Fashion Haul

Bloggies, it has been nearly a month since my last post...forgive me for my sins!!

I wish I had a load of exciting news to fill you all in on and tell you I have been doing some super exciting stuff since my last post but I have just seemed to have been busy doing everything and nothing all at once. One thing I have been up to is a spot of shopping so I put together a little haul for you to see my recent purchases. As you may already know I am a bit of Primark/Pennys addict so this video is mainly based on stuff I bought there.

I have a beauty haul coming soon also if you prefer make up and that sort of thing. I will also be doing some fun new Look books and 'How To's' so keep checking back for more posts, oh and I promise not to leave you for so long this time.

Let me know if you have been buying anything nice lately.

Sinead x

March Favourites

I actually cant believe how fast this year is going, the months are just flying in. It's that time again where I review some of my favourite products from the last month. I have focused again on just beauty products but will defiantly be doing some of my fashion favs soon as the good weather and longer evenings have gotten me excited for all the new Spring/Summer trends.

So I am going to kick off my March favourites with an old reliable, Johnsons Baby Lotion. I have used this for years as an all over moisturiser and I just love it. I really love all of the Johnsons products, they feel great on my skin and smell gorgeous, this is aimed at parents to use on babies, but if it's good enough for babies, it's good enough for me! I also bought this bottle months ago and it has lasted me forever and it costs so little that I actually cant find any faults with it. If you know me, you will know I have super sensitive skin and take reactions to everything but I really feel the baby lotion sooths my skin and gives me that moisture that I need.

Another Johnsons products that I loved this month was my Face Care, Facial Cleansing wipes. I made a major error a few weeks ago - I was on my way to stay in my boyfriends house for the night and half way there I realised I had forgotten my face wipes to take off my make up, so I stopped in a petrol station to get some. Naturally enough they didn't have face wipes or any sort of cleanser so I grabbed a pack of baby wipes. They took off my make up alright, and I was thinking why was I spending more on a small pack of face wipes when I could get baby wipes instead...until  a few days later my face started to break out and there was no controlling the shine on my skin. My Mum is always telling me not to use wipes and use cleansers and toners instead but wipes are just so handy and quick that I use them more often than doing a full cleansing routine. I normally go for the Johnsons wipes as again they suit my sensitive skin so i got these nice ones which are aimed at soothing the skin before bed. They are really soft and don't have any alcohol smell at all so they are really gentle on my skin, weather you love or hate face wipes I really love using these.

I actually think I am addicted to painting my nails and recently there has been a pastel craze going on in the fashion and beauty world so I picked some of my favourite pastel shades which look really good on, and suit all skin tones as well as matching well with all your spring fashions. I love love love Barry M nail polishes so its probably no surprise two of them feature here. The first is Peach Melba, and the second is Berry which is a cute lilac shade that looks fab on. I recently bought some MUA products so I picked up one of the polishes from their Loveheart range, I got U&I which is a gorgeous lemon shade, I tired this out in the shop and it covered my nail polish that I was wearing on the day so you only need one or two coats which is great. I love the pink shade of the Angelica polish, it can be found in most Pennys/Primarks, this needs more than two coats which can be a bit time consuming but the shade is adorable so it's worth the wait. The last polish is my Avon Nailwear Pro in Vintage Blue, I actually wore this a lot in Winter as it has an icey look to it, but it looks great all year round. Again the coverage is great with this and it lasts long which is another bonus.

I found myself wearing a lot of lipstick this month, I don't normally wear it during the day but I felt like jazzing up my make up look and to keep my lipstick in place I absolutely love Rimmel Lipstick Lock. I first bought this a few years ago when I was going to a wedding and didn't fancy topping up my lipstick every few minutes, I actually don't think I touched it once with this baby. I actually cant praise this highly enough, all you do is apply your lipstick like normal then paint on a layer of this and bobs your uncle. It has a really strong alcohol smell so it might seem a bit scary at first, but trust me you will love it and also save a fortune on lipsticks. It is a clear liquid but mine has gone a pinky red colour from using it, but it still works fine. I cant remember the exact price but I know I did not pay any more than a fiver for this. It's one of my make up bag must haves.

Like most ladies I love anything that sparkles but I am often a bit nervous when it comes to glittery make up, it can be really messy or often end up looking a bit childish. I had bought Mac glitter pots which looked great in the pot but were a nightmare to put it, so I gave up trying to use them. NYX is a really cool brand but can be hard to find, so when I saw this little glitter eye palette in River Island I snapped it up. As the colours are compressed they go on so much better than a loose glitter and look amazing over eyeshadow. I have only tried these out once and I am looking forward to my next night out to wear another shade.

I was recently sent some gorgeous products and one of them was the Oil Organic body and hair oil. As you may know I love the Tan Organic tan as it smells great, goes on so easily and looks natural. I have been using it for a while and again with my crazy skin it works so well and doesn't leave me looking patchy. So when I received the Oil Organic I was dying to try it out. I actually have really oily skin as it is so I wasn't sure if this was going to work well on me. I tired it first after I had a soak in the bath and had no tan on, it really absorbed into my skin and again it also had a pleasant smell which was good. I then tried it two days after I had done my tan as it is meant to prolong your tan, and I have to say it did just that. I put a little layer on before bed and found my tan wasn't coming off in the  usual scale like way, it evened out my skin tone and actually hydrated my skin nicely. I probably wouldn't use it on my face as it just emphasised the shininess but that's probably more to do with my skin tone and not the product. I actually would never have bought a body oil for myself but I really liked this. I haven't tried it on my hair yet but I will keep you posted on how I get on when I do.

I had long hair for many years and decided to cut it into a bob about a year ago, I really love my short hair but I like to try out new styles so I bought a few pieces from Hairspray, one of which is the Jessica Simpson 15" Hair Do clip in. I was thinking of growing my hair to my shoulders so in the interim where my hair is not really a bob and not quite shoulder length I like to clip this in. I actually got so many comments on it, everyone seems to love it. It looks really natural and came in tons of shades so I got one that matched my hair perfectly. The pictures on the box actually show that it is for people with longer hair who want to try out short hair so again if your considering the chop you could try this out first. This cost me E20, which is a bargain for extensions. It comes in straight or wavy, so i got the wavy. Defiantly a great purchase, I have been wearing it every where.

My final product isn't so much a beauty product...it's a candle. If you are a subscriber of Glossybox.co.uk you will be familiar with the brand Rituals. I wish you had scracth and sniff screens so you could smell this candle, it's so good. They do a range of bath and shower products, massage oils and scrubs etc, so the shop smells like heaven. This candle is Sweet Sunrise which is a mix of cedar wood and orange flower. It kind of reminds me of the smell in an Abercrombie store, random I know, but it smells fresh yet relaxing and I love to light it when I am just chilling out in my room. I don't want it to run out.

So there you have a run down on some of my favourites, I was going to say at the end I have been loving the great weather but since yesterday it has turned on its head and is freezing cold. It's crazy how quick it can change, hopefully it will change back just as fast.

If there have been any products you have been loving lately let me know as I love to hear from you, and I will be back soon with some more posts.

Sinead x

Dont forget you can follow me on Twitter @mysecretpenny

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Lana Del Rey Nails

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know who Lana Del Rey is. She is the hottest new artist taking the charts by storm with her beautiful and unique voice. She has a real vintage look and reminds me of Nancy Sinatra who I love.

I really adore this girl so thought I would do a nail art tutorial based on the nail look she tends to stick to. She has super long nails but they might not be too realistic in the real world, so I created the look on my own shorter nails. This look can really be applied to any length and it actual makes you nails look longer if you have shorter nails.

This is easy enough to recreate, firstly paint your entire nail in a nude shade, I went with Essence - Hazelnut Cream Pie. When this had dried I paint two flicks creating a point in Barry M - Raspberry. Once again, wait for this to dry then with a steady hand paint a thin gold line border, I used Barry M - Foil.

There you have it, complete in just three simple steps so this wont take too long to do. Both Essence and Barry M products are very inexpensive, but if you don't have these colours you could try this look with other colours, perhaps pinks and greens for Summer or pastel shades which are very on trend at the moment.

Hope you like the finished look. I always like to see your versions so leave your comments here, on my facebook page 'Mysecretpenny'  or my twitter @mysecretpenny .

Sinead x



It's a Shoe Thing

Like most girls out there I am a real shoe-aholic, so I thought I would do a little video on some of my shoe collection. I planned to show you all my shoes, but realised that would take ages, so here's a look at just a few. This video is all heels, they are by far my favourite, even though I might complain that my feet hurt, it sometimes is well worth the pain.

You will see a variety of shoes, from high street to designer. I don't think I have a favourite shoe shop at the moment, as trends change so often I tend to stick to stores such as Primark, so if I only get one or two wears out of them I haven't spent a fortune for them to sit in my wardrobe.

As you may know my most recent purchase are my Litas, which I love, they are super high and really eye catching. My boyfriend bought me my Louboutins, and I still keep them in their box, they are so precious.  One of my favourites in this video are my New Look black and gold glitter wedges, they are really girly and make any plan outfit look good.

Well, let me know what you think, or if you have any favourites I would love to see a picture.

Sinead x

Feeling Peachy

Peach makeup looks have been all over the red carpet and runways this season so I thought I would bring you some of my favourite products to give you that lovely soft peach glow. For this look I would mainly stick to lipsticks, blushers and nail polishes as I feel it may be a bit OTT on eyes, instead go for a natural simple eye and keep the pop for your cheeks, lips or nails.

My favourite peach blushers at the moment are Mac All's Good powder blush, Mac Something Special cremeblend blush and Topshop blush in Pop.A small dusting of any one of these across the apples of your cheeks will give you a fresh youthful summery look. If your not sure about the peach colour maybe go for the darker shades such as Alls Good, as it has more of the brownish pink tones, like a mix of bronzer and blusher. For the more daring I would use the Topshop Pop, and for a dewy finish go for the cremeblend blush.

On the lips go for a glossy finish, I love Mac See Sheer and Revlon Smoked Peach. They are matte shades but both very moisturising, you can top them up with a clear lipgloss to get a really juicy look. I normally stick to matte finishes as I find most of the other finishes can be a bit sparkly and don't have a really deep pigment in them.

To finish off the look give yourself a peach manicure with the lovely Barry M Peach Melba. This is a super cute shade which I think is going to be a hot colour for the spring.

Hope you enjoy creating the look yourself.

Sinead x

February Favourites

I can't believe it's March already, this year is flying by. I am loving the slightly longer evenings and brighter mornings, it can only mean summers on its way, hopefully we get some nice weather! I thought I would do a small blog on some of my favourite products which I bought this month. I like to try out beauty products before I mention them so I can really see how they react to my skin over a period of time first.

For some reason my skin is going mad at the moment and I am having a few break outs, I felt like I was getting clogged pores across my nose, I have tried loads of cleansers and exfoliators but wanted to try out some nose strips and see how I got on. I just went for the Boots Witch Hazel strips, they are so easy to use, just place the strip across your nose and dampen with water, then it will harden which feels a bit weird. After a few minutes you peel it off and Ta-Da, no more pores. I like these, my skin felt soft afterwards and they got rid of any blackheads.

I wanted to get a new pressed powder to wear for work and stuff like that as I am wearing my Mac powder all the time and it gets used up so fast. Boots were doing a 3 for 2 deal and I was getting a Bourjois eye liner so I was looking at the powders they had in their range. I liked the Healthy Balance 10 hour powder, basically because it said it lasted up to 10 hours and as an oily skin sufferer this sounded great. I got it in Beige. I really love this powder now and adore its fruity scent.

There was a lot of talk about the new Soap & Glory concealer, and as a big fan of their products I thought I would try it out. Its not bad, I'm not sure if I am 100% in love with it, mainly as I feel it is a little greasy, which leaves my face feeling oily and shiney, so maybe for that it shouldn't have made my favourites blog, but as a concealer it is really great. It covers any blemish and under eye circles.

Samantha Chapman, make up artist and beauty blogger at Pixiwoo has launched her own range of make up brushes. I have wanted to try out a a stippling brush for a while and couldn't really find any reasonably priced ones, so when I saw this one in her collection I snapped it up. It's a really cool all round brush, it can be used for all sorts of foundations, powders, blushers or highlighters. There is also some information on the box about Samantha's website and links to video demonstrations which is really cool as it gives you a quick guide on how to use the brush.

As most of you will know, I am a total tanaholic, and I am always trying out new tans. I am really loving the Irish brands which are on the market at the moment such as Tanorganic and Wow Brown. I have been using the Wow Brown Tanning Liquid for a while and like that I only need about two layers for a nice tan. The last time I was buying it the girl in the pharmacy said she loved the Tanning Lotion as it gave a deeper tan, so I decided to try it this time, and I love it. I literally put on one layer before bed, and when I woke up I had a lovely golden glow, plus it doesn't have the usual biscuity smell like most fake tans and I wasn't sticky for ages afterwards, I could throw on a loose top and sit down comfortably without having to stand waiting for it to dry in. I think this might be on my favourites list for a few months running.

The last of my favourites is my Models Own nail polish in Utopia. I was looking for a white/pink shade and I came across this one, I really like the coverage as I put on two coats and was finished. I normally find with light shades you need to build up layers to actually see the colour. I am trying to think up a new nail art design which I can use this in, I feel a bit weird having plain nails after having jazzy ones for so long.

On a non beauty or fashion related note, I bought this secented cupcake candle in Pennys and I just adore it. I recently bought some new Yankee Candles but I bought this one mainly because tit was in a cute cupcake jar, but it has a really nice vanilla scent which is gorgous when you light it. Definatly worth all of the €2 I paid for it, what a steal!!

So there you have it, hope I didn't make it too long. I probably missed out some things that I really loved but I can squeeze them in to another blog soon. I have so many blog ideas which I need to get around to doing, it takes so much time getting good pictures, typing up and I have been trying to do more video blogs so between the filming and editing I am a very busy girl! Hopefully I can get a few out over the weekend. I promise to do plenty of fashion blogs to catch up with all my beauty and nail art posts.  As always I would like your feedback and suggestions for anything you would like to see me cover and if there are any products you have been loving lately.

Thanks for reading

Sinead x

Candy Stripes

Pastel shades are every where at the moment, so I thought I would paint my nails with this in mind. I thought stripes would be easiest to do. They aren't exactly dead straight, I was going to be really precise and use a stripe of tape to give me super straight lines, but in the end I just went free hand, I think they look ok.

I used three Barry M shades, Peach Melba, Mint Green and Berry Lilac.

Firstly I painted my nails peach, then when that dried I did three quarters in the green, then did the tips in lilac. Its a pretty simple look, You can seal it all in with a clear polish over the top which I always like to do.

I think this will look nice in the summer, maybe I will have perfected straight lines again then! Let me know what you think, and if you have any other ideas for me I would love to try them out.

Love

Sinead x