Shop to bring you a fantastic giveaway. All details are explained in this video and also the reason why I started YouTube....

I have seen so many Irish Youtubers do this tag and I thought that it was about time I did it myself. SO here it is, the Irish YouTuber Tag. Hopefully you'll get to know me a little bit better through this video...

I FINALLY went to Lush and oh my god, I spend a small fortune on some amazing products. See everything I picked up in this video here...

So that's been my YouTube life recently, I do have another video up on my channel coming at you tonight, so make sure you subscribe so that you don't miss it ! 

Erin X 

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10 Things You Didn't Know About Me...

Hello ❤
I have been tagged by the lovely Rebecca from Rainbows and Fairydust to do the 10 things about me tag, so thank you Rebecca for tagging me. You all know that I love tag posts so I was delighted to be tagged. So Rebecca has given me 10 questions to answer, then I'll come up with 10 questions and tag some people to do it too. Let's get stuck in...

1. Why did you start blogging ?
I started blogging originally as a college project, but quickly fell in love with it and started up this blog.

2. If you could only use 3 makeup products for the rest of your life, what would they be?
This is such a difficult question. One would be my Makeup Revolution palette because you can crete so many different looks, Two would be Extreme liquid eyeliner and Three would be red lippie!

3. Coffee or tea ?
I'm allergic to coffee and I'm not a fan of tea so neither.

4. Favourite food ?
Pasta bake for sure, one of my fave meals ever !

5. Favourite place you've ever visited ?
Tanzania in Africa, such an amazing place and a trip I'll never forget.

6. Your number 1 staple wardrobe piece ?
Black skinny jeans!

7. How would you describe your style ?
Cute and girly, I wear dresses most days.

8. A place you've never been to but would like to visit ?
Berlin, I'm so fascinated by the history there, also Bora Bora...do I need to explain that one haha !

9. Favourite high street shop ?
PENNYS

10. Favourite makeup product ?
Again too difficult a question! My most used is my Makeup Revolution ultimate eyeshadow collection palette!

My questions...
1. What does your Perfect Night in look like?
2. Where do you see yourself in five years time ?
3. What's the number one thing on your wishlist ?
4. If you won the lotto, how would you spend it ?
5. What's your favourite thing about blogging ?
6. What's your least favourite thing about blogging ?
7. Do you prefer winter or summer ? Why ?
8. What is your favourite quote ?
9. What inspires you in life ?
10. What is your favourite makeup brand ?

I tag....

Sandra
Hayley
Mags
Ruth
Danielle
Sara
Kathleen
Lisa
Aishling
Leanne

Thanks again Rebecca for the tag, can't wait to see everyone's posts, make sure to tag me so that I can read them ladies ! 

Erin X

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Manicure Monday

Hello lovelies !

It feels like I haven't done a Mani Monday in FOREVER !!! Fear no more, I will be back doing them every Monday from now on. This week I want to show a gorgeous combination that I've been wearing a lot recently. 'Bright Lights' by So Su and 'Bronx Paparazzi' by NYC. I love these two together, they're very summer appropriate and bring a little bit of sparkle to my day.

So what are the nail polishes like themselves ? Well recently there's been a lot of talk that the So Su polishes aren't really as good as everyone made out when they were first released. To be honest at €7.99 I didn't rush out the door to buy any shades even though they do look amazing! I never really buy into hype products until after the hype dies down and the real reviews come out. I was very curious though. Luckily a lovely PR company sent me some shades to try out. Even though they were sent to me, this is a completely 100% honest review!

I have to say this golden glitter colour is only colour I've tried and I am super impressed so far ! The packaging is fabulous, I just love the rose gold top and the glass bottle. I love the branding too, so simple. The brush is really good, I didn't have any issues what so ever with the application. The formula itself is something that I particularly enjoy. It's thick, but not too thick, spreads evenly and dried evenly. The colour payoff I thought was great. If I was to ever create a nail polish line, this is exactly what I'd want, from the packaging to the formula. I've been wearing it four days and only now is it starting to chip which in my opinion is pretty good. They are branded as gel nails and I don't really agree with that. It'll be interesting so see if the other non sparkly shades do as well a job as 'Bright Lights'.

I am a big fan of NYC nail polishes, always have been. SO when I seen this pastel purple I didn't hesitate in putting it straight into my basket. The reason I love this brand of nail polish is very simple, you get a great product for only €1.99 ! Great value altogether. I have featured lots of NYC polishes before so you'll already know that I love the brush. It gives a great even applicaion, You never need more than two coats (with this colour you'd definitely be ok with just one coat) and it doesn't chip for days. I love this polish so much and will definitely be going back for more pastel shades. I always get a bit nervous buying pastel shades, because a lot of pastel colours need like five coats before they come up properly. This however I LOVE ! 

Have you tried wither of these shades ? 

Erin x

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10 Ways to Stress Less

Hello everyone!

If you follow me on snapchat (chasingrubychat) then you'll know about my current health situation. Currently I am trying to juggle lots of things such as a full time job, a blog, a YouTube channel, some health issues and seeing James, my friends and family. This can get very stressful and it has been stressful. So due to health reasons I've had to FORCE myself to stop stressing and relax. This is easier said than done, but here's a few things that I do to help me stress less...

1. Dance it off, or in the words of T Swift Shake it off. 

2.Go for a walk and have some alone time to gather your thoughts.

3. Talk about it / Call you mammy.

4. Get some sleep, go to bed early.

5. Focus only on what you can control.

6. Ask for a hug, sometimes you just need a hug.

7. Reminisce on good times.

8. Lights some candles and take a bath.

9. Smile and force yourself to laugh, you'll be surprised at the positive effect it will have on you.

10. Breathe.

These are a few of the things that I do when I get stressed and they work for me. Let me know in the comments, what helps you stress less...

Erin X

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My New Website !

Hello Everyone !

So you may or may not have noticed that I've been awfully quiet here on this little blog for the last month or so. I explained a little bit why HERE. Aside from all the personal things that have been going on, I've been redesigning this website. While my old layout and design was fine, it was just fine and I just felt it didn't look very me ish if that makes sense. I much prefer how it looks now.

I had a very talented graphic designer (Jemma from Dorkface blog) do up some designs for a new header and logo, which I am so so happy with !! I've been getting so many compliments so thank you Jemma. I just wanted something that corresponds with my personality and I think Jemma captured my spirit and what my blog is about perfectly. That did take about two weeks, so while Jemma was busy working on the design, I was busy moving my blog to squarespace.

Squarespace I hear you ask ?? I know this post is on blogger, as is my blog. I DID move over to squarespace and I DID have my blog there for all of about five hours. Me and my boyfriend spent all day last Sunday trying to work out the minefield that is squarespace, I even paid for my first month subscription. But for a lot of different reasons, the main one being is that it was too damn difficult to use, I switched back to blogger. And I'm happy I did, I really do love blogger. I'm, so used to it and know how to do everything that I want to do.

This left me back at square one, so I decided to bite the bullet and buy a pre made blogger template. I have had my eye on 'HomeStead' design for aaaaaaaages ! It's $49 which is €45, which is quite a lot but at the same time, I get pretty much the exact design and layout taht I wanted and don't have to pay €12 monthly subscription that I would have, had I stayed with squarespace. SO really €45 isn't that much.

As for my new design, I really REALLY like it. It's more girly and professional looking and just much more ME. There are some things that I want to tweak here and there and I'll do that over time but for now I'm very very happy and I hope that you all like it as much as me, let me know in the comments...

As for the future of this blog, I'm changing things up a bit. Not drastically but just changing elements. As you may know because I've mentioned it a few times, I now work at a social media company and I'm learning so many tips and tricks everyday. SO I want to start a series called Social Media Saturday, to share all the tips that I'm learning. I also have a huge interest in technology so I'd like to do some posts on that topic too.

My schedule from now on will be :

Blogging : I will be uploading most days form now on, roughly 27/28 days of the month.

YouTube :  I will be uploading every Wednesday evening at 5pm and Saturday mornings at 10am

Thanks you so much for reading and for all of your continued support, if there is any specific posts/videos that you'd like me to do then please let me know and any feedback that you have would be greatly  appreciated ! 

Erin X

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Threading at The Body Shop - My Experience

Hello my lovelies,

A little while ago I was approached by The Body Shop, they offered me the chance to try out their threading and tinting service. To be honest I didn't even know they offered that in their stores. It's funny actually, me and one of my good friends were chatting one night about eyebrows(as you do) and she was telling me to stop waxing as it eventually leads so loose skin that will kind of 'hang' over your eyes. She suggested threading and I said I'd look into it. The very next morning, I woke up to email offering me the chance to try threading, I took it as a sign.

So off I went into Limerick's store to get my eyebrows tinted and threaded. I've never ever had them tinted or threaded, I usually just wax them, occasionally pluck and fill them in with my trusty Benefit Brow Zings. I will admit I was very nervous, I've heard threading can be very painful and I have a very low pain threshold. I had a patch test for the tinting dye the day before because a patch test is required at least 24 hours before your first tint. This is just to make sure that you aren't allergic to the dye.

I went in and the girl that was doing my eyebrows was just lovely. I lay back and stretched the skin either side of my eyebrow. This is done to reduce pain as well and help the beautician when she's shaping your brows. The process of threading is literally two strings that are wrapped around your stray hair and pulled from your skin, almost like mass plucking. I have to be honest here, it was  painful. My eyes did water and it did hurt more than waxing !

After my excess hair was gone and my eyebrows were shaped, it was time to dye them. The dye was cold but wasn't in any way uncomfortable or itchy. I had the light brown shade applied and it stayed on for about 7/8 minutes. When it was time to take off the dye, the beautician simply wiped away the dye with a cotton pad and some cream/cleanser. 

To top it off, just at the end she gave me a quick head message and it was just glorious. I've never gotten a proper head message before and now I definitely want one !

This is my eyebrows afterwards and I was super happy with the result. While it did hurt a bit, so did waxing the first few times I tried that. I think it's something your skin gets used to. I did actually like the treatment so much that I booked in for my next appointment at the end of July and dare I say it I'm looking forward to it. I'm so pleased that I got the chance to try threading and I think after a few more times, I'll be a convert. No saggy eyes for me thank you!

Has anyone else tried threading ? What's your thoughts ?

Erin X

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My Very First Giveaway !

Hello there friends !

I am hosting my very first giveaway. I picked up some really lovely bits from the Botanics range and wanted to treat one of your lovely readers. The past few months have been super busy and I've been all over the place. Time and time again, I'd receive lovely messages and tweets and snaps from some of you and it would just make my day. So I wanted to give back a little as a thank you for all of your support. It's only small but its the thought that counts haha. 

So how do you enter ?? Well its very simple...

1. You must 'like' my Facebook page, you can find it HERE
2. You must like and share THIS status on your Facebook page about the giveaway
3. You must tag a friend in the comments of that status

Easy peasy. Thank you all again for your support and kind messages.

Best of luck to everyone !

Erin X

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