The Hero Skincare Products That Have Saved My Skin This Winter... (ft. Pestle & Mortar, & Other Stories, Alpha-H Liquid Gold, and Ingenious Beauty Ultimate Collagen+)

I'm a pretty warm person, physically (though I'd like to think emotionally, as well!) but I work with two Italians (well, an Italian and a Sicilian) and they cannot hack the cold at all. So, for forty hours a week during the winter, I am blasted with central heating. Last year it was bad but, this year, it has wreaked positive havoc on my skin. I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps, it is simply because I am older and my skin is already producing less natural oils (happens to all of us as we age) or because it has been rather cold this year. Who knows? Either way, the result is unhappy skin.

Seriously, seriously unhappy skin.

Normally, I get one eyelid (always an eyelid and always one, for whatever reason) that becomes incredibly dry and, as a result, sensitive and angry. However, this year, my skin was not only dry and unhappy, it was visibly dehydrated and liney (okay, I think only I noticed this part - I've been told by older relatives to feck off about "wrinkles" but they're already coming for me, I swear!).

Then, to make matters worse, holiday indulgences over Christmas were a real shock to my system, which had become accustomed to a fairly regimented life of mostly (I'll never be perfect or even very good) good behaviour. Look, you don't say "no" to my Mam's cooking.

It simply isn't done.

Cue some congestion in my t-zone and some especially bad hormonal breakouts (during the two - yes, two - times I was attacked by menstruation in December).

The result? Very sad, very angry, very moody, spotty, dry skin. I couldn't ignore the fit my face was throwing and had to step up my game when it came to winter skincare. Thankfully, some great products came into my life and an old favourite came back into play, to save the day. These guys really did rescue my skin.

1. & Others Stories Punk Bouquet Mini Hand Cream, €5 (not available online but I've found it in store before)

This wee gem is only 5 quid, is perfect for popping in your handbag and is a delicious-smelling (cruelty-free) dupe of the Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille scent. There are probably more effective hand creams on the market but this smells so good that I remember to apply it more regularly to my chapped paws.

2. Alpha-H Liquid Gold Rose, €42

My mam got this as a sample in her M&S advent calendar and I nicked it as I've wanted to try it out for a while now. Normally, I wait two months (at least) before talking about a skincare product but I can't help it. I'm in love with the stuff! The very next day after I used it, my expression lines in my forehead (my biggest concern) looked less pronounced and less on-the-way-to-wrinkles-territory. It's helped almost entirely rid the bumpies and congestion from my t-zone, as well. Colour me thoroughly impressed!

3. Pestle & Mortar Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum, €43*

The kind peeps over at Pestle & Mortar actually sent this to me to try out (with the below as a gift set, which can be bought at a special price of  €86 here) just before Christmas. I've now been using them for around a month and a half (breaking my own rules again, I know!) and I genuinely think they are largely responsible for saving my skin this winter. 

This serum goes so far! I've been very generously applying it on the daily and haven't made that much of a dent in the bottle, considering. I was in serious need of some hyaluronic acid in my routine again and this is the perfect product to inject it back in. I pat some into my skin around ten minutes before I moisturise (when I'm really on it with my routine), using about three drops from the pipette, and it absorbs super-fast.

4. Pestle & Mortar Hydrate Moisturiser, €48*

Then I follow up with two pumps of this guy. By the end of the two steps, my skin feels bouncy, dewy and peppy again!

BONUS: Ingenious Beauty Ultimate Collagen+, €42*

This guy is a "bonus" because I'm not sure. When I attended a press meeting about it, it was bigged up majorly and I was super-excited to try it and start ingesting some collagen on the reg. However, the kinds of results I was told about didn't quite happen. 

I think that maybe I wasn't taking them for long enough to really see the effects. 

However, just before Christmas, I wasn't about buy more and to spend 60 quid on supplements for myself! I do really like collagen as an ingredient but, for the amount of money this costs, I didn't quite see the results. 

In saying that, I was taking them when my skin started to get better so, who knows? I'd be keen to try them for longer and see but the post-Christmas financial situation isn't much better so that'll have to wait. Either way, even though I'm still on the fence about this product, for honesty's sake, I was using it when my skin started to improve so I had to include it in this post!

Thankfully, this combination of things seems to have worked and my skin isn't quite summer-happy but it's getting better and, for now, that's good enough.

(The products marked with a "*" were gifted to me as press samples but this is not a sponsored post and all opinions are my own.)

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The Launch of & Other Stories in Dublin!

I've loved & Other Stories for years now but I've largely had to admire it from afar. The older, cooler sister of H&M and hipper, younger sister of COS, it's a brand that appeals to fashion girls the world over. Its clothes are cool and trendy but not so of the moment that they fall out of fashion immediately. It is home to an awesome (cruelty-free) beauty section that is ever-expanding and offers candles, fragrances, bodycare products and beautiful mid-range makeup. And it does designer collaborations better than most of its peers, choosing to work with cool and edgy brands and stars like Rodarte and Lykke Li.

Up until now, however, I've really only ever been able to enjoy the store on mad-dash visits to the Oxford Street brand between shows at London Fashion Week: always hasty, panicked and at peak times where there is an overwhelmingly large crowd.

This will, happily, no longer be the case. As of Friday at 12pm this week, the first Irish branch of the store opened on Grafton Street and I couldn't be more excited. The street needed fresh blood anyway but you couldn't really ask for much fresher blood than this! The press pre-launch was held the night before and the presence of such a wide spectrum of the Irish fashion crowd would suggest that I am, by no means, the only one who was psyched. It's always interesting to be at such an event where you see pretty much everyone in the industry here gathered in one place - were there time, it'd be the perfect place for people-watching as the range of style was truly fascinating! But it also goes to show how universally loved and acknowledged the brand is.

Fun as the launch was, however, (there was big tubs of Moet on offer - you know it's a ritzy event when real Champagne is cracked out) I can't wait to go back on a quieter day. It was so packed that I could barely get around. I can say, from the scan I did that night, that it is the place to go for beauty, elegant outerwear, party shoes, truly gorgeous bags and timeless knitwear - these are the areas where the stock selection for the Dublin branch are definitely the strongest.

If you're shopping for friends or family this Christmas that are cool girls (or aspire to be cool girls), I recommend hitting them up!

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Rachel Antonoff & Other Stories

& Other Stories really are killing it with collabs lately.

But, then, they always do.

Fresh off the back of the Vans collab, we have their collection with designer, Rachel Antonoff. And the promo vid is under the creative helm of Lena Dunham. And it stars Zoe Kazan. It's like a Trifecta of female empowerment all wrapped up in the sweetest (yet tailored and professional) pastel bow.

Seriously, though. Everything about this collab is charming and bound to win every girl over. You can't help but smile along with a sense of camaraderie.

The promo vid features Kazan canvassing the neighbourhood in the run up to an election. Sadly, the people who answer the door are less than receptive and laugh in her face, tell her to go away and slam said door in said face. In light of this abuse and negative reaction, she slips into a daydream, imaging a world where she has been made president. Which is where the fun really begins.



I have seen commentary online expressing dissatisfaction with a brand wielding politics and feminism in pursuit of financial gain, noting that the whole thing misses the mark and belittles women. People are, of course, entitled to their opinions but I strongly disagree. I think this video and collection and concepts behind it are right on the money, hitting all my nostalgia buttons. What woman can't relate to being a little girl and imagining being in charge and how good a job you'd do?

A point of contention is Audrey's (Kazan) announcement that she's here to talk about "women, children and small animals". People seem to believe that this is trivialising women's issues but I think the contrary. Not only does it evoke that same sense of childhood whimsy, it also bands together groups that have one important thing in common: they are often vulnerable and made powerless. Now, she could have mentioned LGBT, race or cultural issues but that would make the video into something else entirely.

This is a promo video for a collection. It has commercial interests so, to engage too seriously with hot-button issues would be somewhat shady and disrespectful. It'd be a little closer to when Chanel missed the mark with their protest show. This is referencing things the women buying the collection know and might have faced and intends to give context for clothes intended for women on the go. Not to teach us something or change opinions.

And what it does, it does well. It shows how these items might be worn, the contexts. It makes them seem cute and wantable. It riffs on girl power in a lighthearted way. It references feminism but is not intended as serious feminist discourse.

The clothes are sweet little skirts and collared dresses that could move from office to garden party, slogan tees and sweatshirts proclaiming, "It's Time," and "We Try Harder", suiting and co-ords in slightly off cuts or unexpected materials. It's the items we expect in a working wardrobe given a twist. It's playful. It's chameleon-like - similar to the women dressing in these clothes.

I say all this being previously not particularly well-acquainted with Antonoff's ouevre, not a massive fan of Dunham's brand of storytelling and neutral towards Kazan. But this has actually made me consider all three differently.

And I still love & Other Stories. Obvs.





























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Vans x & Other Stories

In my misspent youth, I was a Converse and Doc Martens kind of girl. When I say that, I don't mean I wore them. Of course, I did wear them but it was more than that. I was devotedto them with the unquestioning, unwavering passionate loyalty only teenagers can muster. Vans, therefore, I saw as a diversion. Ridiculous, I'm aware but I felt about Vans and Converse they way some people feel about Pop and Punk or Marvel and D.C. You had to choose one altar to pray at, you couldn't dip a toe into each shoe.

Now, I have a battered old pair of Vans that are one of my default pairs of shoes. I have many, many pairs of high-top Cons, in various colours and patterns, and the trusty old Docs I crack out for gigs and festivals but both varieties of shoe require effort and time to wedge them on your feet. I've become far too lazy, and not nearly devoted enough, for things you can't slip on your feet on a regular basis.

So, you could say I'm a convert.

When I saw that Vans and (wonderful, wonderful) & Other Stories were collaborating, it was kind of magic.

It was this iconic brand, somewhat synonymous with being teenaged, getting a lesson in how to be elegant and grown up. And the results? Just charming - restrained but still fun.

The collaboration has produced three pairs of shoes, purchasable from the & Other Stories site. Two are in a pretty blushy nude leather and the other is a monochrome spotted number that's very 101 Dalmations. You can get slip-ons in the nude and spotted print and the lace-up shoe is only available in the nude.

But, really, it's the campaign images that are slaying me. I mean, trop dreamy, or what?

What do you guys think of the collab?

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