About me and Blog News!

Hey beauties! After a few days of scouting out new blogs to read I realized I loved to read the "About me" section of peoples blogs. My first blog post just went straight into a nail varnish review and I rudely never introduced myself. So hopefully after this post you might get to know me a little bit better and for me to get to know you guys too! I'd love to read your blogs and your story so feel free to leave all your links below and I will check them all out.

My name is Katie Clarke, no middle names unfortunately, just Katie Clarke. I'm 21, Gemini, and was born in the UK but spent most of my life in Ireland so I'm always up for the "craic"! I have an older brother and sister and my gorgeous mam who is a mother and best friend.

Me and mam when I was just 4 years old, sporting my brown uniform and full fringe

I was a late bloomer for makeup, I never wore anything until I was 16 and at this point I was a bit of a rocker so I was experimenting with black liner and eye shadows and at the time thought I was pretty darn cool (I have many a picture which reinforces I definitely wasn't). I have never done any make-up course I just enjoy make-up and beauty care like many ladies out there so the aim of my blog is just to share and enjoy some beauty chit-chat.

I met my boyfriend Clément in my little town in Ireland and was instantly swept off my feet with his french charm. Sadly the whirl wind romance was cut short and we had to endure a long distance relationship for many many months. After I finished my fashion and art course I took the plunge and moved to France and I'm so glad I did!

Clément et moi when I was lucky enough to be taken to New York with him and his family, amazing memories <3

Et voila, this is where my story continues, I'm embracing the French culture, swapping my good ole Irish spuds (potatoes) and Guinness for croissants and baguettes. I'm a very proud new parent (I don't really like to say owner) of our little bouledogue francais Holly, she is just the cutest.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave your links below so I can read all your lovely blogs!

My best friend Alison since I was about 8/9 years old,  missing her a lot in France :(

BLOG NEWS!

I have decided that I really want to have some structure to my blog, something to aim for every week and I will now be putting up a tutorial (hopefully!) every Friday. If you guys think a different day would be better please leave a comment! The tutorials will mainly be beauty related but I might spice it up once in awhile and if you guys want a tutorial on anything I'm open to all suggestions! In between the tutorials I will still be posting reviews etc frequently so don't forget to check back on those! See you soon!

Katie xox  

January Favourites !

Happy Saturday everyone! I'm going to do a January favourites for you today (after a long ponder and many swatches). I'm trying to get into the swing of blogging but every time I have an idea, I'm always having second thoughts if it's interesting for you guys. So I'm just throwing this January fav's out there and hope for the best! Also, I love monthly favourites on youtube, its a good round-up of products without tons of info. It's a good way to not forget products you love, by the time Christmas comes around again we could have forgotten the little pleasures we had from products throughout the year. Think I'll put it in my diary too. So, let's get this January party started!

Just a little side note, there is a lot here because a lot of things were Christmas presents. In my next monthlies it might just be a couple of new products that I've tried. I really hope you'll enjoy this post and maybe you'll get an idea of new things to try, enjoy!

Perfume- Lola by Marc Jacobs

Shampoo and Condioner- Dove Hair Therapy Nourishing Oil Care

Foundation- Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum 

Hand Cream- The Body Shop Wild Rose Hand Cream

Mascara- Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes

Eyeliner- Maybelline Gel Liner

Eyeshadow- Maybelline Eye Studio Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Shadow

Nail Varnish- OPI "my very first knockwurst"

Lip Stain/Balm- Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in "Crush"

Concealer- Healthy Mix Illuminating Brush Concealer

Blusher- Maybelline Blush Touch in No.05 Berry

Moisturiser- Bioterm Blue Therapy Cream 

Top to Bottom- 24hr Tattoo, Blush Touch, Just Bitten Kissable

The 24hr Color Tattoo shadow is absolutely gorgeous, I love the bronzy colour I bought because it's so versatile and easy to wear for an everyday look. Just sweep the product across your lid with your finger and it's that easy. It's also good as a base to intensify other colours in similar tones that you can apply over this gel shadow. I think it's a great little product that I've had a lot of use from. 

The Dream Touch Blush is my favourite blusher ever I think (so far). I'm just really into creamy products so I love the formula of this product. Again it's super easy to apply, no need for brushes so you can bring it on the go with you. Dab a little with your finger to wherever you like to have your blusher, may that be apples of cheeks or cheekbones to lift the face. A little goes a long way with this product, it could be very easy to go over board with it. Gently blend over cheeks with finger and your good to go. 

Revlon have won me over with this little beauty, the Just Bitten Kissable lip balm/stain. With its soft texture and super pigments I just think it's great value for money. Smells of mint so if you don't like minty tastes this might not be for you. I like this product because even after a long time of the beautiful deep red, wine colour, it turns into a soft pink colour so your lips aren't left total bare after it wears off.  This stain could be the centre of attraction with your make-up look, with a subtle eye and bold lips, or you could go wild with both eyes and lips for a gorgeous evening look. 

These products look great worn together by the way!

Biotherm Blue Therapy Face Cream (age defying)

So I know I'm only 21 and shouldn't need anti wrinkle creams yet, but this product was a freebie from my boyfriends job so why not give it a whirl?! Although I do have laughter lines under my eyes because in general I have quite puffy eyes. So this product is perfect for that! It smells like a dream, to me it smells of fresh cucumber. Its texture is just like rubbing heaven on your face. Absorbs quickly and leave face feeling soft and pampered. I don't use it everyday because I want to prolong the experience. I use my usual light Nivea day cream in those days. This is definitely a win!

Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner (and brush)

Here we're onto the magical eyeliner that is by maybelline. Going to keep this one short and sweet. It's amazingly easy to use for total eyeliner novices like me. It's super black, doesn't smudge during the whole day and comes with this handy brush to apply! Et Voila, what more could you want from your eyeliner.

Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes

I have to say I've never tried a higher end mascara before, I'm a drug store kinda-gal, but I really do love this! It gives the appearance of long, vollumised lashes without clumping. It's great at separting the lashes and gives a wide-eyed effect. The major plus for this mascara is the brush. It's just pefect for those tricky inner corners of the lashes and those fiddly bottom lashes too. The only con is that it does have some dropout under the eyes after hours of wear. But I'm still yet to find a mascara that doesnt do that. The packaging its gorgeous and I just can't say enough good thing about this one!

The Body Shop Wild Rose SPF 15

So it came to that time of year again where my hands were in desperate need of some relief. With the cold snowy weather I needed something quick, so off to the body shop I went! I found a three pack of hand creams so gave one to my grandma and one to my boyfriends maman, and kept this gorgeous rose scented one for myself. As you can see this product has quite a dent in it because I couldn't get enough of it. I'm not the moisturising type usually, I'm just far too lazy. But the smell of this hand cream just made me reach for it a lot. As the name says it's wild rose scented and it's beautiful. In those cold winter days, smelling this hand cream reminded me of spring and summer when roses start to bloom and it was just a great pick me up. Highly recommend! Looks like a cute little paint tube as well.

OPI "My very first Knockwurst"

This could possibly be my favourite OPI nail varnish ever. The colour is just my cup of tea. Subtle pink grey in colour and so flattering against the skin. I love how this nail varnish makes my hands and nails look. It's just one of those colours that make hands look so dainty and elegant (and I am not blessed with those hands naturally) so yes, it's my fav polish ever ever ever !

Lola Marc Jacobs

This perfume is just a perfect scent to me, I'm just addicted to Lola by Marc Jacobs and I think Lola is such a cute name too. I am really no good at describing scents but as the bottle would suggest it is a floral scent. But to be more specific I looked on the Marc Jacobs website to get the exact magic formula of scents that made this perfume. 

Top notes: pink peppercorn, pear, ruby red grapefruit

Mid notes: peony, rose, geranium 

Base notes: vanilla, tonka bean, musk

So if those smells tickle your fancy why not try it out ! And I've also spritzed some of Marc Jacobs other perfumes at counters before and they're amazing too.

Dove Nourishing Oil Shampoo and Conditioner

Not going to say much about this because shampoo and conditioners aren't the most exciting of things to talk about really. But I had to put it in the post because I really loved it this month. It's as it says, nourishing! I have really dry hair naturally and even more from dying it a few months back. I'm never happy with shampoos and conditioners normally, but for a drug store one this is pretty good. After one use my hair felt so much better, softer and easier to manage, must be those oils in it they're talking about! 

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum 

Bourjois Healthy Mix Illuminating Concealer Brush

I love Bourjois. I love the name, products, packaging, they're formula's, I just love Bourjois. So it's no surprise I love these two products. Even though this is in the January favourites, the Foundation has been a favourite since it appeared in supermarkets and drug stores. It's so nice to wear, it just feels like you have nothing on your face but has a really nice coverage. It's a satin finish so just need to powder the centre of the face and leave those cheeks looking gorgeous and luminous. 

The healthy mix concealer its just perfect for those under eye circles, for me in doesn't completely eliminate them, but definitely makes a big difference. The amount you want to disperse is really controllable with the twisty end that pushes the product through the brush. And that brush is really practical too. Both these products have natural goodness in them, so you could say it's an "au naturel" look if people say you have a beautiful glow. Who needs to know? ;) 

Thanks for making your way through this very long post, I hope you enjoyed it. I loved reviewing these for you. If you've tried any of these I'd love to hear your feeling about them too! And I'd love some recommendations if you have any. See you again soon!

Katie xox

Mini Printemps Haul (YSL lip stain, clarins cleansers, French bulldogjumper)

So after a beautifully snowy weekend in Deauville, France, I have returned with these three little beauties to talk about. Before I get started I hope everyones enjoying the snow where you are :) and even though it turns me into a bag of stress panicking if I'm going to fall and slip so I have to cling to anything in sight (fences, people, street lamps)  it still looks very beautiful from the window.

#selfie

So first off here we have the cutest french bulldog jumper ever if I do say so myself! The brand is called, Comptoir des Cotonniers, which is quite a mouthful, even more so in my non-convincing french accent. It's 50% wool which is pretty good, its soft and not itchy against the skin. I'm obsessed with anything with french bulldogs because finally me and Clément decided to have a little french bulldog puppy of our own and she is only two-and-abit months old (aww!). I will have to post a pic of her soon before she's not a puppy anymore.

Here you can see I fell into the hype of the YSL lip stains that everyone loves, and I'm so glad i did! I have the number 9, which is this beautiful red, and I'm really glad I went for this colour because I just love how it looks on.  I also got these cute tiny travel size clarins cleansers and eye make-up remover, which I'm still yet to try, so if they're good I'll be sure to report back.

I have very pale skin and I think its very complimenting but I also think it would be gorgeous with any skin tone. It's definitely a very nice alternative to lipstick as it has this beautiful shine that lasts for sooo long.

So pros for this are that its very pigmented, it lasts for a very long time, they have a very nice range of colours, very unusual than standard lip gloss or lipstick, and thats definitely in a good way. It feels nice on the lips and the shine lasts for hours. Now for the cons, I wouldn't say it lasts after eating, mine did come off and I was only left with a thin red line around my lips which definitely looked odd, so you would need to re-apply. I found you have to be very careful how you're applying, it could get messy, so its not something you can just quickly put on with no mirror. I also wouldn't use this everyday because I think it could be a bit drying to the lips. So thats it! it has a lot more pros to me, and even if it's a bit expensive, I think its a nice luxurious product that every girl should own :)

If you liked this post please leave a comment below I would really love to hear from you :) and I'd love to know your thoughts on any of these products. See you in my next post!

YSL La Laque Couture Rouge Pop Art Nail Varnish

This beautiful bright red nail varnish by YSL is definitely my favorite nail varnish I have ever owned.  I would never splash out that much on a nail varnish but luckily it was a gift from my boyfriend (Clément) at Christmas, and the the color is just perfect for feeling festive. Although Christmas is now over its still such a classic red that will be perfect all year round. YSL la laque couture collection also have a huge range of colours, from eye catching and bright tones to pale and natural. You will definitely be spoilt for choice. 

So, some facts about this nail varnish. It's formula is made up with Chil Rose Oil which is said to strengthen and moisturize nails and also prevents chipping. So it's not just for looking pretty! The packaging is gorgeous, from the bottle shape and the classic YSL logo, it would make any girl happy to see this in her nail varnish collection :) I can only say good things about it, it was so easy to apply, it dries instantly and it lasts for so long. 

Even though I'm quite rubbish at applying nail varnish, it could be mistaken for a professional manicure because its just so easy to apply. Definitely will treat myself to another color when I save up a few pennies. So quick, what are you waiting for! Go get one! :)