My Top 5 Essence Products

More than half of all of my makeup products are Essence, and I've been a faithful fan of Essence for only a year, ever since I purchased one of their lipsticks and mascaras. Since then I've treated myself to more or less most of their products and from blushers to nail polishes, I can safely say Essence is a brilliant brand- it's unbelievably cheap, their products are of high quality, and the range of color is exquisite. I've chosen 5 of my favourite products,  all of which are under 4 euro, so if you're feeling adventurous whilst shopping, give Essence a go if you haven't already!

#5: Sun Club Oil Control Paper

This is a skin saviour is you have oily skin and don't fancy bringing powder around all day. In the pack, you get little sheets of paper that you press over your face to absorb the oil and give your skin a matt look, doing the job of a powder, but without that cakey look if you accidentally put on too much. Some drugstores have different versions of this product, for example Superdrug have powder on the little papers as well, which is really unnecessary as the powder is the wrong shade and makes me look orange, so I use this instead! You can use them as often as you like, the only downside is that it does take off your foundation a little each time you use it.

#4: Eyebrow Designer shade 02 Brown

I picked this up in the Christmas sales, and I've been loving it ever since. It's a really soft and bendable product that darkens and shapes the brows. I like my brows quite full but not too dark, and this does the job amazingly and lasts all day. The original name of this colour used to be 'Brown' but they've changed it to 'Dark Brown', however I'm unsure if they discontinued and replaced the 'Brown' shade or just renamed it.

#3: Lipstick shade 53 All About Cupcake

I raved about this in my 2012 Favourites blog post, and I'm at it again. It's an unbelievable product-it moisturizes, tints to create a gorgeous colour and lasts and lasts. I have an obsession with this shade-it's not too pink if only one coat is applied, gently tints and gives lips a glow. If it's layered over, it gives a more bright pink- it's a colour I've been wearing through  Spring religiously.

#2: Coverstick shade 03 Matt Honey

I love a good concealer- one that is my shade, creamy, covers all imperfections well and lasts. I'm on my second stick of this, and there is even times when I use it instead of a foundation and it makes it look like I've no makeup on. It's a saviour for blue-purple circles under my eyes that I wake up every morning with. Unfortunately, this shade has been discontinued.

#1: Soft+Natural Foundation shade 02 Sand Beige

This fully deserves the number 1 slot: it's amazing, to say the least. It matches my skin tone perfectly, does the job of a concealer, lasts ages, is a doodle to apply- you can never go wrong. I did run out of this around Christmas time and purchased Essences clear + matt version, which doesn't compare. However, I do think they have discontinued both products as they're not shown on their website, but both of them are still available in some shops in Ireland- it's just a matter of finding them.


I recently hit 1,000 views on my blog which is amazing! Thank you so much for reading- you're at the start of an amazing journey with me!


Gaby x

10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me

I'm a new blogger, so obviously you don't know me that well. Here's 10 things you should know! :)

Ava and myself making faces as usual

#10: I strongly dislike superstition, and I'm not religious.
It's just my opinion, I think believing in things that probably aren't there is a little waste of time, but each to their own.

#9: I've been in love three times.

#8: I can't be left unsupervised around a bottle of Shloer, a pack of Double Stuff Oreos or a tub of Ben and Jerry's.

#7: I hate it when people can't pronounce my name properly- if you can't say Gabija (my first name), say Gaby! (my nickname). All hell breaks loose when the school secretary tries to say my full name on the intercom.

#6: I'm a cat person.

#5: My addictions are Facebook, pictures of Jeffrey Campbell shoes, writing and fashion.

#4: I love baking, even though sometimes the outcomes are disastrous.  Examples include Christmas Cake, chocolate chip cookies and cheesecake :(

#3: I am actually a really weird person, but when you get to know me, my weirdness can be overlooked (sometimes haha).

#2: I love looking at the sky- the pretty clouds, the bright colours, and when the stars are out. One of the happiest moments in my life include seeing a shooting star (I said, I'm strange).

#1: Even though I'm useless at getting up early in the morning, it's actually my favourite time of day, because everything is so quiet and peaceful (yep, more weirdness..)


My blog is close to an amazing 1,000 views! Thank you so much for reading it, and please follow it as it would make my day! Just add the URL of my blog to your reading list on Blogger if you're on Google, and click follow.

Gaby x

Review: Elnett Diamond Hold Hairspray + Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

I've been meaning to test this hairspray out for ages, as it's probably one of the most used products a hair stylist owns, not to mention it is the most strong product from the Elnett hairspray range, hence the title 'diamond'. I got the travel size bottle, as I only wanted to try the product out, and paid around 3 euro for it.

The biggest challenge for my hair is to hold curls. No matter how long I hold the hair in the wand, no matter how strong the styling product is, the curls wouldn't stay. So I decided that the only fair way to test this hairspray was to curl my hair and spritz it on to see it's true holding power.

When I first spritzed it on, my hair literally froze in place and didn't budge. The gorgeous smell swirled around me as I admired my curls in the mirror. There was no matt hairspray feel on my hair, it still felt light, but secure, and I didn't have to pin any hair away from my face, which I really liked.

However, the product isn't immune to Ireland's crappy weather. Strong wind and a little rain ruined my hair, but the curls stayed, even though they were loose and had separated. 

I decided to try the hairspray out on a ponytail with hair wound around the elastic, something that never works for me as the hair around the elastic always goes loose. The Elnett worked its charm and the hair stayed, keeping me happy. It holds backcomb well too, proving to be quite a strong product. Brushing it out was a piece of cake, there was no tugging or pulling as usually strong hairsprays really glue your hair together and make it a night mare to brush out, but Elnett made it look like the lightest of hairsprays had been applied.

All in all, I would definitely repurchase this hairspray as it is really light, yet strong. It's something that is worth investing in, even though the price of a regular sized bottle can be quite high, its a miracle hold product that would keep your hair in place, without the need of too much application.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

I picked this up just the other day- my lips had been dry, chapped and sore for a couple of days and I realized I had no more Vaseline left, but I decided to try something new. I chose Palmer's Cocoa Butter formula lip balm, because it was cheap at 2 euro and my sister had used it before and loved it, so I wanted to try for myself.

It's really rich and thick, almost like a lip butter in a stick. It healed my sore lips just after 3 layered applications, and my lips were soft, moisturized and plump again. It feels really cosy on the lips, almost like a lip blanket. I highly recommend you give this a go- I'm glad I did.

Gaby x