Booktube-a-thon 2014

Hey guys and welcome back.

So after seeing that Nurse Fancy Pants Here and Behind Green Eyes Here were doing Booktube-a-thon I thought I'd give it a go as well. If you haven't checked out their blogs, you need to-seriously.

A couple of years ago all I did was read books. I much rathered curling up and getting lost in a book than sticking on a DVD on or watching tv but then i just got a bit lazy and kind of fell out of love with books. So that's why I'm giving this ago.
It's about halfway through the challenge now and I think i'm keeping up to speed with it ok.

What I've read so far:

For the 'Start and finish a series' I chose:

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I had started to read this After i seen the first film and bought them but then I thought it would be easier to just watch the movies as they came out. I am so glad I actually took the time to read these as they give such dimension to the overall story. Don't get me wrong- the movies of the first two were very enjoyable but the details in the books just give it so much more.

For the 'Read a book with Pictures' challenge I chose:

Marilyn Monroe by Marie Clayton

I might be cheating a little bit with this one as it is mostly pictures.It's a beautiful book though and it takes you through her life in pictures with a few paragraphs beside the image telling you when and why the picture was taken. Perfect for a coffee table and the photography (all black and white) is amazing.
If you see it definitely pick it up.

Read a book with red on the cover
Read a book someone else has chosen for you.

Slash
My brother chose this for me and I'm so glad he did. I bought the book about 5 years ago and he took off with it so I'm finally getting to read it.
 I was a hardcore Guns and Roses fan growing up (old not new) and I'm about halfway through this book at the minute. If everything he says he has done is true, its a miracle he's alive.This is a really good choice for anyone who liked guns and roses growing up as it goes into detail of how they formed and just how crazy they really were.

Read a book from a genre you've read least this year.

The Donegal Women By John Throne
I have yet to start on this but the cover already has me very intrigued. I was very interested in learning about the famine and hiring fairs growing up so I think I'll find this very interesting. It's a story about the authors own grandmother and everything she went through growing up and if the cover is anything to go by I think it's going to be quite harrowing. I think it's going to be one of those books that i won't be able to put down.

Read a book that's been adapted into a movie

The Shining By Steven King 

This is one of those books that I've always wanted to read but could never quite buck up the courage for. I'm a total scaredy cat so even if I make it through the book I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch the movie. They're also meant to be quite different so I can't really get an indication of how scary It's actually going to be from reading the book but I'll give it a go..maybe.

Booktube-a-thon is also on twitter and youtube so check them out if you want to see what everyone else is reading. I've a list as long as my arm from what other bloggers have picked out so I definitely plan on getting back into reading this year. 

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Wet 'n' Wild Colour Icon Comfort Zone Palette

Hey guys and welcome back.

Todays post is all about Wet 'n' Wilds Colour Icon Comfort Zone palette.

You can tell which side I use the most..
When word got out that Wet n Wild had actually hit Irish shores it was somewhat of a twitter meltdown.
I began to frantically google Wet n Wild reviews and go through allll the American youtube videos to see what I absolutely needed to try and what to avoid. This palette kept cropping up everywhere so of course it was top of the list. The fact is was almost all neutrals helped out too. My nearest Dunnes Stores was, of course, sold out when i took the hour trip just to get it, so imagine my surprise when I seen that my local chemist had a stand. They had to get rid of the Catrice one to make way for it though (sob).
It was just after being stocked so I  had the first pick of everything and I went a bit mad,but this has been the stand out product for me.

The first half from top to bottom

The second half from top to bottom

The last brownish red shade has a greeny-blue iridescence that my camera refused to pick up in the last swatch.

The colours in this palette are all shimmery with no mattes in it at all. A matte transition colour would of been handy to have but it still works very well. The shades are all very pigmented and they work beautifully together and with any other brand that I have tried. The shade i use the most is the one I thought was going to be a bit strange on: the first brow highlight. Because it was such a yellowy based shade I didn't know if it was going to work but its actually my favourite one that I own . It's more subtle than a shimmery near white colour and gives just the right amount of highlight without being in your face. I love it.
Fallout is minimal with a primer underneath but even without one there isn't much cleaning up to do.
For 6.49 Euro i don't mind if I have to clean up a little. For beginners this palette is amazing. They tell you what each shade is primarily for and on the back there's a little pictorial on the different looks you can achieve. Of course you can mix and match them however you please. It does come with a brush but I lost it like a day after I got it.
This palette would definitely be my recommendation on what to try first from the brand. You need this in your make up bag.
Have you tried anything from Wet n Wild? What did you think?

MUA Smokin' Palatte

Hey guys and welcome back.

Todays post is all about this wonderful palette from MUA.

this palette contains ten shades as well as a black eyeliner which is one of the best that I own. There are four matte shades in neutral colours and six shades that are shimmery and jewel toned.

L-R Glory, Boudoir, Ghost, Fantasy and Mythical

L-R Broken, Icon, Unleash, Chaos and Wicked

The colours in this palette are just so vibrant. They really stand out and the bottom four shades are perfect for adding a little bit of colour to a smoky eye. There are four

The first two shades, Glory and Boudoir so suit the majority of skin tones that are pale to medium. they are perfect for that wash of colour over the lids.The quality is really good too. they are so buttery and pigmented and there's little to no fall out with them especially if you wear a primer underneath. If you didn't know how cheap these shadows are you probably couldn't tell.

The packaging could be a little better. its plastic and it opens very easily so i don't really feel comfortable just throwing it in my make up bag, i kinda wedge it in there so i know it won't open.

Their are so many different looks you can achieve in this palette and for under five Euro you really can't not pick it up.

The eyeliner that's included in this is really really good as well. It's one of the blackest that i own and perfect for smudging into the lash line. However there is no lid for it tho so you do have to keep in it the little slot in the palette.

All in all I would recommend this and I'm going to try another palette from them soon.

Any suggestions? Have you tried this palette?What did you think?

Essence Longlasting Lipsticks

Hey guys and welcome back.

Today's post is about these little beauties.

L-R 03 Dare to Wear, 07 Natural Beauty, 09 Wear Berries!

I'm legitimately in love with these lipsticks. I probably wear natural beauty and wear berries and least twice a week each.The packaging on them is so sleek and study, they have that satisfying 'click' when you close them so they're brilliant for just chucking in your bag. The colour on the ring encircling them corresponds with the colour inside so the packaging really is well thought out.

 They have the 'e' embossed on them which i think is also a nice touch.

For 2.79 Euro they really are brilliant.

Essence claim ' that they provide your lips with intensive colour without drying them out' and it's all true.

these are honestly some of the nicest lipsticks I've come across in the drugstore.

the pigmentation that they have is better than some of my higher end lipsticks and they really are long lasting for a satin finish lipstick.

I would usually get around 6 to 7 hours which i think is brilliant for a drugstore lipstick.

L-R Dare to Wear, Wear berries,Natural Beauty

Natural Beauty

Wear Berries!

Dare to Wear

Natural Beauty is the perfect 'my lips but better' shade for me.I'm on my third one of these so that might give you an indication of just how much i love it.

wear berries is just beautiful.Not as dark as i was hoping but a lovely way to wear purple lips on an everyday basis.

Dare to Wear is a beautiful blue toned red that really does make your teeth look whiter.it wears down (after about 7 hours to a lovely all over stain. no fear off just a red ring around the outside of your lips with this one.

there are twelve shades to choose from in this range, from nudes to vibrant reds and pinks.

I'm picking up the pink shade in 'blush my lips' as soon as its back in stock in my local chemist.

I've heard that Essence have recently launched in America so if you want to try the brand, start with these.

Have you tried these lipsticks? What are your thoughts on them?

Catrice Absolute Eye Colour

Hey guys, and welcome back.

Today's post is all about Catrice eye shadows, specifically the absolute eye colour range and I have 3 shades to review.

L-R 140 The Captain Of The Black Pearl, 420 Talk Like An Egyptian

570 Plum Up The Jam

As you can see Talk Like An Egyptian has seen better days. I dropped it but kind of fixed it by using alcohol.

swatched dry and then damp

As you can see there isn't really that much difference between them swatched dry and wet.Its only really noticeable with Talk Like An Egyptian.

The pigment on these isn't the greatest that I've ever tried but for under 3.50 they're really not that bad at all.

I would usually use a primer under and that does up the vibrancy on them considerably.

I use the black shade to smudge into my lash line for an understated eye when I don't have the patience for liquid eyeliner and i find that there is very little fallout for a black eye shadow. The other two shades also have very little fallout.

The gold is beautiful as an inner corner highlight and the plum shade is lovely for warming up a smoky eye.

Have you tried these eye shadows?what did you think?

*This post is not sponsored. All products were bought with my own money.

Essence Colour and Go Nail Polishes

Hey guys and welcome back.

Todays post is going to be all about Essence's nail polishes.These guys are actually amazing, no joke.

132 Break Through and 109 Off To Miami!

They cost 1.49  each which is an absolute bargain considering how amazing they are.

Seriously.

Two coats is all you need for complete opaqueness, they dry so fast so there's no need to walk around flailing your hands for them to dry.

        The brush is flat and wide which makes it so easy and quick to paint your nails. There are 48 shades to                choose from on the website and on the majority of stands with new colours out regularly with the                                                                   limited edition products. 

Essence say ' gel-shine finish with a highly intensive shine and an extremely short drying time for perfectly polished nails in a flash! the patented quick & easy brush is particularly flat for an even easier application.'

And they're not lying.

two coats on each with no topcoat-look at the shine!

They last-on me- around four of five days with no chipping but if you wore a topcoat you would probably be able to get longer from them.

Have you tried these nail polishes?What did you think?

*This blogpost is not sponsered.Any products mentioned were bought with my own money.