My favourite bloggers!

Its only really since before Christmas last year that I properly got into reading beauty blogs and watching beauty bloggers on YouTube. Thanks to this new found discovery of blogs, my obsession with make up and anything beauty related, escalated quite rapidly!
Which is why I thought that today I'd share my favourite bloggers with you all!
Although I dont know any of these people personally, through their own blogs, not only do they share their love of cosmetics, but you also get a slight insight into their life, which is really interesting! I'm constantly looking for new blogs to read, but at the end of the day these are always the first ones that I look for new posts from on my bloglovin feed!

First up has to be the lovely ladies Karen and Joanne at http://www.lovelygirliebits.com/ . If you havent heard of this blog before then seriously, where have you been? As the name suggests, its a place to go and read about all bits lovely and girly! The girls post every day, twice if not 3 times a day! They both work full time, yet still are so dedicated to the blog! Its fantastic! They recently set up a YouTube channel also, and I tell ya, if there's ever a day you feel slightly down or under the weather, then pop over and watch one of the video's, I guarantee you'll be splitting your side's laughing! They are just so down to earth and funny, and I for one cant wait to see the next video!

Next up is the loveable Estee at http://www.essiebutton.com/. This girl is adorable!
A canadian lady now living and studying in London, her obsession with The Body Shop makes me want to go in and buy one of everything, especially the body butters! Her most recent August favourites featured an olive body butter, which sounds to me a bit like Marmite, you'll either love it or hate it, but yet I still want to try it! She has such a lovely personality, its almost like sitting down with your best friend having a chat about make up and beauty products!

Another blog I love catching up with is Kila, otherwise known as MissBudgetBeauty! http://missbudgetbeauty.co.uk/ Like the name suggests, she generally blogs about less expensive,more budget friendly items, but at the same time, does talk about some, (but not many) more higher end products. Which is fair enough if you think about it. How could she provide us all with sneaky dupes etc if she didn't sometimes have a sneaky purchase or two of more expensive items! All in the name of research for us adoring readers. ;)

Although this next one isn't strictly just a beauty blog, its more of a bit of everything blog, I couldn't not mention Louise over at Sprinkle of Glitter! http://sprinkleofglitter.blogspot.ie/ This girl is just crazy! (In a good way). Most recently on her channel I've watched her reaction to the new One Direction single, and also a Fluffy Bunny challenge, (I didn't know what this was either until I watched the video). That's not to say she cant be serious because she has covered some serious issues that a lot of bloggers wouldn't dream about, such as self harming. Over on her blog she also does really inspiring posts called 'Motivational Mondays', which is a serious of weekly posts on a Monday (obvious I guess) that covers a wide variety of topics, but that all in some way inspire and motivate.

So there you have it, some of my own personal favourite bloggers and YouTubers! I know everyone has different tastes, so there approach to blogging and vlogging may or may not be your cup of tea! But still, you wont know until you have a look! So why not sit down, grab a cup of tea, (make mine weak with 2 sugars please), and maybe you'll discover your new favourite blog! Or if your like me, you'll end up with a list of new products you want to try!

Thanks for reading girlies,
Alisha xx

MUA (Make Up Academy)

So any serious beauty junkie knows the difference between her high-end and drugstore beauty brands.

Well this my dear ladies (and lads possibly) is probably the least expensive brand you could possibly find in the drugstore, (or chemist or pharmacy as we Irish gals like to call it.)

Now its not readily available in stores in Ireland, I do believe its available in Superdrug stores in Ireland, as that's where its sold in the U.K, but seen as there's no Superdrug in my area, I cant confirm or deny that.

I do know for certain though, (after a couple of sneaky purchases), that they do ship to Ireland from their website! Hurray!! 

The brand in question, is fairly obvious, as its the title of this post. Make Up Academy, or MUA as its more commonly known, is one of my favourite make up brands. Not only has it such a selection of cosmetic products, but the prices of them are ridiculously cheap! This does not mean in any way that the products are of a lesser quality, because believe me they aren't! 

I think the product they are most well know for is the infamous eye shadow palettes, especially the aptly named 'Undressed and Undress Me Too' palettes, which you may be able to tell from the names are dupes of the Urban Decay Naked palettes! Now I personally don't own either of the Naked palettes as I'm not sure how i feel about paying 40 euro for an eye shadow palette, when I can get the MUA ones for just over 4 euro! Here's the Undress Me Too palette:

Another great thing with this palette is that on the back it has names for all the colours, just like the Urban Decay ones, and it even gives tips on looks you can create with the colours! I cant compare it to the Naked palette, but from my own usage, and my own opinion I can safely say I love these palettes! Its my go to for my every day make up and its fantastic! I use some eyeshadow primer and pop on what ever colours I'm using that day, and no exaggeration, they do not budge for the day! For the price of them they're worth a try at least! 

Some more personal favourites of mine are this highlighter and foundation from the Undress Your Skin range. Again this would be something similar to the Naked line being offered from Urban Decay. The MUA line also offers a face primer, an eyeshadow primer, a make up setting spray among many other bits and bobs. So far the highlighter and foundation are all I've tried. But that's not to say I wont pick up a few more bits! ;)

Apologies for the poor quality pictures, it may take me a while to get the hang of it! Practice makes perfect! The foundation is an illuminating foundation, which offers medium to full coverage, so depending on your preference, this would suit a lot of ladies! Its available in 3 shades, Porcelain, Beige and Golden, and me being the typical Irish lady that I am, with red hair and freckles, I chose the lightest shade, Porcelain. However, it is a little bit too light for me, but with a lot of blending I make it work. I would be interested in trying the next shade to see is it much darker though. Its a nice foundation, but I didn't find it to illuminate my skin, but again that could be because I chose the wrong shade and it washed me out. For the price (5.86 euro for 35mls of product), its not bad!

However my personal favourite has to be the highlighter! Its amazing! Its only 3.52, (yes you read that right), and it gives such a beautiful glow to the skin, you would genuinely think its a much more expensive product! I did try to take swatches but the pictures did not do the highlighter justice whatsoever!

It does look very shimmery in the pan, but when its on the face its much more subtle. I apply a light dusting on my cheeks over my blusher, and then set it all with some powder, and I also often use it as a highlighter on my brow bone. There is so much to choose from with this brand, they're constantly coming up with new products! Most recently they introduced the Power Pout, which is something similar to the Clinique Chubby Sticks,which only cost 3.52, the Colour Blast Eyeshadow Tints, (again similar to the Clinique Chubby Sticks for the Eyes, and there's more in the pipeline! 

If you're interested in trying some of the products then click here

:http://www.muastore.co.uk/store

They also have two Facebook pages where you can find out all about new product releases and find out about special offers and discounts! 

https://www.facebook.com/MUAmakeupacademy?fref=ts

and 

https://www.facebook.com/MrMUAmakeupacademy?fref=ts

However, if you end up ordering quite a lot, its not my fault really!! :) 

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx

My first post!!

So after weeks and weeks of contemplating, I eventually decided to sit down and give this blogging thing a go! It'll either go fantastically well, or horrifically horrifically wrong! But to start off I thought I'd give a bit of an introduction to myself and the reasons I've decided to start this blog!

So I'm a 25 year old Irish cailin that has developed a very very strong obsession with all things beauty related in the last couple of years, which I am putting down to my discovery of a number of beauty blogs such as http://www.makeupovermind.com/, http://www.vivaadonis.com/, and http://www.lovelygirliebits.com/ (these are also all Irish bloggers so its nice to read their opinions on various beauty bits and pieces!)
My main downfall is make-up. Plain and Simple. I could spend hours at a time wandering the aisles of Boots if I could, (if I did this I think my boyfriend would most definitely have done a runner a long time ago.) Thats not to say that I dont have an interest in skincare or bodycare either. Oh no. I'm one of those girls that spends the weeks before Christmas waiting to see what 'gift of the week' is on offer in Boots, and eagerly anticipating the release of the Soap And Glory offering!
So the main reason I set up this blog was to share my love of all things beauty with you all and my favourite products etc, and hopefully if I do it right, you'll also share yours with me!
I'm also just after reaching my goal weight with Weight Watchers Ireland, so I'll be keeping you guys filled in on that also!
So thats it for my first post, which I just said I'd do to introduce myself to you all!
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx