The Best Eye Cream In The World??? Thalgo Collagen Eye Roll On Review!

Ok I haven't tried all the eye creams in the world to make such a big claim but I would bet anything that it's up there with the best of them. I've been using this eye roll on from Thalgo for about a year and half and I just can't get enough of it! Here's why...

First off, I'm only 22 so wrinkles are not exactly something I'm trying to reduce or even think about however I'm a firm believer that prevention is better than cure. So I always use some sort of an eye cream. This one from Thalgo is my go to and I've converted so many people into loving it too so I know, it's not just me! Even though I don't have any wrinkles, I do suffer with dehydration in my skin and this can result in small creases under my eyes and dry patches and that is what I love this product for.

It's technically a clear gel, rather than a cream but I call it an eye cream out of habit. It had three little roller balls that help cool your skin and spread the product. You simply squeeze the tube a little to push out the product and the three roller balls disperse the product. I love that you can very easily control how much product you use. Because it's so easy to control and you honestly only need the smallest amount of product, it's lasted me so long.

As I said it's almost like a gel and it feels so cooling and soothing on the skin. It isn't oily but yet it's very moisturizing and hydrating. It dries in quite quickly and doesn't leave any sticky residue! It claims to be anti puffiness and anti dark circles and my god do I notice a difference! Not so much with dark circles as I don't suffer with dark circles but definitely with the puffiness!

I really cannot explain to you how much I love this product. I've tried lots of other eye creams/gels some affordable and some high end and nothing has ever come close to this one. It is a little pricey at €33 but worth every penny in my opinion. I'll definitely be repurchasing when I run out! It can be bought here on Thalgo.ie ! 

Have you ever used this? What is your favourite eye cream?

Erin X 

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My January Favourites!

This month feels like it's lasted a lifetime!! I had a very mixed month, which you can see when I upload my monthly vlog next week. One thing I do quickly want to mention before I jump into the few things that I've been loving this month, I hit 600 subscribers on YouTube!!! I still can't believe it, thank you so much if you have subscribed, if you haven't, I'd love it if you did! Now on with my monthly favourites...

The first thing, which will be obvious to anyone who follows my social media as I haven't stopped raving about it, is the Catrice HD Liquid Coverage Foundation. I'll have a full blog post up on it this week, but very quickly, it's an amazing foundation, perfect for everyday use. It's so affordable at €7.90. It is quite mattifying so if you're super dry, I'd maybe give this a miss. I on the other hand have normal skin with quite an oily t zone. This foundation keeps my oils at bay without making me look like I'm caked in makeup and it doesn't feel very heavy. Did I mention it has fantastic coverage? I need to build it up from medium to full coverage but when I do, it's so great. 

Next up is the Blank Canvas master series palette. I had heard so much hype about this palette and on black Friday when there was 40% off, I finally gave it and bought it! I actually didn't use it until just after Christmas though, I'd put of using it so that I could take photos (blogger problems). I was genuinely so pleasantly surprised by the quality of the eyeshadows! I've pretty much only used this palette since I first opened it and I have to admit, it's fast becoming one of my absolute favourites!

Next up is a makeup mixing plate. I bought mine in Pennies for €4 and I'm obsessed. I am very very pale and most brands don't make a foundation light enough for my skin so I always use my Body Shop lightening drops to take the foundation down a shade or two. The mixing palette has come in so so handy for this exact reason and I don't even know what life was before it.

I'm not usually big into the January sales but one that did catch my eye thanks to Joanne from Lipstick n Leopard Print, was the No7 cleansing brush. I've honestly had my eye on it for about a year, usually it's €34 and because I have my Aldi one,which is really good, I never picked up the No7 one. However it was down to €11.50 so I couldn't leave it behind and I'm so glad I didn't I really really love it and will hopefully do a full blog post on it soon. 

Next up is a product that I wasn't really sure of when I started using it and that's the Dr.Paw Paw lip balm. Again, I'd heard a lot of hype. Do I think it's the best lip balm in the world? No. But I do think it's a pretty good one. I was sick for two weeks this month and my lips were dryer than the Sahara desert, I thought if there was time to test out the lip balm, it would be then. And I have to say it really helped my lips, it's not scented, doesn't make my drier which some lip balms do and I actually find myself reaching for it every night now. Big thumbs up! 

The last favourite is quite random but it's a Batiste dry shampoo. I really like the smell of it, it doesn't make my hair feel gross and it doesn't leave white marks because it brushes out really well. I'm not going to go on about dry shampoo, I'm sure most of you will have tried either this one or something similar but if you haven't this one from Batiste is really quite good. 

Thanks so much for reading. If you wanna hear my thought in a little bit more detail then you can watch the video below! 

Erin X

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Kinvara Absolute Cleansing Oil Review

Over the last two years my love for cleansing oils have grown and grown. I now pretty much only using cleansing oils to remove my makeup. Micellar water is grand and all but I just never find it as good as a cleansing oil. Over the last year, there's pretty much only been one oil that I've been using and that is the Kinvara Absolute Cleansing Oil.

How do you use it? Pump 1 or 2 drops onto your hands, warm it up slightly and apply it directly do your face. I usually use about 3 pumps as my eye makeup can be really heavy! I then message it onto my face for a minute or so and then wash it off with a hot face cloth. Make sure it is quite hot as I find if you use cold water or lukewarm water the oil almost sets or turns into a solid balm. You get a much better cleanse when the water is slightly hotter!

The oil is completely free of preservatives as it only contains plant oil extracts. The ingredients include, Sunflower oil, Sesame Oil,Watermelon oil, Thistle Oil, Rosemary Oil, Orange Peel Oil, Lemon Peel Oil, Cedar Wood Oil, Eucalyptus Oil and some essential oils too.  As you can see it's all organic.

I'm a big fan of the packaging too. The bottle contains 100ml of product. The bottle itself is a really hard plastic so there's no worrying about breaking it. It has a very handy pump and you can turn it left and right to open and close the pump, which means it's super easy to travel with.

Why do I like it? It is really good at removing makeup. It takes off my Inglot gel liner in no time and saves me scrubbing my face as it melts away the makeup. It also takes off all my mascara easily and best yet it doesn't leave my eyes feeling cloudy, which is a problem I've had with lots of oils. My face always feels clean and soft afterwards. It never feels dry or tight! To be honest, it's just a pure joy to use!

I'm now almost finished my second bottle and will 100% be picking up a third bottle. I haven't tried any other product from Kinvara but I am eager to try the rest of the range after having such a great result with this. The Absolute Cleansing Oil is €22.95 and can be bought HERE on their own website or in pharmacies nationwide.I picked mine up in a local pharmacy as they have a student discount!

Have you tried anything from Kinvara? Have you ever used a cleansing oil? 

Erin X

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A Few of My Favourite Bloggers...

Blogging is one of my favourite things to do and  I really love reading other people's blogs too. I've read blogs for years, I feel like as the years have gone on,more and more people have started to blog, which is great. But it's made me become a lot more picky about what blogs I read and what content I take in. I read lots of blogs but today I wanted to share some of my absolute favourite...

Cliona Hill
I can't remember how I came across Cliona's blog but I am so delighted that I did. This lady takes the most beautiful photos and don't even start me on her flat lays . I really admire Cliona, she's so dedicated to her blog. I love watching her snaps too so make sure to check her out on snapchat. I love the way she writes, her posts are always a joy to read and I get so excited when I see she's posted! If I won the lotto tomorrow I would hire her as my photographer, she is so bloody talented! Don't believe me? Check out her Instagram HERE! 

Fluff & Flipperies
I have followed Emma's blog for the longest time!!! I always find so much comfort in reading Emma's posts, although it does leave me broke most of them. She writes about some of the most gorgeous products on the market and takes beautiful pictures which ultimately leads me to buying all of the things! But I'm not complaining because it usually leaves me very very happy! Check out Emma's blog, you won't be disappointed, trust me!


London Beauty Blogger
I think I first came across Hayley's blog on Twitter and was immediately obsessed! I absolutely love the way Hayley writes. I always feel like there's a story. Writing is definitely one of Hayley's strong point, she in my opinion is 100% blogging goals. Her photos are always stunning, her content is original and fresh and the way she writes is just the icing on the cake. I love reading all of her beauty reviews on the new products that are launching and trust her opinions 100%.

Putting It Out There
I have actually had the pleasure of meeting Yvonne from Putting It Out There a good few times. We traveled to a few events together and I can safely say that Yvonne is absolutely great. She has the best attitude towards blogging and  is always 100% honest in her reviews. Her blog  has a really nice design and her posts are always very detailed. She'll make sure you know absolutely everything about the product that she's reviewing, through in the fact that her pictures are top class and you've got a great blog to read!  I really love reading her blog and Putting It Out There is actually one of the very very few blogs I'm actually subscribed to!

So tell me who is your favourite blogger? What are your favourite blogs to read? 

Erin X

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Full Face of Lidl Makeup!

A little while ago Lidl released a makeup range called Cien. I was really excited to try it as I've had heard great things. So I popped down to my local Lidl and picked up the few bits that they had to offer. I bought their mascara, a lipstick, a lip gloss, nail polish and two of their eye shadows. I already had their BB Cream which I made a full video on. Here's how I got on....

Mascara - I like the mascara wand, it's very easy to apply. The formula is nice and wet but not so wet that it's messy. It is a lovely mascara for a natural makeup look. It doesn't give great volume or length. It's almost like it tints your lashes, as I said, very natural. 

Eye Shadows - I was really quite impressed with the eye shadows. They feel almost velvety to the touch. They blend easily and aren't patchy. I bought two of the four shades currently available, vanilla cream and brilliant brown. Vanilla Cream is a very light cream shade, almost translucent. I use this for setting my eye shadow primer. Brilliant Brown in the pan looks like it has some shimmer to it but when applied to the eyes it's actually matte and it's beautiful. Pigmentation wise, it takes a little bit of work to build up. I really like both of these colours and hope they add more shades to the range. 

BB Cream - I really like the BB Cream, it has a lovely fresh scent and feels cool to the skin when applied. My favourite thing about it is that it colour corrects my skin really well. It gives decent coverage without having a heavy feeling.  One layer would give you a lovely natural finish, I apply too as I need that extra bit of coverage. 

Nail Polish - This was a major surprise for me. I really really like it. The brush applies the polish really well, it's similiar to the Essence brushes. The polish itself is a lovely formula, applied really evenly and dried pretty quickly too. I was also impressed by how long they lasted without chipping! I didn't use a base coat or top coat and they didn't chip for about 3 or 4 days!! I also really love the colour, at first I wasn't sure about it but the more I've worn it the more it's grown on me. It's called 'Nude Brown' and is a gorgeous pinky brown. 

Lipstick - There was only one shade available in my Lidl and that was 'Fushia Pink' a shade I wouldn't necessarily of picked up. The colour just doesn't suit my skin tone and makes my teeth look a little yellow. Having said that again I was surprisingly impressed. It applied well, quite creamy. It was well pigmented and lasted on my lips for quite a while. 

Lipgloss - I have to be completely honest here,as I always am,  I hate lip glosses, I have never come across one that I like. I've tried both High end and High Street and I've yet to find one that I like. Unfortunately the Cien lip gloss was no different. It felt quite oily on my lips, the colour I felt wasn't really true to the colour represented on the tube. And it just felt uncomfortable on the lips. As I said I feel this way about most if not all lip glosses so if you're into lip glosses then maybe just try it yourself?

Overall I'm really impressed with the range that currently available and I'm excited to see what they bring out next! I did a full video trying all the makeup on for the first time over on my YouTube channel, I'd love if you gave it a watch and subscribed to my channel too! 

Erin X 

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Getting My Groove Back!

Well hello there,

It's been a while! I am so glad I took a break from blogging  and all thing social media. I really needed it. I just read my Life Lately blog post again and I can safely say I am no longer stuck in a rut. It's funny reading it back, I feel so differently now and it feels like I wrote that post ages ago, when in reality it was only about 6 weeks.

SO what's new? Well I moved back to Limerick and decorated my new room. I'm hoping to do a Uni Room Tour soon. It was really important for me to spend time decorating my room and make it a really happy space, as it's where I spend a good 70- 80% of my time. I'll go into more detail on that in the video.

I feel inspired again! I've a list as long as my arm for blog posts and videos I want to do. I'm so excited to get those up. I already started back on YouTube in September and I have three or four new videos up. I got a new phone FINALLY so I'm back on snapchat and Instagram and all things social!

In more exciting news I've been asked to speak at an event! It's for Enterprise Town and it's on the 14th of October, which is actually my second blogiversary! I also have more exciting news following that event but I'll keep quiet about that for the moment. But just know that I'm super happy and finally all my hard work seems to be paying off,

I'm still working for my Mam's company. It's been great, I really love working with my mam, we have such a great relationship. I'm going to a lot of work events this month, so if you're interested, follow me on snapchat & I'll bring you along. I'll be working with my mam until January and I'm  super excited as there's lots of cool things happening at the moment.

During my break I also changed up this blog a little, very small changes, but ones that have made me very happy. I changed the about & contact pages, I added a few more widgets, the home page now has 9 featured posts instead of 6. As I said very small changes but ones that make me super happy.

All in all, I feel really good. Things are looking up. Taking a digital detox was just what the doctor ordered. I am really happy to be back doing what I love, creating content. Long may it last!

Erin X

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Why You Should Start A Blog

I often get asked why I blog and why I put myself out there. I always say that the positives far outweigh the negatives and it's true! Luckily I haven't experienced too many negatives. Recently I've been getting a lot of questions on snapchat from people asking whether or not they should start a blog or how to know if blogging is for them. And to that I say, just start one. If you don't like it or it's just not for you, you can always stop and remove it. But I bet you'll end up loving it because the reality is blogging is awesome! I think everyone should have blog, be it public or private, here's why...

1. It's a great hobby - I never knew how much I actually enjoyed writing until I started the blog. I find it to be very therapeutic and helps me think clearer.
2. It serves as an online cv - It gives potential future employers a chance to find you and see if you're a right fit for their company.
3. You meet great  people -  I have made life long friends that inspire me every day through blogging.
4. Enhances skills - You learn/improve your writing, photography,editing,HTML,social media & a whole load of other skills.
5. It builds your confidence - The biggest change the blog has had on my life is in my confidence, it's crazy how much it changes! 
6. It lets you help other people - I love when people get in touch saying I've helped them or inspired them in some way, it's the best feeling ever to just help people and share your knowledge.
7. It's free - At least when you begin, if you choose to self host and all that jazz you can, but mine is completely free.
8. It can make you money - Some can and do make millions from their blogs, for me, it's helped get me a few freelance gigs and a part time job.
9. It helps you document your life - This is one of my favourite parts, I love reading some of my lifestyle posts back that I wrote a year or so ago, it's amazing to see how different my life was then and when I read them I remember exactly what I was thinking and what was going on at that time in my life. 

Have you contemplated starting a blog ? Stop thinking, start doing! 

Erin X

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The Best Micellar Water ?

I'm back with another battle and this time it's between Micellar waters. It seems in the last year they have become increasingly popular and so many brands have come out with their own version. So how do we to know which ones are the best? Well I've tried and tested a few popular ones and the results are in...

Up first we have probably one of the most popular micellar waters, the Garnier Micellar water! Garnier have a few different types, depending on your skin type, I used to have the pink bottle but found it very very drying on my skin. I just didn't get the hype about it at the time, then I tried the green/blue bottle as in the picture above and it was completely different, in a good way. It is aimed towards people with combination to oily and sensitive skin. I have normal to combination skin and it is quite sensitive so it's the option that suited me the most. Mt thoughts? I like it, I don't love it. I use it to remove makeup and it does the job perfectly. I never really use it as a cleanser unless I am being ridiculously lazy. This is actually probably my fourth bottle, they're available in Boots and Pennys and selected pharmacies. They range in price form about €4 to €8. I definitely would repurchase it if I needed to and by that I mean if I didn't have access to buying one of the others (the simple one).

Next up is Bioderma, who have been in Ireland just over a year now. When they first launched their micellar water, there was major major hype about it. I was gifted a small bottle like the one in the picture, at an event. I had heard so much about it, I couldn't wait to test it. But when I did I found myself quite disappointed. Now don't get me wrong, it's a great little product, it completely removes your makeup, your skin doesn't feel dry afterwards, but it was still just a micellar water. I don't know what I was expecting, but after hearing some much hype around it, I thought it would remove your makeup and then some. This is now my second sample bottle that I was also gifted and this time round, not having great expectations, I actually really liked it. At the end of the day,it's still micellar water. It leaves your face feeling clean and soft and what more could you ask for really ?

Le Mara Micellar water is by far the biggest disappointment. I really wanted to like this product, everything seemed great, it's made by an Irish company in the west, it's very affordable at €4.99, it contains things like organic sea minerals & extracts & vitamin B, there's no perfume, no parabens and no alcohol. But it stings my face like nothing else! I'm genuinely surprised I didn't have a reaction to it. My face felt very warm and uncomfortable, it's very very drying, it hurt my eyes so much  and doesn't smell very nice either. If you have sensitive skin like me give this one a miss!

I have saved the best for last, yes that's right it's the Simple Micellar water! My favourite! I picked this up because I read somewhere, a tweet maybe, that the simple micellar water was miles better than the Garnier one. So off I went to investigate which was better. I am thrilled that I picked it up, it's just amazing! What I love about it is the simplicity of it (they clearly stuck to their branding on this one) It's quite simply feels like water, not like the others, but like actual water. It doesn't smell funny, it doesn't sting my eyes and best of all, it works really really well. I only need a small amount to remove both my face and eye makeup. My skin feels fresh and squeaky clean after using it. The only downer about it is that the bottle it comes in is 200mls and I find myself running through it very quickly but at €3.99, it could be worse!

There are still a lot more Micellar waters out there that I haven't tried...yet! So tell me what's your favorite and why? 

Erin X

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