Booktubeathon 2014!

It's that time of year again! Booktubeathon is a week long reading challenge organised by youtuber Ariel Bissett. I took part last year too and you can read all about that HERE and HERE if you want to see how I got on. 

This year the challenges are:

To Read:

• A Book with pictures
• Start and finish a series
• A book with red on the cover
• A book someone else picks out for you
• A book from the genre you've least read this year
• A book to movie adaptation
• Read seven books.

Phew! That's a lot! Luckily, you can double up on your reading challenges so you can cut down on the amount you have to read but you still need to get that seven in there! I'm quite a slow reader so I'm in no way expecting to complete this challenge but I'll do my best and either way I love reading so it'll be fun for that reason alone. Plus it'll help me along with my personal challenge of reading 60 books this year! I'm keeping my intended reads a surprise til the end, for the suspense, like!

If you're interested in taking part, the challenge starts tomorrow and you can follow along on the twitter booktubeathon page HERE. Wish me luck!

XX

Sephora Haul!

The Hubster went to Canada a while back and I thought I'd share with you the few lovely bits he picked up for me. I made him a list of things I particularly wanted but he also got me a rather lovely surprise, which I'll go into later!

First up, Flowerbomb by Victor & Rolf is one of my favourite perfumes and I've always thought it was a bit of a gip that we don't really get rollerball perfumes over on this side of the water so I asked him to get me this fella. It's super handy for popping into my bag and topping up my perfume later in the day rather than lugging a heavy bottle around with me.

Secondly, I recently dyed my hair back blonde and couldn't really carry on using my red-toned eyebrow pencil anymore. I was going to go back to my old Mac favourite, Fling but decided to try out the highly lauded Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz. This has a little spoolie brush on one end (with a lid for hygiene purposes..lovely!) and a twist up crayon on the other end in the shade ash blonde, which is a perfect match for my brows.

Next up, Tarte. I've been longing for my very own Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour blush for an age now so here I have Captivating, a peach/coral toned matte blush. This is a really natural but pretty shade and I'm loving it so I will have a proper review to come on this!

Himself always picks me up a YSL Effet Faux Cils Shocking mascara whenever he goes through a duty free as it's my favourite mascara but just so pricey, so any saving possible is always welcome! I'm using up a few sample size mascaras at the moment and then it's back to gorgeous, full lashes again!

This was the surprise. Excuse the blurry photo, my camera was reluctant to pick up that Dior sign properly but regardless, there she is; Rouge Dior Voluptuous Care in Sterling Red. This is coming out quite bright in the photo but in reality it's a very wearable raspberry red. When I opened it I squealed a little (I really love Dior) and himself said "well I know you love red lipstick and Dior, so.."

HE PICKED OUT A FANCY LIPSTICK FOR ME BY HIMSELF, PEOPLE.

IN THE CORRECT SHADE.

THAT'S RIGHT.

LEGEND.

Other stuff include the cool little samples Sephora always throw in from Origins, Jurlique and First Aid Beauty, which I can't wait to try.

I also asked him to pick me up a box of Crest 3D Whitestrips. I tried these before my wedding (Crazily that's almost two years ago now) and found them really good so I'm looking forward to using them again. They're also really hard to find over here and are really expensive to buy online, whereas these work out at about €40 when bought in dollars.

I think I was actually quite restrained in what I asked him to pick up for me, I could've gone completely mental but held back! 

Have you used any of these? Thoughts?

XX

NEW! Hand Cream Collection From The Body Shop

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you'll have spotted that I was recently sent lots of lovely new products from The Body Shop to try out. 

First up are two of their new handcreams in Shea and Honeymania. 

These are designed for those of us who are tired of greasy handcreams (which is all of us, I'd imagine) but still want a full-on moisturiser. Basically, the best of both worlds. We're not asking for much, are we?! 

Loaded with moisture-rich ingredients like Community Fair Trade Shea butter from Ghana and Community Fair Trade Honey from Ethiopia, these smell absolutely gorgeous as well as supporting the communities that produce these wonderful ingredients. As with all Body Shop products, these are obviously also cruelty-free. Hurrah! 

But back to that smell; I'm not a huge honey fan so I didn't expect to love that one as much as I do but it's more floral with a hint of honey, if that makes sense and so it's a warm, comforting fragrance.

I've tried some of the brand's Shea range already and this fella is as lovely as they are so again, this is another delightful scent. 

I keep sniffing my hands like a lunatic. Luckily a back injury means I'm at home so no one can see me looking all crazy. The best thing for me though is that these are a light gel formula so as soon as I apply them, it absorbs quickly into my skin, without any trace on the surface; it's non-greasy and leaves my hands soft and smooth. Basically, I'm hooked. Being a nurse my hands are super dry so I'll be keeping one of these handy 30ml sizes in my pocket at all times from now on. 

You can also find these in Strawberry, Satsuma, Coconut, Pink Grapefruit and Moringa. Costing a tiny €5.95 each, I'll be stocking up on more for sure. T'would be rude not to!

What do we think ladies, do these sound like your type of thing?

XX

These Are A few Of My Favourite Things..

Got that song stuck in your head now, don't you? I know, I'm cruel like that. Anyway, I thought I'd show you a few things I've been loving lately. Let's not kid ourselves either, I love lots of things, that's why I have this blog but these three in particular have been making me super happy for the last month.

Neom Luxury Organics Candle

I love candles and was thrilled to receive this as a gift- I'd never tried anything from Neom before but had heard great things. Each candle is hand made in the UK, made with a special blend of 100% natural vegetable wax and pure aromatherapy oils- nothing else. Because of that, they burn cleanly and don't leave soot on your walls or on the glass container- a huge bonus. That aside, this also smells incredible, containing floral top notes of French Lavender with sandalwood, juniper and geranium, this is designed to help you relax, so it's ideal for use as a pre-bedtime sleep aid or as the brand suggests, to treat Winter blues. I do find it relaxing but I also really just love the scent, it lingers on long after the flame has been extinguished and lends a pleasantly warm, homely feeling to any room. 

This is their mini version, you can also get a larger 3- wick candle and in other aromas. Neom is stocked in Brown Thomas.

Mr Burns Pyjamas

This one was a birthday present to myself, having seen these in an Essiebutton video. I couldn't resist- look how cute they are! Mr Burns and his sleeping cap! And Bobo!! These are made from cotton and are really comfortable, in particular the t-shirt. I'm less enamoured with the style of the shorts but that might just be me being persnickety. I got mine online from Topshop although they appear to be sold out now but you may want to check in store just in case!

Miss Dior Eau De Parfum

My rather amazing husband bought me a bottle of this much-longed for perfume as part of my birthday present and I am in love with it! I've been covertly (not covertly at all) coating myself with this every time I passed the Dior counter in Brown Thomas/House of Fraser for the last six months or so so I'm thrilled to have my very own bottle! I love Dior perfumes, they make the best ones in my opinion.

The brand says: "Citrus topnotes of Italian mandarin essence, followed by a green note of galbanam (nope, no idea either), blending into a floral heart of Eygyptian Jasmine Absolute before sensually concluding with essence of Indonesian Patchouli".

So there you go, sensually concluding. Ooh-er, etc.

For me , I get a hit of citrus, then a lovely warm floral, followed by a gentle musk that lasts on my skin. I just love it, it's a truly beautiful perfume and perfect for Summer.

What have been your go-to creature comforts of late?

XX

New Summer Literary Releases (I want them all)

As always, there's an absolute glut of literary new releases this Summer and although I'm already laden down with stacks of books I want to get through, there's always room for more! 

I've been seeing We Were Liars on book blogs all over the place, this was published in May and revolves around a rich family and a group of friends, living on a private island. As the title suggests, they all have their secrets in this suspense/thriller. 

I loved Fangirl so I'm looking forward to reading Rainbow Rowell's new novel, Landline, which was just released this week. This one is about a marriage in trouble but with a bit of time travel thrown in...interesting, eh? 

Also out since just this past week is Caitlin Moran's latest, How To Build A Girl. I loved How To Be a Woman and having seen her read aloud from this new book live, I know it's going to be just as brilliant. This one is fictional but loosely based on Moran's own teenage years.

I love Stephen King and his latest book Mr Mercedes is already downloaded onto my Kindle. This is the first in a trilogy of detective novels, so if you're expecting a horror, you'll be sorely disappointed. 

I enjoyed J.K Rowling's first in the Cormoran Strike series, The Cuckoo's Calling, so I had to buy the sequel, The Silkworm when it was released last month. I have this fella on audio, have already started listening to it and am enjoying it so far.

Lastly, I'm actually currently reading and loving Hillary Clinton's It Takes a Village but at the super fast rate I'm reading it, I'll need more Hillary in my life fairly soon and Hard choices was published just last month, so kind of perfect timing. 

What's on your Summer to-read list?

Any of these on there?

XX