Autumn/Winter Must Haves

With the dreaded colder weather setting in it brings a panic to every girl's heart that they don't have clothes for the autumn/winter months. So I've decided to put a few ideas together that will hopefully help everyone out.

First up is a casual day to day look. Everyone who knows me knows I love nothing more than Denim shorts and a funky wee top as it is such a handy look. Teamed with a pair of tights and nice boots your look will be complete.

Top is from Motel at £30

Shorts are from Topshop £30

Boots are from Pretty Little Thing £45

Scarf is from New Look £14.99

As you can see I have already bought the scarf as I fell in love with it as soon as I seen it and HAD to have it. The boots are amazing and I may just have to purchase them. This outfit could also be dressed up, swap the boots for a nice pair of heels and away you go

Next up is a going out look. I love teaming bright colours with greys and blacks on nights out.

Top is from Motel £25

Skirt is from Pretty Little Thing £8

Shoes are from New Look £29.99

I love this outfit, the bright yellow top teamed with the lilac shoes is a beautiful match. 

Tartan has made a comeback again this year which is brilliant as I loved it last year. Here are few tartan items that you may want/need to have in your wardrobe this Autumn/Winter.

These two items are from Pretty Little Thing 

The skirt is £15

The coat is £35

These two items are from New Look

The shirt is £12.99

The dress is £19.99

These three items are from River Island

The blazer is £55

The trousers are £40

The skirt is £22

These three items are from Missguided

The shorts are £17.99

The skirt is £12.99

The shirt dress is £24.99

So there you have it, a few items to stock up your wardrobes for the coming months. If you like these posts let me know and I can make them a regular. 

Crown Brush Concealer Palette Review

A couple of weeks ago I had posted that I finally got round to buying the Crown Brush concealer palette and I finally got a chance to try it out last week. A few of you were asking me to do a review so thought I'd upload it as it always helps to read reviews before buying products.

This is a fab palette and with having 10 colours there is sure to be a colour to suit everyone. The colours are mixable as well which is brilliant if you can't get one of the colours to suit you. The colours are a creamy texture which makes it so easy to blend in with your foundation.

To apply the highlight and contour I use the Real Techniques deluxe crease brush which I got as part of the starter set in Boots. I know it's an eye brush but it's perfect for the application of this product.

To highlight I use the two lightest shades in the pallette mixed together and apply it in a triangle shape under my eyes, up the centre of my nose and on up past my eyebrows onto the centre of my forehead fanning out slightly. I also highlight the bottom of my chin slightly and the spot underneath my contour of my cheekbones. 

I mix the first two colours on the top row for highlighting

I then move onto my contouring. Using the same brush I mix the two darkest shades although I had fake tan when doing this and would need a lighter shade if trying it out without tan. I then apply it underneath my cheekbones, up either side of my nose and at the bottom of my face blending these slightly so there are no harsh lines.

I mix the last two colours on the bottom row for contouring

I then use the Real Techniques expert face brush which you can buy separately in Boots. I use this to apply my foundation blending it into the highlight and contouring. When I'm finished applying my foundation I set it with powder then use my Benefit Hoola bronzer and do a quick wee swipe over my cheekbones and blend it in using my bronzer brush.

I'm so glad I finally decided to buy this palette it was definitely a good buy and for only £16.99 it's a bargain for what you get. It came in a matter of days and it was well packaged; there is nothing more hateful as your new make up arriving damaged. Although it's a cream based product, once it's on your face it won't budge which is always a bonus. As I am only going to use this when I'm going out and not on a daily basis this palette will last me a very long time. The case is lightweight and sturdy so you needn't worry about it getting damaged when packing it for those weekends away or having it banging around in your handbag. The case is secure but easily opened which is good, there is nothing worse than having a palette which is a nightmare to open and in the process you end up breaking a nail or chipping your hot new manicure (grrrr).

I think I may have to treat myself to the blusher palette which at £14.99 which is also a beauty bargain. To buy the palette you can visit the Crown Brush website and for the Real Techniques brushes they are currently on special offer in Boots as buy one get one half price.

If anyone is a bit scared of highlighting and contouring there are plenty of videos on YouTube and pictures on Pinterest which take you step by step through the process and once you do it a few times you'll be flying.

The Colour Run

Ooops, I'm a day late on my weekly post but I was a busy bee this weekend, and I didn't get a spare minute.

On Monday I woke up with the beginnings of a cold and it just got gradually worse as the week went on which is typical considering I had the colour run on Saturday. I have had a week of no exercise and eating very little due to lack of appetite and a sore throat so preparation didn't go to well this week. 

So on Saturday the day of The Colour Run was finally here, I've been looking forward to it since I booked my place in it back in February. We left around 12pm and parked in the City Centre and decided to walk over to the Titanic Quarter as it was a nice day.  The race started at 2 so we were in no rush and when we got there we had around 15 minutes before it started, the atmosphere was amazing, everyone was in such good spirits. We decided to walk most of it but jogged for a wee bit here and there as we wanted to make the most of The Colour Run experience. You got paint thrown over you at 4 different parts of the race, first up was pink, then blue/purple, yellow then lastly orange. With each colour the paint throwing got better so by the end you can only imagine what we looked like, we were all like walking rainbows. After the run there was a 'colour festival'; where there was a DJ and a host throwing freebies into the crowd. This was amazing as everyone was given paint packets at the finish line and they were also thrown into the crowd at random intervals which we then had to open and throw into the air all together which looked amazing when watching from outside of the crowd. All in all it was an amazing day and I can't wait to do it again next year. 

After we left the Titanic Quarter we walked back into town and made a pit stop for some food as we were starving by this time. We called into Mikey's Deli, this is my second time in here after being introduced to it in May by a friend. I love the place, the food is amazing and its such a funky wee spot to eat. People have wrote all over the walls and there and it's got loads of retro things such as an old style ghetto blaster through out the deli, the menu is American and it's hard trying to make a choice of what to pick, everything sounds so yummy, I recommend the philly cheese steak. 

On Saturday night I had a catchup with a few of the girls from work. I love having a catch up with these girls as we really do chat about everything and anything and nothing gets missed out, and it is always everyone trying to talk over everyone else which is always funny to see who gets their story finished especially where one person is concerned (you know who you are). We called in to Tesco for a few munchies and to get some drink when we came across Raspberry Absolut. We decided to try it and and we were glad we did, it was lovely. Even the bottle is pretty. 

After work one evening Sarah, Megan and I decided to go out for dinner. We ended up in Moes Grill at the Castledawson roundabout. Their food is always good and their portions are huge. I always get the same thing, Honey & Chilli chicken and it never fails to impress. 

I tried my crown brush colour concealer palette and used my Shuffle The Cards topshop eyeshadow this week when I was doing my makeup for dinner. The crown brush palette is amazing and is easy to use. I will do a separate review on that this week and show you what brushes I use and what colours I used in the palette so keep an eye out for it. 

This is all I used to create this look.

Dress - H&M a few years ago
Jacket - Topshop last year
Scarf - River Island

I wore this outfit and my new Primark boots, which are so comfy to dinner. I got this jacket in Topshop last year and get great wear out of it, it goes with everything and you can wear it dressy or casual. The dress is from H&M a few years ago and it was such a good buy. H&M is great for getting bargains that last for years. This dress is definitely one of my most worn items of clothing in my wardrobe

Beauty UK

I was very privileged to receive a little parcel in the post on Saturday from Beauty UK containing some pretty nail varnishes for me to review. Beauty UK is a cosmetics company that sells products for eyes, lips, face and nails at a very affordable price. You can buy online or they also stock their products in Superdrug or Internacionale.

They are described as a quick dry, high gloss & long wear nail varnish and they are definitely true to their name. I usually have Gelish on my  fingernails as nail varnish just doesn't last on my nails but I've had Tealed With A Kiss on now for a couple of days and I've yet to see a chip which is brilliant. Today at work a few people asked me if it was a gel polish as it was so shiny and were very surprised when I told them it was just a normal polish. I'm surprised how quickly it dries as I hate when you have your nails painted all nice then you go to do something thinking they are dry and ruin them; it's a pet peeve of mine.

Here I have Tealed With A Kiss on and a holographic GOSH polish on my ring finger. This is a lovely colour and covers well with one coat although I always like to do two coats on my nails so it will last longer.

Here is Great Blue Beyond on my toes. I get so impatient when painting my toes as my feet get cold when I have nothing on them so the quicker the polish dries the better so I can get my tootsies into some slippers or socks. This dried so quick and I didn't have the dreaded imprint of my sock when I took them off later that day. 

My niece loves to get her nails painted and was excited on Monday to see I had some new nail colours for her to play with. She is rocking Tealed With A Kiss and Cherry Bomb with some diamonds on her middle finger to funk it up. The fact that this polish dries quickly is great because she never fails to ruin at least one of her nails after me painting them as she is as impatient as her aunty waiting on her nails to dry.

Over all I would definitely recommend these polishes. The flagship collection are £2.99 and there is a great selection of colours to choose from. The brush is perfect for applying an even coat; there is nothing worse than having a fiddly wee brush and trying to paint your nails with it. My favourite colour out of the three is Tealed With A Kiss as it is such a bright colour that will go with anything although the other two will be lovely coming into the autumn/winter months. You could get away without applying a top coat if you're in a rush as they dry with a super glossy finish which is great.

 To buy online visit their website at http://www.beautyukcosmetics.com/





Product courtesy of Beauty Uk

My week

So this week hasn't been very exciting in the world of Irene Higgins. I've been busy working and not much time to myself which makes me a boring little lady of late.

I was in bed on Monday night and just having that final wee check of Facebook and Twitter before it was lights out (everyone does it) when I seen a tweet saying Robin Williams was dead. I thought at first that it was just a sick rumour so had to check and see if it was true and unfortunately it was. I was devastated to hear this then later  finding out the poor man had killed himself and was suffering from depression. The Scottish presenter Alan Brazil described his suicide as selfish, what he has left behind is diabolical and Alan doesn't have any sympathy for him. These comments are terrible as he doesn't know what Robin Williams was going through at the time of his death. Depression is a terrible illness that a lot of people silently suffer from which can completely consume their life and they may feel that the only way out is suicide. The fact that Robin Williams suffered from depression yet made it his job to entertain so many people is so upsetting, he openly talked about his battles with drink and drugs which he'd received treatment for in the past. I've read that he had just finished filming four films before his death which I hope is true as he was such a talented actor, I grew up watching Mork and Mindy and loved many of his films. Disney posted the perfect tribute on their website on Tuesday.
If you're struggling to talk to someone...http://www.samaritans.org.

Last night I went to see The Transformers Age Of Extinction. I had been meaning to see it for a while now but never got round to seeing it. It was worth the wait and was a really good film although far too long, the last half hour was really not needed.

Previously I had laughed at a few people saying that they thought Transformers was a good film thinking it was a 'boys' film but when I watched the first one I was hooked. I then watched the third one thinking it was the second and didn't like it at all but when I finally watched the second one I enjoyed it, so was unsure if the fourth was going to be good or was it just going to be dragging the story out far too much. Mark Wahlberg plays one of the lead characters in this film and I love him as an actor, they had his characters daughter going out with a guy who had the worst Irish accent I've ever heard. It swayed from an Australian accent to a terrible Irish accent to an American accent throughout the film.

This week I heard Jamie T's new song and I'm completely in love with him all over again. His debut album Panic Prevention came out in 2007 and was the soundtrack of my summer that year. His followup album Kings and Queens came out in 2009 and was also brilliant but after that he disappeared and I have been patiently waiting on new music since then. I had almost gave up hope on him when I heard that he had a new song and a new album coming out in October. When I first heard 'Don't You Find' on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show I was unsure of it but the more I listened to it the more I liked it. Then when I heard 'Zombie' on Monday night I knew Jamie T was back and instantly fell in love with it. I am excited now to hear his new album come October. 

This time next week I will have completed the colour run and hopefully survived. I'm back on game with my diet this week and have been exercising every day in the lead up to it. I'm really looking forward to doing it as I think it will be good fun and I will let you know how it goes in my blog next week.

Day out to Belfast

Me and Noreen like to go to Belfast every so often and make a day of it. We more or less do the exact same thing every time we go; go to Castle Court and the shops on the street while making our way over to Victoria Square, go to to Nando's then hit the shops and stop somewhere in between one of the shops for a Starbucks Its become a wee tradition now and we were laughing last time we went that if someone else came with us it would be weird because we have our own wee way of doing our day in Belfast.
First stop was Primark, I had been in a few weeks ago and had seen a pair of Mary Jane's that I needed to add to my ever growing shoe collection but they didn't have my size so I wanted to call in and see if they had got them. Just my luck they did have them and I also spotted another red pair that were quite similar and had to have those also. Since last winter I have been looking for flat brown boots with cutouts in them and couldn't find any I liked and I stumbled across the perfect pair in Primark. They were exactly what I was looking for and a great wee bargain too. They are not completely flat but they have just a nice heel on them that you could get everyday wear out of them. Can't wait to style my new shoes with outfits throughout the coming months.

When we go to Topshop my first stop is always the accessories and makeup while Noreen takes a wee nosey round the clothes then joins me in the accessories. I had seen a few bloggers and youtubers talking about the chameleon glow eye shadows in the festival collection and I wanted to check them out for myself. I had already decided I was getting shuffle the cards but when I did swatches of them all I decided I couldn't chose one and got them all.

Shuffle The Cards is a rose gold colour

 

Wax & Wayne is a purpley/blue colour

U-Turn is a green/gold colour

 These photos do these eye shadows no justice. They are build-able so you can have a sheer effect or build the layers up for more density. They say on the website that they can also be used as for highlighting so would like to try that out. Would also like to try Shuffle The Cards and U-Turn over black eye shadow as I think that it would create a nice look.

Also bought a gorgeous purse in Topshop which I have no need for what so ever other than the fact it was pretty. I'm so fussy about my purses, it has to have room for all my cards and plenty of room for all the rest of my junk I seem to gather in my purse. This one is perfect, it had loads of room and it's a beautiful colour.

When in Belfast we always have to call into Hotel Chocolat, I love the samples they give out as it's a great way to try before you buy. When I was in the last time I had bought a packet of peanut & banana chocolates, I loved them and had to get another packet of them. When I was saying to the shop assistant how nice they were she said they were only a limited edition for the summer and would be discontinued soon so you can imagine how disappointed I was to hear that.

Also couldn't do without a bit of online retail therapy as well and finally bought the product I've been looking at for months; the Crown Brush 10 colour concealer palette. I have been going on to their website on a regular basis and just looking at and I finally decided to buy it a month or two ago and it was out of stock so forgot all about it until I seen them tweet that it was back in stock so I rushed on to the website to get it. I haven't tried it out yet but the palette is lovely and if there isn't a colour in there that suits your colour you can mix shades. When I try it out I will post up a review on here and let you know what I think of it.