Welcome to Lovely Girlie bits, an Irish beauty blog run by sisters Karen and Joanne where we talk about all things make up, beauty, skincare, haircare, fashion, so come on and let's talk girlie bits!
I love keeping track of numbers in terms of the blog, be it unique views a month, blog followers, those subscribed by email and page views. Each time I hit a benchmark, I'm a happy blogger. On January 1st this year, we hit a million views and four and a half months later, we hit another half a million. We're bloody delighted and proud of ourselves and thankful for every reader, follower and commenter that we have.
So as a little token of our appreciation, we have a Ciate Sequined Manicure set up for grabs! So if you want to have glittery, sequined nails, then enter the giveaway quick smart.
The giveaway is open internationally and closes on June 3rd at the end of our bank holiday weekend. Enter your details in the widget below and good luck! The only stipulation is that you're a GFC follower of the blog so if you're not, get over to the Follower section on the right of the blog and sign up!
As a beauty junkie, I always have lots of products on the go. My bathroom is full of half used shampoos, conditioners and hair treatments and that's the way I like it. I genuinely don't remember the last time I had one shower gel on the go. I mean, doesn't one need a morning time scent, an evening time scent and one for special occasions? No? Just me? Well, at this very moment, I've three shower products on the go. One is the Fleur de Figuier shower cream that I talked about here. The other two are just as special and also from Roger & Gallet.
Say hi to the newly reformulated and repackaged family of shower gels!
Paraben and sulfate free, these creams and gels have glycerine to soften the skin along with aloe vera and shea butters to moisturise, leaving you with pampered skin that smells amazing. Also, I love the new packaging so much! It's sleek, chic and other words that rhyme with that. I have them standing proudly on the side of my bath and they look very posh against my white tiles.
You know I am obsessed with the Ginger range right? Ob. Sessed. I brought the old shower gel and body lotion with us to New York and now when I smell them, I feel like I'm back there. Well, a couple of months ago, a little birdie called P-Dawg sent me a sneak peek of the new Ginger shower gel and that day was a good day my friends. I put a little bit on the back of my hand driving home from the post office and was that weirdo you see smelling her hand in the car. On her own. Probably with her eyes closed at the traffic lights. The new Ginger shower gel smells warmer than the original, which was super soapy and clean and works even better with the accompanying Ginger spray. I've been using them together a lot since getting the gel.
This week I was sent a new scent. It was instant love. Instant! Now, in fairness, it took me ages to figure out what it was called. Was it called Vivifiant? Reviving? No, it took reading the press release to see it's called Jean Marie-Farina. Never heard of it but I think me and Jean Marie-Farina are going to be pals for a long time. I mean, he's already seen me in my nudies.
This is a fresh, uplifting scent that has notes of citrus thanks to lemon and my favourites, bergamot and neroli. It's a scent that's meant to make you feel like you're in an Italian garden and I used it for the first time after cutting the grass out the back, so I pretended I'd just come in from my beautiful Italian garden and believe this will help make that chore a bit easier to carry out.
The shower gels are €9 and if you want something that makes your skin soft and smell amazing while looking good on the side of your bath, then you need to check these out. They're a great way of starting off with Roger & Gallet if you're new to the brand and I'm sorry but you're going to develop a love affair with it. But you'll smell gorgeous so it's totally worth it!
Dear Neal's Yard Remedies,
Thanks for coming to Ireland.
I think we're going to be friends for a very long time.
All my love,
Karen
Yes, Neal's Yard Remedies has been around since 1981 and has finally come to Ireland. Famous for it's blue packaging which gives a ye olde worlde apothecary feel, they pride themselves on being less synthetic and more natural While there are only a few stockists here in Ireland at the moment, get ready for an influx of new consultants that you can buy from. For the past couple of weeks I've been playing around with some products I was given at the launch and when I say playing around with, I mean falling in love with.
Let me tell you about the Wild Rose Beauty Balm.
You know I love a multifunctional product and this one can be used as a cleanser, an exfoliant or as a nourishing balm. The main ingredient is rose hip seed oil which being an antioxidant, helps repair, firm and smooth the skin. I need all of those things to happen to my face thanks very much.
The Wild Rose Beauty Balm smells gorgeous. Very herbal and you know it's packed full of organic ingredients to help make your skin look and feel fabulous. If I'm using it as a cleanser, I apply a small amount of the balm to my face and watch it soften into an oil. You know I love my oils! It breaks down my make up and is gentle enough to use on my eyes. I rinse off the muslin cloth and get busy removing my makeup and am left with clean, soft skin. It feels like my skin takes up some of the product because I don't feel it necessary to apply moisturiser afterwards, that's how gorgeous my skin feels after cleansing with it.
Now, if I feel I need a little somethin' somethin' on my skin or want to treat myself, I apply the smallest amount to my face right before bed. My skin soaks it up immediately and becomes even more soft, plumped and positively nourished. In the words of Nicole Scherzinger, it is sha-mazing. I'm obsessed with it. Over the weekends I don't wear make up unless I'm heading out, so I've taken to applying it over my serum in the morning and honestly, it's one of the best skincare products I've ever tried.
It'll set you back €48.40, but here comes the justification process. If you're someone who's into organic skincare, you can't get much more organic than this. If you like multifunctional products, this is fantastic. A little goes a long way, so it'll last you ages. And finally, your skin will thank you for using this. I'll definitely be purchasing this myself when I run out and have a list as long as my arm of things I need to try next.
Over the weekend, I went into Boots on official bloggy business (to look for stuff for an upcoming series of posts) and found myself at the Bourjois stand which is a very common occurrence as they're one of my favourite brands ever. I've pretty much tried everything they have to offer and yet I still feel the need to visit the stand regularly. And this time my weird stalking worked!
Bourjois had emailed me last week with an offer that wasn't supposed to be in Boots stores until next month but there it was in all it's glory on Saturday. If you spend €15 in Bourjois products, you get a free limited edition vintage blush worth €9.99. I was intrigued and had a look at the testers. One swatch of Shade 34, Rose d'Or and I was smitten.
How cute is the packaging! This great offer is to celebrate Bourjois' 150th birthday month and the blush is available in three shades. Rose d'Or is a gorgeous pink blush with gold shimmer running through it and has summer written all over it. I'll be using it in an upcoming post, so keep your eyes open for that.
Now, to get this, I needed to spend €15 and to be honest, I had the Healthy Mix concealer on my list, so snapped that up at €9.99. But what else did I need? And then it hit me. I'd never tried the famous Bronzing Powder, so thought it was high time I did and that was €8.99, I think. You know the score by now, receipt thrown out.
But the best part of the whole thing was I was able to use up my Boots points, so it cost me nada! That totally doesn't count as spending, right?
The offer is while stocks last, so get thee to thine local Bourjois counter, help them celebrate their birthday and happy shopping!
I work in a hospital and am always aware of the number of cooties floating around. I go through lots of cleansing foams on my hands trying to keep whatever happens to be rife in the hospital away. If patients ask to use my phone, I've a supply of alcohol wipes to clean it after them, but still, I bet if I ran one of those CSI UV lights over my desk, I'd collapse at the amount of germs and bacteria lurking everywhere! I won't go into numbers, but when you go into work tomorrow, clean your phone and your keyboard. And when you've finished reading this post, give your mobile an aul clean while you're at it.
Now, I'm very lucky in regards to my skin and blemishes. Since I've stopped using make up wipes, my skin has transformed and is pretty much clear most of the time. I still get the odd blemish around that time of the month, but on the whole, things are ok in the spot-ular department. Thank God, because when I do get a spot, I can't leave it alone. I keep at it and at it until it becomes more red and inflamed and I've been left with scarring because of this bad habit.
Vichy have brought out a new product to help us sort out our spots quick smart, as in within two hours of application. Normaderm Hyaluspot contains Salicylic Acid 1.5% and LHA 0.5% which dries out and purifies the blemish from within. What makes this spot treatment different is that it contains Hyaluronic Acid 1% which helps keep moisture in that area while the spot is being dried out and disappearing.
Packaging wise, it's nice and hygienic with a metal applicator which helps cool down the blemish. The treatment itself is light in consistency and disappears into the skin, allowing you to apply your make up if need be.
Clinical tests reveal that after 2 hours, the spot stops developing and the bacteria that caused the dreaded pimple is gone. This is good. Nobody wants to be growing a second head on their chin. After 24 hours, there's a visible reduction in the inflammation of the skin and after 48 hours, the spot is gone leaving no marks or scars.
Now, as Bonnie Tyler said "I need a hero", and I would like to introduce you to my very own hero. Yes, he's talking to me, but I'm going to share him with you all because I'm very good like that. I don't know his name but I see a very long future with him... He is a grand man. He knows my name and speaks French and is available whenever I get a pimple.... Get in!
I'm going to make you a promise folks. Next time I get a pimple, I'll do a day by day test of this. But if you've tried it yourself, let me know how you got on!
Vichy Normaderm Hyaluspot is available in shops now at a very bargainous €10
It's the oh so familiar story. Girl goes into Boots "for a look". Girl gazes absentmindedly over the nail polishes before stopping in her tracks. Girl sees a stunning shade of the Maybelline Color Show polishes that she's never seen before. It's called Shooting Stars. Girl doesn't even need to try to justify this purchase. Girl is in instant love with it. Girl buys other things that girl will show later this week in the blog. Girl doesn't need to spend a penny as she uses up her Boots points, rendering the purchase a win in every aspect!
Now, I need to find out more about this Polka Dot range from Maybelline but had to show you this gorgeous polish that I think will be the star of the show (ahem) in terms of the four shades that are available. Shooting Stars spoke to me instantly. It's one of those polishes that you'll spend ages looking at, turning the bottle, inspecting your nails to see exactly what's in it.
Shooting Stars has a jelly navy blue base and is packed full of differently sized hexagonal glitters. Some are white and some are dark, either black or navy and the beauty of this polish is in the layering.
Because it's stuffed with so many hexagonal glittery bits, application is a doddle. I've used three coats here to make sure the jelly base would look opaque enough in photos. As you apply layers, the white glitters in the layer below get covered with the base and take on different hues of blue, leaving the top layer displaying the white glittery bits, if that makes sense. This adds depth and dimension to a polish that makes me happy and not able to stop looking at.
This was around the €4.65 mark, so totally worth it. I had a wee gander online and because it instantly made me think of Deborah Lippmann polishes, I had to have a look to see if it was a dupe for anything and the closest is Lady Sings The Blues. It's not a perfect dupe from the photos I've seen online but it's close.
Shooting Stars. I'd totally recommend to a friend!
This week flew by in a flash didn't it? I know it was a short work week, but the last time we'd a short week after a bank holiday, it was the slowest week in the history of life.
The pit of my week. My boss is on annual leave for two weeks, so I'm covering for her which means filling in for her and trying to get my own work done. She stays until 5pm, so my coworker and I have been staying late on alternate days to get everything done and make sure that someone is there to answer the phone at 4.50 when someone will invariably ring with a ridiculous query! I've been exhausted this week trying to get everything done and this was the easier week of the two, so who knows what state I'll be in next week as it's going to be hectic! Bed early tonight (after I go see Star Trek of course).
The peak of my week. My brother turns 30 next week which means that I feel mucho oldo. I was grand when I turned the big 3-0 but having the baby of the fambly hit this milestone makes me feel like a proper bridie! But I'll get over it and sure with all the anti-ageing cream I'm using, I'm determined to look young, even if I'm not! Anyways, yesterday we had a lovely lunch in the Port House in town. We all absolutely love that place and ordered lots of delicious tapas to feed us up. Of course, it wouldn't be a Constantine meal without the solitary vegetable dish in a sea of carbs and protein! They were lovely in there as always and brought him out a slice of cake and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday to him, good times!
How was your week? Do tell as I love to know what's going on with one and all!
