Gem's November Favourites!

Cannot believe it is the start of December, mine and probably most people's favourite time of year!


However, I am here to talk about last months beauty offerings that I could not keep out of my make-up bag, shower, hand-bag... you get the idea :)

First off is a bit of a splurge item

It is the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint. I purchased this off www.cultbeauty.co.uk. It was 30 pound which is equal to about 36 euro, you do get 50 ml of product though which is a pretty decent size. This product is oil free which is perfect for my oily skin and also has an SPF of 15. It has nearly a gel like consistency. It has a decent amount of coverage for a tinted moisturiser and goes on smoothly with hands or a brush, depending on how much time you have. I find it stays on my skin well (with powder) throughout the day. I purchased the shade linen. My shade in MAC would be NC20.

My next fave is the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer.
                                                 
I feel I am late to the party on this one, as I know many people have tried and loved this product. I bought it on a whim on my lunch break in the local chemist (6.99 euro) and it can be found in most chemists and Boots. It has a doe foot applicator, which isn't my favourite way to use it from a cleanliness point of view, I usually decant onto the back of my hand and use a brush to apply it. I love using this under my eyes. I find it creamy and very easy to blend and does a good job of covering my lovely bags of a morning. I use the shade 010 Ivory.
   
The Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is another one of my favourites this month.

 This brush is great when you are in a rush (which I always am). I use it for primer, base and concealer. It's big enough to get your base done quickly but small enough to blend concealer under your eyes and anywhere else you might need it. It is a dense brush too so it doesn't swallow up all the product. I think I might have to buy a back up. It retails in Boots for approx 13 Euro.


As the festive season is fast approaching I had to add in my favourite red lipstick of the moment, however it doesn't have to be Christmas to rock a red lip :)

I was a complete sucker and bought RiRi Woo in the rose gold packaging (22 Euro) from www.brownthomas.com It is a a beautiful matt red that's not too drying on the lips if you give them a good scrub and a good coat of lip balm before hand. It makes your teeth looks whiter which is an added bonus! It can be used straight from the bullet for a full on red lip or if you want a toned down effect apply a small amount to your lips and rub in with your finger for a more diffused but still beautiful look.

Something that I cannot keep out of my shower at the minute:

 The Nivea In Shower Body Moisturiser.
Here is a full review of this product if you want to check it out on our blog.
You can get this in most chemists and supermarkets and if you're lucky Boots  have it on special alot, for about 4 Euro It usually retails for about 6 Euro for the large size!
I have oily skin. I am in my late 20's and still get zits on my face, like a 16 year old. My body however gives me mixed messages, some of it wants to be oily, some of it likes to be dry. The Nivea In Shower Moisturiser helps my bipolar skin. You use on wet skin in the shower after washing and all that good stuff. You lather it on,wash it off and then dry as normal. I then use normal moisturiser on the parts of my body that need it more!

Finally, these have been a fave of mine this month (since I only bought them this month :) )

                                                                             
They are House of Harlow Sunburst Button Earrings. I bought mine from www.shopbop.com. They cost me around 25 Euro with tax and shipping which I thought was pretty reasonable.They are a medium disc earrings designed by Nicole Richie (daughter of Lionel), with faux leather inside the sunburst. I've had my eye on them ever since I saw Heart from http://www.youtube.com/user/ThatsHeart on Youtube rocking them.They are really good quality, can be worn casually but for me I think they will be kept for special occasions.

So these are some of my loves from the month gone by. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Thanks and enjoy all of the Christmas build up :)

Gemma
 xxx                                                                                                                                                                           

Me good at Up-styles??????Never.........well actually maybe yes!!!

The phrase " I Love to learn new things" is an understatement when it comes to me. Once it is creative in anyway I am sold and will always try my hand at it. So when I seen that the Dublin College of Hairdressing was running Up-style Courses I had to give it a go. 

Last year I took a hairdressing course but had to leave after only a few short weeks because of unforeseen circumstances so I didn't get to learn too much. I have never been very good at doing hair at all. Because I have naturally curly hair I never had the need to learn GHD curls or anything else fancy so when it came to up-styles I was a complete and utter virgin.

Louise is the owner of DCH. I have known Louise for years and know that she has worked incredibly hard to fulfill her dreams of having her own college so this in itself was a selling point for me because I knew she would only teach to her highest ability knowing that she has made her dreams come true. 

On the morning of the course I was surprisingly nervous. Maybe its because it was something new for me or maybe because I was putting myself under pressure to be good. I am not sure but whatever it was the butterflies were in full flight in my stomach that morning. 

Once I got in to the college Louise offered my some tea or coffee and I met the other girl who would be on the course and the nerves began to settle. The other girl was currently working in a hairdressers and I knew by looking at her beautifully tonged hair that she would breeze though the course, but that was great because she would be good motivation for me, the newbie. 

1st up-style-Basic using natural curl of hair

We started off with GHD curls which surprised me because I thought it was an up-style course but Louise informed us that no matter what up-style you do you should always have some sort of curl in it as this will make the style hold better. So Louise demonstrated how to do the curls and then let us have a go. I was a disaster to say the least but Louise was in no way inpatient, infact I dunno how she coped with me. She showed me as many times as I needed and stayed with me until I got it. She really put me at ease and eventually I got some sort of a reasonable curl.....Hooray!!! 

2nd Up-style-Using rollers to create volume

Louise then showed us how to do a basic up-style and as the day went on we moved on to more advanced techniques. The most impressive thing about the whole day was that she didn't show us how to do the old fashioned french roll type up-styles but more the modern up-styles that you would wear to a special event or even on a night out if you like that short of thing.....

3rd Up-style-Classic

My favourite style of the day had to be the last one which was the curly Mohawk. I have admired this hairstyle for years and always expected it to be complicated and way too difficult for me to attempt but again Louise showed us how to do it and we both came up with amazing results.

4th Upstyle- Vintage

Louise is a very calm and laid back person which really makes you feel at ease. She really encouraged our own creativity. If she didn't think something would work she would show us how she felt it would look better but never made you feel silly for not doing it right in the first place. She has an amazing approach to teaching and I should know because I went in to the course knowing nothing and I was honestly shocked at how well I did. I cannot recommend this course and any other of Louise's courses enough. I have no doubt this girl will shine. But the nicest thing about it all is that she has worked her little bum off to get what she wanted and so she deserves all the success she gets. Hard work always pays off in the long run. Her enthusiasm and genuine excitement about teaching is so inspirational that she had me walking out of the college thinking I wanted to be a hairdresser. Maybe I will leave that one until another day.........

5th Up-style- Curly Mohawk

Louise Offers a variety of courses from Dublin College of Hairdressing. From basic beginner courses to refresher and advanced training for qualified hairdressers aswell as ITEC certified courses. Her prices are so reasonable and the cheapest I have seen around, but don't let this turn you off because the standard of teaching is second to none and you will definitely get value for money in doing these courses. This up-style course ran from 10am until 4pm and it cost a very reasonable €85 (this is just an introductory price though).Louise was so kind that she sent us home with a lovely little kit of two different combs (a pin-tail and a backcombing brush) and a very large box of hair clips. Oh and to top it all off she gave us very informative handouts that we could read at home to get more info or to brush up on anything we had learned in the course. She didn't leave any page unturned. I walked in knowing nothing and walked out at 4pm knowing how to create beautiful up-styles aswell as not being afraid to try new things and reassurance that if something goes wrong that it can always be fixed and sometimes mistakes turn out to be the nicest creation. 

You can get more information on the college and the courses at http://www.dublincollegeofhairdressing.ie/. You can also find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dublincollegeofhairdressing.

Also a little side note, if you like this website and are interested in getting your own website done the designer of this website can be found at http://www.jcit.ie/ or at http://www.facebook.com/jcitdublin.

I hope you found this informative and be sure to check out the websites above for more information.

Have a lovely evening

Anita xxxx