Fluff and Fripperies - Irish Beauty Blog: March 2012

Win! 3 x Lindt Gold Bunnies up for grabs with Lindt Make Easter Sweet for Temple Street campaign [Now Closed!]

Here's another wonderful fundraising initiative on behalf of Temple Street Children's Hospital. The 5th annual Lindt Make Easter Sweet for Temple Street campaign is back and fund raising activity will see the Gold Bunny Roadshow return to:

Blanchardstown S.C. 31st March

Pavillions S.C. Swords 1st April

Liffey Valley S.C. 5th April

Mahon Point Cork 6th April

Douglas Court Cork 7th April

Chocolate lovers can pick up a delicious 10g Lindt Gold Bunny for a minimum donation of €1, with every cent going to Temple Street.

Make sure to check out the signed Lindt Gold Bunny auction at www.facebook.com/lindtchocolateireland where well-known personalities such as Snow Patrol, One Direction, Michael Bublé, Roger Federer, Robbie Keane, Jedward and many more have leant their support for this great cause.

The new limited edition design; attendees at the launch and me, enjoying a complimentary hand massage at the event!

Kiehl’s Crème de Corps body cream has a massive cult following who revere its silky texture and the glow it imparts to the skin. And recently it felt like all of them had flocked to the Wicklow Street store in Dublin, to support a new partnership with supercool mother-and-daughter duo, Pearl and Daisy Lowe.

So I gave you the low-down on Avon’s upcoming polish launch, Nailwear Pro+ Nail Enamel, over on beaut.ie, but today I want to give you a sneak peek at the colour I picked to try out at the launch event. This is Pastel Pink, and I chose it because I’ve had uniformly bad experiences with this type of white based pastel shade; they tend to look chalky and be streaky to apply.

Fluff and Fripperies' latest post series, Made in Ireland, will feature some great Irish brands; last week, we took a look at the natural skincare line, Human+Kind, and this week I have another 100% natural, Irish-made range to tell you about, from The Handmade Soap Company.

I’ve written about EO before and I really like this family owned and operated brand that uses only natural and certified organic ingredients. It’s a Californian company, but is available here through EO Ireland, which was launched by Catherine Murphy in June 2010.

Catherine has always been interested in natural, cruelty free products and redundancy gave her the push to turn this into a business. She came across EO while living in New York and fell for their natural scents and quality ingredients, not to mention their ethical and environmental standards. A test run at an Irish Christmas market told her she was onto a winner: she sold her entire stock within 3 hours, with people coming back for more.

EO is also a favourite of Bobbi Brown, who recently named their Peppermint Hand Sanitiser as the one product she can’t live without. It’s so pure that she even uses it as a breath spray!

Feast your eyes on the beauty that is ArtDeco’s forthcoming collection for spring/summer 2012, Marrakesh Sunset. Inspired by Morocco’s most famous city, these limited edition lovelies feature shades of aqua, coral, pink and bronze and are beautifully packaged and designed.

I’d hoped we hadn’t seen the last of 2011’s Apprentice winner, Tom Pellereau. The handsome (what, just me?!) inventor, along with his esteemed business partner Lord Sugar, has just launched the Stylfile*collection, a range of nail files designed with a curved shape to follow the natural shape of the nail. This will apparently make home manicures an easier job, even when using the ‘other’ hand.

From next month the range will be available at various outlets including Sainsbury’s, Sally Beauty, Lloyds Pharmacy, Amazon from April and Boots. Check www.stylfile.com for the most up to date stockist information.

What do you think, great or gimmick? And any early predictions yet for this year's winner?

*Nope, I don’t know why the ‘e’ is missing, either!

Y U No Follow Me?

I picked up this badge at a recent social media conference at National College of Ireland in Dublin, the excellent Measurement.ie, and I thought it would be a fun accompaniment to a wee post about the various places you can connect with Fluff and Fripperies.

As you may know, Google recently got rid of Google Friend Connect for blogs that aren’t hosted by (the Google owned) Blogspot. This has really affected a lot of blogs and you can read more about that, and check out or join a twitter list of affected bloggers, here.

What have I been DOING, wasting all that time and money on regular old Batiste when I coulda been spritzing my roots with this gorgeously scented variation, instead?! My friend Lola, a fellow dry shampoo advocate for all its volumising, texturising ways, whipped this out of her bag the other weekend and, after one sniff, I was hooked. This stuff is just divine. It smells like every other wonderful coconutty product you’ve ever encountered, which is to say, about a million miles better than any other dry shampoo scent you've ever encountered. I am in love. Oh, and it’s cheap as chips, too!

What's your favourite variety of dry shampoo, if you use it? Tell me in the comments!

Reader Reviews: Roisin’s Hunt For The Perfect SPF Face Cream

As the sun looks like it might finally be ready to make an appearance, here's Fluff and Fripperies' reader Roisin on her quest for the perfect sunscreen...

Presia zip bootie €120 and Mary Jane shoe €110

Aren’t these babies beautiful? They were my favourite piece from the recent Rockport press day, where I caught up on their spring, summer and autumn collections for 2012. You’re looking at the Presia Zip Shootie and Mary Jane, and they come in a wide variety of colours and textures including black suede with contrast piping, beet, black and nude python embossed leather and a gold/blue exotic anaconda embossed leather, as well as the leopard print lovelies you see here.

I briefly mentioned the Irish Beauty Show last week when I told you about the hottest new trend for lips, Glitzy Lips. While it's primarily aimed at people working in the industry - think beauty therapists, hair stylists, spa and salon owners and nail technicians - the show is also a great opportunity to check out new product launches and innovations in the beauty industry. It's also a great chance to bag a bargain or two!

Some fab home-grown beauty and skincare brands have been on my radar recently so, spurred on by St. Patrick’s Day and the celebration of all things Irish, I’ve decided to highlight them in a new post series.

First up, I’ve been enjoying these two products I was sent by Human+Kind, an all-natural Irish skincare brand with a small edit of hard-working, multi-functional products.

It's been a while so here's a quick and easy FOTD using my new and much prized Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad in Sahara Haze. For a simple everyday look I've been using 3 of the 4 shades, the lightest all over and up to the browbone, the taupe colour on the lid and the blackened olive shade smudged along the lashline as a liner.

Elsewhere I'm wearing Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation, Daniel Sandler Watercolour liquid blush in Spicey, Clinique High Definition mascara and just a slick of balm on my lips (the Origins one I mentioned here).

The Tom Ford palette is, hands down, my absolute favourite piece of makeup right now. Tell me yours in the comments!

Happy Paddy's Day! Celebrate with a Smirnoff Irish Shamrock

Happy St Patrick’s Day! Guinness might be the preferred drink for this most Irish of holidays across the globe, and I like a pint of the black stuff as much as the next person (unless that next person is my friend Mark, because nobody likes a Guinness as much as he does), but I’m also partial to something long and fruity, preferably with an umbrella in. So I was delighted to hear about the Smirnoff Irish Shamrock, a special Paddy’s Day cocktail that’s easy to make – and drink!

Forget pretty in pink, let’s get gorgeous in green! It’s St Patrick’s Day tomorrow and many of us, myself included, like to give a nod to the wearing of the green, by adding a flash of the colour to eyes or lips. So with the day that’s in it I thought I’d share these recommendations from one of my favourite budget brands, Catrice.

Here’s a clever British collaboration: following her appearance in their recent ad campaigns, Dr. Martens have taken their relationship with Agyness Dean one step further and announced a forthcoming collaboration.

Her edgy personal style is a great fit for the brand, which has always been associated with self-expression and a certain rebellious individual style.

It’s been a while since I’ve rocked a pair but I’ll always have a soft spot for the brand: I’ll never feel as strongly about footwear again as I did about my first pair of docs.

The Agyness Deyn for Dr. Martens limited edition collection will launch globally for Autumn / Winter 2012.

Are you still wearing your DMs? Could this collection tempt you back?

Treatment Tales: Rainforest Day Spa, Wicklow

From top left: Summerhill House Hotel; view from Rainforest Day Spa; outdoor hot-tub; balcony (with hot-tub at very end).

This weekend I enjoyed one of the best massages of my life, at the Rainforest Day Spa. (The others, if you're interested, were from Elaine Butler Doolin and at the Hotel Barsalini on the island of Elba!). Rainforest is set in the grounds of the picturesque Summerhill House Hotel, close to the charming wee village of Enniskerry in Co. Wicklow.

This lovely polish is yet another gem from Avon’s latest Smoke and Mirrors Collection. Released last month, this is a very pretty collection of soft, spring shades – you can see my other favourite pieces from the bits I was given here and here.

L-R: Candy Yum Yum lipstick; Cool Heat eyeshadow; Emancipation lipglass

If you’ve ever known the particular heartbreak of not being able to get your hands on a favourite lippie, this should be music to your ears. MAC are giving us a chance to bring back our discontinued favourites, by producing a new collection that’s created by the fans. A selection of eighteen cult classics will be put up to vote on MAC’s Facebook page so if your favourite is there, head on over and get your vote on!

Here are the shades you can vote on:

If the crowds at this weekend's Irish Beauty Show were any indication, it looks like lip foils are set to be the next big thing in beauty. The stand for The Beauty Boutique Academy - distributors of Glitzy Lips in Ireland - was drawing a lot of attention and the free product demonstrations were going down a treat.

Now this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea – hell, I didn’t even think it was mine – but for the past week, I’ve been receiving personalised notes from the universe.

I first read about them in a post on Positivity Pimp. I must have been having a bad day, because I signed up. And while I can be sceptical and cynical with the best of them, I’ve found myself looking forward to these little notes of encouragement.

It’s like having my own personal cheerleader. Sometimes, that can be nice.

Mothers Day Treats from Clerys Dublin

There are some lovely beauty offers from Clerys for Mother’s Day next Sunday* and I won’t lie: part of the appeal is that we get to share! They’ve been designed to offer Irish mammies and their daughters the chance to take time out and relax together. The packages range in price from €50 to €90 (those prices cover two people) and each deal can be purchased, booked and availed of from now until April 28^th.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen me tweeting last week about #cicaplastbb5. That was the hashtag set up by the team at La Roche-Posay for what they described as their biggest launch in ten years: Cicaplast Baume B5. The product is already huge in France, where 6 months of product sold out within 60 days - without being supported by advertising!

The beauty bloggers, writers and dermatologists of Ireland gathered in the Science Gallery to hear all about this multi-tasking little wonder that reportedly soothes and repairs all everyday skin irritations, cuts and minor wounds.

Another great initiative for International Women’s Day, L’Occitane have brought out this fair trade soap, to fundraise for literacy centres for the women of Burkina Faso. There's a brilliant story behind this: it was initiated by Barkissa, a woman from Burkina Faso, who made soaps to help her family. The L’Occitane teams came to know Barkissa and helped her to set up the Nununa Soap Factory, by providing her with the necessary materials and training. And it's this self-same factory that produces the Women's Day soap.

Each bar costs just €5, contains 52% shea butter and all proceeds go to the L’Occitane Foundation, to help fund the building of literacy centres for women in Burkina Faso (which is where the company have sourced their shea butter since 1982).

Avon Empowerment Necklace for International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day, a date Avon have specifically chosen to launch their new Empowerment necklace. It's priced at just €4.50, and all proceeds go directly to the Women's Aid charity, who are working to end violence against women. A staggering one in five women in Ireland will experience violence in their lives, and funds raised will provide vital domestic violence support services. Avon have already raised over €84,000 for this cause in Ireland, and more than $40 million globally. Show your support by snapping up one of these pretty circular pendants, intended to represent a future of endless possibility for women everywhere.

Avon don’t sell through shops but exclusively through independent sales representatives –find yours here.

Treatment Tales: HD Brows at Carter Beauty - NOT the same as Scouse Brows!

Desperate Scousewife Layla Flaherty receives a brow make-under with HD Brows!
Photos of Layla Flaherty by Leanne Ledwidge.

The HD Brow is not the same as the Scouse Brow.

That was cleared up for me on my visit to Carter Beauty this weekend, to try out the hottest beauty treatment on the block: High Definition Brows.

I normally have about 86 lip balms on the go at any given time. I love the stuff and, throughout the winter, I was lucky enough to be sent quite a few varieties to try out and show you on the blog. While my Crème de La Mer lip balm will always have my heart, here are five fab products that are a touch more affordable but brilliant, nonetheless:

Bling layered over Tom Ford's Bitter Bitch - sparkly!

See, I told you I have a weakness for great glitters! I was so instantly enamoured with this pretty polish that I slapped it on just minutes after purchasing it. This lovely rose gold shade is called Bling, and is part of Look Magazine's makeup range (yep, really! Check out this post for the lowdown and to see what else I bought when I was back in

Scotland

recently).

I popped it on in the backseat of the car, over my existing polish - Tom Ford's Bitter Bitch (I'll devote a post to that beauty very soon). They're not an obvious combination, but I liked how it turned out.

Next time I'm in the

I'll be stocking up on more from the Look beauty line. Lots, lots more!

What's your current favourite nail polish? Enable me, in the comments!

Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad in Sahara Haze: Review, Pictures and Swatches!

It would be embarrassing to be kicked out of Brown Thomas for drooling, but I was in real danger of that happening when I first clapped eyes on this gorgeous piece of kit. The Tom Ford Eye Colour Quad in Sahara Haze is probably the nicest eyeshadow set I've ever seen, and as soon as I swatched it on counter, I was a goner.

Beauty loving ladies of Ireland, this is one date you're not gonna want to miss.

On Thursday March 8th, cult haircare favourites Ojon are holding a Swap Day in Arnotts Dublin. Bring in one empty bottle of any brand of shampoo or conditioner, and swap it for a full-size Damage Reverse shampoo and conditioner from Ojon, while stocks last.

These are seriously good products but, at €24 for the shampoo and €26 for the conditioner, they represent a serious investment in your hair. This opportunity lets you try them at no cost, so that if you do decide to splash the cash, it's in the full knowledge that you love the products and feel the results merit the pricetag. I love initiatives like this where brands exhibit such confidence in the efficacy of their products.

I've written about Ojon a few times so you can check out these posts to find out a little bit more about the brand. A little birdie has told me they'll have enough stock for 100 customers, so get down there early on the 8th - I'll see you there!

Fluffy little pick of the week: Chupi jewellery

It was love at first sight with this week's pick.

I fell head-over-heels for Irish jewellery designer Chupi's beautiful creations the moment I saw them. And I fell in love with one piece in particular: my initial on a gold disc, with a bluey-green semi-opaque gemstone called amazonite.

Limited Collection Lace Dress, €54

I walked into Marks and Spencer recently, took one look at the Limited Collection and my jaw nearly hit the floor. The range is bang on-trend - in fact, it's bang on every trend with a vibrant, diverse mix of 90s inspired fashion, sports luxe, colours, pattern and print...basically, all of spring's hottest looks. I urge you to go see for yourself!

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