8

Actress Mirror & Eye Catching Eye Candy

I was browsing the web, as you do… and I came across a fab website, www.eye-candy.ie and had to tell you all about it.

The first thing that caught my eye (pardon the pun!) was the Actress  Mirror, what a fab idea…

Actress Mirror

Features: Eight mini LED lights, large mirror. Easy side switch ON · OFF. Easy to use and set up in different angles! Durable hinge portion. Replaceable battery: Alkaline “23A”.

Amazing, absolutely amazing. The light is unbelievable, perfect for precision touch ups or plucking those eyebrows. At home in our downstairs bathroom I have lights around the bathroom mirror and the daylight shines in nicely but even still I find it hard to spy the brow stragglers, with this mirror which I may add is the perfect sign to carry with you at all times fits perfectly in any girls handbag.

The Actress Mirror is available in 5 different designs too, prices range from €28 to €35 plus P&P, order yours online here.

When I got in touch with Ailbhe Murray, the Dublin lady who created this innovating mirror she informed me of her new book, Eye Catching Eye Candy… A complete guide to perfect make up for any occasion…

After chasing her dream of becoming a make-up professional, Ailbhe saved and spent her money on various cosmetic courses. Whilst doing clients make-up one on one she realised how much she knew and how grateful people were for the advice she gave them. Ailbhe felt she needed to spread this knowledge and let all girls in on the hints and tips she had acquired over the years.

Eye Catching Eye Candy, Ailbhe’s new book, is a gem for every female’s handbag or drawer, with simple steps to create both daytime delicate faces to elaborate glamorous looks; you can become your own personal make-up professional. The book pays great attention to detail with advice such as getting to know your own face, creating that classic smokey eye and achieving that full on lash alert look.

Through her experience, Ailbhe has developed a well of knowledge. She has worked with many brands of make-up and swears by Benefit.

“I chose Benefit cosmetics as the main make-up brand for this book because they have a fun and relaxed approach to make up. That I love!”

So before you rush out and book that professional make up course, have a read of Ailbhe’s book for €18.99 + P&P and see what you can create with the lotions and potions you already have sitting in your make up drawer or stay tuned to mwah.ie for our first birthday giveaways for your chance to win an Actress Mirror and signed copy of Eye Catching Eye Candy…

Mwah

5

Crystals & Co.

SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL THREE BANGLE SET €68

Crystals & Co. is Ireland’s hottest new online accessory boutique showcasing glamorous crystal embellished costume jewellery and bags suitable for any occasion.

If you haven’t spotted the new website run by Emily MacKeogh & Leah O’Reilly where have you been!?

The site launched with a glitzy party in Lillies Bordello Dublin where Emily & Leah showcased their extensive range of clutch bags, bangles, earrings and other costume jewellery are adorned with glittering Swarovski crystals and rhinestones which guarantee to give a touch of luxury to any outfit.

RHINESTONE TEAR DROP EARRINGS €28

Since the launch Crystals & Co.’s range has been warn by many the celeb including Clelia Murphy, Michelle McGrath and Sheana Keane on the red carpet. The girls have even brought their collection over to London Fashion Week.

All pieces come in an array of luxurious and vibrant colours, so if it’s a delicate feminine bridal piece, or a fun, sparkly piece for debs, ball, or party.

So why not get the girlies around and invite Crystals & Co. to your place for a fun night in. Their offer 10% off all prices for all their VIP party guests and 15% for the organiser.

What are you waiting for? Call and book today on 0879559202 or log on to their website to order from the comfort of your own home, 24/7. All major credit cards and laser cards are accepted.

CLEAR FULL CRYSTAL HEART CLUTCH €190

AUSTRIAN CRYSTAL APPLE RING €30

Mwah

01

New Irish Online Beauty Store - Authentic Source.Com

During these economic times business is tough for everyone, it makes me think about where I buy things, from personal items such as groceries to Companies I deal with in work.
While I’m looking for good value, I am also looking to support local business’s, which leads me to tell you about new Irish Online Beauty Store, AuthenticSource.Com which launched late January 2010.

Authentic Source provides superior quality toiletries and cosmetics that are inspired by outstanding natural ingredients.
With an emphasis on pure ethical skincare and natural organic-based products, our online emporium offers an exclusive range of niche brands including Essential Care, Burt’s Bees, Naturaleve, Sukícolor, Balm Balm and Saijojo.

The website has been launched in response to the growing demand for natural toiletries and cosmetics. According to webstore creator, Karen Kelly, Irish consumers are following worldwide trends by increasingly choosing products by niche manufacturers who favour natural ingredients:

“Irish consumers are now more savvy when it comes to glamorous marketing campaigns and the unrealistic product claims made by some beauty companies. Our market research indicates that there’s an increasing demand for quality natural ingredients and products that are free of parabens and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS)”.

“In general, shoppers are now less likely to be coaxed into purchasing celebrity endorsed products simply because they see a slick television ad or an air-brushed picture of a model in a glossy magazine. More and more consumers have begun choosing products based on ethical, health and environmental concerns. We’re progressively becoming resistant to the hype surrounding certain beauty products. Shoppers are becoming more interested in the credentials of the manufacturers they’re buying from rather than falling for hype, clever marketing campaigns and attractive packaging,” she explains.

With a full range of Women’s, Men’s and Mother and Baby skincare, the new online store offers Irish customers a fantastic choice of premium toiletries and cosmetics, many of which are not currently available in Irish retail outlets.

So log on and check it out; AuthenticSource.Com

Mwah

6

iPhone 3GS Bling Cover

Just a quickie this morning!

Not feeling the best and arrived into work to find a package waiting for me

Beware photos below are blingtastic!

I was looking for some sparkle for my iPhone 3Gs and I found it on eBay, here is the link to the  seller; SamsUniqueStore. Shipping from the States was free and it took exactly a week to get to Dublin, Ireland.

Mwah

9

Fake Mac Eyeshadow Palettes on DoneDeal.ie

Just a quick post. For those of you who follow me on Twitter I was feeling sorry for myself as this morning while rushing to get ready for work I knocked over my Mac pallette, my pride and joy! and in the process mushed 3 eyeshadows including my Swimming which I love!

Soooo it’s lunchtime in work and I’m checking out donedeal.ie as there are a few Mac listings. I should have known better but the money saving thoughts overpowered my logic and reason, so I decided to email one the of the sellers regarding the Mac Palettes. To say she gave the game away is an understatement! Please see below:

Lee: Hi There, just wanted to enquire about all your Mac stuff. I swear by their stuff & am looking for eyeshadows, do u have the refills for palettes? Looking forward to hearing from you, Lee

Seller: Sorry no i dont have the refills only the complete pallet its self €25 euro per palette of 12 colours thanks alot:)

Lee: Can I ask what colours are included, 12 for €25 sounds great, very interested

Seller: You can pick which ever palette you want:)

Pallets 1 - 5

Lee: Oh I see, do the eyeshadows not have individual names? Never bought a pre made pallet before, just always made up my own, thx

Seller: Did’nt u say u swear by MAC??? & you’ve never seen a set palette not even the 88 colour one ?

Lee: Calm down! No I just have my own pallette which I bought empty and filled myself in New York and I just buy refills for it in Brown Thomas, Grafton St. I like the idea of a set pallette but never seen or purchased before

Seller: LoL im very calm:)…. Didnt u see the 12 Colour palette’s in Bloomdales in Newyork City thats were all my products come from..

As soon as the reply wouldn’t tell me the names of the individual shadows I knew it felt dodgey and I will be saving up for replacements in Brown Thomas very soon! I wonder if donedeal.ie have a policy for people possibly selling fake goods like eBay? I have just emailed them to find out…

If anyone from wants to contact me I’m at lee at mwah dot ie

I hope this post helps anyone else considering a cheap Mac deal in the future and thanks to all my Twitter buddies for confirming my suspicion.

Mwah

5

Liquid Eyeliner & My First Giveaway!

You’ve all heard the question…. if stranded on a desert island & could bring one item of make up, what would it be?

My one item without a shadow of doubt would be…. Liquid Eyeliner. I NEVER leave my house without it.

Recently however I have decided to stray from my reliable Lancome Artliner and try and find alternatives. Recessionista!

Lancome Artliner

It’s not that I am on the breadline or anything however since buying our lovely house I seem to have less disposable income. Don’t get me wrong our mortgage is less than our rent used to be but the expenses that come with owning your own house mean my monthly “money to play with”, has been reduced. Anyway, back to the chosen subject…

Over the past few weeks I have bought the following eyeliners to give them a shot: Bourjois Glitter Fizz in Sparkling Green, Rimmel Glam Eyes in Noir Black, Suhada Eye Liner (Lidl brand) in Dark Brown & No. 7 Liquid Eyeliner also in Dark Brown.

Here are my reviews:

Bourjois Glitter Fizz

Bourjois Glitter Fizz in Sparkling Green: Fantastic, lasts from morning to evening. Funky colour, sparkle is nice not too much for daytime wear, definitely recommend. I was nervous wearing green but I found it very useful on its own or with eyeshadow. While my eyes are most brown there is a hazel tinge to them and I feel the green liner accentuates this & brings out the green in my eyes.

Rimmel Glam Eyes

Rimmel Glam Eyes in Noir Black: Good price, easy application, lasts well however pet hate…. I spend all day long scooping out what I refer to as “eye snotz”. The gunky bit that clumps together at the corner of your eye! Anyway, would not recommend due to this.

Suhada Eye Liner

Suhada Eye Liner 2

Suhada Eye Liner (Lidl brand): Having read the Beaut.ie review I decided to give it a whirl! Ok so it’s €2.99 what did I expect… Well, I expected it not to be completely dried up, tried to use it once and couldn’t get the product on the applicator so gave up. Maybe I got a dud but I wouldn’t be rushing to buy any of their make up products again in a hurry.

No.7 Liquid Eyeliner

No. 7 Liquid Eyeliner also in Dark Brown: I saved the best till last, I absolutely love this one, this is a repeat purchase item too. For €12 it is still half the price of Artliner and to me the application is easier. It last well and if I’m being lasy and just touching up my day makeup into night make up I alway re apply over the orginal line. I would love to see No.7 introduce new colours.

My First Giveaway!!!

I have a second Bourjois Glitter Fizz in Sparkling Green to give away.

All you have to do is comment below & if you can please post your eyeliner recommendations. Please enter by Monday 15th June at 11am. Winner will be picked using random.org. Can’t say fairer than that!

Good luck! PS I will post anywhere in the world!

Mwah

2

Lastminute.com Update

For those of you who are familiar with my previous post on Lastminute.com; Lastminutecom Rant I thought I should give you a bit of an update. Following some tweets the Marketing Manager of Lastminute.com contacted me via Twitter.

I was given his email address so I informed him of my experience, sent screenshots of the errors I was getting and sent him the link to my blog post.

Below is the reply I received with the explanation:

Hi Lee,

I’m really sorry to hear about your experience on our website, perhaps I can offer an explanation.

We are currently in the process of migrating our website here in Ireland to a newer global platform as part of the lastminute.com group. The issue you experienced from LM1 to LM2 - caused a redirection to the UK version of the lastminute.com website - where pricing and buying paths are now UK and in £Sterling.

Issue number 2, is regarding the lack of availability for your chosen hotel - which was a special rate we had negotiated with Travel Lodge - with carrying a global supply of over 80,000 hotels from different systems, a break in connection was identified for this particular deal. This is being rectified as all of lastminute.com are moving to a single transaction inventory over the coming months.

Both of these issues have been identified and assigned a priority bug reference for fixing.

All of this in no way excuses the poor service and experience you’ve encountered, again I can’t apologise enough and completely understand your frustration.

As a token of goodwill, I’d love to offer you free night hotel stay anywhere in Ireland - just let me know the location and date and I’ll get you hooked up with somewhere nice.

Regarding your reply tweet on our Top Secret Hotels, these are special negotiated rates where we have discounted rates up to 45% off branded hotels - which are an excellent way of booking 4* & 5* hotels for a fraction of the cost.

Some background information on our operation in Dublin, we are a tightly knit 6 person team who are enthusiastic and passionate about our company, as such we acknowledge some aspects where we don’t perform as well as we’d like to - so your feedback is appreciated.

If there’s anything else I can help with, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

Barry

barry hand
marketing manager

I told Mr Hand that I would post an updated entry to show the response.

I believe nowadays with the power of the Internet & the popularity of Twitter growing it is a really good idea for Companies to be on there. I didn’t write my post for any other reason than to share my experience.

Thank you Barry for your explanation. I wish more Companies where more proactive with their online awareness.

Mwah

3

Recent Summer Purchases

Haven’t had much time to blog recently. Busy busy busy! However just wanted to show you some recent Summer purchases.

M&S Navy Bow

I am not sponsored by M&S however it’s my favorite place to pick up some gorgeous outfits. Most of my friends my age wouldn’t dream of hitting M&S for a spree but it’s the first stop on my list. Kudos to M&S, real sizes that fit the more curvier girl.

M&S Orange Frill Bib

M&S Purple Sequin

M&S Daisy Dress

The Daisy Dress is great however with the main colour being navy I am on the search for navy leggings, not as easy as you’d think to find. Any suggestions welcome

Footwear for me is always a bit of an issue, I broke my foot in 2006 & every since heels are a no go! I still get an ache where the bone was broken & I also can’t walk, more of a waddle like a duck! LOL I know my limits in footwear and headed to Clarks to pick up some Summer sandals. Picked up these fab gold gladiators for €27.50, sale, whoop whoop!

Mwah