Lush - Shampoo Bar

Lush is my new favourite shop at the moment.












For those of you who are unaware of what beauty lies within it, Lush is this amazing shop that sells handmade cosmetics which are to die for!



All through the cosy shop there's this delicious aroma of lavender and cinnamon and strawberry.. I literally feel like a kid in a candy store. And most of the soaps ad shaped like little sweets too, which makes them doubly exciting to squeal over.




                                                                         

     
Just recently I've purchased one of these Shampoo Bars.
For those of you who have never heard of them, you're not seeing things - solid shampoo does exist! I can't tell you enough how happy I am to own one of these bars. After only a few uses, I can already see the difference it makes to my hair - having naturally curly hair, this makes my curls a lot more defined and shinier!
It also comes with this amazing scent of cinnamon - which may sound a bit dodgy, but it's not strong, just light and fresh. :)

And it makes you feel really good about yourself too. Liquid shampoos are mostly made up of water and they also obviously come with a plastic packaging. However, since the shampoo bars are solid they need no packaging and therefore save a heap of waste being produced. I think the actual figure was 5.7 million bottles, all prevented from being produced, transported, sold, used and disposed of every year. 

So not only do they make you look good on the outside, they also make you feel good on the inside! (Now I'm starting to sound like an Activia Ad).

There's a huge variety of 'flavours' to pick from, have any of you tried them out? Which ones did you prefer?

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Back to School

Gosh, I loathe those words. They're splashed over every advertisement for Dunnes Stores or Tescos or any other supermarket catering for 'kids' heading 'back to school.'

Sometimes they even go crazy and replace the 'to' with '2'.

Back 2 Skool.

Because they're cool like that.

Anyway, I am currently heading into my fifth year of Secondary School, about to embark and the glorious journey of trying to pass this really big exam in Ireland, known as the Leaving Cert. It basically is this big milestone in your life that represents how intellectually smart you are and determines if you'll get into your chosen course in your chosen college. Sounds like great craic, right? :D
Naturally, every student who wants a good future is in this intense, stressful state for the two years of build up to it. Which I suppose, will be me in a few days time..

There's about 16 books here, and more to come! I'm taking 7 subjects:

Maths
English
Irish
French
Biology
History
Geography

Although I have to admit, I am weirdly excited for it. The last big exam I undertook was the Junior Cert (the baby Leaving Cert) and although it went grand and all, I feel like this will be a fresh start. A do-over.
So I am looking forward to heading back and studying hard and doing well in my tests.

She says now. No doubt next week I'll be writing another post about how awful fifth year is.

 Are you all insanely jealous of my new pencilcase? I hope so!

This is the only book I will be studying. I'm a wannabe hipster

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Eurovision 2013

I absolutely love the Eurovision. It's just so ridiculous and funny and every now and again there's a good song or a hot guy to enjoy. And the voting - oh, the voting. It's so intense and dramatic and unfair but that's the Eurovision in a nutshell.

This year was a terrible year for Ireland. We came paddy last. Paddy freaking last.

Look at us, there at the very bottom, getting crushed by the rest of Europe. Poor old Ryan Doolen, his song wasn't even that bad, it just wasn't our time. It's hard to believe Ireland have won the Eurovision more times than any other country (6 times) when you look at that scale. But I've done my fair share of ranting last night on my twitter.. sorry followers! I love Europe really, even if they don't love me back.

I was happy Denmark won, there song was good and the girl was really pretty. My favourite though was Sweden, can't stop listening to this..

Robin Stjernberg - You

I must venture out to Sweden some day, I always love their Eurovision songs and the guys are hot. I don't think I will ever forget their other Eurovision contestant: Eric Saade. Wow.

Eric Saade - Popular

My favourite winner out of all the years I've been watching the Eurovision was 2009's winner from Norway. My ambition is to marry a Norwegian violinist.

Alexander Rybak - Fairytale

Did you watch the Eurovision this year? Who were your favourites?

Here's to next year!

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Deadly Dieting

As you might have heard, I'm going to Italy in just a few weeks. I'm majorly excited! Sun, sea and sand.. and educational cultural stuff too because it's a school trip. The temperatures are going to up in the high twenties, which is outrageously hot for a little Irish girl like myself. This also means I'll have to purchase myself a bikini. Eek! I've never owned a bikini before, we only get around one hot weekend in this country normally so I dread the thought of going to the self conscious bother of trying to look good in one for such a short period of time.

However, in just three weeks I'll be spending my days in string tops, shorts and bikinis - and in front of my whole school! The race is on to slim myself down for the event.

I've tried going to the gym every few days but I guess it doesn't work when you don't have the proper diet. And I love my food.

Nevertheless, I'm going all healthy for these next few weeks. This is what I had for breakfast this morning; Blueberries and Natural Yoghurt!

Bleugh

This tasted like bleugh in the morning. I'm used to my lovely and filling toasted brown bread and butter and tea every 8am. It did fill me up but really I don't think it was worth it. However, I bought Strawberry and Rhubarb Natural Yoghurt today and it tastes delicious, so I'll have a happier morning tomorrow I hope!

Combined with not eating anything after my dinner and limiting my snacks, I think I can just about last, though I hope my cravings don't get the better of me!

Have you seen any nice bikinis in the shops recently? I'm looking for something simple but still quite cute. Oh and also, I'm not really sure what to eat for lunch that is healthy-ish.. Let me know if you think of anything! 

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My Music Muses

Gosh, I love music. I used to play the violin and I currently play the guitar, and I also do voice lessons outside of school. I pretty much love the acoustic version to any song, Youtube is convenient for satisfying that need. My favourite band at the moment is Bastille, you'll have heard their song Pompeii maybe. They're from London and were only formed about three years ago. There's something about the lead singer's voice, Dan Smith, that makes me feel like I'm falling into melting chocolate.. Mmm..

                                            Flaws - Bastille

Another band that was recently introduced to me was Wake Owl. They're so hipster they don't even have a Wikipedia page.

                                         Gold - Wake Owl

Heathers. These are another favourite of mine. They're twins from Dublin, Ireland (yes they're irish, partly why I love them so). Seriously though, if harmonizing was an Olympic sport they would win gold every time.

                                          Lions, Tigers, Bears - Heathers

I could go on for a while, but I don't want to bombard you with songs, so I'll leave you with these. I hope you enjoyed them!

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Interior Design

I have been attending some Interior Design classes in school these past few weeks and it got me thinking about how I would like to design my future home one day. I never really thought about what my style was when it came to furniture and curtains and windows, I just know when something appeals to me, and I know when I see something like this I just want to vomit:

Ew.

Anyway, I wanted to be an Interior Designer when I was about 7 years old and there was this show on TV called "ShowHouse" (anyone watch it? No? Ok.) where two designers would each be given the same house to design and the public would then vote on their favourite house. I used to love it. Although that dream has faded, I still acquire a keen interest for the job.

I've had a lot of fun scouring the internet for a while and here are my favourite pictures from houses I've seen. I like old country houses, with beams and grand fireplaces and soft, comfy couches that are perfect for crawling into with a good book. But I also love the modern twist, with a flashy exterior and blue swimming pools and a conservatory. Oh, I don't know, let me know what you think:

                       





See all these nice, light colours, I love them. Paired with candles, flowers and fairy lights, you'd never be stressed out in my home ever.                          

   
                         

And then we get into the Country House section:

                                                                                    

 Closely followed by Flashy Exterior:

 





Have you ever thought about your dream home? Where is it and what does it look like?

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School Trip

Today was a fun day. I went on a shopping trip with my school! (I'm in fourth year so our teachers are not really sure what to do with us most of the time) It was actually meant to be a sort of educational trip to a silverware factory in Newbridge. That part was pretty cool, looking at spoons and stuff. There was even a really cute tea set I'm going to show you.

 I love this!

 Cute Candle

Lovely but very expensive cutlery

Anyway, the part that we were all most excited for was (surprise surprise!) the shopping in White Water Shopping Centre! I'm going to Italy in three weeks with my school, so my friends and I were shopping with the image of a white, sandy beach painted firmly in our minds.

                                                           

                                                                         

I don't much like this picture, but nevertheless I said I'd put it up as the dress was so gorg! It's a real beachy-throw-over-your-bikini type of dress, but you can also cover yourself up with a cute lil denim jacket.

These are a really cute pair of shorts, from Bershka I think, anyway I love them and they'd be perfect for my holiday! They're just the cool print I've been looking for and would look great when paired with just a plain top. Oh yeah and that's my lovely school shirt peaking through there..

      

I wish I could say this was me but, alas no, this is my beautiful friend Aisling! Isn't she gorgeous? I love these body crop tops and this one is especially cool. It's from Bershka also (love that shop!) and just looks cool with anything. I've been trying to diet to look good in one of these but my Mam bought Oreo Icecream today so there goes that idea. Still, with a pair of high waisted shorts I might be able to pull them off.

My first Starbucks!

After a hard day of shopping, I had my very first Starbucks. I ordered a Mocha Frappuccino and it was the most delicious thing ever - I still prefer tea but this was still amazing.

We got back a few minutes before school ended, so we took a very long-winded route walk back to school so we'd miss Irish class. Oh teenage rebellion!

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Funky Chair

Letters

You know what I love? Letters. I love them. I love the old fashioned feel of them, I love how individual the curves are on the writing depending on the person. I love imagining someone writing to you, scribbling ideas across a page. I love reading someones thoughts minus emoticons and initialisations. I love the effort required for writing a letter, it's not like just sending a text. Writing letters is expensive; think of the ink, the paper, the envelope and of course the biggest rip-off - the stamp. Think of the work required to think up of paragraphs to write a whole letter.

 

I love keeping letters in a box, to be taken out at times for reminiscing. I love giggling over the silly things I used to write and I love realising how much I've progressed through life from reading past letters. I love receiving letters in the post and ripping the envelope open as soon as I can. I love purchasing coloured paper and stickers and glittery gel pens to add personality to my writing. I love drawing little designs on my letter in reference to what is written.




I used to write letters to all my friends, but I don't think they were as keen on the activity as me, and also I guess it was a lot more convenient to just message the goss over facebook or other such social networking sites.

 I used to write letters to my Auntie Margaret in America too. I remember I used to use a different coloured marker for every paragraph when I was younger. But then my Auntie got a new job and had three kids and so we stopped writing letters and I settled for a phone call every few weeks instead.



What I'm trying to say is, I miss writing letters to people. I sometimes wish I lived in the old fashioned days where teenagers communicated via words written on paper. I guess I'm a sucker for those days gone by! I know some people have pen pals, that seems like a lot of fun! Communicating with someone you've never met, receiving mail that has been written hundreds of miles away from where you live. It's so.. romantic, in the olden sense of the word.



Do you write letters, or would you like to? How do you feel about writing to a pen pal?

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Garnier Moisturisers Review

Garnier Skin Naturals Moisture Match Protect and Glow Illuminating Light Lotion.. Phew!

I'm surprised they can even fit the name on that little tube! I'm going to do a review on this new product because I do think it has made a huge advantage to my skin. 

Soap & Glory usually dominate the Skin Care Corner of my bedside table so I was pretty excited to try out something new. There are five different types of this product:

                                

                                   Moisture Match | Protect & Glow Illuminating Light Lotion | Normal Skin 

Moisture Match | Start Afresh Light Softening Cream | Normal to Dry Skin 

Moisture Match | Goodbye Dry Ultra Hydrating Cream | Dry to Very Dry Skin 

Moisture Match | Wake Me Up Revitalising Hydrating Gel | Dull Skin 

Moisture Match | Shine Be Gone Mattifying Fresh Cream | Combination to Oily Skin

I chose the "Normal Skin" (Yellow) one because it said it smells like lemons and that's always a plus. Also it's the only one that contains 20 SPF and on those rare times the sun emerges in Ireland I always worry about how it damages my skin - Gotta think about the future state of my face!

On application, the texture was actually not unlike sun cream, and it did smell lemony fresh! It went on smoothly and didn't look oily on my skin at all - the opposite of sun cream in this case. It took only a few minutes to completely dry into my skin and I instantly noticed the radiant glow my skin had. I've been using it for a week now and can honestly say my skin has never looked or felt clearer or smoother.

Sometimes I feel that Garnier moisturisers can be too oily so if you have oily skin, head straight to the mattifying lotion (green).

Overall, I really enjoyed using this product. I think sometimes High Street brands miss the mark when it comes to what product suit what skin types, so I was impressed with the range of choice I was given in this case.

5 stars for Garnier! For only €9.50/£5.99 it's a shteal buy and I got this on sale for €6.13 too! 

*****

New York

             New York.
                   
I just love New York.

Sadly, I have never been there. I know people say they love New York and you might think, how can you love a place you've never been to?
    
I understand. Because, well, I am one of those people.

    

"I love New York, even though it isn't mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it." - Breakfast in Tiffany's
                   

   

I dream of visiting that Wonderland someday.. To buy a hot coffee tea and a croissant and get lost in Central Park. To drop any plans I may have had and spend the day browsing in a quaint boutique I just spotted. Then it's off to the library, where upon hundreds of shelves lie volumes upon volumes of pages to be flicked through. Then an evening dinner, tickets to the theatre..

 

Lately I have become to doubt its existence at all. Maybe it's just a place people made up to aspire to and then you get there and realise it's not a place at all, but just some street corner that holds a petrol station and a small housing estate at its peak.

                                                                                                
No, I don't really believe that. I have watched so many programmes set in New York (Gossip Girl, HIMYM, Friends..) that I think I could quite easily find my way around the place.





No, I don't really believe that either. What I do believe is that someday I will visit New York and when I do it will be all I have imagined and more.

I live in hope.

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