Met Gala 2016: My Top 5!

Hey all,

So the Met Gala is on every year in New York, it's basically an art exhibition in the Metropolitian Museum of Art. Every year the theme is different and this year it was 'Fashion in the Age of Technology', so most stars attended wearing some sort of metallic creation. I thought it would be fun to write up a blogpost on my favourite outfits from the night.

Kylie Jenner
The youngest Kardashian sibling, 18, wore this Balmain floor length metallic gown. It could easily have looked over the top, but her simple makeup and hair managed to keep it with a touch of class. Love her or hate her, the girl has an enviable sense of style and from following her on Snapchat I love how she constantly switches up her style with wigs to keep things fun.






















Taylor Swift
I barely recognised Taylor, 26, with her bleached blonde bob but I think it really suits her and goes with her bold metallic Louis Vuitton dress and strappy gladiator heels. I really like it as her whole look is daring and her makeup suited her. She has well and truly made the transformation from country gal to pop's punk princess.

Kendall Jenner
Not to be upstaged, Kylie's older sis Kendall, 20, went for an equally daring outfit. The mosaic print Versace dress is daring enough, add cut outs and you have an outfit that may have looked damn ridiculous on anyone else. Her simple hair and makeup and shoes made sure that the dress was the star attraction. If nothing else, it was nice to see something other than the metallic themed outfits pretty much every other young lass there was wearing.

Emma Watson
No, it wasn't metallic or anything particularly daring, but I'm a sucker for old school sophistication and this Calvin Klein monochrome outfit worn by the Harry Potter star at the event certainty had class by the bucket load. It showed off the 26-year-old's figure to perfection while still being beautifully classy - and albeit, a little bit quirky as it was a wide-legged pantsuit, to fit in with Emma's own personal style - and I loved the long train. Her hair done in old Hollywood waves fitted in perfectly with this look.

Claire Danes

Probably my favourite outfit of the event came courtsey of this actress, who wore this huge silvery blue Zac Posen number. At the event, it looked like something that really wouldn't look out of place in a Disney movie - and what girl doesn't want to feel like a Disney princess? A picture of it in the dark showed that it had another quality to it, that it lights up in the dark... How fricking cool. Serious style envy.

Thanks for reading guys!

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Thoughts: Social Media - The Great Illusion

Following on from my blogpost about women's rights being restricted in Ireland (if you want to check that out please do so HERE), I have decided to do a blogpost every so often about my opinion on an issue in the news. (I'll try not to rant, and be as objective as possible).

So this blogpost was inspired by a news article I came across during the week, in which an Australian model named Essena O'Neill made the decision to shut down all her social media sites, like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook etc. As it was ironically flooding pretty much every form of social media I use, I decided to check out the article and the reasons behind it. Basically, she explained she shut down her social media sites because she felt it was "fake" and "an illusion". She said that people saw her as this "blond, confident model" but behind the scenes she was a "lonely and depressed teenager".

Of course, the critics waded in, claiming she just did it for attention and maybe she has done, as it did propel her from a virtual unknown only really known in the land down under to all over the globe, but whatever her reasons for doing what she did, it did get me thinking about social media. Initially, Facebook was created as a means of communication between people, Twitter was created for a similar (albeit, shorter!) reason, and Instagram was created as a visual way of communication. In many ways, it has greatly improved the way we live. Just before I moved over, my Dad spoke about when he was in my situation when he was in his twenties, having moved from Ireland to England. The only form of communication he had with family members was a letter every few months. Telephones were not as common as they are now and mobile phones didn't come into existence until decades later. Needless to say, there was no such thing as Skype or even a computer, so he didn't see them at all until he actually travelled home occasionally to see them in the flesh. Compare it with my experience today; having moved over to England, I have Facebook to keep in contact with family members friends in Ireland as well as well as my new classmates, Skype to see my family and friends back home and Instagram allows me to communicate my visual experiences of my new life here as well as seeing a visual representation of my friends and families life back home, every one of these accessible through my mobile phone.

As a blogger, I find social media invaluable for reaching my target audience. I'm not so keen on Facebook, as it only allows a few to see your posts at any one time unless if you have plenty of money to fork out (which needless to say as a student, I don't have), but I'm very active on Twitter and Instagram and as well as promoting my blog on these forms of social media, it's great to interact with other bloggers, who are for the most part very supportive and encouraging.

There is however the flip side of the coin, which is in a nutshell is what led O'Neill to her social media exit. I'm not going to discuss cyber bullying here; I feel like that's an issue so big that a whole blog dedicated to it couldn't even do it justice. And I'm also not going to go into how it's a huge method of distraction and procrastination tool. I, for one, have not been under any illusions since I've started using social media, especially Facebook, that it's just that: an illusion. It's human nature to highlight your best bits and leave out the not-so-good bits, which is why you're more likely to see a university graduation snap rather than someone making the emotional decision to drop out of university (for whatever reason). You're more likely to post a snap of a "lovely" family photo rather than the photo where the young kids have been arguing. You're more likely to take a selfie with full make up and a pretty dress on rather than one with no makeup and your pyjamas on. You use an Instagram or a Snapchat filter because your skin isn't so good. We've all been there, myself included, I'll hold my hands up and admit to that. But we need to take a step back an odd time and realise that this is not necessarily "real" life at all. 

Some people have an addiction to social media, and feel they can't "function" without it. The addiction to likes, the addiction to having a huge number of Facebook "friends". Lonliness and isolation and the struggle with identity of self and where you fit in (especially as a teenager) means that social media is something that people cling to that they feel will provide them with some stability and a means of belonging. Everything from a new relationship to a new job is posted online. Growing up, it was something that tended to frustrate me. Why did people I did not percieve as being nice have more Facebook friends than me? Why did this girl get more likes than me on Instagram? These are insignificant matters now, and the days where I used to get frustrated if my selfie didn't get more likes on Facebook or Instagram are now thankfully gone and buried with the rest of my teenage years. Today I only add people as Facebook friends if I genuinely like them (I have to really like them if they tend to post a lot!) and ignore the other requests, and I won't take it personally if my selfie doesn't reach 200 likes on Facebook.

I have made no secret of the fact I find the way mental illness is addressed on social media is insufficient to say the very least. I remember some years ago watching a YouTube clip by the comedian Kevin Breel, in which he spoke in a similar way to O'Neill, in which he said that he thought that mental health was not being addressed on social media, because it's "not fun, it's not light" and as a result people just don't see the severity of it. People would rather speak about cancer it seems, and before you jump down my throat, I'm not pitting both against one another; they are both horrible diseases to be faced with, and I speak as someone whose family member has gone through cancer - but why are we more likely to talk about one than the other on social media? This in my eyes only creates a world where people who are suffering with a mental illness feel like they cannot admit their problems, which only threatens to make the problem ten times worse. I, for one have been trying to be more vocal with my own issues with mental illness on social media - however emotionally difficult it is - because I feel it might encourage someone else to feel that they are not alone, but I feel sometimes like I'm the only one that does it and I often feel discouraged when I get more views for other blogposts about fashion or makeup than writing about my experiences with an invisible illness of the mind. I believe that social media plays a prominent part in mental illness; not so much causing it but definitely not helping it. I mean, how many times have you innocently scrolled through your Facebook feed in a bad mood, only to see something that makes you feel more down, be it a photo of the guy you like with his new girlfriend, or a picture of someone younger than you graduating when you haven't really decided what you're doing with your life. I'd go as far as to say that it literally changes your mood in an instant. We start to compare our real life situations with other people's highlight reel. The issue of jealousy stemming from one's use with social media is something that has undergone several studies, but you don't need any expert to tell you this. Social media jealousy ends up fragmenting relationships and friendships, which is pretty much the opposite aim of why it was created in the first place!

Ironically, as people spend more and more time online and we tend to live in a fast paced, commerical world, it's easier to communicate with others through an online group or message than actually making the time to meet up with the person in "real" life, leading to feelings of loneiness and isolation.

 To read more about Essena's story see: http://fox6now.com/2015/11/04/social-media-is-an-illusion-insta-famous-australian-teen-shuts-down-social-media-accounts/

To check out the Kevin Breel YouTube clip I mentioned, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3yqXeLJ0Kg

Hope you enjoyed this post!

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Fashion: Celebrity Look Book - Selena Gomez

Hey everyone, and welcome back to my blog!!

So I've decided to have this new feature on my blog every so often and it's a celebrity lookbook. It's basically going to be me picking a celebrity who's style I admire and picking out a few looks of theirs that I'm obsessed with, whether it be casual what they wore to get their morning coffee or whether it's what they wore on the red carpet - really whatever's tickled my fancy. Sound good?

As always, I welcome suggestions to my blog so if there is any celebrity you would like to see me feature in a Celebrity Look Book, then please don't hesitate to comment below or on any of my social media sites (the links to which are placed below). Some celebrity look books I've planned to have in the future are Kylie Jenner, Lea Michele, Zendaya and Taylor Swift.

I'm going to start off this feature with Selena Gomez. For those of you who don't know who she is (cos there may be a few of you!), she's a 23-year-old American who found fame through Disney TV shows and Barney and has since then launched a successful singing career (although personally speaking I think she sounds tone deaf!), acting career (she voiced one of the characters in kids movie Hotel Transylvania and starred in Spring Breakers, a coming of age movie) and infamously dated Justin Bieber. Most importantly, her style has developed, and the fashion world has took notice. She regularly appears at fashion shows front rows across the world and is kitted out in clobber from the likes of Dolce & Gabbana and Prada on a regular basis (oh, the life). I'm personally a huge fan of her style, and it seems that there's many who feel the same way, as there's actually a website out there called called Selena Gomez's Closet, which is specially set up to - you've guessed it - hunt down the items of clothing Ms Gomez is seen wearing, along with more affordable options.

As much as I love Selena wearing her dresses, I love her off duty style too. The casual ripped jeans and black tank top are basic and are glammed up slightly by the beige pointy heels and the fitted cream jacket. Sunnies and straightened locks complete the cute and casual look to perfection.

Anyone who knows me at all knows I love a good crop top and a skirt combo, so obviously this outfit, which Selena wore this outfit to the premiere of her movie Spring Breakers at a film festival in March 2013, had to be included in this look book! She paired this fun, tropical floral print crop top with a vibrant orange pencil skirt. When you have a crop top baring this much flesh, you need to balance it out with a high waisted silhouette skirt to stay more classy than trashy. With her beautiful wavy locks perfectly in place (#hairgoals) and made up with just a subtle orange lippy, she looked effortlessly stylish and chic. Pointy neutral beige heels completed the premiere perfect ensemble.

Selena wore this eye-catching cut out black dress to the Billboard Music Awards in 2011. I felt like the dress flashed just the right amount of flesh and showed off her enviable figure to the max. The sweetheart neckline was just adorable on her and the thigh split added a hint of flirtiness to proceedings, as do the amazing red strappy heels with the bow detail on the peep toe. Her long brunette locks were straightened and the side parting looked glam and sophisticated without being overdone, and I loved her smoky eye makeup too, I thought it worked well with this look.

This is another one of Selena's outfits - which she wore to a movie premiere in 2014 - that as soon as I seen, I was obsessed with. That dress though.. absolutely fabulous. It compliments Selena's figure so well and the neckline flashes just the right amount of flesh to look more flirty than frumpy. Her amazing pins were highlighted to perfection as well. Her hair and makeup was simply made up to allow the dress to be the standout attraction.

This look, that Selena wore to a photocall promoting her movie Hotel Transylvania in 2012, is one of her more grown up looks. Black and white is a colour combination that is so effortlessly classic that it will never go out of style and is very difficult to get wrong. The statement piece is the leather trousers, which if I'm being honest, don't suit everyone, as they tend to highlight everything (including your not so good bits!), but they work on Selena's amazing figure (in fairness, the girl could wear a bin bag and still pull it off). She paired them with a simple top and a white blazer and topped the outfit off with a pair of pointy high heels. Selena's usual perfectly coiffed hair and awesome makeup completed the look.

This was another one of Selena's more casual looks that I really liked her wearing. She wore this outfit while out off on a lunch date with her now ex boyfriend Justin Bieber. This outfit looks like something picked off the bedroom floor, but for some reason I really dig it! I really like the cropped top teamed with the ripped crop jeans and the black Vans (need a pair of them in my life!) and the infinity scarf. It all serves as a very cute, date-appropriate outfit. And don't get me started on the bag. Oh. My. God. I love the colour, love the studded detailing, just love it... 

Selena wore this floaty, graphic animal print dress to the People's Choice Awards way back in 2011. In terms of style, I think this dress is quite daring because you not only have the print going on everywhere you also have the irregular hem going on, but of course Selena works it to perfection! When you're wearing a busy print such as this, especially all over, you really need to plan carefully what to combine with it. If you pair the wrong things, especially with leopard print, it's easy to cross from chic to trash quite quickly! Selena has no jewellery on her apart from a simple bracelet. I know she has the earrings, but for some reason they don't distract from the outfit and really go with it. The heels are nude, which means they won't distract from the outfit either. Of course, her hair looked wavy and flawless and so did her makeup. 

This look, which Selena wore to the Teen Choice awards in 2013, is one of her more fun, girly and young looks. The bodycon bright pink skater-hemmed dress looks so cute on her and flatters her slim figure to perfection. The nude strappy heels compliment the outfit without distracting from the dress. I also loved her hair at this event, she had blond highlights in at the time which added to the fun of the look. Her makeup was also on point too (simple smoky eye and tons of lashes). 

Selena wore this to the Vanity Fair Oscar party back in 2012 and I remember at the time being absolutely obsessed with this outfit on her.  This red dress is so show-stopping even though in terms of style it is quite basic. I just think it complements her skintone and hair so so well. Her hair and makeup kept simple made sure that the dress was the star attraction, apart from a slick of red lippy. Absolutely fabulous.

This outfit, which Selena wore to the premiere of her movie Hotel Transylvania back in 2012, is a good example of the idea that it you don't need too much going on to make a statement. The white knee-length dress is structured (which is a statement even in itself), but the unusual silver metal criss cross design at the neck is really what sends this outfit from drab to fab. I have way too much love for those studded heels, they are absolutely beautiful! Poker straight hair and Selena's usual effortlessly glam makeup completes the look.

Selena was a goddess in green at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards. I loved the colour of this jade green dress, I thought it flattered her olive skin tone so so well. It flattered her figure so well as well, from hugging her famous curves to showing off her amazing toned legs. I thought her makeup was absolutely fabulous as well, she defined her beautiful chocolate brown eyes with some amazing eye makeup and her straightened brunette hair looked so shiny and full of life. I also really liked the turquoise earrings she paired with this outfit, I thought they went really well with the overall look. She paired this outfit with classic nude stilettos that made sure that the dress was the focal point of the outfit.

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Beauty - Kylie Jenner Inspired Makeup

I've done a blog post on Kendall Jenner makeup (see HERE) but it's her younger sister Kylie's makeup I'm focusing on today.



I'm sure we've all seen pictures of Kylie with this sort of makeup - matte light brown lipstick teamed with simple eyeshadow and some winged eyeliner, she wears it a lot in pictures and it's pretty much her go to look as you can see by the other pictures of her there. I really like it too as it's simple and easy to re-create, and is made up without looking too glam or overdone - my kind of makeup!

Kylie has revealed that the lip products she uses are Mac's Whirl lipliner and Velvet Teddy lipstick. As everyone knows, these are not only super expensive products - with the lipliner alone retailing at about €17 - but extremely hard to get your hands on (I've heard from numerous beauty bloggers that Velvet Teddy is almost always out of stock). However, I was in Penneys (Primark for you in the UK) and was looking through their own brand beauty section. I have used their lip products before and have their lipsticks and lipliner in a purple shade, but I was intrigued by their matte light brown lipstick and lipliner. Could these be dupes for Velvet Teddy and Whirl, I thought. They were both inexpensive at €1.50 for the lipliner and €2 for the lipstick so for that price I didn't have to think about it any longer - I knew I wanted to buy them and try them out!

Starting off I moisturised my face with my trusty Simple Kind To Skin Light Hydrating moisturiser (€5 - review of this product plus other skincare products I use is HERE) and applied some Nivea Essential Care lipbalm to my lips (€2.09 - review of this product plus other products I have been using that cost under 10 is HERE). I have used this Primark beauty lipstick before in different shade and I find that it's extremely matte and drying so your lips need to be well moisturised before application, though it being so matte it will last all day on your lips. As this look involves using eyeliner and I often mess it up, I worked on my eyes before my base.

I applied some Catrice Prime and Fine eyeshadow base (€3.20) to act as a primer. Taking the lightest, champagne shade on the left of the Catrice Absolute Nude eyeshadow palette (5.49 - review of that product is HERE). I sweeped that all over my eyelid and up to my browbone. Taking the colour beside that shade, I applied that in the crease and on the top of my eyelid, then blended it out with the lighter eyeshadow shade. I also applied some of the darker shade to my lower lashline. I carefully applied Essence Liquid Ink liquid eyeliner (€2.49) on the eyelid and flicked it out slightly at the outer corner. I then applied some New York Color Big Bold NYC Mascara (€3.20) to my upper and lower eyelashes.

The foundation I selected to use for this look was the Primark Beauty liquid foundation (a steal at only €3), as it's more matte than my usual Rimmel foundation. I applied only a tiny layer of this because I find with this foundation if you apply too much it can easily look like a cakey mess so do take care when applying it, however that said it is a really great foundation for the price you pay and is well up there with a lot of other expensive foundations I have tried out. I patted some Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer (€6.99 - see review of this product plus other Rimmel products HERE) under my eyes and on my blemishes using my fingers, and set the concealer with my Primark loose powder (€2.50). I then set the rest of my base with a very light dusting of Catrice All Matt Plus powder in '010 Transparent' (€3.49) before adding a tiny bit of glow with the Catrice Defining Blush in 'Sunrose Avenue' ( €4.75 - review of that product is HERE). Regarding eyebrows, I filled them in so they looked groomed using my Primark Beauty browkit (€2 - review of that product is HERE). I am planning on doing a blogpost soon on my eyebrow routine actually.

Onto the lips. I didn't  overline my lips. I think that just looks strange to be honest, but each to their own. Instead of applying lipliner inside of my natural lipline I applied the Primark lipliner on my lipline (if that makes any sense), then coloured my lips in with this shade. I think it looks far more wearable and anyways I really don't want to be walking around with huge inflated lips (my lips are big enough anyways!).  I then applied this matte lipstick.

Hope you enjoyed this look!

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Beauty - Kendall Jenner make-up look

I don't watch the TV show that they are in - Keeping Up With the Kardashians - but I love keeping up to date with Kendall and Kylie Jenner on Instagram as they always get it right in the make-up (and fashion!) stakes. I'm not going to even comment on how they look so much prettier than me and they're younger than me!

I loved this make-up look Kendall posted a while ago to her Instagram account so wanted to create it.

The idea behind it is so simple - red lipstick with a cat-like eyeliner and simple eyeliner flick - but when it's on it looks really impressive.

I tried to re-create the look as best I could, but I guess I'm the poorer, paler version of Kendall!

First off, I cleansed my face with Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel foaming wash. I patted my face dry and applied Nivea primer.

The foundation I used is actually Penneys' own beauty brand! Penneys are playing a blinder with their beauty products recently - so far, I'm finding that many of them are exceptional for the little price paid, so when I saw they introduced a foundation to the range I was really excited to try it out. I've already reviewed this foundation HERE.

I applied Kubiss concealer around my eyes and around any blemishes I have and set it with my Catrice All Matt Plus powder as Kendall doesn't seem to have too much of a glow about her here. I applied a tiny bit of Catrice defining blush to the apples of my cheeks but skipped bronzer. I used Seventeen Define and Conquer Contour Kit to add a slight contour to my face. I've already reviewed this product on my blog -  in the '10 Items under €10' post (see HERE).

You can see in the photo of Kendall above that she has a very subtle eyeshadow on. I applied Catrice Prime and Fine eyeshadow base before, using the Catrice Absolute Nude eyeshadow using the second eyeshadow from the left all over my lid and up to my browbone and and using the first shadow from the left as a highlighter shade in the corner of my eyes. I've reviewed the Catrice Absolute Nude Eyeshadow HERE.


Kendall also has eyeliner on, obviously. As I have issues in drawing on eyeliner thanks to my shaky, clumsy hands, I carefully applied Catrice Eyeliner Pen (right) to my eyeline. This is a felt tip with a very precise line. As Kendall has a very thin eyeliner flick, I used Essence Liquid Ink Eyeliner (below) to create that thin eyeline flick. I know I mentioned in previous blog posts I don't really like Essence products, but I have to say that this liquid eyeliner is all kinds of amazing for creating a thin, subtle eyeliner flick.





Kendall also seems to have some white eyeliner applied in her waterline, so that is what I also did using Essence Kajal Pencil. Then I added NYC Big Volume by the Lash Mascara to my upper and lower eyelashes. Kendall has quite well defined brows, so I kept that in mind while applying Penneys Beauty browkit to my eyebrows.

For lips, Kendall is wearing a red lipstick. I moisturised my lips using Nivea essential care lipbalm before lining my lips with Catrice Longlasting Lip pencil. I applied Boots Seventeen Stay Pout lipstick to my lips then. I really like this lipstick, it's matte and stays on all night.  I then highlighted using Essence Cinderella highlighter powder. This i are part of Essence's new limited edition range to coincide with the Cinderella movie release and I will be writing a blog post on all the Cinderella range very soon, but so far I have to say I am liking this highlighter!



The photo of me on the right below is with a flash, the photo on the right is without the camera flash.

                                                          







    





                                                                  Products used:

Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Foaming Wash, E4.79.
Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer, E6.49, Penneys.
Penneys P.S. Love.... Liquid Foundation, E3.
Kubiss London Light Reflecting Concealer, E2, Local chemist.
Catrice All Matt Plus Shine Control Powder in '010' Transparent, E3.49, Penneys.
Catrice Defining Blush in '080 Sunrose Avenue', E4.49, Penneys.
Seventeen Define and Conquer Contour Kit, E7.59, Boots.
Catrice Prime and Fine Eyeshadow Base, E4.20, Penneys.
Catrice Absolute Nude Eyeshadow, Palette, E5.49, Penneys.
Catrice Eyeliner Pen, E3.09, Penneys.
Essence Liquid Ink Liquid Eyeliner, E2.89, Penneys.
Essence Kohl Kajal Eyeliner pencil in '04 White', E2.20.
NYC Big Bold Volume by the Lash Mascara, E3.49, Penneys.
Penneys P.S. Love... Browkit, E1.50, Penneys.
Nivea Essential Care Lipbalm, E2.09, Penneys.
Catrice Longlasting Lip Pencil in '050 Red Light District', E2.20, Penneys.
Boots Seventeen Stay Pout Lipstick, E5.69, Boots.
Essence Cinderella Highlighter Powder, E3.39, Penneys.