LloydsPharmacy’s Beauty Breakfast

Two words I love, right next to each other: beauty and breakfast. Two things I love, all around me: food and skincare.

LloydsPharmacy sure do know how I like to be woken up!

Yesterday morning at the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar, LloydsPharmacy hosted a Beauty Breakfast for press and bloggers in order to launch their inaugural own brand of skincare, SKINeffect, alongside their Get Summer Healthy campaign which they say "aims to promote healthy skin and bodies in Ireland over the summer months covering both the cosmetic and nutritional elements that comes with good healthcare practice".

In order to help you do this, you can avail of their Skin Analysis Service in selected stores or fill out a skincare questionnaire and have a custom-built regimen put together just for you. I actually tried this out on the morning with the lovely girls from Dermalogica and learned lots of interesting stuff about my skin. Much I knew but they offered me names for things and solutions. And let me know that the lines on my forehead that have been stressing me out are expression lines and nothing to be overly worried about - thank Christ.

As well as the SKINeffect range, LloydsPharmacy also stock a wide range of other brands across their 87 stores nationwide, including Avene, Caudalie, Clarins, Dermalogica, Eucerin, Trilogy, Neostrata, Nuxe, Revive Active and Udo’s. Their SKINeffect range covers all areas of skincare and is available now. This weekend LloydsPharmacy will be offering special skin checks so, pop into your local store to find out more.

I'm pretty excited to try some of their brands that I've been creeping on from afar but had never had any products from before now. Especially Caudalie (Shout out to how awesome they were on the day! Hi!) and Nuxe.

Right, well I'll just go back to smearing creams on my face. Give your skin love, people, it's your biggest organ!

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Make-up Essentials

Travelling light, existing light is kind of a thing I've aimed for of late. I hate dragging bags around - though this happens more often than not. On Christmas Eve, as I headed home with plenty of presents in tow, I realised I had very little room for anything else...even if Daddy eventually ended up picking me up.

When you're packing light, you have to prioritise. My whole make-up bag couldn't come home so here's what did make the cut. Here's what I consider necessities.

The essentials are:

Lulu Guinness make-up bag (similar here)

Eyeko Eyelash Curler

Eco Tools Starter Brush set

W7 In the Nude palette

Nars Blush in Deep Throat

Benefit They're Real Eyeliner

Billion Dollar Brows Hint of Tint Brow Gel in Taupe*

Benefit Erase Paste in Fair

Chanel Coco Rouge Shine in Bohéme

Tan Organic Bronzer*

Eve Lom Lip Balm

Real Techniques Beauty Sponge

Jessica Nails polish in Velvet and Pearls*

No 7 Lip Crayon in Statement

Benefit They're Real Mascara

Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eyeshadow Primer

Benefit The Porefessional Primer

Dermalogica Sheer Tint in Light

Benefit Brows A-Go-Go

Agree? Any favourites among mine?

(As per, an asterisk indicates an item has been gifted to me for review but all preferences and views here are my own)

Worth the Hype - Current Makeup Favourites

Being home has meant little overheads and much accumulation. Said accumulation has produced some new makeup favourites and some serious revelations. Makeup is as seasonal as clothes amd  I'll post on my Summer cosmetics routine soon as the weather recently has been so unbelievably warm and face-melty that it's entirely relevant. But, for now, I just wanna talk about new things for Summer that I've been trying and loving. 

(And just so y'all know - anything marked like so * has been sent to me - this is something I'll be more conscious of doing from now on)

Scent.

Chupa Chups Love Trap - Mam randomly picked this up for me as it reminds her of perfumes I wore as a teen. It's quite like Anna Sui perfumes or Touch of Pink by Lacoste. Sweet, floral, girly, light. Really a perfect summer day smell and, surprisingly, a nice slightly more mature version of those higher end scents.

Skin.

Maxfactor Facefinity Primer * - I'd been rotating between using the Porefessional and Aloe Vera as my go-to primers up until now. The Porefessional is lovely to apply but doesn't extend the wear of my makeup overly and the Aloe Vera really suits breakout days and minimal makeup days better. But this is the perfect everyday, longwear primer. It applies smoothly and the formula is quite soothing to the skin. I love that it has a pump to make application ultra-easy and the SPF is always a bonus for me.

Dermalogica Sheer Tint - As a general rule, I only wear BB creams. I just don't want too much coverage or to feel or look as though I'm caked in makeup. I find that even tinted moisturisers look too thickly applied to my eye on my skin. Another general rule for me is that higher end bases are too heavy and I rely entirely on drugstore brands generally. This, however, is a large exception to those rules. The colour match is great and it gives me enough coverage to even out my skin tone without feeling uncomfortable on the skin or covering my freckles.

Shiseido The Makeup Concealer - I'd been searching for a new concealer for a while. In summer, if I'm wearing makeup at all, I tend to just apply a little BB cream as a concealer instead. Then I fell for Mam's Clarins concealer and what it did for my under-eye area. After coveting that for some time, she handed this to me. I love Shiseido as a brand - the sleek, slightly dodgy packaging and all. This concealer is exactly enough coverage. If I feel I need to wear at least a little makeup to something - a little of this, brows and mascara and I'm ready to go. It's great for both blemishes and under-eye and doesn't crease or flake as it's super-moisturising.

Rimmel Match Perfection Silky Loose Face Powder - All that needs to be said here is that this needs no topping up and looks as though you're wearing no powder at all - it competes easily with much more expensive, finely milled powders.

Eyes.

Clinique High Impact Mascara - For me, I rarely use dramatic, clumpy mascaras. I just want to give my natural lashes a boost but look as though I've barely touched them. This is great for that and it doesn't run all over the place despite watery, hayfever-prone eyes.

Sleek i-Divine Bad Girl Palette - These colours are so great. There's a neutral end for light Summer day looks and the purple, blues and greens are awesome for colourful night looks. The rich lighter green is a dupe for a Chanel shade in a quad they had out for this Summer except better. Yeah, you heard me. Better. It's more pigmented and applies the way you wish the Chanel would. The applicator that comes with it is utter shite, however, so bring a brush along if you plan on using the palette.

Benefit They're Real! Push-up Liner - I was wary of this product. Wary it couldn't be that good. But it's easy to use, dries slow enough to fix if mistakes are made and stays in place enough when dry not to do that annoying transferal to crease of the eyelid thing. Thank God. Note: In extreme heat as the other day, it moves a little but melted less than the rest of my face.

Brows.

Billion Dollar Brows Hint of Tint Gel and Brow Gel * - I'll definitely be writing on raising your brow game soon but for now, note that these guys rock. I use the hint of tint alone for minimal makeup days or to finish more dramatic already filled-in, bushy brow looks and the clear gel for looks somewhere in the middle. Neither do that horrible crispy thing and the mascara-like applicators are great for precision. Much love.

Lips.

Eve Lom Kiss Mix - Very expensive? Yes. Worth it? Totes. At €20, it's about four times the amount of lip balms I normally buy but it works so well and it's so sleek and luxurious looking. And I LOVE how it feels. Handbag staple.

Etude House Etoinette Crystal Shine Lips - The cutest thing ever? Hells YEAH! The nicest nude-pink shade? Definitely. But mostly...SO CUTE. I just look at it sometimes.

So, have you guys tried any of the above? Do you want to?

Little Gem: Crushing on Thérapie's Skincare Stock.

If you're one of my Irish readers (soz, everyone else) you'll probably have seen the ads for Thérapie on tv. If so, you'll probably associate the company with laser-hair removal. In fact, much more is going on in their little complex on Molesworth Street. There is a shop, clinic and hair salon all next to each other on the street. Never having spent much time on the street nor having gone inquiring about their hair removal services, I didn't know much about them until last week when I was making my way to the National Library. What first caught my eye was the Murad products I could spot through the window. I had an appointment to make so I continued past but made a mental note to return and check it out.

Last night, on my way home from the city centre, I decided to pop by as most shops stay open later on Thursdays. It just so happened that when I stumbled in they were having an Ultimate Body Event with 20% off all treatments and body products in store (check out their facebook page to keep an eye out for similar events in the future). They were also passing around champagne...I am a jammy fecker.

Not only that but when I asked if it was okay to take photos to do a focus on their products and services, I was promptly introduced to their PR person, Abigail, who was lovely and very kind to me. I don't know why I am constantly surprised by how sweet people are in these situations - perhaps I'm innately cynical - but I am always pleasantly surprised.

Top-notch waiting room reading material, non?

Teeth are important too!

For me, it's the skincare that excites me most. I don't know if I'm weird but luxury skincare makes me gah with delight way more than makeup! To see that they stocked Murad and Eve Lom got me a wee bit giddy. This was heightened when Abigail told me that Dr Murad himself had visited recently and they may have future events with him/the brand again. Other skincare brands that can be found in store are Royal Apothic and Image Skincare and one can get facials and other skincare treatments in the clinic from Murad, Eve  Lom, Image and Dermalogica with prices starting at €50.

The product I'll definitely be popping back in for, however, has to be the Murad Oil-Free Sunscreen Broad Spectrum in SPF 30. At the moment it's reduced to €12.95 so it's a major bargain! And sun protection might not seem like the most glamourous purchase but IT'S SO IMPORTANT. I tried this in store and it's so hydrating and smooth!

Annoyingly only realised this person's glass was in the way once I got home! But that's the sunscreen.

So, how about you guys? As passionate about skincare as me?