It was only last week that Pippa announced she was collaborating with Blank canvas and was releasing her very own palette called "Pippa". I was one of the lucky few to get a first glance and I was super excited to receive this in the mail the other day. 

Pippa O'Connor is an Irish model, mum and blogger, she is an extremely inspirational woman for all us Irish gals and her down to earth personality makes her very relatable. So its safe to say many of us girlies were super excited to get our hands on this palette.

I felt like I needed to share my first impressions on this palette and what better way then by doing a blog post. I will do a tutorial using this palette on my Youtube channel very soon.

So true to form this palette came beautifully packaged and rapped. This is the norm for blank canvas they always package their Products so well. Blank canvas is an Irish owned beauty brand which specialised in makeup brushes and they are super affordable and high quality.

So the palette cost €34.99 and comes in beautiful baby pink packaging you can get it directly from Blank Canvas . On the front it has Pippas signature and on the back a little bio on Ms O'Connor and the names of all the shadows which are named after her loved ones and pets (which I find so endearing). I love the touch of the roses on the packaging it give a very girly feel, if the pink wasn't girly enough for you :) . 

Highlight (LULU): This beautiful highlight is named after Pippas Mum who sadly passed away and its described as a champagne colour. I think this highlighter is amazing its so pigmented and a little goes a long way, this is perfect for the top of the cheek bones, inner tear duct and under the brow bone.

Blush (PIPSY): A light pinky peach shade which is easy to wear on most skin tones as its a buildable colour. Its so smooth on the skin and has a supper buttery texture.

Bronzer (Amour): I wasnt sure about the bronzer showing up on my skin tone as I wear self tanner but I was pleasantly surprised again its a very buildable shade. Its a warm bronzer so not something I recommend for contouring with unless you like a warm contour. This shade blends out nicely and didn't look muddy on my skin.

So the reasons I would say to get this palette is due to the amazing quality, the high pigmentation, versatility and the beautiful packaging. The only thing that would put me off the palette is the price point but considering you get three face products its not too bad. I highly recommend it to beginners as you get great wearable neutrals. My favourite shadows are Tobi and Lulu and feel I will gravitate towards these shades the most. I am also highly impressed with the matte black its right up my ally, pigmentation wise.

So for all you Pippa lovers I say grab this goodie before its gone. I am very happy to have it part of my collection and I know I will get a tone of use out of it. 

So as you may already know I'm addicted to shopping in Pennys, I always find the greatest affordable pieces and you guys love seeing what I picked up. So I was in Pennys again last week and they are getting in some of the autumn/winter clothing. I almost passed out as I am still in full on summer mode. Anyway I picked up some last minute summer bits as it seems they will be gone in no time at all. 

   Pack of two bracelets €3

I love the jewellery in pennys and I got these duo bracelets for only €3. I couldn't resist but opening these and I have gotten soooo many question on where they are from, I think they are super cute. I love the colourful beads and the Alex and Ani inspiration behind them.

   Bag €12

I could not resist this beautiful beaded envelop clutch bag. Its very aztec inspired, with its beautiful bold blues and oranges. I feel like this is the perfect summer clutch for me to bring on holidays, especially with all its lovely colours.This bag can go with so many different outfits.


    Playsuit €8

Pennys always have lovely fitting playsuits and every summer I find one that I love. This playsuit is a burnt orange colour and with a tan on my holidays I think it will be fab. Its light material so you won't be too warm in the nice weather. This playsuit also comes in purple, kaki green and navy. 


 Sandals €11 

These sandals are one of my favourite purchase from the entire summer range in pennys. They remind me so much of the Aquzzura belgravia flats which are €600 and in my opinion the pennys ones are so much nicer. If you can not find these or if there isnt a pennys/primark near you then you can get similar sandals Here.


   Necklace €5

If you watched my June beauty favourites Here then you would have seen this necklace in it. I loved it so much I bought a second one as id be terrified it would break or get lost. Its so pretty and adds a pop of colour to any outfit. I wear black to work as its more professional when dealing with clients but I like to add a little colour and I do it with necklaces like this one. You can get a necklace like it Here.


   Pjs €7

You can get such cute and affordable pjs from pennys for next to nothing. These were to cute to pass up and are perfect for the warmer nights. I love the pastel pink and green together and find them such high quality for the price. The bottoms have a tie waistband and buttons (for show). 


   T-shirt €4

I think these simple t-shirts are great from pennys as they are a staple piece and come in a lot of different colours. I got 4 of them 2 black ones, a white one and this grey one.

    Glow stick €2

This is one of the newest additions to pennys makeup line. Its a glow stick, to add highlight to the face and body. I swatched this on my hand and honestly I wasnt over impressed by it. I found it to be a little chalky for my liking. I will try it again on my face to see what I think of it.


So thats its all. I know it was only a small little haul but I still felt like sharing it with you all. The above outfit is the one I think I will wear on the plane flying over to Spain, what do you think?

I am also looking for some good books to read while I am away on holidays. So if you have any suggestions please let me know.

Love you all,

Aisling xxx 

AQUAZZURAAQUAZZURA

Nutrition is a huge passion of mine. I received my degree in Nutrition from DIT 2 years ago and then went on to work in a pharmacy where I now run a nutrition clinic. I also received a diploma in Nutrition in 2014 and will be doing another course in sports nutrition this September. I will be doing nutrition course for the rest of my career as its something that is always changing and new research is coming out daily, so its vital to keep up to speed.

A huge reason as to why I started blogging was so I could professionally help you guys with any nutritional concerns you may have. I just cannot do this easily on Youtube. I hope my articles on Nutrition will be helpful. I may set up a nutrition facebook page for you all to follow so you can easily discuss food, health eating, share recipes and cooking tips (I suck at cooking so this might help me out too). Let me know what you think of this idea. 

I will try and get one Nutrition article out every week and you can request topics you would like me to discuss. 

Love you lots,

Aisling 

You guys know from watching my videos that I love tanning. I have naturally sallow skin and two days in the sun and I'm as brown as a chestnut. However Irish weather kills me at the best of times, as long days of sunshine are rare. To get a tan in Ireland we sometimes need to revert to sunless tanners. Over the years I have used a lot of self tanners and would almost say Im an expert at knowing whats hot and whats not when it comes to fake tan.

One of the most commonly asked questions I get is, what tan are you wearing? Nine times out of ten its Cocoa Brown I love it for so many reasons. 

I apply the tan in the morning and then I shower it off at night and it gives me a lasting tan for up to 5 - 7 days depending on the condition of my skin prior to application. 

Before

Prepping the skin 

I first prep my skin by exfoliating in the shower, just to remove any dead skin cells and stop my tan from rapidly fading. I then moisturise my skin and let it soak in for 5 - 10 minutes. I add vasaline around my nails, wrists, side of my hands and elbows as these are the areas the tan can cling to an go extremely dark and unnatural.


Application
I always use a mitt to apply my tan, they are so inexpensive and make applying it a dream. I put the tan on the mitt, ensuring to point the Cocoa Brown bottle downward like if you were spraying a can of cream, this will stop the product from going all over the place (its not fun when that happens). I then apply it to my skin in circular motions and it comes out a lovely caramel shade. After 1 hour you can wash the tan off but I leave mine to develop for about 5 - 8 hours before showering. 


  After

One of my biggest complaints when it comes to tan, is my body smelling like a leftover takeout! This tan has a pleasant scent thank god, as that can make or break a tanning product for me. I should mention that I suffer from eczema and its hugely irritated by tans, but cocoa brown has no effect. 

Maintaining my tan

Have you ever had a bad experience with tan coming off and it looks scaly and flaky and oh so unattractive! You need to jump into the shower and scrub your skin raw to remove the remnants of it or face looking like a scaly lizard. Well fortunately this never happens with Cocoa brown as when its coming off it just fades away to your natural colour and doesn't look patchy.  There is little or no maintenance with this tan and what I mean by that is you don't have to reapply ever two seconds due to rapid fading a streaking. 

If you are looking to try a new tan give Cocoa brown 1 hour tan a go. I always recommend it and for all of you wondering how I get my glow on look no further.

Pros
- The price point cant be beaten at €7.99 for a 150ml bottle
- Ease of application and lasting power 
- No transfer (your white bed sheets will be thanking you)
- Fades after 5 days and doesn't look unnatural while doing so.
- Has a nice smell as tans go

So guys, there you have it. Pick up your bottle of Cocoa Brown in your local pharmacy, Pennys/Primark or Tesco and get your summer glow on.

Lots of Love,

Aisling xxx

I was contacted by the company Happiness Boutique they are a jewellery and accessories online store. The company kindly wished to send me a piece of their jewellery to enjoy. 

If you know me in real life you will know I have more necklaces than I know what to do with but once I looked at the site I knew I needed this particular one in my life.

Its called the stunning silver toned statement necklace and It is so amazing on. I have gotten so many complements about it and I think its due to how unusual it is. You can find the necklace Here . I have been wearing it non stop and find that it really jazzes up on outfit.

Its has really unique marking on it and spikes which I think make it look a little edgy. I have been getting into silver jewellery a lot lately and this is by far my favourite silver costume piece I own.

The necklace came very well packaged and even the little box its in is beyond cute I love the style of this website.

The company even sent me a lovely message which makes dealing with them 100 times nicer  and I love these little touches. This is another reason I wished to share the company with you.

Lots of love 

Aisling xox

They always say you should never look inside a girls handbag as you never know what you will find. In my case this is true I never know what I will find myself. I once found sea shells in my bag bare in mind I hadn't visited the beach in 6 months. Now in not going to bore you with the obvious womanly hygiene products. I mean we all carry them and everyone knows they are in my bag as they are always falling out when I go to pay for something!

My little adorable summer bag is a steal costing €10 from pennys earlier this summer. Its a shoulder bag which is perfect and come on who doesn't like pastel blue for this time of year.

So there you have it, yes all this was in my bag. I also had about 20 bobby pins an ikea pencil (which I clearly borrowed) and a pack of extra chewing gum, you never know what you could find. 

So of course in my bag I have my wallet. I love these little wallets this one I got in River Island in May. I dont like big bulky wallets as they just take over my small bag, this fits all my cards, notes and coins and cost me €7.


If you have long locks then you know the struggle of maintaining it. I always carry my tangle teezer which you can buy in Boots and as you can see mine has seen better times. Chewy (my little puppy) got hold of it a few weeks ago and though it was a chew toy. Thankfully it still does the job. I love this as the plastic teeth glide through my hair without snagging my hair or dragging.


Its the summer months so you never know when the sun will come out (however in Ireland these days can be rare) so I always carry some sunnies. These glasses were so cheap I got them online for €1.20 from Ali express. You would think that for the price they would be rubbish at blocking out the sun, but they are amazing. These are mirrored in blue/green and I will be picking up a few more pairs for that price. They are ideal for my holiday this year. 


I cant leave the house without my phone. Its the first thing I make sure is in my bag this is the iPhone 5 and iv had it for 3 years I couldn't part with it. Its the best phone iv ever had. The cover is from Pennys/Primark and was €2.50.


I love this perfume its Katy Perry royal revolution I had such a hard time trying to find this but its available on feel unique and I just love this scent. I bought it in Lloyds Pharmacy a month ago and it cost €10 for a 50ml. I love bringing a perfume with me in my bag so I can sprits myself throughout the day and iv been getting so many complements on this perfume. 


The MAC extended play gigablack lash mascara is my all time favourite high end mascara. I always have some form of makeup in my bag and I'v no idea why this was in my bag but for days I forget mascara (which happens more often then I care to admit :D ) I'm thankful. 


I have been on the Glam Glow band wagon for some time and I got a sample of this one to try out. This is the power mud, which is more of a deep cleaning mask compared to the super mud. I might do a review on this if you want to know more information. 


I love my brow products and these are in my bag from a morning I needed to do my brows in work. I use the NYX brow gel which I get on Beauty Joint and I apply that with my Nima angled brush and apply Benefit gimme brow in medium to put my brows in place. 

My Daniel Wellington watch is one of my favourite accessories. I had it in my bag as I was bringing it to fields jewellers so I could match the hardware to a new strap. Then I forgot all about that so the watch has being hanging out in my bag for about a week now :)



Obviously if you know me you were expecing a tone of lip products. I had 3 lipliner and 3 lipsticks in my bag. The lippies are L-R creme cup (clearly a favourite), velvet teddy and the nude matte lipstick from Pennys/Primark.


The final items of interest are my earrings. Both are from ebay the little ones can be found Here and the larger one are Here . Ebay is the best for cheap earrings and I love these. I always throw my earrings in my bag at the end of the day so I don't lose them. Honestly I'm surprised there isnt more earrings in my bag.

So there you have it, whats in my bag. I love doing these videos on youtube and thought it would be nice to share it in a blog post. What is the strangest thing you ever found in your bag?


Love you all,

Aisling xxx

I love a good bargain when it comes to beauty products, I mean don't we all. Over the years of trying different brands I have found a select few hidden gems and all in or around the €10 mark. If you guys follow my Instagram or Youtube then you will see these items popping up from time to time. There are some new items on this list that I have literally only found and that's was inspired me to do this post.

No.1

Rimmel stay matte powder has been in my life for more years then I care to admit. I have tried so many different pressed powders over the years from MAC, to Estee Lauder to Elizabeth Arden and even more affordable brands, but the Rimmel one is a lifesaver. It keeps my oils at bay for up to 5 hours before I need to blot, it doesn't cake and come on, you can't beat that price tag. I am in the colour 005 sliky beige.

No. 2

I am tan obsessed!! In Ireland we rarely get long hot summer days and sunshine can be far and few between. So fake it till you make it, is my theory. I am a lover of self tanners but so many have disappointed me over the years. Cocoa brown 1 hour mousse never fails to amaze me, its has a pleasant odour as tans go, it has a colour guard so you can see exactly where you are applying the tan and it applies like a dream. If you haven't tried it I dare you not to like it. Even miss Kylie Jenner raves about this little gem.

No. 3

No. 4 and No. 5

No. 6

If you know me then you were expecting this product to make an appearance. I love this setting powder for under my eyes and to stop my concealer from creasing. All in all this product is just BOMB!! You honestly cant beat it, in Ireland ELF is soooo hard to get your hands on but iHerb sells it and thats where I have been buying my under eye setting powder. Not only does this set your concealer, it brightens under your eyes and makes you look more awake. I apply it with my real technique setting powder and I pat it under my eyes.

No.7


So this is another new love of mine. I got my first Milani blush only 3 months ago and I swear not one week has gone by that I haven't used it. I love the colours Luminoso and Dolce pink both can be gotten off Beauty Joint . Luminoso is very similar to NARS blush in orgasm but for a fraction of the price. The blushes give a glow to the skin all the blushes I have used have shimmer in them so be aware of that before you get them. I will do a full blog post on them if you so wish including swatches. Again this is a brand which unfortunately can't be purchased in Ireland but I am hoping Milani gets their act together and comes into Irish pharmacies.

No.8
















This is a new addition to Pennys, they have finally started to do makeup the P.S  love range and in my opinion they have done an amazing job. This lippie is worth mentioning for so many reasons, it has amazing pigmentation, longevity and is very creamy on the lips despite being matte. Pennys offers tones of different lipstick colours and all that I have tried are amazing and of the same quality. I am just a nude lipstick girl and I can not put this nude lippie down. Its provides you with that 90's lip and for the price you cant compete.

No. 9




















I wasn't sure if I should talk about this product as it only applies to my fellow blondies. However its too good not to mention. If you get your hair done in a salon or are naturally blonde then you know the struggle of yellow canary tones in your hair. Ain't nobody got time for that! The purpose of the Lee Stafford beach blondes is to combat those yellow tones and brighten up the hair in between colours. I have used over 20 different purple shampoos and they were all very average this toner blows my mind. I use it once a week and I leave it in for 30 seconds sometimes longer If I want the purple tinge of my hair. Its does not stain your hands or shower, and a little of this goes a long way. Its very potent so be careful. I only sometimes use the Lee Stafford conditioner I dont feel I need it a L'oreal conditioner does the job just fine.

No. 10


















Finding highly pigmented shadows that don't brake the bank can be very tricky, but Inglot have achieved both. There single shadows are only €6 and you can make them into a palette designed by you. We all own a palette that contain 2 or 3 shadows that we never use, inglot freedom system allows you to pick what shadows go into your palette. Every shadow they offer is unique and you get so much product in a pan. I have over 30 Inglot shadows and I use them all the time. Inglots shadows are buttery, pigmented, so easy to blend and they offer hundreds of shadows to pick from.

I am always on the lookout for new beauty products so please let me know some of your affordable holy grail items,

So this is the first ever entry in my blog and honestly I haven't a clue what I am doing. I asked you guys on my snapchat if you wanted to see a blog and you all said that it was a great idea. I want to make my blog an extension of me. I know how much you guys love my Nutrition videos and I love making them for you all but I find I have so much to talk about in those videos that I cant get it all across. My blog is a place where I will be talking more about nutrition, makeup, fashion and all other things beauty related. I have been on Youtube almost 2 years and its about time I got stuck into blogging. I want this blog to be a fun place where you can request topics for me to talk about, get more information on me and so on.

I want to thank Karen from Lovely girlie bits for pointing me in the right direction when It came to what platform to use, designs and loads of other bits. 

Anyway I hope you enjoy my blog and feel free to comment away. I am always open to change so If you see an area on this blog that needs changing or upgrading let me know. I am so new at this and it will take me some time to get used to it.

Aisling xoxox