Avene Soothing Hydrating Serum

About two weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Emma of Escentual and was asked if I was interested in trying out the Avéne Soothing Hydrating Serum*. I jumped at the chance because I've heard this brand raved about and when it comes to skincare I'm an avid learner! In fact I blame Alix of I Covet Thee and Kate from Gh0st Parties or my ongoing obsession. 

The serum itself claims to help the skin become soft, and hydrated. It's also suitable for sensitive skin.This product is made with a large quantity of thermal spring water to provide a calming effect as well as added moisture into the skin. It seemed to the perfect product for me! 

A bit of background on my own skin, after years of suffering with terrible acne, I now have okay skin... it's combination to oily at the best of times, with a tendency for a dry nose on occasion - this really bothers me. I also suffer with slight redness too.

After all the promises this product made, I was stoked to get it in the post. I've been using it every night since I got it, and it' fair to say, its love. I work in an office meaning I'm stuck in doors at a desk for 8 hours a day, so my skin does be in need of a little pampering in the evenings. I always cleanse, tone and moisturise and now I've added this into the mix (along with some other bits & bobs) I can feel the difference that it has made. My skin has been brighter, and more balanced. I will defiantly keep using it & see where I end up but for now, yes, it's a winner in my eyes - even my Mum has been trying it out!

I can safely say that when this is finished I will be repurchasing. So worth it.

For the nice bit, Escentual has offered readers up to 1/3 of the popular French Pharmacy category for the rest of March including this Avéne Serum at 25% off!

Here's what else they have on offer -

- Vichy, La Roche-Posay and Nuxe at 33% off RRP

- Avene, Klorane, Rene Furterer and Pierre Fabre at 25% off RRP

- Caudalie at 20% off RRP

- A-Derma at 10% off RRP

Feel free to check out Escentual -

Twitter: @Escentual
Facebook: facebook.com/Escentual
Instagram: @Escentual

Wishin & hoping

Wishlists are great aren't they?

They allow to go virtual shopping without the guilty feeling of splurging too much!

Below are a few thing's I've had my eye on lately....

Silver Brogues

Velvet Chunky Boots

Dress

Blazer

Floral Jeggings

Watch

A girl can dream can't she?

Beauty Blogging Bargains

I own a lot of eye shadows... a lot. 

Palettes are a weakness of mine really, but these two are rather special.

NYC and Wet & Wild are two very affordable brands therefore I didn't expect miracles from either of these. After seeing Lily Pebbles talk about NYC eye shadows on her blog recently I decided I may as well pick some up - especially after falling in love with a mascara from the brand recently.

The NYC one was a mere €4.99. For four shadows, a primer and a highlighter, how on earth could you go wrong? I think there is around 5 different ones to pick from but I have this one in 'Union Square' and I am 100% picking up more from the range.

This Wet & Wild one in 'I'm getting sunburned' is another one that I really like. A gold, brown and pink choice from this one, and I love how each shadow tells you where you should use the shade i.e the brow bone, the crease or the eyelid. I think its cool for someone who has literally just started with eye shadow, as it's like a guide. Of course you can wear them whatever way you want though! For the small price of I think €2.99 this is an amazing product! The larger palettes for €6.49 come with 12 colours and I am itching to get my hands on a few of those too!

All in all, you can get both these palettes.... 7 shadows, a primer and a highlighter for under €10? In my opinion, it doesn't get much better than that!

Delving into the nude

Last weekend at the Irish Beauty Show I picked up this Fuschia lipstick in the shade 'pink ice'.

Its a colour I never thought in a million years I'd buy for myself because it's a 'nude' and I cannot for the life of me pull off nude shades, they do not suit me at all.

My sister picked up this colour at the Fuschia stand and persuaded me to buy it. I figured it was only €5.. hello show prices.. so I got it. I never thought I'd say this but I love it. It's more of a peach toned nude rather than a pink like the name suggests, and it looks quite pretty matched with peach cheeks and soft brown eye make up.. at least that's the way I like it.

Maybe I should embrace the nude look more often?

The Pale Girls Best Friend

 A while back I went on a hunt for a new foundation, I needed something a lot paler than what I was using and I needed something long lasting. I spend a lot of my time working, and patchy make up is just a no no. I hit up Twitter and asked the beauty blogging lovelies there what I should go for, and I got got loads of responses. You guys are the best! 

Now I have list of foundations as long as my arm that I want to try out! However, my lovely friend Charlotte reccommended this L'Oreal True Match foundation, after I saw it on sale in a local pharmacy in my town I decided it was faith and picked it up. I got it in the shade 'ivory' as it was the lightest colour and it's perfect for me. The texture is so silky, and although its quite a light foundation its defaintly buildable and can give a great amount of coverage. 

I'm so glad I listened to Charlotte on this one - it's an amazing product!

Life Lately

• My Sister & I heading to a play last weekend 
• Pancake Tuesday - first time to ever have them, yummy!
• Been tweeted by Suzanne Jackson.... idol much?
• Monday face. I hate Mondays.
• Leopard print & chunky rose gold.
• My ladies & I at Ellie Goulding earlier this month.
• Blogging... as usual.
• Little treats from Paris.
• My baby, Benjamin Button. Isn't he lovely
• A fabulous illustration of me by Holly Shortall (google her!)

I like these kind of posts, I think I'll do them more often - Keep smiling x

Oh La La

Oh La La is right, I adore this colour.

 Its the only Topshop lipstick I own but I'm dying to get my hands on more. I wish I had a Topshop closer to me......

Another perfect Spring/Summer colour, its a mixture of peach and a coral with an almost neon effect in the tube. It applies smoothly, and it's lasting power its quite impressive.

I can't remember how much these are but I feel like they're around the €12 mark? don't quote me on that though!

I can't wait to rock this colour once the weather decides to stay sunny!