Tan enhancer? Yes it is!

So Im back from my hols, so sorry there hasn't ben a new post for a few days. This is just a quickie to follow up on my post about Nivea suncream 'Protect and Bronze'

Well I have to say I'm pretty impressed. It definitely brought my tan up quicker than normal. It felt nice on application, not too runny like some suncreams but not to thick either which can be a real pain. My skin felt moisturised for a few hours afterwards. The only mistake I made was not starting with factor 30. I actually started with only 20 so I did burn in a few places (it may also have something to do with the fact that I may have nodded off in the aternoon and forgot to top up the application!! oops!)

My colour is definitely more intense than normal and I found that even those hard to tan areas like legs and backs of the arms, all tanned better.

I would give it an 8/10 and will definitely be using it again on the next beach holiday. Hopefully I wont have to wait that long for some more sunshine!!

Fancy Footwear

.I'm ashamed to admit that unlike practically every other girl in the world I am not a wearer of heels! I know shock horror. It's  slightly embarrassing to admit. I have been known to wear them very rarely if the outfit or the occasion deems it fit but left to my own devices I choose flats every time.

Summer makes my 'situation' a lot easier because out come the ballet pumps, the flip flops and the sandals and this year is no different so I thought I would share with you my top five sandals for the Summer. I found it hard to whittle it down as there are hundreds to choose from but these little beauties definitely caught my eye.

1. Miss Selfridge. Knight Bronze Embellished flat sandal. 39 euro. Love the Aztec style of this sandal.

2. Reiss. Lloyd buckle detail flat sandal. 123 euro. A slightly more expensive sandal but amazing quality and they will match eveything.

3.Dune. Casey plaited strap sandal. 61 euro. Tan sandals are great for Summer they emphasize a tan and the neutral color will go with pretty much everything in your wardrobe.

4. Oasis. Jetalica metal tassle zip back sandal. 44 euro. Bargain price for something su unusual. These would be great for a festival with shorts or a cute playsuit.

5.KG by Kurt Geiger. Maybell bow detail flat sandal. 57 euro.Ok my Asos obsession continues and how could you resist these cuties. These sandals are so pretty and since we have already looked at oranges being the colour of the season we already know exactly what we will wear them with!!!

Now that I have compiled my wish list, I just need to wait for my next paycheck to buy them all. Happy shopping!

Tan Enhancer?

Oooooo I'm counting down. Only two days to go until I'm lying on the beach soaking up the sun. So thought I would take a little trip to boots to stock up on sun protection before I go. Now I wouldn't say I'm particularly loyal to any one brand in particular and since Boots are great at doing 2 for 1 I normally just pick the cheapest and be done with it. I always start with at least factor 25 because of my pasty Irish skin but I have been know to reduce down to 15 on the last couple of days though! Yes naughty me.

Anyhoo I was perusing the shelves when I came across this new addition to the Nivea sun-care range. It's the new Nivea protect and Bronze. No I have tried tan maximisers before as aftersun and sun-lotion but when you get down to the bones of it, it's just aftersun plus self tan. Which in itself is a clever idea but I found that it was ending up a little streaky especially around my hands and feet.

However this new clever little product claims to have no self tan in the ingredients at all but instead has a natural plant extract that helps support the skin's own melanin production for an even tan. Naturally I got excited as I'm a sunbaker at heart and when I'm not sunbathing I'm normally using fake tan. I checked around a few message boards and reviews and so far it seems to have gotten a great reaction so Im volunteering as a guinea pig to try this out on my hols and let you know how I get on. If I end up anywhere near the colour of this sun nymph, I'll be a very happy camper indeed!!

Anybody tried this before? Any good tips on getting a smooth even tan?

Pil Pil Prawn Pasta

This is the best and quickest pasta recipe I have ever found and a definite favourite! I am an absolute pasta hound and could eat it any day of the week, so combined with my almost equal love of prawns, chilli and garlic well this is an absolute dream of a dish.

The idea came from a dish I often have in Spain when I visit called 'Gambas Pil Pil'. It consists of king prawns baked in the oven in olive oil, heaps of dries chilli and garlic and is served with chunks of rustic bread. It is a perfect Meditteranean dish and reminds me of holidays.

At home I thought about how to recreate this dish as a main course and pasta really is the perfect compliment for these flavours.

This is the easiest recipe to make and takes minutes:
Cook pasta until 'al dente'. Meanwhile heat two tablespoons of olive oil, when hot add a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes and one large clove of garlic finely chopped. Let these sizzle for a minute and then add your prawns. These only need to re-heat and absorb the flavours so another minute of cooking time will be plenty.

Drain the pasta and add the prawns to the cooking pot and toss through. Serve immediately with plenty of freshly grated parmesan, salt and pepper.

This is perfect for a light lunch with a crispy green salad and a good catch up with the girls. Mmmmmmm.

Teasing the tresses

It's that time of the year again when I can get more playful with my hair. I can get very lazy at times and just do a quick rushed blowdry on my way into work and hope for the best. I have long strawberry blonde hair so I really have no excuse not to try some new things, especially when It really is easy.

I started to have a look around for inspiration and found these three cute styles to try.

I absolutely love this ponytail. It's cute and plyful and really handy for the beach if you are swimming or sunbathing. This will work best if the hair is not just freshly washed. I would recommend using some texturising spray like the one from Charles Worthington, it will give the hair more body and also a better grip and hold. Run your fingers through the hair to disperse the product and throw you hair upside down to add even more body. Then smooth hair from the front using a large paddle brush and secure tightly with a small band. Add three more bands to the pont tail spaced along the length and roughen up the hair inbetween each band to get this messy look. Add any hairband you fancy and voila!!!

This is my fail safe Summer beach hair and so easy to do. After washing your hair spray liberally with a sea salt spray, I like Lee Stafford Beach Babe Sea Salt Spray.

Then run your fingers through your hair to seperate the strands and spread the product. You can either leave your hair to dry naturally or i sometimes use a diffuser to quicken the process and give volume. I also find that if a twist strands of hair as I'm drying them is adds curl. Like the gorgeous Kate Hudson here you can use tongs to curl the front sections and brush out to add more waves to the front. 

I like this look for nighttime on holidays. Again it works best on unwashed hair. For added height a great product is Umbertto Gianni "Back comb in a bottle". When sprayed on to the roots it gives textured volume and adds height to up-dos without actually backcombing and damaging your hair. Spray this at the roots and crown and juzzsh the hair a little. Then grab hair up as if you were going to make a pony tail and pull through a hair elastic but not all the way, then pull hair back through a couple of times until the band is tight and grips hair. Pull out a few strands around the face and from the bun. Here it looks cut with a Grecian hairband but I would add a big flower for a Summery/ beach feel.

Do you have any good hair style suggestions? Can you reccomend any good styling products that could make Summer hair simple??

Beach combing!

Since I am off on my holidays in 5 days (yes I am counting!) I started dreaming of lying on the beach and listening to the waves lapping onshore. Now as excited I am about going to Spain, my mind started wandering and thinking about all the amazing beach holidays I would go on if money was no object and I compiled a list of five amazing beaches I hope to someday see! 

1) Seychelles, if it's good enough for William and Kate, then its good enough for me. Breathtaking!

2) St Barts, Carribean. Sugary sand, turquoise water....... ahhhh paradise. And they speak French the language of love. So romantic.

3) Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, the setting used for the movie "The Beach". It has become a little touristy since but still absolutely stunning.

4) Navagio beach, Zakynthos Greece. Wow this can only be reached by boat and has a decaying ship wreck as a centrepiece.

5) Whitsunday Islands Australia, I actually hapenned to visit the Whitsunday Islands so it shouldn't really be on my wishlist but it was so amazing I would love to go back. So amazing in fact that they filmed a bounty ad out here.


So if you are sitting at your desks bored in work and looking out at the lashing rain then these stunning photos can help you daydream away your afternoon. Mmmmm I can smell the coconut oil already..........

Feeing Blue

I have just discovered the fantastic new makeup range from Catrice. I had read about it on a few other make-up bogs but then i found it in a pharmacy in Dublin. My first Impression was the fantastic pricing of this range. It had a retail price cheaper than Rimmel, which in these tight times is exacty what a girl needs.

The  packaging is also fantastic, it's not cheap or tacky but actually has a failry expensive look and would attract the eye regardsless of whether you have already seen the price or not. I was fairly dubious about whether the product quality would be good though so I bought a nail polish to try as an experiment. Only 2.49 euro!!!

It comes in a very classy little glass bottle with a black lid and the subtle Catrice branding on the side. I chose colour 410 "Pool Party at Night". A pretty cute name I think. Its a royal blue colour. The consistency was surprisingly good. It wasn't oo runny or thick and one coat would have been adeqate but I did two for good measure. In comparison to the Rimmel lowest price nail polish it wins out everytime. I find Rimmel too watery and ALWAYS need a second coat no matter what. Plus the packaging of Catrice looks much more expensive.

I would be keen to check out more products from this range like the eyeshadow quads for 4.49 euro or lipsticks which are only 3.99 euro. Bargains!

Here is the link to the website so you can check this range out fo ryourself!

http://www.catrice.eu/home.html

Have you tried any other products from Catrice? Can you give me any reccomendations?