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All over the internet there are a million glam festival guides about how to do make-up and using wipes and all the usual stuff; I thought I’d do one that’s a bit less glamorous but the items are none the less very useful.

• Panadol, motillium, a good multivitamin
• Try taking acidophilus before, during and after your holiday/festival
• An all round product like Anthisan Cream which can relieve pain, inflamation & itching from insect bites, stings & nettle rash etc (I’ve had serious swelling from bee stings in the past & this really helps) http://www.anthisan.ie/
• Burnshield Hydrogel – this little bottle is amazing if you’re sun burn or have gone too far with pre holiday waxing / skin peels
• Hand sanitizer & Anti-bacterial Wipes
• Boots Soltan Invisible SPF Spray (amazing stuff)
• SPF Lip Balm, EOS & Korres do good options
• Packet of Tissues

First off let me say I think it’s great that L’Oreal are spending some of the marketing budget on the new sampling method, kudos to a brand that during a recession is willing to spend a lot on sampling and shipping charges rather than just airbrushing some model who already has perfect skin.

I signed up online and my pack arrived quite quickly. I got 7 x 6ml samples, 6ml is not quite enough to do the entire body – I think about 10ml is how much you need for a full body which means if you bought the full size 250ml you’d get about 25 uses from it. I got the Ultra Softening Lotion with Shea Butter for very dry skin.

• for 250ml I think it’s about €5 and for the 400ml it’s about €7
• For a drug store product this smells quite pleasant
• A quick look at the ingredients will let you know that it will moisturise your skin & make it softer as the two main ingredients are mineral oil & glycerin followed by a silicon and then some other oils & shea butter – some people don’t like mineral oil it’s up to you but this will increase the moisture level and softness of your skin there is no doubt about that
• This can leave the skin feeling tacky for a while after so it’s best applied at night & would definitely not pass the skinny jeans test
• If you don’t mind a few chemicals, this is a great budget buy & you’ll definitely see results quickly

• About €27 from ASOS £20 in UK for 5.5g of product
• I personally really like this, however other reviews mention that on a medium skin tone it’s just a light highlighter as it wont show up
• Dry cream texture that has a soft finish & a wear time of 3-4 hours before needing a touch up as a blusher as the colour can fade
• It makes a beautiful highlighter
• This has a LOT of sparkle and needs to be blended well

Hey everyone; great deal – Boards.ie are offering a €20 voucher for €10

€10 for Gift Voucher worth €20 to shop online at Beautyemporium.ie

After a fairly dismal season 4 True Blood is back and it’s the strongest the series has been in a while, I hope it continues in this vein. Falling Skies has returned for season two; I find it hamstrung by awkward writing and poor acting a lot of the time, with a heavy over-reliance on action scenes. I can’t see myself watching any more of this season despite the fact that I love the genre.

Suits is back and the first outing of season two was better than the entire of season one combined, this show relies on an annoyingly MOTW format but this year they seem to have a good arc in place which should prove interesting. Magic City ended it’s eight episode run and was a stand out for me, Starz is doing great shows I really like their approach right now.

Mad Men…. 13 episodes where absolutely nothing happened. I still like some of the characters & the acting so I watched it but the show clearly suffered from the overly long break & the writers would want to pull up their socks for the next two seasons as opposed to going all Mulholland Drive on the scripts.

The Borgias had it’s season 2 finale Sunday night & it just doesn’t get better – excellent show.  Dallas 2012, I had really high hopes for this show & they were exceeded, JR has still got it. I loved the original version and the new series doesn’t disappoint, fans of Revenge will love this show I think & it’s very fresh, 19 minutes into the pilot I loved it. I’m looking forward to the return of Damages and Weeds.

In the recent slew of cancellations in May; Ringer, The Secret Circle & GCB got the axe, Ringer should have had a shorter episode order as they were stretching a good story too thin but all the same; a pity to see it go, The Secret Circle was great, a real fave & I’m hoping that the rumours are true and another network will pick it up, the fact that the CW renewed the long ailing Gossip Girl & 90210 in favour of them is ridiculous. GCB had potential but they really miscast the lead role & its demise is really not a surprise to me at all.

On the reality TV front; the Kardashians and The Real Housewives of NYC have fallen off the roster. Pretty Little Liars I’ve also stopped bothering with, it’s beyond stupid at this stage.

• €36 for 120ml
• “Real skin” like finish & great for use on the body
• Light but buildable coverage & waterproof
• Dewy finish

• Series exclusive Pro Beauty Brush – goat hair RRP £15 apparently
• HD Brows Precision Tweezers RRP £19.95 (Love!!)
• BM Beauty Summer Warmth Bronzer – 1g size RRP £8 for 4g – nice color
• Green People Sun lotion with SPF 15 20ml, full size 100ml RRP £12.99
• Vichy Dermablend Ultra corrective Foundation Cream Stick Starter kit – containing 6 samples 6g – full size 12g RRP £19

All in all a great box! I’m especially impressed with the tweezers, the dermablend & the Sun lotion which is the perfect travel size. The Bronzer if decanted into an empty compact is actually a nice colour as well.

• Currently reduced from €34 to €21 on ASOS for a whopping 41g of product
• Similar Chanel Tan de Soleil which is €36 for 14g of product
• This product looks very scary to begin with – almost off putting; I find it’s best applied with a duo fibre brush personally
• This gives a beautiful bronze glow to the face & can be used on the arms & down the centre of the legs for extra glow
• It’s not orange toned at all & lasts well throughout the day
• Very easy to apply with a whipped mousse texture & can be built up or used with a denser brush for darker results
• This has some shimmer and is best as an all over bronzer / highlighter as opposed to a contour

I’m in love with stippling brushes and was always sceptical of the beauty blender sponge as I’ve never really liked sponges…Until the lovely Bobby gifted me a beauty blender. It’s AMAZING, absolutely amazing.

The sponge expands when wet and sheers down heavy foundations so they are more easily blended; in particular it works great with heavy foundations like Illamasqua Rich Liquid, Vichy Dermablend and Estee Lauder Double Wear.

• It really does give an airbrushed finish
• If you have a foundation that’s very drying – try it with that & it’ll really help, I think using the beauty blender makes Chanel’s Perfection Lumiere & MAC’s Match Master much more usable – anything that sets heavy or is a nightmare to blend will work much better with a BB
• The small tip gets right in under the eye & the rounder side can be used for cream blushers
• There really are no down sides, it’s fantastic
• €27 for 2 from Mise Beauty – this might seem steep for 2 sponges but it’s very comparable if not better than some of the best stippling brushes out there

Available from: http://www.misebeauty.com/makeup/tools/brushes/beauty-blender-sponge-duo-set which ships all over Ireland