My Travel Make Up Bag

I feel like a real blogger writing this post- I think it's so typical of bloggers to blog about what their make up bag and handbag contents are. I will write up a 'What's in My Handbag' post soon too, so stay tuned for that!

Right now I'm around 1,500 km from where I usually am- I've been spending this weekend in Stuttgart, Germany. Between exploring the city, and attending my sister's graduation, it's been a good time, and I've been taking looots of pictures, so a blog post on that will be up next week.

Now, however, because I'm all over Europe, I had to take my two everyday make up bags and cut down all contents so everything fits into one bag, which was quite difficult, because even though I have my everyday makeup style, I like to change things up a little every once in a while. Anyway, here are the make up products that made it into my travel make up bag- my to-die for essentials you could also say!

Makeup bag/Dunnes, Sunglasses/Penneys

These are the brushes that keep me going- three I use especially for the eyes, as I spend the longest time on my eyes, but I don't neglect the rest of my face, and use just two for it. I stick to a concealer brush, a flat eyeliner brush, a smokey eyes brush, a flat eyeshadow brush, and a blush brush. I multitask all my brushes, for example I use the blush brush for brush, powder, bronzer and contour if I apply it.

 From the left: Cala Concealer 

Ecotools Flat Eyeliner

Essence Smokey Eyes

Eyeshadow Brush

Avon Blush Brush             

The products to use for your face that match your skin tone and work well with your skin, do the job they are supposed to, can take a long time to find. These are the products that work amazing for me- however during these hot summer days I just stick to using the concealer and powder together as they give a flawless finish (review on both products coming soon!). As for when I want to use foundation, I apply concealer to imperfections the foundation doesn't hide, and lighty dust some powder on top so my face doesn't look too cakey.

Essence Soft and Natural Foundation,

shade 02 sand beige

Natural Collection Powder,

shade Warm

The Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer,

shade 02 Light

My eyes are probably the part of my face I spend longest at, however I don't use much products, I stick to trusted items. Sometimes I add more brown to my crease, or do a stronger winged eye, or skip the eyeshadow or the liner. No matter what eye look I try, I always go back to this as my 'original' one. This is also similar to the eye look Zoella used to do on her eyes in around Christmastime.

The Winged Falsies Mascara in black by Maybelline

Essence Quattro eyeshadow,

shade 05 to die for

Essence Smokey eye set,

shade 02 punk vibe 

Catrice eye shadow base

Essence Gel Eyeliner,

shade 01 midnight in paris

One of my last steps is filling in my brows and applying blusher. I don't like to go heavy on either, but I do apply both well. I stick to using a pencil for my brows instead of an angled brush and shadow simply because it's more easier to get right, and saves space in my make-up bag. I've talked about these products loads before, so you know how much I love both.

Essence eyebrow designer,

shade 02 brown

Essence soft touch blush,

shade 20 babydoll

Lastly is lip colour, and it's more or less always a shade of red or pink- I tend to stick to old Hollywood classic colours. I always bring around more lipsticks than I need to in my handbag, but I stick to basics for travel.

Kate Moss for Rimmel,

shade 05

Nivea Lip Balm,Vitamin Shake,

Cranberry+Raspberry

Essence, shade 53, all about cupcake

So that's it! The very basics of my travel make up bag. Thanks for reading!



Gaby x

Plastic Roses

Summer is usually one of the best seasons for jewelry- stacked bracelets and long chains look much prettier on crop tops than on woolly jumpers. One of the more interesting, new and unique pieces I've been seeing repeatedly on rings, earrings and bracelets this summer has been plastic roses, and either I've never noticed them before, or they've only resurfaced this summer, they are definitely one of Summer 2013 's new trends.

Who would've thought that plastic roses would look so pretty? And most of them aren't even the boring shades of pink or red- a lot of them are coloured shades of green or purple, shades that stand out and rake in compliments of interest. I love the trend, and I've even invested in some pieces- teal earrings from Pieces, and a charm bracelet from Penneys.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Thank you sooo much for an amazing 3,000+ views on this blog! Means so much!



Gaby x

Mid-Summer Favourites

Hi everyone! So you probably have noticed my absence on the ole' blog- I've been away for the last week, and I'm going away again next week for 3 weeks, but I'm writing up some blog posts now, and I'll be writing throughout my holidays to keep you entertained, 2 blog posts a week. 

If you haven't heard yet, Ireland's having a heatwave, so this year, our summer is actually a proper summer, with proper heat and burnt skin. So far, I've had a good few essentials and newly discovered things that have been getting me through the heat and sunshine. So, without more rambling, here are my mid-summer faves!

Beauty


Hair Doughnut

I didn't purchase a hair doghnut until early June- I never thought my hair was long enough. However, I picked up the largest one in Penneys (Primark), pulled my hair back into a pony, backcombed it roughly, slipped on the doghnut, pinned my hair, and viola! I have never recieved so many compliments for such and easy, versatile and effortless hair do-if you haven't invested in a doughnut yet, you are missing out big time.

Nivea Hydrant

'Hydrant' is such a fancy word- all this really is is a lotion, more concentrated on SPF. This one is SPF 30, and SPF is sooo important to wear everyday in the summer. You will still tan, and your skin will look amazing. Follow with an after sun at the end of the day to lock in your new tan and hydrate your skin. I even took this picture in the beach! That's just how unbelievably imaginative I am (not).

Catrice Eyeshadow Base

I never really used Catrice until I went a little crazy on a chemists' (drugstore) spree and picked this up. I had been meaning to invest in Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer, because it was the one everyone used and raved about all the time. However, I find this one does the job amazingly- I can still do my usual eyeshadow on a roasting hot day, and it won't smudge, run, or crease. With a doe foot applicator, all you need to after a little dab on each eye is blend it in.

Fashion:

Gold Chain

Now, I had been after a gold chain for aaages, so when I saw one is Penneys for 5e, I snatched it and have never looked back. I wear it with everything- dresses, tops, sweaters, anything. My favourite combination had been this chain, my Nirvana top (below), monochrome short shorts, a fishtail, and my floral Vans. A gold chain is a must for this summer, undoubtedly.

Nirvana Top

I'm not one of those die-hard Nirvana fans, however I can't help but pretend I'm Kurt Cobain when I'm listening to 'Come As  You Are'. I was originally after a tie dye Nirvana Nevermind t-shirt on ebay, but having seen this one is my beloved Penneys, I bought it, and I'm loving it.

Polka Dot Playsuit

And no, this isn't from Penneys. I actually bought it from DV8 from a brand called Gorgeous in February 2012, and having worn it on occasion, I've been wearing it- and raking in compliments- repeatedly through this summer. It's silk, it's short, it's a little ruffled, it's an amazing colour, and it's plain gorgeous.

Random

Carrick-On-Shannon

Foroige is a service in Ireland that works with teens and young adults, provides them with support, help and generally organizes super fun activities regularly. I was invited to join 9 other girls that I had never heard of before to live in a house in Carrick 5 days, spending those days cooking our own meals, and doing super fun activities, like cycling in Forest Park, doing different workshops, driving boats (and nearly crashing!) and exploring Carrick town. During those 5 days I made a whole new set of friends, got a break from my usual life, went through new amazing experiences, discovered what it would be like to live with different room mates, and generally had an unreal time- the residental week was a success, and all thanks to Foroige!


Photography

So now that it's summer, I've had more free time to spent time at my new hobby-photography. I've been creating a new folder on my laptop, filling it with new pictures and sometimes videos that I think are- I don't know, artistic ? Here is a sneek peek.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I hope you're having a brilliant summer!





Gaby x

Skins- Effy

Season 7 of the beloved British series Skins started just last week, much to my joy. I only began watching Skins this summer, from season 1 all through to season 6, when I found out this season will be the last. From the witty characters to the hilarious plots, I will miss Skins, but it had a good run, and all good things come to an end.

This last season is a 'catch-up' season- Effy, Cassie and Cook are catching us up with the way their lives are now and each beloved charachter has two episodes- two parts of Fire for Effy, two parts of Pure for Cassie, and two parts of Rise for Cook. Fire Part One aired last Monday, the first part of the way Effy's life is now. Skins is nothing like it used to be- in a good way. Even though the first 6 seasons are full of partying, smoking and just going wild, Season 7 shows how these party animals have grown up into adults that either know better or not. However, it is still captivating and a good show, but most importantly Effy is making a return.




Effy was only 14 when she first started Skins, being Tony Stonem's younger sister, coming across as a beautiful teenager, who didn't talk much and sneaked out at night to drink and party, and first made an impact in her own episode at the end of Season 1- high, hallucinating and giving a "philosophical" insight to her life.

  


That was probably the only reason anyone watched Skins there after- to catch a rare glimpse of Effy. As the newly successful tv series continued, Seasons 3 and 4 were about Effy and the lives of her friends- Panda, Cook, JJ, Katie, Emily, Naomi, Thomas and her boyfriend, Freddie.



These seasons, Effy was more fiery and free than ever. She became an icon, an example, no matter how bad, she became a mix of desire and prettiness- like the wild Lana Del Rey. This is where everyone fell in love with her, every girl wanted to be her and every boy wanted her. She became the Effy that we know now, but after too many late nights, too many joints and too many bottles of vodka, we discovered that nothing good lasts forever and eventually Effy got psychotically depressed.

She got herself together- her head and her life. At the end of Season 4, she was left friendless and boyfriendless, but that got her to where she is today, in Season 7. Smart, sophisticated, mature, pretty Effy.







Before my blog turns into Tumblr, thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed my obsessing over Effy :)



Gaby x