Looking For an Alternative to Bioderma? Ziaja Have You Covered with Ziaja Micellar Waters!

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well! I have something for you today that will make your life a lot easier when it comes to cleansing, Ziaja Micellar Waters. Micellar Waters have recently become the weapon of choice when it comes to removing makeup, and for good reason. We're all looking for the most effective, hassle free way to remove our makeup at the end of each day and Micellar Waters are such a fantastic way to accomplish that. Being around the beauty community as much as I am, and reading as many reviews as I do, I think it's safe to say that we all went more than a little crazy for Bioderma. The worst thing about Bioderma was that it wasn't available here, we had to order off eBay paying extortionate prices for the product itself and shipping, or if you were lucky get a friend to pick it up in France. No one really wants that hassle, and whats more, if you can get an alternative that's just as good if not a little better, has an infinitely more reasonable price tag and is available in chemists or online to be delivered straight to your door, why wouldn't you give it a go?

Totally incredible and totally affordable, I give you the bright and beautiful range of Ziaja Micellar Waters. As I mentioned above, I have been looking for an alternative to Bioderma for the longest time. Ever since I gave my last 500ml bottle to my dear friend Sarah in exchange for a fabulous Owl Scentsy Burner (totally worth the trade by the way) I have been trialing different cleansing waters non stop, but was left unimpressed by what was on offer. So, when I found out what Ziaja had to offer by way of Micellar Waters, I knew I'd have to give them a try, lets have a closer look, shall we?

Ziaja Jasmine Micellar Water is packed full of fantastic ingredients to help your skin look and feel its best after cleansing. With Jasmine Oil used to cleanse the face of its impurities and also balance the skin, Pro Vitamin B5 to promote healing and new skin cells to consistently regenerate, and Hyaluronic Acid to play a critical role in in our skins health with its unique ability to lock in moisture. A product that not only is hugely beneficial to your skin but also removes every last bit of makeup without leaving your skin feeling stripped or dry.

Ziaja Natural Olive Micellar Water with its main ingredient of Olive Oil, which should really become a staple in your beauty regime in some form, it holds an incredible amount of benefits for your skin. Rich in Vitamin E, it helps to keep your skin looking and feeling supple and it can even help to calm any skin irritations you may have. It also helps to plump and moisturise the skin with its combination of Vitamin A & E, really making this Micellar Water something special. Again, after use, this leaves the skin feeling clean and hydrated, a total winner in my book.

Ziaja Rose Butter Micellar Water has to be one of my favourites. The many benefits of Rose Butter include minimising the appearance of acne scarring, it helps to moisturise dry, chapped skin and lock in moisture, the perfect companion for the cold Winter ahead! It's also an excellent toner due to its antibacterial properties, and finally it's also an excellent source of antioxidant Vitamin C which helps to repair discoloured skin. I guess really what I'm trying to tell you here is that I consider this a little bottle of wonder!

Ziaja marine Algae Micellar Water is definitely worth a look in my opinion. Marine Algae has many highly effective ingredients. It firms, lifts and hydrates the skin on contact. The secret to Marine Algae being so densely packed with vitamins and minerals is the fact that they are permanently submerged under sea water, which is itself is mineral and nutrient rich. Algae is also rich in beta carotene, Vitamin A, and Amino Acids, it also helps to maintain collagens, helping to make the skin soft, supple and wrinkle reduced! I cant recommend this enough!

So, my final thoughts on Ziaja's range of Micellar Waters? Amazing products! Stop buying your Bioderma now and switch to these, because honestly, for products that range between €4.49 and €5.99 you really cant go wrong. I just love these, I highly recommend you give them a try, I can guarantee you wont be disappointed!

That's it for now ladies!

I hope you enjoyed,

What are your thoughts on Ziaja's Micellar Waters?

Are you tempted to try them?

As always, let me know below,

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea 

You can purchase Ziaja online here at originalbeauty.ie.

You can also add Ziaja on Facebook here.

Ziaja is also available at selected Pharmacy's Nationwide. 

Tag: 20 Random Facts About Me & Giveaway!

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well! I wanted to do something a little different for you today. A Tag, not something I normally do, but I thought this might be a fun way for you to get to know me, and have a little fun while doing it. As promised, I also have a little giveaway for you. Stick around, until the end to find out what it is, and how you can win!

So here they are, 20 Random Facts About Me:

1. I have a totally irrational fear of butterflies.

2. My favourite film of all time is The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. It is a very old black and white film,made in 1947 starring Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, just make sure and have the Kleenex close to hand! You can thank me later....

3. I have the strangest taste in male celebrities, Dylan Moran, Karl Pilkington, Jason Segal, Kevin Smith, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harelson, Timothy Dalton, Seth Rogan and Anthony Hopkins to name but a few.

4. I am obsessed with Comic Book Movies, but don't read comics... V for Vendetta, Avengers Assemble, Thor (and his massive hammer, sorry, I'm not sorry) Iron Man, Batman etc...

5. My girl crush is Jennifer Lawrence. I think she is incredible.

6. This is a strange one, but I'm kind of fascinated by peoples Laughs, like if you have a really good laugh, I'm pretty sure we'll get along. I think Sharon Osbourne has the best laugh on the planet. Seth Rogan is a close second! 

7. I have an unhealthy obsession with Silent Hill. The story line, the characters, everything. I think that the movies, are visually, the most stunningly beautiful movies I've ever seen.

8. Charles Bukowski is my favourite poet. His collection of poetry 'You Get so Alone at Times, it Just Makes Sense' literally changed my life.

9. I think The Hunger Games Trilogy have to be some of the best, and totally addictive books ever written.

10. Depeche Mode & New Order are my two favourite bands. If I could chose a favourite song from each, they would be Depeche Mode - It's No Good and from New Order - True Faith.

11. When I was 12 I watched The Exorcist and it got to me so much that to this day, I still cannot watch it.

12. I once met Dylan Moran outside Vicar Street and he asked me if I wanted a pineapple. I just wanted to run away with him there and then.

13. The 3 Most Played songs on my iPhone are M83 - Midnight City, The XX - Intro and Bastille - Of The Night. 

14. Quentin Tarantino is my favourite director of all time, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown are my favourites.

15. I once sat on my friends curling iron whilst wearing a skirt, it burned straight through and I now have a very impressive penis shaped scar on the back of my leg... I promise you there was no alcohol involved at the time, although it did it's part afterward...

16. I'm actually quite accident prone, and have no problem laughing about it. I think the worst had to be the time I fell out of a Wheelie Bin, again no alcohol involved, just trying to push the rubbish down...

17. I'm a little bit in love with Steve Martin, The Father of The Bride films and Trains, Planes and Automobiles have to be some of his best films.

18. I collect scarves, and perfume. I have about 150 scarves, any colour, design or fabric, I more than likely have one to suit. My perfume obsession began when I was 16 and bought a bottle of Ralph Lauren Ralph on a flight back from Italy. I now have over 70 bottles.

19. I like to think I'm an optimist, that everything happens for a reason, and I'm a huge believer in Karma.

20. I would be lost without my friends, most of whom are probably reading this now. I'm blessed to have such an incredible bunch of people in my life... half lunatics, half angels for putting up with me.

So there you have it, 20 Random Facts About me! Now, on to the Giveaway!

I want you to leave a comment below, or tweet me, telling me a random fact about you! That's it, nothing more, nothing less!

If chosen you will win a mug with your Blog Logo on it! You will of course have to send it to me so I can get it done up, and if you don't blog, don't worry, I've got you covered! You're more than welcome to send me a picture, or whatever you would like to get printed on the mug.

Here is what mine looks like!

Congrats to the lovely Chloe - Nursefancypants! x 

So, that's it ladies!

I hope you enjoyed!

Winner will be chosen next Monday! 

Get commenting and good luck!

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea

I would like to tag: Chloe (NurseFancyPants), Donna (NotJustInside), Orla (MakeupOverMind), Marian (HighLifeOfMars), GirlFridayBeautyBlog, and Sarah (Adoreabubbles) Feel free to do the tag yourselves ladies! xx

Cocoa Brown 'Meet the Family' & Luxury Gift Set

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well! Now you all know that I am a huge fan of the Cocoa Brown range from Marissa Carter. I first fell in love with Cocoa Brown when it was released around this time last year. I still cannot believe that CB is one year old! How far its come and how popular it has become, which really is no surprise to anyone who loves the brand! From Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan, to the newest addition of the scrumptious Chocolate Whip Body Moisturiser, Cocoa Brown has given us an incredible family of products to suit all our tanning needs!

The entire Cocoa Brown Range has something for everyone, and looks after every aspect of maintaining your tan, which is not only unique, but also fantastic! The range offers the original 1 Hour Tan, Night & Day Tan, Tough Stuff, Chocolate Whip Body Moisturiser and Tanning Mitt.

These two beautiful tans are the Holy Grail products of my tanning regime first we have Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan, you can read an in depth full review here, I cannot count the amount of tan-phobes I have converted by recommending CB, and who now, would never use anything else! The Cocoa Brown Night & Day Tan is perfect for those of you who need that perfectly developed tan in a hurry! You can read a full review of this wonder product here. Whether it's longevity you need or a perfectly developed tan in a rush, Cocoa Brown have you covered!

Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff is an absolute must have product in my opinion, even if you don't tan I think that this product would be perfect for you! This is incredible for removing stubborn old tan, for preparing the skin for that new layer of tan, or just fantastic as an exfoliating body treatment! It is scented beautifully and is the most stunning pink colour, perfect to indulge your inner pink obsession, because lets face it, we all have it ladies!

Chocolate Whip is the newest addition to the Cocoa Brown family and isn't it just a beauty?! Smelling as edible as it sounds Chocolate Whip is designed to make your flawless Cocoa Brown Tan last longer and fade flawlessly, it is an oil free body moisturiser, with Vitamin E and Panthenol. The Vitamin E helps to lock in moisture, help with the appearance of scars and stretch marks and helps keep the skin soft and supple! Panthenol is fantastic for creating a barrier against everyday environmental damage, and prevents the skin from become dehydrated, an added bonus as we enter the colder months. So in short, Chocolate Whip is choc (see what I did there?!) full of goodness to help keep your skin in tip top condition all year around!

And now, for the star of the show... the MOTHER of all gift sets, I give you the Cocoa Brown Luxury Gift Set! Containing 3 full size products and a tanning mitt, for the unbelievable price of €19.99! This will be available exclusively in Tesco stores from the end of November! These are sure to sell out as soon as they hit the shelves. Containing Chocolate Whip, Tough Stuff, and 1 Hour Tan, this is sure to be the perfect gift for any Cocoa Brown fan, as a stocking filler, for someone who is just starting to experiment with tanning or lets face it, for yourself! A little self gifting never hurt anyone, right?!

I am so in love with this gift set and with the entire Cocoa Brown range. Marissa really has created a line of pure perfection here, and only that I myself have been converted from someone who never wore tan, to someone who squeels with delight at the very mention of a new product release from the line, I would never have believed that self tanning would become an area of the beauty industry that I would become so obsessed with! Be sure to keep an eye out for these ladies, they are bound to snapped up quickly!

That's it for now ladies,

I hope you enjoyed!

What are your favourite Cocoa Brown products?

Will you be purchasing the Luxury Gift Set?

As always let me know below!

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea

Lancome Happy Holidays: Winter Collection 2013

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well. It's my favourite time of year and bit by bit the Holiday collections are starting to trickle onto the  makeup counters, and it is such a welcome sight! This year Lancome's Winter Collection  is inspired by the magic of a snowy scene (fingers crossed we'll have our own snowy scene soon!) the satin radiance of snowflakes and the glitter of frost set to adorn you in enchanted light.

With shades of iridescent black and glistening garland topped off with a dazzling red lip, this collection lives up to the promise of Happy Holidays! All the magic of the season seems to be captured right here in this stunning collection of elegant, chic and glistening products! Lets have a closer look, shall we?

The Hypnose Ultra Dazzling Colours are truly a thing of beauty, offering a high concentration of pigment and sparkle within a waterproof mousse like texture these are just incredible! They are easy to apply, smooth application with a great colour payoff and once they set the do not budge, fade, crease or slide. The colours I have, shown above are Emeraude Eternelle, and Saphir Noir. Black Sapphire is a pretty accurate description of this little beauty, black as coal, with a stunning silver sparkle, almost like a dark sky with stars twinkling. Just gorgeous! The Eternal Emerald is not as it appears in the pot. It transfers to the eye as an almost blackened green, this is a colour certain to make your eye colour pop! When paired with the Black Sapphire they combine to make a really fantastic, elegant night time look for the eyes!

Also on offer from Lancome are a set of 4 Christmas Decorations, containing miniature products! When opened these beautiful hanging decorations reveal a different festive treat including Rouge in Love Lipstick, Hypnose Mascara, Gloss in Love and Vernis in Love! I think these would make a fantastic gift for the makeup enthusiast in your life (even if that happens to be yourself!). They are incredibly packaged it really is a lovely idea!

 On the face: Lancome's Teint Idole Ultra 24 Foundation, and on the lips L'Absolu Rouge 132 Caprice

On the eyes: Lancome's Hypnose Ultra Dazzling Colours in Saphir Noir & Emeraude Eternelle, Hypnose Mascara, and Lancome's Art Liner in Black

That's it for now ladies,

I hope you enjoyed,

What are your thoughts on this years 

holiday collection from Lancome?

Will you be indulging?

As always, let me know below!

Until next time 

xoxo 

Aundrea 

Shu Uemura Art of Hair - Ultimate Remedy Line

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well! So as most of you know, I am on a long road of hair recovery. I wont go into too much detail, but hair damage and loss has been a big issue for me over the past two years. I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to pamper my hair, and when I heard about Shu Uemura's Art of Hair Ultimate Remedy Line, I knew I'd have to give it a go!

This collection of products is designed to nurse even the most helpless cases of hair back to health. The products use ceramide as a sort of cement to repair the hair fibre from within. It works to recover solidity and strength of the hair while also nourishing and smoothing for a glossy and soft finish! Here is the sciencey bit: Ceramide is a lipid naturally present in the hair fibre, that binds the cuticle and cortex together, providing the hair with protection, resistance, and impermeability. When applied to ultra damaged hair in high concentration, it penetrates the hair fibre and restores it's solidity and strength from within! This leave the hair with exceptional shine, tone and body, ceramide also prevents the loss of proteins and protects against any risk of future external damage. Pretty incredible right?

The Ultimate Remedy Shampoo with its Lotus Infusion and ceramide 1000PPM (parts per million, so the higher the PPM the stronger the product) gently purifies the hair without any irritation to the scalp. On first shampoo I found there was little to no lather with the product, on second shampoo there was a world of lather! The scent is just exquisite, and that is an understatement. I think if heaven had a hairdresser, their products would smell like this!

The Ultimate Remedy Extreme Restoration Conditioner is again infused with the lotus and ceramide 1500PPM, so stronger again in comparison to the shampoo. This restores nourishment whilst maintaining the softness and flexibility of the hair. I applied four small pumps of the product on to my hair and left it to work its magic for 3-4 minutes, which was fine with me, it gave me time to enjoy smelling my hair. it was easy to rinse out, and then I moved onto the last step!

The Ultimate Remedy Extreme Restoration Treatment is a stunning rich creme masque, and oh my word does it feel like you are in a spa somewhere when you are using this! The result after using this 3000PPM are visible immediately, and leave you with what I can only describe as feeling like you have had a hair transplant! My hair went from brittle and damaged to soft, glossy and strong. I honestly could not believe the difference after one use! Just incredible and I am totally in love.

My final thoughts? I'm blown away by this collection. It truly is incredible. If I had to choose one product? It would have to be the Extreme Restoration Treatment. Out of all the masks, and treatments I have tried on my haircare journey, this one lands in first place and really sort of deserves a special place on a velvet cushion somewhere because its just that good! I absolutely recommend you give these a go if you are in the market for a new hair regime. Perfection for the hair!

 That's it for now ladies,

I hope you enjoyed!

Have you any thoughts on this collection?

Does it appeal to you?

As always let me know below,

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea 

Tots Tuesday - Philosophy Birthday Girl Gift Set

Hello Ladies,

I hope you are all well! Tuesday's on the blog will now be a new series called Tots Tuesday! My 5 year old daughter Addison will be reviewing products in her own words, and telling you exactly what she thinks, in a way that only a 5 year old can. I thought it might be something fun and different, especially if you're looking for a gift for the tot in your life!

First up a little bit about my Addie-Bear -

Addie, can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?
I'm 5, but I'll be 6 in December,so really I'm 5 and three quarters and a bit, and I'm in Senior Infants, but I don't know if I like it yet, there is all hard work and not much play time and sometimes I don't get to finish my lunch!

And can you tell everyone why you like makeup and all the other nice things?
Because you (that's me) have lots of it, and you're always taking pictures of things and its fun to play with and I like things that make me smell nice except sometimes I don't like the horse shampoo, because I'm not a horse mammy.

So Addie, can you tell me what you get in the Birthday Girl set?
You get lipstickgloss for your lips, and you get a shower gel that you use in the bath. It comes in a nice round tub with a ribbon on top, which I like because I can keep it after I'm finished the things to put stickers in, and it has pink sparkles on it because its for girls and its the same colour as my room!

Can you tell me a little bit about the shower gel and why you like it?
I like that it smells like birthday cake, and sometimes if you want bubbles you can pour some into the bath and it makes birthday cake bubbles.

And can you tell me how you think it makes your skin feel after your bath?
I think it makes my skin feel clean and for a little while it makes it smell like cake, but sometimes it makes me want birthday cake, can I have hello kitty on my birthday cake this year?

The last thing is for your lips, can you tell me a little bit about why you like this so much?
This is my favourite, its lipstickgloss that the lipstick artists use in makeup. You can put it on your lips!

Very good, and can you tell everyone what it looks like and how it feels when you have it on?
Well, it looks a bit like a honey yellow colour that has gold sparklies floating in it. You have to squeeze the tube CAREFULLY because too much can come out and you make a mess, but I don't do that! (LOL) When you put it on it makes your lips look shiny and gold and when you go like this (rubs lips together) it feels nice and gooey and then you can go like this (sort of smacks lips) and it makes a pop noise which is funny.

So, do you think people should buy this? And who would it be good for?
I do think they should buy it for people who have birthdays, but you don't really need to have a birthday to use it, because I used it and it wasn't my birthday and nothing bad happened.

Good, I'm glad we cleared that up. Nothing bad happens if you use this when its not your birthday! Did you think maybe the birthday police my come and give out to you?
Are there birthday police?!

No Addison, I think you're safe enough... Say bye bye to everyone!
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Addison chose this picture of her so you could see what she looks like

and how scary she looked this Halloween!

That's it for this weeks Tots Tuesday!

I really hope you enjoyed!

Let me know what you think,

and if you would like to see more of these posts!

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea & Addie

BLOG SALE! Tarte Cosmetics

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well, Just a mini blog sale of sorts. I have quite a bit of Tarte Cosmetics that I just don't use, some I do, so I'll be holding on to those few bits! I just want these few items to go to a home where they will be loved!

THE RULES:

First come, first served!

Postage will be €2.50 for Ireland possibly more depending on how many items you purchase.

Postage for UK will be €3.50 possibly more depending on how many items you purchase.

I will register post on request

I cannot be held responsible for missing items, I will have receipts as proof of postage.

Payment must be made via PayPal.

Leave a comment with your Paypal email and what you would like below and I will Invoice you!

Happy Shopping!

Tarte Miracle of Maracuja Foundation in Ivory - €12 used 3-4 times (SOLD)

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation in Ivory - €12 used 2-3 times (SOLD) 

Tarte Powderful Amazonian Clay Pressed Powder in Fair used Once €15

Tarte Nine to Five Limited Edition Palette 6 shadows & Blush all lightly used

€15 (SOLD)

Tarte Neutral Eyes Volume II - All Shades lightly used €20 (SOLD)

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush - Dollface (SOLD), Amused (SOLD), Flush (SOLD). Swatched or worn Once €13

Amazonian Clay Blush - Glisten(SOLD), Passion (SOLD) and Buff (PENDING) again very lightly used or only swatched

€13

Happy Shopping Ladies

xoxo

Aundrea

Sumptuous Showers with Roger & Gallet

Hey Ladies,

I hope you're all well! Now you all know of my addiction to Roger & Gallet, but I have discovered a new love within the R&G family, The Roger & Gallet Shower Range! Since discovering these, all my other shower and bath products have taken a back seat. Everything about the range just draws me to it, the beautiful packaging, the bright colours, and of course, the heavenly scents, like their sister fragrance waters, these are just perfection!

Look at the gorgeous colours! They're just so bright and beautiful! The great thing about these is that they all contain glycerin to soften, aloe vera and shea butter to moisturise, and coco betaine to cleanse. They are sulphate, colourant, paraben and soap free! Lets have a closer look, shall we?

Gingembre Shower Gel is an absolute gem, I'm a huge fan of the original fragrance water, it's just a stunning scent. I was a little unsure how this would transform scent wise from fragrance water to shower gel, but wow! With notes of ginger and bergamot, this is a very uplifting, stimulating scent, a definite must for Winter mornings to come!

Jean Marie-Farina, this to me is just a piece of heaven! I adore this scent, it's breath taking. It's clean, aromatic and fresh! This is one I can promise you I will repurchase again and again. When the gel hits hot water, it's like a fragrance explosion! It has to be one of the most incredible scent experiences ever! If you want to pick one fragrance to start with, I suggest you start with Jean Marie-Farina.

Fleur de Figuier is one of the newest additions to the family. This is a shower cream, one of two creams in the collection really feels like its going that extra mile to help nourish and hydrate your skin. Scented of aromatic fruits such as mandarin, orange, grapefruit, fig, cumin and musk. It's quite a complex scent that will leave you feeling totally relaxed, heaven!

Bois d'Orange, shown here in a travel size of 50ml which is incredibly handy, is a strong fresh accord of citruses, warm nuances and the strength of woods, combined with fragrant oranges makes this an absolute treat to use! Perfect for your morning shower to perk you up!

My final thoughts on Roger & Gallet's Shower Range? Perfection. You really cannot go wrong with any of the choices available to you in this range. You're bound to find something to suit your taste. I will definitely be exploring the range further!

That's it for now ladies,

I hope you enjoyed!

What are your thoughts on the shower range?

Will you be indulging?!

As always, let me know below

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea