Floral Tea Party

I am so excited to be posting this post! I really don't know why though, which seems odd. I feel a sense of accomplishment at completing my new layout, which I made all on my lonesome! I feel so proud, as web design isn't my forte, and I think it looks much cleaner and fresher. I have also used my dad's mahuuusive Sony DSLR camera to take pictures for this face and outfit post which I am totally loving as I feel they also look much cleaner and focused. My dad gave me some odd looks when he saw them on the memory card, and I then felt obliged to tell him about this blog, as I obviously wasn't taking random pictures of myself for some weird vain photoshoot, but he just laughed. In a nice way obv. :) Awesome.

This is titled Floral Tea Party because the floral top made me feel so dressed up like I was going on a date or to afternoon tea or something. I wish. I love afternoon tea. :)

FACE
Chanel Pro Lumiere Foundation in Limpide
Benefit That Gal Primer
Bere Escentuals Powder Foundation in Light
Benefit Erase Paste
MAC Select Cover Up Concealer
Sephora Sculpting Disc
MAC Mocha Blush
Inglot Stipple Brush
MAC 168 Brush

EYES
MAC Thunder Eyes Quad
MAC Fig 1.
Revlon Venetian Blue
Lord & Berry Liquid Liner in Brown
Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara
MAC Brushed 239 & 224

LIPS
Barry M Lip Paint in 100
Barry M Lipwand in Baby Pink





One Shoulder Top - Primark

Black Jeans - Zara

Pink Hair Pin - Topshop

Swallow Necklace - Primark

Belt - Primark

There has also been talk in the twittasphere of a few of us bloggers meeting up at the Stellar/River Island event in Dublin this wednesday the 22nd. Check out the lovely Laura's post for all the details!! :) Let me know on Twitter if you're thinking of going!

Anyways that is all for now but I shall be back soon! Toodle!

Aoif x

What I Wore

Top: Vila @ Asos
Trousers: Zara
Ring: HOF

Shoes : H&M

Polish: Barry M 304 Mint Green

Spot the gigantic forehead!

FACE

Foundation: Chanel Pro Lumiere in 10 Limpide mixed with a splodge of MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW 15
Primer: Benefit That Gal Primer
Powder: bare Escentuals Powder in Light
Concealer: MAC Select Cover Up Concealer in NW 15
Bronzer: Natural Collection Sunkissed Bronzer
Blush: MAC Mocha Blush

EYES

Primer: Estée Lauders Stay in Place Eyeshadow Base
Lids: Lord and Berry Palette, Sleek Divine Bohemian Palette, Brown and Purple
Liner: Liquid: Lord and Berry; Kohl: Clinique Black Kohl in Noir
Mascara: Max Factor Colossal Volume Mascara


LIPS

Gloss: Clinique Superbalm Moisturising Gloss in Grapefruit


:D

Blonde Ambition.

I dyed my hair for the following reasons.

1. I used to be blonde and I was absolutely in love with it.

2. I like the mantra "Blondes have more fun".

3. I am an indecisive Gemini and change my mind as often as I change my socks.

4. I thought blonde would be a nice colour for summer.

5. I wanted a change. Finished college, fresh start.

I dyed my hair blonde blonde about 5 years ago, when I was the ripe old age of 17. Insert poser blonde photo.

I loved this colour. That year was the best year ever, so obviously when I think of being blonde I think of the amazing time I had when I had blonde hair. I have been red, black, blue and brown, but the blonde was my favourite.

I realise home dying can seriously damage hair, and I have had my hair dyed professionally, but this has not always worked out for the best, and I have come to be quite wary when it comes to hair stylists. I have found in my experience that stylists do not always know what is best, listen to their customers, or have their customers best interests at heart. Maybe it's just me.

So my quest for blonde hair continued after many years of indecision. I used Scott Cornwalls Colour B4 which is a hair colour remover to remove as much dye as possible which had built up on my hair. This product has worked for many people but unfortunately did not work on my hair how I originally had planned. It lightened it ever so slightly, and I was left with blonde brown roots, black middle and red ends. DISASTER. I became manic. I used violet toners by Wella, pre lighteners and bleach by Jerome Russell and John Frieda to the MAX. I know I totally fried my hair, but I felt slightly reassured that I was constantly deep conditioning with Umberto Gianinni's Intensive Hair Mask. I lie, I wasn't reassured whatsoever. I was in bits over it.

After all this I was then left with white roots and orange hair. Mortified. I think I was so desperate because my birthday was right around the corner and I felt I had to have it perfected before the birthday photos. I have now realised the reason it didnt all go blonde was as a result of the layers and layers of dye built up on my hair over the years. I looked at it and wept. I was genuinely so disgusted that I had done this to my hair. The ends were fried, it felt gummy and horrible when wet, and it was just so so weak. This had to stop!

I have since left it and refrained from DIY Dying, although I have been using a myriad of products to try whip it into shape and gradually lighten. All John Frieda products coincidentally. John Frieda Blonde Renew Tone Correcting Shampoo and Conditioner to remove brassiness, John Frieda Blonde Go Blonder Lightening Spray on occasion after washing, and John Frieda Blonde Leave In Conditioner. Perhaps I have been over conditioning, but if you saw my straw like hair you would be like "OMG what the hell did you do to your hair!"

Yes. I have since learned to embrace the fact that it is not perfect. But my friends have been very supportive. They have even said it looks 'cool' and 'unique'. If you are wondering what it looks like scroll down to the previous post! It has since lightened as a result of using all of those John Frieda products, but I think I realised it is now time to get it sorted professionally. I guess one of the reasons I refrained from getting it fixed properly, apart from the price of course, was that I was so afraid of the hair stylists taking one look at me and going "We're not touching it, you've ruined your hair". Sounds overdramatic, but I have had nightmares about this.

So that concludes my recent hair disaster, but I am glad I did it, even if it looks kind of crap and has become completely weak and brittle. I have learned to deal with these things,and soon it will be old news.

I hope you are all having a fab weekend! Even if it is rainy and crap outside here.

Love!
Aoif x

Pink Swoon.

Hello dears!

This morning I am sipping rose and hibiscus tea and nursing a very mild hangover. Im shocked really considering I dabbled and mixed my drinks last night profuuuusely. But yay! There's nothing worse than waking up and spending ALL DAY feeling groggy and nauseous and you're left wondering if it really was worth having all those shots and all those cocktails.. But I love waking up without a hangover. Its like a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. Aoife 1, Drink 0.

I used to love posting my outfits for my lovely blog readers because frankly, I love seeing what other people are wearing and if you post an outfit post and it pops up on my dashboard, I will most likely clicky on in there pretty much immediately. So this is what I wore last night.

First off, please do not be alarmed at my hair. I know it looks like something out of the circus, and I will explain in the post following this one. The craving for blonde hair + incessant bleaching = the realisation that it is more complicated than previously thought. I am keeping it this way for the moment, mainly because if I do anything else to it it will fall out. I am getting used to it actually, and someone even told me I looked like a fairy. I took this as a compliment.

I went out with my girlies for dinner and cocktails, so I wanted something that was kind of casual and kind of dressy. It was thursday night after all, and sporting a mini and stilettos is not really my cup of tea.

Top - Primark
Jeans - Zara
Leopard heels - Primark
Pendant - Topshop
Egg ring (if you can see it!) - HOF

FACE
Foundation: Chanel Pro Lumiere in 10 Limpide mixed with a splodge of MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW 15
Primer: Benefit That Gal Primer
Powder: bare Escentuals Powder in Light
Concealer: MAC Select Cover Up Concealer in NW 15
Bronzer: Natural Collection Sunkissed Bronzer
Blush: MAC Mocha Blush (not pink swoon :))

EYES
Primer: Estée Lauders Stay in Place Eyeshadow Base
Lids: Sephora Smokey Eyes Palette, Smashbox e/s in Etch
Liner: Liquid: Lord and Berry; Kohl: Clinique Black Kohl in Noir
Mascara: Max Factor Colossal Volume Mascara

LIPS
Lipstick: Barry M 100, MAC Hue
Gloss: Clinique Superbalm Moisturising Gloss in Grapefruit

If any of you are wondering, my cocktails of choice are an Absolutely Fabulous (Prosecco and Raspberry Liqueur) and Strawberry Daquiri :)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Aoif x

Bloggers Block.

I haven't posted in quite a while. Borderline 3 months. I know I know. Im a terrible person.

This lack of posting has been due to a few reasons.

1. I haven't been arsed. That's blunt and horrible but it's the truth. I have had no motivation whatsoever to yap on about things which I have deemed to be pointless and quite shallow the past few weeks. That does not mean however, that I have become a bitch and still deem these things to be pointless. I had bigger fish to fry!

2. Yes, I had bigger fish to fry. I am now finished college.. FOREVER! yes. I have been seriously nerding it up, studying for exams and doing assignments in partial fulfilment for my BA in Culinary Arts. I was never a nerd before college. Nothing wrong with it of course, I guess I just realised I kind of needed to get my arse in gear, you know, no point going to college for four years for nothing. So I became all responsible and sensible, but I also became neglectful of my blog and YouTube.

3. When I wasn't studying like a little nerdling, I was working my bum off in Cocoa Atelier, a lovely chocolate shop which I mentioned in a previous post. When I came home from college and work, the last thing on my mind was sitting in front of the laptop and rattling off a blog post. I used to see blogging as a hobby, but as of late it has become more of a chore. I have since left my job, due to problems encountered that I won't get into, but this leaves me with plenty of time to get back into what I love.

I feel like I owe my blog readers an apology, although I know most of you will understand why I have been absent. For those of you who follow me on twitter, you probably already know about my major hair change. And although that in itself deserves its own blog post, i'll leave you lovelies with a pic of it until I write again . :)

Crazy. I know. I'll explain soon. :)

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

Aoif x