Tried and Tested: featuring Maybelline, ArtDeco and Rimmel

                

Three new products that I tried and tested this month are Art Deco kohl kajal liner, Super Stay 24 hour Waterproof powder and Rimmel Colour Rush balm. 

These products have already become my handbag staples so it's definitely a positive review for all of them. 

First off is is the lip balm, it's a gorgeous pop of pink. It isn't sticky and actually has quite a decent staying power. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a name or a number on this one from Rimmel but it's quite a natural pink that actually deepens throughout the day. It's perfect if you want to wear something light on your lips. It's €7.99 at the moment in Boots and I think it's worth the price. 

                   

Here's my lip colour before and after. It's a very natural shade and it goes with everything. 

The Maybelline 24 hour super stay waterproof powder is without a doubt my favourite of the lot. I love anything that will help my foundation stay on longer. This provides you with extra coverage as well and is creamy and easy to apply. It isn't translucent and the shade I have in sand is a little bit dark for me but apart from that no complaints. This is €10.49 in Boots which is cheaper than ask thought for a Maybelline product. 

The Art Deco liner is a new one for me the shape is odd but it is easy to apply and very black and opaque as you can see in the swatches above. It doesn't last all day it does wear off but it is one of the few liners that doesn't make my eyes itchy and scratchy! ArtDeco makeuo is sold at Debenhams. 

*I received all products above as gifts from an internship. All opinions are my own.*

Be the Best You Lifestyle Challenge: A Look Back

While there is still one week left of the #BeTheBestYou challenge I have been undertaking I decided to take a look back on how far I've come and what I've learnt. 

If I'm totally honest I didn't stick to the exercise plan, I know if I did I would most definitely be slimmer and more toned by now but coming from a person who thinks a half hour walk is exercise, twenty minutes of High intensity interval training left me feeling faint. I want to gradually build up my fitness levels and hopefully in a few months I will be able to do all of those exercises on the plan five times over. 

                                     

   

Nutrition wise I feel like I have learnt so much. The notes and guidelines Claire gave us were a great help and got us to understand why we were limiting carbohydrates. Avoiding white carbs and limiting starchy carbs such as sweet potato, brown bread, oats to after a workout. At the start this concept was alien to me but for the last two weeks I ate no carbs and I felt so much better in myself. I had more energy, I didn't feel sluggish, and most of all I didn't feel like I NEEDED my comfort food, I felt satisfied with chicken and veg or steak and veg et cetera. Lunch was soup or salad and breakfast was scrambled or poached eggs which did get a bit boring I have to say but that's down to me to make my meals more interesting. 

I went a bit mad on the weeknd and started indulging in crisps, chocolate and bread again and lo and behold my skin broke out like never before and I started having stomach issues again. It really shows in such a short space of time how food can affect you in a good or bad way. 

                   

    

So we have one more week ahead of us, I'm not expecting any big results weight wise at the end but I have definitely learnt a lot about food, nutrition and am focused on becoming a more healthier me and on being the best me. Strive for progress not perfection is definitely my motto to live by.

                                 

Bargain Beauty Alert

                           

If you have a fiver to spare why not pick up this handy on the go palette from Wet n Wild. It's called Walking on Eggshells and it consists of three pearlescent creamy eyeshadow with a handy guide so you know where each shadow goes. Not only that but it comes with two little dinky brushes, one for the lid and one for blending. 

                            

Theres a very pale gold shimmer for the brow bone, a coppery brown shimmer for the crease and a pinky champagne shimmer for the eyelid. Now normally eyelid creases are a no go area for shimmers, especially on older ladies who may have the beginnings of wrinkles. I like to use either the lid or crease shade all over my lid and then use a matte brown Shadow in the crease followed by the highlight colour on the brow bone. 

                     

The end result is a very subtle shimmery effect which is natural and perfect for a day time look. 

                         

Excuse my lack of eyebrows, my angled brush has gone in walk about. 

                          

It's such a handy little product and coming in at €4.49 it's under that fiver budget. This Walking on Eggshells palette by wet n Wild is a handy little handbag product if you need some shimmer on your lids in a hurry. You can buy Wet n Wild products in Penneys and Dunne Stores also some pharmacies. 

     

 

Five beauty tricks using one product

One makeup product but five ways to use it! I am loving NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk and I use it in a variety of ways....:)

1. Use it to line your waterline, it will instantly make you look wide awake and will also make your eyes appear larger.

2. Apply it just underneath the arch of your brow. This will instantly define your eyebrow and lift your face.

3. Get rid of fine lines and blemishes with your magic wand – I mean eye pencil- by lightly drawing over the lines or dotting the pencil over the blemish and blending it in with your ring finger. The white works to cancel out the darkness in the areas which can create the shadows on your face. Go over the white pencil with some concealer and concealer brush.

4.Get a plumped up pout but using the white eye liner pencil to define your cupids bow. Thin lips are a thing of the past, after using the white pencil to create an illusion of fuller lips by drawing lightly over the cupids bow outside the lip line.

5.Enhance your lips even further by taking your white eye pencil and filling in the middle bottom lip. Apply your lipstick over this and wait for the compliments to roll in.

Let me know if you try any of these tips or if you have any other ways to wear your white liner! NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk can be purchased for €7.99 online at www.beautyemporium.ie or in certain pharmacies. If you want a cheaper option Rimmel have a kajal liner option in white for €4.49 available in Boots now.

Your Top 5 Frequently Asked Health and Fitness Questions Answered

We all have certain tricky fitness questions we always wanted a professional to answer. Instead of making your way through the Google archives have a read of the most frequently asked fitness questions and their answers below from a professionals point of view. 

                               

I talked to Claire Kane of Volta Fitness about fasted cardio, how to drop body fat, the best way to tone and how to run a 5K. 

Q. Claire, what is your opinion on fasted cardio? 

Fasted cardio is good for bursts of cardio as opposed to distance running because in order to reach your target you need the fuel. Fasted cardio burns HARD but I would recommend more HIIT (high intensity interval training) fasted than steady state like jogging.

*What is HIIT? High intensity interval training is a selection of exercises designed to get your heart rate up such as burpees, mountain climbers, and squat jumps. There is a short rest period between each set of exercises.*

Q. What are the biggest health and fitness mistakes women make?

A. There are two big mistakes women make when it comes to health and fitness and I was once guilty of both! 

1. "Going on a diet"- this makes steam come out of my ears. Diets don't work for so many reasons, one being that depriving yourself of goodies for a set period of time makes you miserable so once you're finished and you've lost the pounds you'll put them back on because you "deserve" to eat all the cake! Another reason they don't work is because typically they are not nutritious. You are counting calories in favour of nutrients, you're juicing instead of chewing. Good, clean food is the way forward with the odd treat or cheat meal. 

                                  

    

2. Refusing to weight train or only using light weights. I've said 100 times and I'll say it 100 more: Weight training is what gets you a firm, lean body. You can run and run on that treadmill for hours but you will never get shapely arms or defined abs unless you lift! LIFT!! A woman is not going to get man arms because of a bicep curl- it takes a lot of hard work and testosterone for a man to get the arms you think you'll get from lifting weights. *deep breaths* (You can tell Claire is very passionate about weight training.) 

Q. How can I lose my flabby stomach/ mammy pouch after giving birth? 

Sadly there is no way to pin point exactly where you lose body fat from. You'll see a lot of products like waist trainers and body wraps that claim to remove body fat from specific areas but this just isn't true! These are scams and they are potentially damaging to your health. The best thing to do is clean up your daily nutrition. Fat stored around the tummy area is generally cause by insulin and women of are more susceptible as we get older because our hormones change so much. This means we have to watch our sugar intake! Cut out fizzy drinks, sugar sweets, ban juices and eat whole fruit, ideally ones lower in fructose like berries. Don't over load on starchy carbs like bread and potatoes and drink lots of water. 

Further more, don't be afraid of weight training! Lifting weights helps burn fat more efficiently and when combined with good nutrition you are sure to see a difference.

Q. How can I tone my arms and get rid of those dreaded bingo wings? 

A. "Toning" is essentially building lean muscle and lose body fat. I recommend getting a set of dumbbells, ideally one with changeable plates, or a couple of reasonably heavy kettle bells (no lower than 8kg). With these you can perform several shoulder and arm exercises and combined with bigger movements like squats to burn body fat all over. A lot of girls are aftaid of weight training but there is no need- chances are you are not eating enough for building huge muscles nor do you have the hormones for it! Lifting weights is honestly the best thing you can do for your muscle tone and strength. 

I'd combine this weight training with a form of cardio called High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT which burns body fat much more effectively and quicker than going on jogs or runs. Get a HIIT timer on your phone and set it for 40 seconds, 30 seconds, 20 seconds and 20 second rest ans perform three fast, intense exercises such as squat jumps, burpees and Jumping lunges and repeat the set 4 times. Do this once or twice a week combined with your weight training 4 - 5 times and you will be looking at some more shapely arms in no time. 

                 

    

Q. I want to start running, and am aiming at doing a 5K first. Any tips? 

A. If running 5 km is your aim and you have poor cardio fitness the first thing you need to do is cast out any doubt you might have of yourself. Don't say you are going to TRY for 5km say you ARE going to do it. Running has a lot to do with mindset. 

Second of all you need to pace yourself. Don't go out on your first run and expect to be able to run 5k. Start off with intervals: walk for 2 minutes, run for 1, next time walk for 2 minutes run for 2, next time walk for 1 minute, run for 2. Then you can build yourself up to a 2 km walk/run and work your way up. I recommend getting the run keeper app and registering for a 5km course. It breaks it down simply and within weeks if you follow it you will be running 5km. 

Finally, make sure you are eating enough. One big mistake people make is running on a totally empty stomach and they burn out after a couple of minutes of running. Eat well, time your food around your runs; food is fuel! 

                                  

    

You can visit Claire's blog and website at www.voltafitness.co

Search Volta Fitness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and follow our journey via the hashtag #BeTheBestYou 

Head on over to Claire's Facebook page Volta Fitness and give it a like as she is giving away a personalised fitness plan to one lucky winner soon! 

My Threading Experience

When it comes to eyebrows I have also either reached for tweezers and done my own or got a brow wax in my local salon. Today however when I was in Blanchardstown centre I decided to get my eyebrows threaded for a change. Forgoing the benefit brow arch for sixteen euro I decided upon the Body Shop for my brows. 

The girls in there are always busy threading brows and for some reason it has stuck in my mind that the Body Shop were one of the first places around that threaded brows. Thankfully they no longer thread them on the shop floor and have a small back room with floor length mirrors and a reclining chair where you can get your brows into ship-shape for the price of twelve euro which is still twice the price as my local salon who will wax your brows for only six eurits! 

I have heard some rumours that waxing long term can pull at the muscles and elasticity of the face causing sagging but I don't wax my eyebrows that often so I wouldn't be too worried. In case you are wondering threading is an old Indian form of hair removal done by the therapist using thread between her teeth. It all sounds kind of gross but there was no spit involved don't worry! 

Threading actually feels a little bit like waxing but a lot less painful I think. Fun fact, your left eyebrow will hurt more than your right eyebrow and I, or the threading guru who did mine have no idea why! You will have to get a little bit hands on in this treatment and stretch the skin on your forehead up to help them get all the tiny stray hairs.

Overall the treatment was no frills. I walked in off the street or out of the centres main shopping area and got an appointment straight away, I just had to give my name and phone number. Then my therapist I will call her as she didn't introduce herself brought me into the side room where another girl was getting her eyebrows threaded. I sat down, I had explained that I had never got my eyebrows threaded before. She didn't feel the need to explain to me what she was going to do which I find a bit annoying I mean I know it's a quick budget treatment in and out but a little bit of background info would be expected. She didn't even ask him how I would like my brows or the arch to look. I don't know if this is standard in threading but any time I have got my brows done before they always take you through it step by step and ask you how you like your brows. 

For twelve euro I'm glad I got them threaded for the experience but I get better service in my local along for a six euro brow wax so sorry the Body Shop but I don't think I will be back.