Under Armor Gear- Alice Proof phone case

Hey everyone!

It's been longer then I can remember since I did a review for you all but today I have something that I'm quite excited about to show you.

I was asked to review an Urban Armor Gear (UAG)phone case a few months ago and of course the day it arrived I sent my phone off for repairs so when I finally got the two together I wanted to give the case the ultimate test over the last month before making any conclusions.

Let me start off by saying this case is officially 'Alice Proof'!
What Is Alice Proof? Well there is a long running joke amongst my family and friends (joke for them not so much for me!) where if I am ever given a phone to hold that is not mine everyone will warn the person before hand that it might not be a good idea, if I am lent a phone(Like recently when I sent my phone off for repairs) I am very quickly told to get a case on it immediately and finally if anyone else breaks their phone they exclaim that they have pulled an Alice...
Ok so I don't have a good history when it comes to phones without a case. I may have smashed my iPhone at least 3 times. I may have then decided to get a new cheaper phone as I was sick of breaking my old one only to break they cheaper ones screen within a week of buying it but hey! We all have out faults!! My current phone is the Samsung Galaxy s4 and I love it so much so I don't want anything happening to it. (The crack on the screen is from when my Boyfriend had the phone before me so I can't be blamed!)

I understand that I have small crack on the screen- This was 1) not my fault and 2) before I had the case.

This company claim to meet military drop test standards and although I personally couldn't test that I have dropped my phone 3 times today alone and not even the case is scratched.
I chose the colour valkyrie as I liked the pink finish, the material is really smooth which worried me and made me think that maybe it was a little slippy (too smooth?) However I don't think I've dropped the phone anymore then usual(even if this is a lot normally..)

The case that I got for my Samsung Galaxy s4 would normally cost €31.15 which next to popular brands like otter box is a little cheaper so any way to save a few bob is good for me!
I used to have a LifeProof case which I reviewed in the past. It was a great case while I had an iPhone but it is very expensive in comparison to the UAG case so unless you really want a case for going underwater the UAG case is the one for you(and a lot less bulky too)

When buying your next phone factor in the cost of a good case because if you're anything like me you will ultimately be saving money by investing in a case like the Urban Armor Gear one and not forking out €50 at least for a new screen every once in a while.

What is your favourite phone case, are you as clumsy as me when it comes to protecting your phone? I want to know I'm not alone!

I hope you're all well,

Lots of Love,

Alice May XX

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Cocoa Brown Night & Day Tan Review

Hello Lovelies!

This review has been long overdue but alas here it is!
I have tried the Cocoa Brown Night & Day tan a few times now and am very impressed.

The thing with this new tan in the Cocoa Bro
wn range is that it is an instant tan that gives you a nice dark colour within minutes then in the morning when you have your shower it reveals a light natural tan underneath.

In my review of the one hour tan(which can be read here) I inserted pictures of before and after unfortunately I don't have any to show you this time as just like the product is intended I used the tan last minute with no time to spare!
I love love love this as an instant tan, I really like being quite dark on nights out and when applied generously that is exactly what I was, lovely and tan! On this particular occasion I was off to Kerry the next day for a few days and had a lovely glow to sport for the few days, it looked natural and was just what you would want for during the day.

The main reason I enjoy the product so much is that it is true to what is says it will do. There is nothing more annoying then when a product doesn't do what it's supposed to do and this just has not been the case with my experiences with cocoa brown products. It is not orange like most fake tans are, it doesn't smell, it's natural, if looked after correctly it lasts the 5 days and fades really well. I'm excited to see what cocoa brown has planned next!

My top tips when using Night & Day Tan:
-Have a shower before applying to remove any deoderant, perfumes, lotions & potions or you will be green
-Moisturise twice daily after applying to make the tan last but also fade into nothing
-Start exfoliating on day 3 to again help the tan fade into nothing so it's not blotchy and obvious
-Get out your short shorts and rock the tan!

Until Next Time,

Alice May xxx

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The Product That SAVED My Skin

Yes you read right, the product that saved my skin. The product I'm talking about is Mudd Original Deep Cleansing Clay Mask.
But before I start this review let me give you a background on my skin.

I have actually been very fortunate for the most part when it comes to my skin, I very rarely would get spots and my skin was never overly dry or oily so I had it pretty good! I had people tell me how 'great' my skin was and for the longest time I thought they were having a laugh as I was embarrassed by that 'one spot' on my chin.
Well recently this all changed. My skin would be classified as 'combination skin'(an oily T-zone and dry cheeks in my case) and sensitive but all of a sudden my face was getting dry patches everywhere being extremely dehydrated, I was getting loads of spots more so of those horrible ones under your skin that make the surface of your face all bumpy and uneven. My skin was lifeless with no colour in it at all. It was awful my makeup wasn't sitting right and it was only when I was editing my recent haul video that I saw the extent of how crap my skin was, granted I had had my makeup on all day but it was just awful.

In that haul video I said how I had bought this clay Mudd mask in boots on a whim because my sister and I decided we would do a face mask that evening as a treat it cost €7.89 in Boots. The mask is 100% made of pure clays, contains 'special minerals' to help absorb excess oil, deeply embedded makeup & dirt. It helps to control blackheads as it tones and tightens the skin, it won't clog your pors as It's non-comedogenic and it doesn't contain lanolin

When I first put it on my face not going to lie it stung a little and I was very close to taking it off because as I said I have sensitive skin but I said I'd leave it on for a minute and if it still stung I'd take it off, needless to say it calmed down and I was set with my 15 minute alarm on my phone. While I waited I sent 'snap chat' photo's to my Friends and tried to move my mouth while the clay dried, it was all very grown up of me.

The alarm sounded so I proceeded to take the mask off with a damp face cloth. Straight away my skin felt as smooth as a babies bottom. I applied some moisturiser and decided not to make a verdict right away as a lot of the time these things have amazing results right away but after a few hours your skin is back to where it was.

The next day however my skin still felt wonderful, my makeup went on with ease and for the first time in ages my skin actually looked good with my rosie cheeks back and without all the dry patches and bumps, I was delighted!

My skin feels super soft and the colour has returned!

I have no makeup on in these 2 picture's

As I sit here and type I've had my makeup on all day and my skin still feels wonderful so the verdict is for sure that this is a new holy grail product! I'm going to try use it every week to keep the results up but will definitely use it if my skin acts up again for sure.

I encourage you all to try this right now and let me know how you get on,

A very happy blogger signing off,

Love & Hugs,

Alice May xx

My Thoughts on the Micro Pedi

I may be a little late to jump on this waggon however I've been wanted to hop on for a while! When the MicroPedi hit the shelves a while back there were reviews left, right and centre. I knew I wanted to try it but the price tag was a little much for me to invest in just in case it wasn't for me. 

It's kind of gross to talk about but I had quite a lot of hard skin built up on in particular the heels of my feet, it was the source of embarrassment during summer when the flip flops and gladiators made an appearance but also when I was simply bare foot lounging around the house watching movies with friends. I would tuck my feet under my bum in an attempt to hide what most people probably wouldn't notice but I did! 

I have tried pumice stones and foot scrubs before but none of it worked so when I saw those disgusting ads on the telly I was in awe, a weird 2 things to be said in 1 sentence but honestly there wasn't a product I was more excited to try. 

When I received the MicroPedi I literally ran upstairs to try it for myself. The pink roller is for coarse skin and the blue for extra coarse so can you guess which one I went for?
You simply roll the roller back and forth(while it's on of course) to remove the dead skin and you'll be left with 'beautiful soft, smooth feet'.  

From the reviews I was reading I honestly thought my feet were going to be the most amazing looking things in the world. Don't get me wrong there was a definite improvement right away and after a week of using it my feet were 10 times better  then before however I'm not 100% convinced it's the miracle product everyone says it is. I will continue to use  the MicroPedi and will definitely purchase new rollers when I need them but (please don't shoot me!) I am sort of glad I didn't pay the €40 price tag when I was oogling it a few months back. Don't think I hate this product, I am much happier with my feet now but just not completely convinced. 

Have you tried the MicroPedi or do you want to? Are there any miracle creams, tricks etc.. that you swear by for coarse skinned feet like mine?

Until next time,
Love & Kisses,

Alice May x

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Osprey Hotel & Spa, Naas Review

Hey everyone, a bit of a different post today but here we go...

I decided to treat myself and my best friend to a night in Osprey Hotel & Spa in Naas Friday the 15th of March to cheer me up from a crappy week and the inner blogger in me made me take pictures(sorry for iphone quality!)

On arrival I was hot and bothersome from walking from the town with my big backpack. With no makeup on and my hair pulled back(but of course my wiry curl's popping out) I walked up to the desk to check in. Now I have to say the only time in my whole experience of staying in the hotel I wasn't very impressed with the service. The lady who was dealing with me was quite abrupt and left me standing there in silence for about 10 minutes while she organised my booking(which I had booked online the day before). I think it probably was because I was young and looked rather like pooh to be honest but that is no reason for being treated any differently. Other then that the staff were lovely stopping what they were doing on the corridors just to say hello!

Anyway after the awky mo-mo of silence I was given my room key and directed towards the lifts. I was staying on the 1st floor in room 105. I straight away loved the room. It was big and airy with a huge bed, TV(with ridiculously priced movies and Internet but isn't that the way in every hotel!?), mini bar(Not stocked unless asked but it didn't bother me) and the most beautiful en suite I have ever had in a hotel room I stayed in. My complaint would be that when booking I booked a King Size bed and like I said it was huge but it turned out to be 2 single beds pushed together which was fine as it was myself and my friend staying but if it where a couple I can't imagine it would be too comfortable!

I headed up to the gym after sussing out the room and I have to say the people in the leisure centre were a delight which was a great pick me up after the check in. The gym is good, I didn't like the cross trainers but other then that it's pretty standard and modern.
When I got back to the room I had a lovely soak in the deep bath which was juts heavenly and I honestly could have fallen asleep, it was bliss in the dimly lit bathroom with the hot water.

Seána arrived soon after and we just lay in bed for a while chatting and trying to work up the energy to do something. We eventually walked into Naas to buy some goodies(to go in our mini fridge) and a chipper for our dinner. We had plans to order desert from room service but they don't do it after 10pm and we happened to only remember at 10 on the button and even then we were stuffed!

After polishing off our food we showered and put on some makeup and at about 10:30 we headed down to the residence bar where the bar staff were very helpful but they all pretty much seemed to really not want to be there(apart from 1 who was lovely and got us a new table as we were using a stool as one by mistake!) I got a Long Island Iced Tea(My favourite cocktail) and Seána got a Cosmopolitan. Hers was lovely mine was OK. I still think that the T.G.I Friday's are the best! They were €10 each so again a little pricey but I wasn't expecting much less to be honest.
There seemed to be a bit of a buzz around the bar which was nice but we were so tired we only stayed about an hour before heading up to our big bed waiting for us. After watching the end of 'Cruel Intentions' on the TV we fell into a deep comfortable sleep.

I woke up at at 10am fully refreshed and headed down to the spa facilities by myself. This was the whole reason I booked this hotel as it has the most amazing facilities that come at no extra cost. When you enter into the thermal area there is a large selection of rooms to wander in and out of from sauna's to steam room's to a below freezing room(I opened the door to this one looked inside, saw all the ice and closed the door-not my cup of tea!). There is also a room with heated tile curved beds to relax on and then also a place to have foot bath. There are a few more rooms that you can book as a treatment which i didn't do but all ready with all of the amazing thermal rooms available I was a happy camper!

I strolled back to the room where Seána was just getting up. We packed up the room and headed down to breakfast. Breakfast is served until 11 and we where there just before. There was a selection of cold continental breakfast or hot English/Irish style breakfast(guess which I went for). When we went back to our table we were presented with toast and pre-ordered tea and coffee. The breakfast wasn't anything special but it filled me up so that's a job done in it's self.

The lady checking us out was a delight.

A double room for night here starts at €130 which is an amazing steal compared to hotels of equal quality up in Dublin. The hotel is 4 star which in my opinion is an accurate rating.

I would highly recommend staying in the Osprey it really gave me a pick me up that I desperately needed!

All the best,

Alice May

x

Catrice Waterproof Liquid Liner Review

I have been loving eyeliner recently and for the first time I am actually rotating between all different types- pencil, liquid, gel, powder.. I am getting great use out of all my makeup but of course I'm still trying new things out. This Catrice Cosmetics waterproof Liqud Liner is perfect for people starting out with liquid eye liner as it has a super fine but firm applicator (very important, I hate flimsy long brushes). 

The applicator brush(well it's more of a sponge-y type thing then a brush!) means you can do a very slim line and build it up to the thickness you want.

Here are 2 simple lines I did very quickly on my eyes to show you. I added some mascara for the pictures so imagine this with a little more makeup and keep in mind as well that I have very small eye space!

The liner dries super fast and stays put all day. It's waterproof so if you wear contacts like me and your eyes tend to water this is ideal. Also great for those seriously windy days we've been having of late , my makeup has run all over the place in recent days so waterproof is my new best friend.
Using a little bit of eye makeup remover on a cotton pad gets it all off quickly so none of that harsh rubbing at your eyes ladies! This eyeliner gets a thumbs up from me and with catrice products being so affordable you'd be crazy not pick one up for yourself! 

What are your guys favourite type of eyeliners? What's the best one you've tried- I want to know so leave it below in the comments.

Until next time,

I hope your all well and I'll talk to you soon,

Alice x

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VO5 Heat Defence Spray review

 I was in the market over  a year ago now for a heat protection spray for my hair when it is dry. I had no problem finding products for when my  hair was wet or damp but what about when I was to put the straighteners to my dry hair?

My friend Claire introduced me to this beauty VO5 Smoothly Does it Tame & Shine & Spray. It also says on the can that it is a heat defence. Perfect. Originally you were not able to buy this in Tesco; just Boots but on my last trip to Tesco I saw it and nearly cried...

So basically you just spray this in each section of dry hair before you put heat to it so if you're curling, straightening or even crimping spray some of this puppy on the gruaig first. 
It smells absolutely lovely none of that awful hairspray bizzznizzzz.

My hair has definitely been protected as I have few split ends and my hair is growing. This is a big deal for me as my hair has hardly grown in about 5 years but i n the last year it has just got so long(by my standards) 

This spray is also supposed to give a sleek, shine and frizz free finish. Now to be honest I haven't really noticed because it wasn't what I bought this for but one of my best Friends uses it after she styles her hair and says it does just that!

So there you have it! This is my holy grail of a hair product, it's featured in a favourites video and will definitely be in my hair care routine post/video(when i eventually do it..) It costs I want to say under the €5 mark but I can't actually remember! You all need this in your hair routine so get to tesco or boots STAT!

Until next time,

Love & kisses,

Alice x

MOVIE:The Impossible- My Thoughts

Today is slightly different to my normal posts but I have literally just walked in the door from the cinema. I saw the new(ish) movie 'The Impossible'. It surrounds the true story of a family who were holidaying in Thailand when the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit back in 2004. The family gets split up and they're all basically looking for each other. It's not quite as straight forward as that but you get the general drift.

I wrote a post back in August of 2012 about how I was affected by The Batman movie which you can read here. Well basically the same thing happened only worse. 
I found the movie unbearably hard to watch, now don't get me wrong the movie is amazing but there is no way I will watch it again. The pure devastation of the horrible disaster was recreated so well that you'd swear you were watching a documentary.
The terror of the families, the sadness of ones who were searching for loved one, the many body bags which included tiny little baby size bags... 

I cried throughout the entire movie and I wasn't alone, I could hear sniffing throughout the entire screen and to say the cinema was quiet.. I have never heard a quieter cinema screen in my life, no one spoke a word throughout the movie and we all left pretty much in silence when it was over. 

The movie is so powerful but I have never felt so upset about a movie and I'm not sure I like this feeling.

I want to give back to world. I feel as a human being who has lived such an easy life compared to a lot of people I need to help. I don't know how I will do it yet or what I will do but in some way I need to do my part as a human being. I will of course let you know what that it is when I figure it out for myself..

So as you can gather 'Th Impossible' had a huge impact on me and I would erge you all to go and see it, watch it online, rent it on DVD just see it. 

I do apologise if none of this makes that much sense as I said I am only just in the door with all these emotions and thoughts that I had write them down(Get a diary Alice!) 

Until next time,
I hope you're all well and I'll talk to you soon,
Alice x

Flawless Finish with Blank Canvas F18 Brush

I received an email recently showing the Blank Canvas F18 Brush and right away I wanted to write about it as it looks just AMAZING!

The F18 brush is a small duo fibre brush made from a blend of natural and synthetic fibres  costing just €14 and is perfect for buffing/stippling foundation on but great for all other cream products like blush as well. I've wanted a small one for quite some time for those little areas a big one just can't reach like the corners of your nose so maybe this is the one for me!?

I am a huge fan of duo fibre brushes I've been using the MAC 187 for years now, have a Makeup4Ladies(funny name I know) one in my makeup kit and a Crown brush sadly sitting isolated as I melted some of the bristles(long story). Basically I just love them! They give such a flawless air brushed appearance that just can't be compared to your bog standard flat foundation brush.

I think I will treat myself to a Blank Canvas F18 Brush once I finish my Christmas shopping(if I have any money left over!) as I've wanted to try out the blank canvas brushes for quite some time so getting this email has certainly made me want to give it a real try!

Do any of you own this or any other blank canvas brush? Will you be getting your hands on one of these babies?

Blank Canvas Cosmetics are available to purchase online at www.blankcanvascosmetics.com.

Until next time I hope you're all well and I'll talk to you soon,
Alice x

Eldora Handmade Lashes Review

I had never heard of Eldora lashes before but when I was given the chance to try them after doing some research I was really excited to give them a go! Then weirdly enough one of my Teacher's in college was raving about them a few days ago!

The lashes I was given to try are the H121 Human Hair 'light and curvy natural lashes with shorter width'

 I held on to them until the right time so when I was doing a look in college that they fit into I got super excited! The lashes aren't on me but they they look fab on my gorgeous friend Kate!

 The lashes are really easy to apply, I can't say anything about the glue that comes with them as I always use my Duo glue as it's never failed me before but I'm sure it does the job!

My favourite thing about the lashes is that the band is really thin so you don't have to have a really thick eyeliner to hide the fact that their fake in fact I didn't apply any liner to the lash line!

All lashes are hand made which is kinda cool really! 

The company sell a huge variety of lashes from day to theatrical to feathers to individuals in both synthetic and real human hair. 

The lashes start at £3.90 I believe. The pair I am reviewing sells for £4.50

Ultimately I am really pleased with the lashes and would encourage you all to check out their website to find out a bit more and the shop if you want a sneaky purchase! 

I hope you guys enjoyed this review, let me know if you've ever tried these lashes or if you will now ha ha!

Until next time,
I hope you're all well and I'll talk to you soon,
Alice x
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LIFEPROOF iPhone Case Review

I'm a proud owner of a white iPhone 4 but prior to it I had the iPhone 3gs and I broke that screen twice! I know, I have a problem but that's where this amazing case comes in!

I've been using the lifeproof case for a few weeks to get a feel for it and I can honestly say that it is amazing! 

The whole idea behind the case is that it will protect it from 'the four proof's' Water, Dirt, Snow & Shock so if you drop it in a sandy beach puddle that happens to be iced over you will be fine!

The proof is in the pudding! Yes that is a running tap!

There isn't much I can say about the case other then it works! It's available in 11 different colours so you're bound to find one you like! I chose teal as I didn't really like the grey border with the pink otherwise I would have stayed true to PinkGlitter10!

The only down fall to the phone case is the price. At €62.02 it does set you back a few bob but thinking about how much you would spend on a replacement makes this seem like pocket change! 

All the bits and pieces you get

Well worth the investment in my opinion! Let me know if any of you are thinking about getting one or of you have one what are you opinions?

You can buy you're very own online and here is the website!

Until the next time I hope you're all well and I'll talk to you soon,
Alice x

ps there are also cases available for iPads and the new iPhone 5