"If you go Into The Woods today your sure of a big surprise" - Into The Woods Review

I’m going to start off by saying I don’t like musicals; they’re always too chirpy and tend to wreck my head by the time I get half way through them. Saying all that I was pretty excited to see Into The Woods and had an idea it was going to be good with such an array of names in the cast. The cast is pretty impressive with Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, James Cordon, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine, and Johnny Depp topping the billing.

If you grew up like me loving Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and the rest of the gang then you will love Into the Woods. A mixture of the Brothers Grimm stories, this Disney musical is the business and one for all the family.

I had no idea this was a Broadway musical first but as I said I’m not big into musicals so I’m sure that’s why it passed me by.  Like any Disney movie there has to be a few catchy songs thrown in the mix and Into The Woods doesn’t disappoint although noting as catchy as Let It Go, but I was singing the main song all the way home.

The main storyline involves a baker and his wife who long for a child discover a curse had been put on them by the local witch, to lift the curse need to go into the woods to get a number of items before the next blue moon. To get these items they come across Red Riding Hood, Jack and his beanstalk, Cinderella and Rapunzel who all have their own sub plots throughout the movie.

The singing wasn’t annoying at all which I was so happy about and probably made the comedic value of the movie even better. By far my favourite scenes where any of the ones involving Chris Pine (Prince Charming), not just because of his obvious good looks but because the comedic value of his character, he’s also a surprisingly good singer.

Chris Pine as Prince Charming

The only thumbs down I will give the movie involve the Wolf character played by Johnny Depp. I’m one of these people who listen intently to lyrics and I was a bit off putted by some of the content as they came across a bit sexual, “Look at that flesh, Pink and plump. Hello, little girl...Tender and fresh” a few people sitting around me seemed to notice the same content as well. It would go over a child’s head but as an adult it was just a bit cringe worthy.

Johhny Depp as The Wolf

If you like musicals and movies like Sweeny Todd then you will love this, it’s the perfect movie for the family definitely getting the thumbs up from me. Into The Woods is released today (9th January) across Ireland and the UK.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Crown Brush Blush Palette

I have a few things from Crown Brush UK, I love their brushes and their palettes. I don’t think I’ve bought anything online from them but I do love to pick up brushes and palettes when I see a stand at a beauty show because they’re always that little bit cheaper. When I was in IMATS I picked up a few things from the stand including their 10 colour blush palette which retails normally for £14.99/€18.81 but I think I got mine for around £10-12.

It comes with a range of pinks, peaches and bronze colours in matte and shimmer textures. What’s great about the palette is that it can be used to contour with the darker colours as well as adding some colour to your cheeks with the pinks and peaches.

I use this palette a lot and I’ve used every colour in it. You don’t get too much product from one swipe of your brush to cheek but I think that’s a good thing as you can build it up to the colour you want, I hate when some blushes can leave you looking like Noddy from one swipe of blush.

Palettes like these are great for travelling, they’re sleek enough to fit into any luggage whether you’re going on short or long haul journeys and you don’t need to bulk up your makeup bag with single blushes.

This is definitely worth the price as it works out at £1.49/€1.88 for each blush, there aren’t much companies selling single blushes for that price.

If you want to find out more info on Crown Brush UK just head over to www.crownbrush.ie or www.crownbrush.co.uk.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pens | Review

Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pen

This was the worst nail buy I have had in a looooooooong time!!! It was an absolute impulse buy, I just saw the pictures that they had advertising the pens and thought what I saw was what I was going to get. I suppose there should be some blame on my part for buying a product I didn't know anything about but that's what happens when you’re in boots during a 3 for 2 sale and just put stuff in your basket without thinking.

Firstly I thought what I was buying was a pen with a small brush tip, because to me that’s what the pictures looked like it was but what I got was a hard tip like you would get from a felt tip marker!

When I got home and tried them out, it took me forever to get any product out and when I did it was a pretty miniscule amount.

I wish I could find a picture of the advertisement that I saw in boots when I was buying the pens to show you how I thought it was going to look because it really made it out to be a really flowing varnish with a very easy movable tip.

In the end I was just really disappointed with the pen and in the end I didn’t like them because:

They were too difficult for the product to come out

The colour came out very opaque and for a nail pen I would want something more pigmented

Too expensive, at €8.95 per pen that is just too expensive for myself, especially on something I won’t be using again.

So that’s what I think about these oul pens, I won’t be buying them again and for such a good brand like Sally Hansen I thought they would have been so much better.

Thanks for reading and if you have bought these pens too then let me know what you thought about them.

Love Sarah xoxo

NYC Expert Last Lip Color | Review

If you haven’t copped it already I love my lippy! Every girl needs a bit of lipstick in their lives and for me a bit of lipstick will always make me feel more confident and top a look off.

Anytime I go into Penny’s I always make a b-line for makeup section and always manage to find something to buy and when there is so much choice and such bargains it’s hard not to walk away with bags of makeup.

For the last few weeks I had seen on Instagram a load of posts from a girl who had bought the NYC Expert Last Lip Color lipsticks, the swatches really caught my eye and usually when something catches my eye I have to go straight out and get whatever it is!

When I went to the stand in Penny’s they had some but not all of the collection, I think there are 15-20 colours in total, so I picked four of my favourites. I failed to mention that these lipsticks are €2.49, I’m surprised that I only came away with 4 colours, but it did look like a lot of the colours where very similar.

Red Rapture

Now these guys claim to last up to 6 hours which I think is pushing it, at most I would say 2-4 hours and that’s without doing too much eating or drinking, but when they’re that cheap I don’t think that really matters. The good thing is that they unlike a lot of lipsticks that say that they are long lasting they don’t dry out the lip, they do say that they are moisturising but not totally moisturising. 

Purple Crush

On application the colours go on pretty heavy and a lot of the time you have to pat any excess off with some tissue, but I don't like to feel a lot of product on my lips so each to their own, but this works for me.

Air Kiss

The colour payoff is really good for such a cheap product with some of the lipsticks beings just as pigmented as highly coloured as brands like MAC. The only problem I have with them is the smell, it's a sweet berry but it reminds me of the smell from makeup I had when I was a kid.

Blue Rose

I think that I’m a bit late in the game with these ones I think they’ve been out in Ireland for nearly a year but only out in the states a few months, hence my Instagram timeline being filled with swatches from the collection the last few months. Go out and get these guys, especially if you want to try out a few colours this summer that you might not usually try as they are so cheap, if you don't think it works for you its not like you have broken the bank!

Review | Tanya Burr Lip Collection

I promised this post a few weeks ago but better late than never!

Tanya released her lip and nail collection in February and they have been a huge success so far and just this week they were launched into all Superdrug stores.

There are 12 glosses to choose from in the collection:

Smile, Dream, Sparkle

Champagne Toast

First Date

Just Peachy

Afternoon Tea

Chic

Picnic In The Park

Aurora

Exotic Island

Let's Travel The World

 Heart Skipped A Beat

Vampire Kiss

I've only bought 3 but now that they are in stores I might buy a few more especially as it's always a lot harder to judge a product when you’re buying online. I chose Picnic in the Park, Champagne Toast and Vampire Kiss.

All of three of the glosses I bought smell just like strawberry Petits Filous so I presume the rest of the collection will too.

Because I have super red lips naturally Champagne Toast goes on my lips almost like a sheer gloss. It's not like me at all to get any type of nude colours so this was a step out of my comfort zone, but I was happy with the result, probably because my natural lip colour came through.

 

I love Vampire Kiss, it's my favourite kind of red. It’s a darker tone of red which I love and can be put on lightly or built on to your lips to make them even darker.

 

Anyone who has bought Tanya's lip glosses most likely has Picnic In the Park in their makeup bags. It's a baby pink and the smell of strawberries really pop with this one. In a lot of Tanya's videos she wears this one so I think this is one of her favourites. Just like Vampire Kiss I chose this colour to match with the nail varnish I bought.

 

I call these glosses but they aren’t as tacky as most glosses and they feel more like a cream lipstick. They do last a good while and really only disappear when your munching on something.

The colour pay off on Vampire Kiss and Picnic in the Park are amazing for glosses and not sheer at all. I don’t really like sheer glosses, that said I do love the Champagne toast.

So try them out for yourself at your local Superdrug, you can also buy them on Cloud10 Beauty.

Have a great day guys!!

Love Sarah xoxo

Nails Inc 2 in 1 Color and Pop Art | Review

If you follow me on Facebook or on Instagram you'll have seen my pictures of my new Nails Inc 2 in 1 Color and Pop Art varnishes. I had bought them at the start of March and only properly got around to using them this week.

They have 3 to choose from in their collection:

Angel & Upper Street

Sheraton St & Cavendish Place

Knightsbridge Place & Sloane Street

I was only going to buy one but I couldn’t choose between two colours so figured I just had to buy two, the sales guy must have seen the struggle of what to do on my face and came over to help me. Anyway I ended up getting all three thanks to the salesman, he told me if I bought 3 then I would get a free manicure so I really couldn’t deny a freebie. You've got to love a good splurge.

Luckily for me when it comes to Nails Inc. I love all their products and the majority of my nail polish collection is full of the stuff, so when I did splurge I didn’t feel too bad as I knew I was going to be getting a good product and you do get what you pay for my darlings!!!

So last Sunday I sat myself down and dug these beauts out, I only used Angel & Upper Street and Knightsbridge & Sloane Street as I was going for a pink look.

I didn’t use any top or base coat so I did have the fear that they would chip off within the next day but they didn’t and there was a great shine on them even without a top coat.

The varnishes are duos so on one end you have your colour and on the other you have the clear coat with glitter. These are limited edition for Spring/Summer 2014 and the shades have been chosen to reflect the pastel and pop colours for this season.

I love the ideas of these duos and they last ages without chipping. I have one problem and that’s when removing the glitter, they don't budge. I use my Maybelline Express Remover as it’s the only remover that I’ve used to get glitter off but it still didn’t work, I chipped them off with my nails which probably isn’t the best for my nails.

But other than that I love these little things, they are a bit pricey at €16.80 in Debenhams; I think they're £14 in the UK.

Have a great weekend dolls!!

Love Sarah xoxo

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I was lucky enough to go to the preview screening of the new Captain America movie last Monday and the geek on me was thrilled to see it! 

I've grown up with two older brothers who love comics and action movies so it was hard avoiding turning into a lover of these type of movies. I didn't think much of the first Captain America movie and really didn't think I was going to love this one but it was really good. 

There are lots of surprises, twists and turns and a lot of funny one liners. There were a few things that went over my head and I'll have to quiz my brothers after they go see it. My boyfriend cane with me, he always slags me about how much of nerd I am and while I was laughing at a few bits he hadn't a clue what was going on. I do think that even if you haven't seen the last movie you'll quickly catch on to what's happening, but you might be a bit clueless if you haven't seen Avengers Assemble

The movie is set after the Avengers wrecked NYC and the Cap is working for S.H.I.E.L.D in Washington. I don't want to give too much away but like all good action movies the Cap has a few baddies coming after him, lucky for him though he has Nick Fury aka Samuel L Jackson and the Black Widow aka Scarlett Johansson to look after him. 

I will tell you to hang round after the credits for some extra scenes, they definitely leave it open for a sequel or at least it's setting up for the next avengers movie! 

Overall this is an awesome movie, the fight scenes are deadly and wowzers to Scarlet, she's looks amazing in that cat suit, definitely worth a watch.

Let me know what you think of it when you see it, I hope you like it as much as I did. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is in your cinemas from today.

Love Sarah xoxo

                                      

Rita Ora Nail Collection for Rimmel

I'm a big fan of Rimmel, I have been since I was a young girl, not so much of Rita Ora especially since she's been cast as Mia in 50 Shades (still won't stop me seeing the movie though), so when I heard they were bringing out a nail collection together I was interested to see what they would come up with. Rita has collaborated with many great artists since she came on the scene but I think creating a nail collection with Rimmel is the best collaboration yet.

In this collection there are 12 Shades altogether (€4.99 each)

 Lose your lingerie - a pastel pink

Raw as night - a hot pink

Don't be shy - Barbie pink

Let's get nude - a lovely little nude

Midnight rendezvous - a dark purple

Hot White Love - plain and simple white but so on trend

Blindfold me blue - a sea blue

Pillow talk - a pastel blue

Do not disturb - a sea green

Breakfast in bed - a pastel green

Rita rouge - Pillar box red

Orgasm - (the rudeness) an orange

She also has 10 shades of Colour Rush lipsticks but I have enough lipsticks so I decided not to get the lippy, although I have enough nail varnishes too but they really excited me!! 

I bought mine in Boots; they had a 3 for 2 offer so I got six of the following:

Midnight Rendezvous

Rita Rouge

Raw As Night

Hot White Love

Do Not Disturb

All of the above where given a single coat and they dried really fast. My favourite of the ones I bought where:

Rita Rouge - After trying it out it's a gorgeous burgundy red, I love colours like that on my nails and lips

Hot White Love - It's a brilliant white, but you will need to give a perfect application on the nails to get the perfect manicure. This one will be great with a tan.

Raw As Night - This is a really light bright red, when I applied it to my first few nails I didn't think I was going to like it but it definitely grew on me, I usually love dark reds so this one surprised me.

I love all the colours and I can't wait to get the rest in the range. They are so affordable and I love how they actually dry quickly, I hate when some polishes claim to dry quickly and really don't. I've only ever bought one or two of the Rimmel polishes years ago so I couldn't remember if they where good or not, but I'm pleased to say that they are amazing and I will be buying them in the future!

If you don't believe me you will need to try it for yourself!

Love Sarah xoxo

Rimmel Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves Mascara | Review

The new mascara love of my life!! 

This is the latest in the Scandaleyes collection for Rimmel and boy is it a goody. It's a bargain at only €7.65 (I got mine in Boots). Everything about this mascara ticked the boxes for me and then some. 

Firstly the packaging has a textured snake skin effect which I've never seen before, not on a drugstore product anyway, and the tubes are in the same shape as the other Scandaleyes products.

When it comes to the wand it's AWESOME!!!! It's a curved wand, my first mascara with a curved wand ever and I don't know how I've survived without one. When I first tried it I was a bit like "Whoa what’s going on here", but I soon got the hang of it. One swipe of the wand and it gets literally every single lash; usually I’ll have to go from one side of my lashes to the other to get the same amount of coverage but not with this beauty as it perfectly hugs the lash line to get maximum coverage. I've only in the last year started putting mascara on my bottom lashes and the tip of the wand is amazing for getting at those little ones, whether it's made for it or not the tip is absolutely perfect for bottom lashes.

Now I don't know if it's the wand or if it's the mascara in the tube but there are no clumps what so ever, like none at all!! Each lash is separated perfectly and gives great volume too. It's also great long wearing mascara, by the time I’m going to bed I’m usually a hot panda looking mess but not anymore as my eyes look just as good as they did when I first put it on. As you can see in the photo's below it looks like I just put a fresh coat on, but this is just before I went to bed after a good 15 hours of wear!

After 15 hours of wear

This is so far is my star buy of the year, definitely in my February Favourites and I have a feeling I'll be buying this one again! I've finally found a product that does what it promise in their description. So do yourself a favour, get out there and buy this mascara, you will be thanking me when you do.

Before (No make up at all)

After (Full face of makeup)

Enjoy your day!

Love Sarah xoxo

Models Own Hypergel review

Hello Hello!!

Nails! Apart from lip products anything to do with nails is definitely my second love.

Last year I went month's getting gel nails but I could tell that they were starting to ruin my real nails underneath so I had to take them off. The result was hideous paper thin nails, fortunately after a lot of hand cream, cuticle oils and some repairing nail varnishes they are finally starting to get back to normal. 

Now I've never had Shellac nails but my friend raves about them so when I saw that Models Own had brought out a nail varnish that gave the same type of effect for only €7.65 I was intrigued. I had seen some reviews from other bloggers about the varnish that spoke well about it and figured I'll have to try them. Boots where doing a 3 for 2 offer at the time so I bought Coral Glaze - a lovely peachy coral, Cerise Shine - a hot Barbie pink and Cornflower Gleam - a baby sky blue.

They have 10 shades altogether containing lotus flower oil and the result should be a high shine gel finish.

The first time I put the Cornflower gleam on my fingers and I immediately noticed that the colour is so pigmented and really only a single coat was needed without seeing any of the original nail. Now I did this while sitting in my room about a half an hour before I was going to get into bed, thinking it would be enough time to let them dry. Well was I mistaken, usually I'll give nails a good ten minutes before I start doing anything so after a half an hour of me bouncing around my room to Beyonce I figured they would be bone dry, but they started to come off when they got hit, they smudged and basically it was a hot mess.

I tried it again for a second time the next day, leaving it a little longer but the same result happened but to a lesser extent, as you can see in the picture below.

So for the 3rd time I tried the Cerise Shine on my left hand and the Cornflower Gleam on my right (I left the Coral Glaze in work so haven't tested that one yet). I took my time on this occasion, knowing that they take forever to dry I sat down and made sure I had no distractions. Initially I was happy with the result, it's a high shine and they did look like they had gel on them. 

    

 

After nearly an hour and a half of doing my nails and letting them dry I noticed that the smooth sheen was gone and replaced by bubbles, the only time I had seen this happen was when I got cheap gel nails done! I Googled it thinking maybe it was something I had done wrong but I couldn't pin point anything. 

After an hour I decided it should be OK to move around again but as soon as the nails touched off anything they did get dented. I'm not usually one to moan too much about a product but after 3 times of putting the varnish on this really has to be one of the worst varnishes I've bought for my nails. It could be that it's thicker and it is only a new product so maybe they just need to do a few more tweaks, but I like to be able to put on my varnish and go. After an hour I really should not be worrying about my nails not being fully dry.

The only positive I can come to are that the pigments are amazing, the colours do really pop and will compliment your spring wardrobe and if i'm honest that's the only plus I can think of :(

Love Sarah xoxo

Oscars Red Carpet 2014

Last night was the 86th Academy Awards or the Oscars to you and me. One of the most anticipated nights in the fashion calendar - who will wear what designer, who will steal the show and who will have a fashion disaster. I've put together some of my favourite and worst looks from the night, there was a lot to choose from but I managed to narrow it down to my top 5.

Best dressed:

5) Olivia Wilde - Valentino

Now I've never been pregnant but the thought of having to walk the red carpet with a basketball in front of you just sounds like a daunting experience but I think Olivia rocked it. She went for an understated black Valentino high neck gown with white detail at the back. You would have to look twice to even notice that she is heavily pregnant, definitely my favorite pregnancy look from the night.

4) Sandra bullock - Alexander McQueen

The Gravity star chose a lovely navy McQueen gown, now her film choices can be a bit meh (I absolutely detested Gravity), but when it comes to red carpet looks, especially this awards season, she is pretty much always on point and this gown doesn't disappoint. The deep blue/navy dress was topped off with a Lorraine Schwartz jewels. Can you believe this woman is 49!!

3) Kate Hudson - Christian Dior

This dress just blew me away; the stunning Kate Hudson wore a daring plunge champagne dress topped off with cape. It reminded me of something from old Hollywood, a genre that I adore and while keeping with the minimalist makeup theme I thought a pop of red on the lips would have really made the look complete. 

2) Angelina Jolie - Elie Saab

Girl crush alert!!! After a slightly dodge dress from her last appearance at the Oscars in 2012 (you all remember that mad leg), Angie came back fighting with this Elie Saab number. The exquisitely embellished metallic gown was topped off with simple hair and makeup, the red carpet trend of the night and with Brad beside her they where the best looking couple of the night for me.

1) Lupita Nyong'o - Prada

Lupita, Lupita, Lupita!! This girl stole the red carpet show; I haven't seen a best dressed list today that doesn't have her on the top spot. She told Ryan Seacrest that she chose this dress as "it's a blue that reminds me of Nairobi" her home country. What a beautiful description, the "Nairobi" blue Grecian style dress had a plunging neck line that was popular on the red carpet and was topped off with a controversial headband which I personally loved. Over all this awards season I think Lupita has won with a rainbow of dress colours she stood out at every event with her bright ensembles. 

Worst Dress:

Now a quick run through my worst dress (I had a load written earlier but it didn't save so this is the quick version). 

5) Lady Gaga - Versace

Now I have to say it was a toss between Gaga and Penelope Cruse for this one but Gaga won. There was a lot of this pale pink on the carpet, the colour is just not for me I really didn't like it. The scarf is doing noting for me and the slicked back hair that has been all over the red carpet this season i'm really not loving and the only person in my opinion that can rock that is the Queen B herself Beyonce!

4) Margot Robbie - Saint Laurent

What a transformation this girl has given us! From blonde bombshell to vampy goth since her last awards show. The whole thing for me was a little too dark, it could just be that we're so used to seeing her with blonde hair and bright makeup. But when it comes to the dress I thought it was a bit ill fitted around the upper arms.

3) Elsa Pataky - Elie Saab

There where a lot of well dressed pregnant ladies on the red carpet this year but I think Mrs. Hemsworth was at the bottom of the list for me. I know shes pregnant with twins but having such a low cut dress and having a bump that big is just a no no! Maybe i'm a little prudish but I think Kerry Washington and Olivia Wilde won the pregnant ladies category in their loose fitted dresses for me.

2) Pharrell Williams - Lanvin

When it comes to men and the red carpet there really isn't that much that you can do with a black tie tux, that is until Pharrell came along with his cut off pants! Maybe we should be happy he finally got rid of his Vivienne Westwood hat but when it comes to the Oscars Pharrell please wear a normal tux next time!

1) Liza Minnelli 

Where do I start! I suppose I should give props to a 67 year old with blue streaked hair it actually looks alright, but dear god woman put a bra on!! The red carpet wasn't a warm place last night as Ms. Minnelli's nipples where on show to the world, you think that would be the worst thing with not having a bra on but they where have way down to her belly button! Not the best red carpet look. Finally, silk pants are just about OK as pajamas definitely not for the Oscars; I'd invest in a new stylist Liza it's not like you can't afford one.

Love Sarah xoxo