Top 5 Posts of 2014

The New Year is upon us so I thought I would do a little recap of my Top 5 most read posts of 2014!

I know I say this every year but this year has gone so fast, even faster than previous years. A lot has happened over the last year - luckily all good stuff- so I hope 2015 can bring me even better luck and success both in my personal life and blogging life.

So here's a rundown of my top 5 most read blog posts of 2014!

Lime Crime Velvetine dupe

Back in the summer I picked up a few of the Lime Crime Velvetines at IMATS and loved them but I found the perfect dupe of them for a fraction of the cost with the Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lacquers. 

Seventeen Falsifeye HD Mascara

I don't think I was too blown away by this mascara when I reviewed it but I have used it a lot since, mostly as a throw on mascara for when i'm in a rush in the mornings or if I don't have a lot going on that day i'll just swipe it on to give my eyes a bit more definition and make me look that little bit more awake! 

Mac Objects Of Affection Pigments and Glitters

I love these pigments; I got them in the Pink & Rose and Gold & Beige! I haven't really used the Pink toned box but I've used the gold pigments a lot over the Christmas holidays. Try your MAC stores I think you might still be able to get them, they're only €35 and the box comes with 4 pigments and 1 glitter.

Dupe Tuesday Benefit High Beam Vs Mememe Beat The Blues

My dupe posts proved to be very popular; i'll have to try coming up with a few more for 2015. This dupe post was comparing Benefit High Beam to Mememe Beat the Blues liquid highlighters. You literally can't tell the difference from these two highlighters and there's about €20 in the difference. I have been more into my powder highlights this winter so I can't wait to get the liquid ones out for the spring to give that dewy fresh look.

Dupe Tuesday Urban Decay Naked 3 Dupe

Finally we have one of my favourite dupes of the whole year. I compared the Naked 3 palette to the Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 palette. With the exact same results and a whopping €40 difference in the price you can see why this was one of my most read posts of the year. 

If you haven't read them yet just click on the headings and it will bring you straight to the post, and if you have read them why not go back for a recap :)

I'm still in my first year of blogging and have learnt so much in that time that I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for Beauty Blunders and Other Wonders.

Thanks for reading.

Happy New Year :)

Love Sarah xoxo

Best Makeup Wipes EVER!!!

In my Irish Beauty Blogger Secret Santa box I received from Kayleigh Land a few weeks ago was a packet of Waterwipes. They’re a makeup remover for sensitive skin that promise not to sting or dry out the skin which I’ve found in the past to happen to myself when I’ve tried other brands of makeup remover wipes.

I’ve been really lazy when it comes to taking my makeup off the last few weeks so I’ve started using the wipes. Usually if I were to use a remover wipe I would still have to wash any remaining makeup off my face but with the Waterwipes the makeup literally melts off. I wouldn’t have ever thought about doing a post on makeup remover wipes but I’m just amazed at how well these take my makeup off that I felt I had to write about them.

I always find it hardest to remove my mascara and eyeliner especially as I tend to use long lasting ones that doesn’t budge all day so I put the wipes to the test and my eyes where kohl free in minutes. As well as getting rid of all the eye makeup it didn’t sting at all which has always happened in the past, even more so because I have sensitive eyes so for the wipes to both remove my makeup and not sting me one bit is a big achievement.

There’s no sting because the wipes are 99.9% water and a little grapefruit extract and some Dead Sea minerals, unlike other wipes they don’t contain alcohol, parabens, perfumes or other nasty stuff that can sting or dry out the skin.

You can buy the wipes pretty much everywhere – Spar, Dunnes, Tesco, Boots, Supervalu – and cost you around €3.50 depending where you shop.

I definitely recommend these wipes, I’ll be buying more in the future as they’re always handy to have, especially when you’re in a lazy mood and want to get your makeup off quickly.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo 

Christmas Giveaway Winners

I have picked out the winners of my Christmas Giveaway. 

Day 1 - Balmi & EOS Lip Balms - Rachel O'Mahony

Day 2 - Dream Dots for Spots - @HanLouSmith Hannah Smith 

Day 3 - Victoria's Secret Sprays - Cliona Martin 

Day 4 - Elegant Touch Christmas Nails - @ThatsSoBekaah

Day 5 - Lush Goodies - Sheena Birmingham

Day 6 - Beauty Calender - @emerbreen1

Day 7 - Karmisa Jewellery - Harriet Gallimore

Day 8 - Nail Varnish & Stylfile - @floppyasauras

Day 9 - Ciate Candy Cane House - Grace Flood 

Day 10 - Cocoa Brown Set - @Kelly_Mooney Kelly Mooney

Day 11 - Aurora Band - Donna Friel & Amy Lee Bennet 

Day 12 - Makeup Revolution - Sarah Hogan 

Congrats to all the winners and thank you to everyone who entered.

Love Sarah xoxo 

Irish Beauty Blogger Secret Santa 2014 - The Big Reveal

Back in October the lovely Aisling from Total Makeup Addict started to organise a Secret Santa for all us bloggers. I instantly wanted to get involved, as I’m still new to the blogging scene I figured it would be a great way to get introduced to bloggers that haven’t come up on my radar yet.

The rules of the Secret Santa was to spend up to €20, have them posted out by the 5^th and on the 21^st we’re all to announce who we got.

I can reveal that my Secret Santa is Kayleigh over at Kayleigh Land. I think I was one of the first people to get my box, she was so generous, she sent me so much stuff.

I got Water Wipes, a Yankee Candle in Wedding Day, a Super Fruit Mud Mask, Tea Tree face mask, a Hand Mask, Bath Salts, Green Tea, Bath stuffs and 2 DVDs – Maid in Manhattan and I Don’t Buy Kisses Anymore.

Definitely a box for pampering and it’s all new stuff I’ve never tried before, I’ve never even see the DVD’s.

Thanks so much Kayleigh you where way too generous.

I was given Rachel from Rachel Brennan Life. I stalked her blog and Pinterest to get ideas for what to buy her. Head over to www.rachelbrennanlife.blogspot.com to see what I got her.

Thanks again to Kayleigh and to Aisling for organising it all.

Happy Christmas.

Love Sarah xoxo

Top Ten Beauty Tag

I got tagged weeks ago by Leanne over at Blather and Beauty for the Top Ten Beauty Tag, better late than never as I always say.

This tag goes through my favourite foundation, concealer, powder, bronzer, mascara, blush, highlighter, Eyeshadow, eyebrows and lips. This was a pretty tough post to write, as you can imagine picking your absolute favourite beauty pieces is pretty hard, so keep reading and find out what my favourites are.

Foundation:

I’ve pretty oily skin so I always go for a matte finish with my foundations. My favourite foundation (at the moment) has to be Revlon Colourstay. I get it in the matte finish as it lasts on my skin the longest. It gives me great coverage too and is great for nights out.

Concealer:

This one is a favourite of a lot of beauty bloggers and I have constantly had a bottle in stock since I was first introduced to it. The MAC Pro Longwear concealer is by far one of the best I have tried. I rarely use it for concealing and more as an under eye highlighter as I don’t need to conceal spots on my face. I love it because it can be used just as a light foundation, to conceal, or to highlight. It doesn’t budge on my skin which I love. It’s a little bottle but it lasts for what seems like months.

Powder:

Up till recently my favourite powder was the Rimmel Stay Matte powder but after picking up the MAC Studio Fix foundation powder while I was in Florida it has constantly been on my face. As it’s a foundation powder it does make my foundation last even longer and with oily skin it sets everything in place. In the past I’d have to powder my face numerous times during the day but with the Studio Fix powder I only have to do it once, maybe a second time in the evening to freshen my face if I’m going out.

Bronzer:

The Sleek Bronzer and Highlighter duo is my favourite to use as a bronzer. It’s matte and just perfectly brown, I hate terracotta coloured bronzers. This one is great for contouring as well.

Mascara:

This is my favourite mascara of the year and I’ve tried a lot. The Bourjois Une Seconde Volume mascara is one of the blackest black and long lasting mascara’s I’ve tried. I’ve compared it to the Benefit They’re Real mascara but what makes it my favourite is the price and it’s easier to get off.

Blush:

This is actually quite hard, I wear blush all the time but it’s never something I really rave about. However I fell instantly in love with the Nars Orgasm blush when I tried it. I’ve tried many dupes in the past but after trying the real thing it blows everything else out the window. It gives a fresh flushed look to the cheeks and has a slight shimmer that gives a highlighted glow.

Highlighter:

Hands down the best highlighter I’ve ever tried. The Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector gives a glow to the skin like no other. I keep this one for special occasions as it was a bit pricey, it’s also not an everyday highlighter as it has that extra oomph of a glow.

Eyeshadow:

Wow this is super hard but at the moment I’m loving the Maybelline the nudes palette. You can get so many different looks from the one palette. At the moment you can only get it in the US but I think I heard rumours that it will be coming over to us in the next year.

Eyebrows:

I love eyebrows, I go every few weeks to Elysian Brows to get mine threaded and the best thing to fill them in is basically anything from the Anastasia Beverly Hills brand. I have the Brow Powder Duo, Brow Wiz and Dipbrow Pomade. I use all 3 for different occasions as they can give you a lovely natural look or an amazingly defined brow for a night out depending on which product you use.

Lips:

I picked up a few things from Bite Beauty when I was in Florida. I love their High Pigment Lip Pencil in Meritage, it’s a dark brown/red and so creamy. Lips are my favourite part so to choose just one is really hard but at the moment Bite Beauty is my favourite lip brand.

So that’s my top ten favourites at the moment. I’d like to tag the following girls:

-          Karen McCord – Bright With Delight

-          Rachel Brennan – Rachel Brennan Life

-          Kayleigh McEntee - Kayleigh Land

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Beauty Blunders Christmas Giveaway

I’m officially launching my Christmas Giveaway! Each day up till Christmas I will be giving you the chance to win some amazing prizes from some of my favourite brands like Cocoa Brown, EOS, Makeup Revolution and so many more!

To be in with a chance to win just follow the bellow instructions:

Twitter:

1.       Follow my page

2.       Retweet the daily competition tweet

Facebook:

1.       Like my page

2.       Like the daily competition post

The competition is open to the UK and Ireland and the 12 winners will be revealed on the 26^th of December. So like and retweet every day to be in with a chance of winning.

Good Luck

Love Sarah xoxo

The Aurora Band Night Roller Review

The Victoria’s Secret show was last week and left me in awe of the Angels and all their perfection from top to toe. I know there’s not a snowballs chance in hell that I will ever look like one but even if there is a small percentage I will take it and that small percentage comes in the way of their bouncy flowing hair. I know I’m not alone in loving their hair and I’m probably not the only one who’s tried to create it. I’ve tried many times to get my hair to look like theirs but failed miserably, the only thing I can do well with hair is straighten it with my GHD other than that styling my hair can just be impossible sometimes and it’s not my hairs fault I’m just awful at styling so anything that can do half the job for me and make me looking somewhat decent is always going to intrigue me.

The Aurora Band Night Roller came across my lap a few weeks ago. I had seem some other bloggers mention it but didn’t read much into it until it was sent to myself. If you watch Dragons Den you might have seen the owners Alex and Lyndsey successfully getting Gavin Duffy on board and investing into the company.

The Aurora Band Night Roller is a Velcro tube like hair band that overnight creates voluminous curls and waves to your hair.

How it works:

First things first you need to read the instructions card in the box and I’d go onto their website and click into the demo video. The first time I tried the band I didn’t pay too much attention to the instructions and after putting my hair up in the roller I then looked at the video and realised I did it wrong, the second time though I paid attention and it worked out amazingly.

The second thing you must do is have freshly washed hair that has been dried and left slightly damp. After that all you need to do is follow the simple instructions (simple when you’ve read them, as you can imagine IKEA furniture and I do not get along).

Placing the roller over your hair, part it into two and then begin to wrap. You’ll need to take a piece of hair, comb it out and wrap. Taking the piece of leftover hair from the first wrap, bring it into the second piece, comb and wrap again and do this process on both sides.

When you get to the back just keep wrapping until there is no more hair and then you just sleep.

This is probably one of the quickest hair curling products I’ve ever used, it literally takes 5 minutes to do and the rest of the magic is done while you sleep.

I’ve only tried it on myself but I do think if you have someone to do the wrapping and unwrapping for you it will probably turn out slightly better. I think I would have had sleeker curls if I did have some one helping me.

What always put me off sleep in rollers was the thought of them being so uncomfortable to sleep in but the Aurora Band Night Roller was fine to sleep in. It was slightly awkward to get comfortable at first but the great thing about the band is that it can be moved around and the wrapped hair won’t come out, so I just moved around and didn’t wake up till the next morning.

When I took the band off I was expecting sleeker curls and maybe something similar to the girl on the packaging but I had so much volume in my hair and the curls and waves turned out much better than I was expecting and had more of a Farrah Fawcett from Charlie’s Angels look from them than a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

The roller gets a big thumbs up from me, the band is so much better than using curlers as no heat is neaded so there's no damage to the hair. I will definitely be using it again, it’s so easy and quick to use and gives great results, the curl in my hair lasted all day and I only used a small spritz of hair spray that morning.

The band can be bought online on their website and are stocked leading pharmacies such as McCabes Pharmacy, Sam McCaulys and Cara Pharmacy and retails for €12.99.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo