FUN

Blog Imitates Life: In Denial About The Christmas

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Yeah, so I’ve got a bunch of plans, as usual, about a theme thing for Christmas shopping, and — well, too many plans, I guess, and I can’t settle and figure it out. You know, just post, for cryin’ out loud!

It has to be right, at least in my mind.

There will be plenty of stuff for the women in your life — your mum, your sister, your cousins, your pals — there is going to be a special category for nieces! — and there is stuff for dudes, too. Also: aunts/uncles, and your parents as a duo.

Oh, I’ll figure it out tomorrow. Until such time, I will leave you with this: the World Famous Supermodel Thumbnail™ sporting Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Cha-Ching! Suitably festive!

Seriously, though, some truly excellent stuff coming this way, including some of the most amazing hampers I have ever seen.

***

Sally Hansen Gem Crush comes in eight shades and retail for €8.95

Are You Feelin’ Lucky, Chick? BeneFit Treasure Hunt to Hit Dublin

/ MANY BRAVE FOOLS / 1 Comment

Do you win things? Are you good at winning things? I think some people are and some people aren’t. Two weekends ago, I was at a fundraiser, and this woman won three raffle prizes off only five tickets. Is it luck? Is it Fate?!?!

If you are good at winning stuff, or perhaps want to work on your ability to win things {can it be learned?!?!} then check this out:

If I must be pedantic — I must, I must — and suggest that ‘Scavenger Hunt’ might be a better turn of phrase, and mix the metaphor less? Is a scavenger hunt not a Thing over here?

There I go, coming over all Amurrican again.

Maybe see you there!

***

Ring the number shown with any queries, I am sure that the BeneFit Gals will be happy to help.

Is It Okay Yet? Can I Say the ‘C’ Word?

/ brightandbeautyfull / 3 Comments

Not that I want to, really, but I’ve realised that I have always lived in the future as far as The ‘C’ Word is concerned. In high school, we’d start singing ‘C’ Word carols in September, and in my professional life, when I worked on monthly magazines, we were always two months in advance of everything. And ‘C’ WordTime is always features largely.

The daily — nay, instantaneous — nature of blogging has presented a serious challenge in the living-in-the-moment department, something I’ve never been good at it, something I hope I am getting better at, and despite this act of boldness, I’ve restrained myself.

All bets are off tomorrow! Get ready for a ‘C’ word bonanza!

This whole deal drives me crazy on another level, because it brings more stuff to my attention, and I really don’t need more stuff. Especially stuff that is so cunningly and prettily presented. *Sigh*

These posts may double as letters to Santy.

How To Make the Perfect Katie PonyTaylor

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I hated having short hair, the three times in my life that I made that mistake — a mistake for me, it simply doesn’t suit. I hated it because I had to tend it allll the time; it seemed like way much more work that long, especially when all I wanted to do was pull it back into a ponytail.

Except, I have always been a bit crap at making ponytails? Unlike our Gold Medal Boxer Katie Taylor!

I don’t know how she does it, but me, I need product. What a surprise.

I googled around a bit, but wowee, some of the ponytail-making suggestions are way too much like work. All I want is sleek, and I don’t want flyaway ends.

So:
> Brush the stuffing out of your hair. Make it as flat as possible.

> Spray a little something on the top of your head, at the crown. I used Batiste Dry Shampoo. This is mainly to flatten it and make it stay.

> Brush it some more.

> Okay, gross: hold the elastic between your teeth. Come on! This is real life! You do it too! Yeah, yeah, yeah, unsanitary, but me, that third arm I usually use for hair styling is in the shop.

> Now, this next step depends on how well you gather up the hair. This is where I always go wrong. Either  the hair on the top of your head is going to stay perfectly flat, or you’re going to have to brush it down again. When I have to re-brush it, I start all over, because there will always be that rogue lock sticking up. Elastic goes back in the mouth, I let the hair go loose, and do over.

> Then, gently, gently, put some sort of styling aid on the tail itself. Any one of the oil-y yokes on the market will work, mousse is good — I used what has clearly become my Olympic hair product, Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream.

And the brother of yer dad is Bob.

***

Still buzzing from that victory!

Ha! I Said a Thing About Milk, Just Kidding, Like, And Look!

/ MANY BRAVE FOOLS / 2 Comments

Sure, I was only messing the other day when I wrote this, after having talked about Mythic Oil Milk from L’Oréal Professionel:

Hmmm, any other milk-ish products I can cobble together? Call me crazy and cover me in milk???

And then I was tweetling around, and came across this from @Nature7_ie:

As I said: Ha! The link goes here, and seems rather optimistic re: sunburn, but I am feeling so zeitgeist-y right now, I don’t care.

{Insert reference to Cleopatra here.}

I haven’t tried the milk yet, but I did use the Mythic Oil Colour Glow yesterday, since it was on my mind. It’s good! I used a little too much, and remembered struggling with the dispensation learning curve with the straight-up Mythic Oil sample I had last year. Nevertheless, The Hair looked very salon-quality; second day was a bit oily at the roots, but the ends still looked fab.

***

Nature 7 can be found on nature7.ie, and is a clearinghouse for all things 100% natural, from beauty brands to food products.

What I Did Yesterday *or* All the Stuff I Put On Myself

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I’ve been going round barefaced most of the week, and yesterday it felt like I was wearing all the make-up in the world.

I blame the mascara.

Well, it is not the mascara’s fault. In fact, the mascara is pretty spectac: Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara in Intense Black. They’ve changed the wand into one of those spiky applicators, and it seems to be twice as long as most spiky applicators. I forgot to put this on my list yesterday because I forgot I had it.

I was never a fan of the Clinique mascara, but this one has changed my mind, even though I went abso crazy and layered on a million tonnes of it. Look how fake the lashes look, though, without having to mess with glue and tweezers!

Also on view is Clarins 3-Dot Liner, with which I did an okay job. The applicator brush is kind of like it is cut into three points, and you just dot it on. The theory is that this is easier than trying to draw a perfect line. In practice? Yeah, easier, and a good result. I recommend using a hand mirror, because I didn’t, and I seem to remember the inimitable Claude Defresne, Clarins’ make up artist, saying to use one. It’s easier to bring the mirror closer to your eye, rather than the eye closer to the mirror.

Lips: NYC Smooch Proof 16H Lip Stain in Berry Long Time. Eh. There’s a difference between matte and flatte, and this was very flatte, and drying. This experience of NYC lip colour was saved by a layer of NYC Kiss Gloss in Sugar Hill Shimmer, as shown. It is very shiny — and fruity! That was fun.

Hang on, what else — OMG. The Glitter. I was like a walking glitter machine yesterday. I apologise to all the people I met, whose hands I shook, and wow, people I hugged? Sorry! The kisses on the cheeks? Mea culpa!

Because I was covvvvvvered in shiny little bits and I am sure that I spread them around like a luminescent plague.

The Eau Sublime Or from Roger & Gallet was not that bad, actually, so the hand-shakers probably got off easy. It is full of sparkle, and completely perfect for highlighting decolletage and bare shoulders. Super sexy, if not super scented. Didn’t get much of an impression off of the body cream, but that was because I mistakenly put on the Glow Getter: Face & Body Sun Powder Spray from Soap & Glory, which is going to get a post all its own, because hoo boy, what a imperfectly perfect product.

So, body aglow, and hey! here’s some stuff for my face. I dispensed a tiny bit of Uplight: Face Luminizer Gel from Make Up Forever and applied it — and almost started screaming, because holy wow, the amount of glitter that is in that stuff is like … it was like a frollick of fairies had farted on my face.

Now, seriously: a day without shimmer is a day wasted, but this was ridic. I had put on some Lancôme Flash Bronzer Face Gel and didn’t want to wash it off and start over, I was pressed for time — and feck it, I said I would wear this stuff, so wear it I would. I scraped off as much as I could and proceeded to try to dull it down with some bronzer.

I don’t think it was noticeable, but again, I do apologise to anyone that got glittered.

Here’s the line up:

It’s that last one on the right you’ve got watch out for…

***

Glow Getter not pictured because I am still processing its effects.

What I’m Going To Do Today

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Because it is soooo interesting.

No really, I have a lot of stuff to slap on the bod and the gob, and since I am going in to town, I have an reason to get all gussied up.

Also: Going In To Town has become kind of a big deal, because I don’t really need to Go in order to forage for anything anymore, not food, not shoes, not books, so it feels a bit like a staycation.

So:

Just this very morning, the postman brought be Eau Sublime Or and Crème Sublime Or, from Roger & Gallet. Both are shimmery!

I’ve got this stuff called Glow Getter: Face & Body Sun Powder Spray from Soap & Glory that makes me nervous, A} because I hate spraying stuff in the bath and B} powder spray? Like the stuff you spray on your smelly feet? That stuff is a mess.

What else? I got a bunch of NYC Smooch Proof 16H Lip Stain in, so I think I’ll give the Berry Long Time a lash.

I’ve got this Make Up Forever Uplight: Face Luminizer Gel that’s been sitting on my desk… I don’t know, I tried a bit on that back of my hand, as you do, and I don’t think I did it right. I may have to find a tutorial. I think if one messes this up, one looks like an eejit with crazy, shiny pink stuff all over one’s face.

Also! Very, very excited to try Clarin’s 3-Dot Liner, which the brand’s make up artist, Claude Defresne called ‘eyeliner for dummies’ in his lovely French accent. *Sigh*

I better get crackin’. You will probs be seeing me from my usually spot in the back of the 46A…

THIS: Rhinestone Skull Clutch Bag from beautycouture.ie

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I love skulls.

Sparkly skulls? They just knock the love right out of the park. Oops, a baseball-y phrase. Or: kicks the love into touch. For all you Anitpodean/European rugby types.

This is the Rhinestone Skull Clutch Bag (€30) available at beautycouture.ie. It is 12 inches wide and 6.25 inches high, which is basically perfect. There’s a strap to relieve it of its clutchiness, should you so desire.

Look at his expression! It’s kind of piratical, right? Like he’s saying ‘Arrrrrr!’

I love him. *Sigh*

Talk About Bright & Beautyfull! The Transit of Venus

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I’m fairly certain I’ve been consulting my horoscope since I learned to read, and if you yourself have not pored over Linda Goodman’s Love Signs, then I don’t even know what you are doing here, reading this blog. {It is never too late to rectify this situation! It is available for download on scribd.com! And OMG: you can read her other important work, Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs here, in its entirety, online!}

There’s all manner of information out there; I think that Mystic Mama has done a great job of distilling some key points. And while I tend to favour the Greek names of the ancient gods as opposed to the Romans, it must be clear that brightandbeautyfull is a celebration of Venus/Aphrodite, and that I am very focused on bringing out the goddess in myself via self-care, self-decoration, and self-tanning {LOL}.

Here are two sites via which to watch via web-cam: Exploratorium and SLOOH Space Camera. I have been saying ‘slooh’ to myself all morning. I suspect that we will be covered in clouds over here in Ireland, but I think I would be watching online regardless, because I am always afraid that even though I know I shouldn’t look at the sun, I will look at it anyway? Like, I’ve got some overwhelming, primal urge to look.

So: inside and online, which is certainly contrary to when the last double transit occurred in the late nineteenth century. Or was it? I dunno. Anyway, do something goddess-y, pretty, and fun later tonight, and even into the early morning!

Make Your Own Bath Ballistic

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How much fun does this look like???

My answer: LOTS.

As a life-long fan of Lush Bath Ballistics, I am delighted to announce the some of the brand’s crack compounders, are comin’ to town to help you craft you own wee fizzy bath thing. In the olde dayes, we used to call them ‘bombs’ but I think for humanitarian reasons, they changed the name — this is nothing less than you’d expect from the all-natural brand.

You have three choices:

Blackberry Bath Bomb to lift you up with bergamot and frankincense; Think Pink with reassuring tonka and vanilla; and Space Girl, an intergalactic, glittery bath ballistic scented with grapefruit and bergamot oil and filled with popping candy that is truly out of this world.

I am definitely going to make the Blackberry one. Oh, but, I love vanilla, so Think Pink, maybe? Clearly, Space Girl suits me down to the ground…

The compounders are in residence at the Henry Street shop from 1 to 5 pm this Saturday, 5 May, and in the Grafton Street premises on Sunday, 6 May. That’s this weekend, bath enthusiasts! It is free to do this thing, to learn how to make your own ballistic and then take it home! Don’t miss out!

For more info and to book, ring the Henry Street shop on 01 873 5735 or the Grafton Street Shop on 01 677 0392.