Whilst I'm 100% not a make up artist, make up is something I enjoy and wear most days of the week. But during the week, I tend to steer away from heavier make up and go for a more subtle look. So I decided to put a little list of essentials in my make up bag that I use on a daily basis! 

1. Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

The colour I use is the Sante Fe medium 2, I find it suits my skin colour all year round even if I get a slight colour in the summer! I love this foundation because it is so light on my skin which for me is important as I never liked the feel of a thick foundation on my face! It's about €41 in Brown Thomas and €45 if you get a pump! 

2. Mac Studio Fix Powder 

I get the NW25 in this and have used it for years, I really like it because I find I don't need to top it up too often and my face doesn't get shiny! 

3. Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade

This is probably my favourite product I own, to be honest. I first started using it about a year ago and I now don't think I would be able to put anything else on my eyebrows! It lasts all day on my brows and for a small tub I always get a lot of use out of it, my last one nearly lasted the full year! I also find for a gel it doesn't dry out quickly at all and it's a pretty reasonable price at €18 euro on Beauty Bay 

4. Nars Velvet Shadow Stick 

I use the colour goddess on my eyelids for day to day make up for a subtle eyeshadow look, it is easy to use and lasts all day. I really like using this also with the Nars Callisto eyeshadow for a night time look as it intensifies the colour a little! 

5. Inglot Eyeliner Gel 

I've been using the Inglot Eyeliner gel now for about 2 years and I love it, I find it very rarely fades or smudges, which for me who loves a big flick is important! Similar to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow pomade listed above for a small tub it lasts quite a while, the only thing being it can dry out quite quickly, but using Inglot's duraline with it really helps! 

6. Inglot Duraline

So I haven't actually got my hands on my own bottle of this yet but after using my MUA best friends bottle, I've already added it to the list of essentials, it is amazing for intensifying the colour of eyeshadows and as I said above works amazingly with the Inglot gel liner AND it's only  €12! 

7. Mac Global Glow 

I love global glow for a natural glow with a day to day look and also a night time look! It always lasts me a few months and its only about  €22! 

8. Morphe Palette 

Similarly to the Duraline I'm yet to own my own one of these, but having two sisters with one each is handy (when they're not home to catch me using it). I love these palette's because the colours are really pigmented! They have smaller and bigger ones on beauty bay ranging from about €16 - €35 

9. Mac Chestnut Lip Liner 

I love this liner because it is quite dark but can be used with nude lipsticks as well as browns and it gives the lips a really full look! Like all MAC lip liners, it is about  €13! 

10. Inglot 405 Lipstick 

I love this colour with the chestnut liner listed above, it gives a really brown colour and makes my lips look much bigger than they are! For a less dark colour, it works really well with the liner Spice by MAC!

My Day to Day Look 

This is normally along the lines of what my day to day make up would look like, nothing to heavy! I nearly always have a set of Mink eyelashes done so I very rarely need to wear mascara, only on my bottom lashes and I nearly always buy a cheap one as I think they work just as well as some of the more expensive ones! 

Grainne

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As I've said before, festival season is my favourite time of year for fashion. When it comes to clothes, makeup, shoes and hair anything goes. Last weekend I went to Life festival, it was fabulous. The weather was amazing and the line up was so brilliant. Here is my looks.... 

Hair 

My sister who is amazing at french braids, did six in my hair for me on Thursday night, which lasted the entire weekend. This was my best decision as I didn't even have to brush my hair once! She also helped out with my eyeshadow in this picture, which is a mixture of burnt oranges and blacks! 

Day 1 

Shoes - Creepers 

Swimsuit/top - Forever 21 

Shorts - Asos 

Shirt (around waist) - Vintage 

Choker- Forever 21 

Sunglasses - Asos 

Leather Jacket - Zara 

Day 2 

Being a natural, blonde it was a little easier for me to achieve a clean white colour, than it would have been had I been going from dark, but even at that getting it pure and then maintaining it between bleaches can still be difficult, but I've come across a number of different products which keep away the brassy tones.

The hardest thing about white, silver and pastel hair is firstly achieving it. I'm lucky enough to have a fabulous Aunty who does mine, but does a bleach and then a toner afterwards. But if you're doing yours at home here is some of the products I'd recommend... 

 In Ireland, this Bleach London bleaching kit can be found in most Boots and is a pretty reasonable price at €9.99 

This is a little harder to get but can be found in most hairdressing wholesalers or ordered online, on the crazy colour website it is £4, not including shipping. 

After a bleach I find my hair lifts a lot but still looks a little yellow-ish, especially at the root as the hair is darker, which is why a toner is so important, one I'd recommend is the Bleach London one 

And if you use the Bleach London bleaching kit sticking it's great as they're pretty much made to go together, this is also €9.99 in boots! 

The toner will lift it from a brassy yellow colour to an icy white. 

Silver

If it is a more silvery/grey colour you're after I would go for the crazy colour semi-permanent colour!

Pastels 

My own hair at the moment is a light lilac colour, to achieve it my Aunty left my toner after bleaching in for longer than usual, but when I did it myself about a month ago I found the bleach London violet skies worked AMAZINGLY! 

It's really easy to use and apply and doesn't stain skin, clothing or your sink! It says on the bottle it last between 2-10 washes, I found after about 4 it had faded quite a bit but brightened my hair back to a white/silver colour from where it had started to go brassy again. What's great is these come in a huge range of colours also, perfect for festival season! 

Maintainance

There is nothing more frustrating than brassy tones appearing after trying so hard to achieve white, silver or pastel hair. Throughout my time trying all of these colours I have experimented with a few different products to maintain the colour 

Silver shampoo

I use the provoke touch of silver shampoo once or twice a week leaving it on for about 5 minutes for best results, I have also used the Bleach London one which does a similar job. Both can be found in Boots, I normally opt for the Provoke one because it's much cheaper and a lot of the time they have offers where you can get the conditioner as well all for about five euro! 

This works great for blonde, white and silver. Even if you're not trying to get a white or silver look it works great for blondes trying to avoid a yellow look! 

I've started using this Indola Colour Mousse to maintain my current lilac colour, it just a mousse you apply to the hair after it's been washed, it works wonders. I've tried it in silver too and it comes in loads of different colours! 

Aftercare

Bleaching and toning can be bad for your hair, it makes it dry and can cause breakage and split ends so it is important to look after it after a bleach. My best advice is a hair mask every once in a while and a little bit of argan or coconut oil in the ends after heat treatment. 

One thing I've struggled with is getting my hair past my shoulders when it grows after cuts, so I'm currently trying out the Lush "New" Shampoo 

It's full of spices for stimulation in the scalp which helps the hair to grow. I've just started to use it so hoping to see a difference within the next few months! 

Grainne 

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So the last two weeks or so here in Ireland 2016 seems to finally be seeing some sun. As we do not see it too often here most people are straight out to the beach or beer gardens. Personally, being a constantly cold kind of person, its only on the rare occassion I would actually wear a bikini or swimsuit to the beach in Ireland, but the good weather certainly gets me excited to start looking for swimwear to wear abroad and as I have said before even if you don't get away, swimsuits can always be worn for cute tops! So here is some of my favourite swimwear pieces I found online! 

(White Plunge- Asos, Metallic Blue- boohoo Black High waist- American Apparell, Black with colour band & Print & Swimsuit- Motel Rocks, Clam Bikini - asos, Tie Die & Black and white swimsuit - Motel rocks, Burger bikini - Jaded London)

Accessorize!

In recent years, I just cant wear swimwear without some accessories, even if it is only a pair of sunglassess. But my personal favourite is a belt around a swimsuit! So I picked out some body jewellery and sunglasses to match my fave glam swimsuits listed above! 

These are a little insane I know, but summertime also means FESTIVAL SEASON!!!

(All can be found on asos)

What I wore...

Heres just a quick look at my typical swimwear looks...

 Swimsuit - Asos 

Sunglasses - Topshop 

Belt - Nine Crows 

Swimsuit & Belt - Nine Crows 

Sunglasses - Asos 

Grainne 

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