Makeup & Curls

Hello you beautiful people and happy August! I'm going to make this a quick one. Penney's have done it again: P.S. BRONZE - Shimmer glow Powder Highlight. The most stunning highlighter I've ever seen in my life. Swatches amazing. Looks like liquid gold on the skin. Melts so beautifully and buttery into the skin.. Look's like you've been kissed by angels. Turns you into an ethereal glowing queen. Has phenomenal pigmentation. Its. only. a. euro. right now. Lads and lassies. Get it. Go to Penney's now. Get it. You need it.  I thought it would be too dark and golden for pale skin but it's actually just stunning. I used it on Breffni who has very fair skin and it was just glowy goodness. I'm honestly blown away by this product. If it was €50 it would still be good value. Get on it, you'll thank me later (or thank me now). Sophie x

I went to my happy place the other day - the hairdressers! I called in to the wonderful people at  Empire Hair   for a deep cleansing hair treatment and here's the 411. I was booked in with the lovely Laura who put the treatment in my hair, told me all the ins and outs of it, and finished me off with a gorgeous blowdry. * Can I just put it out there that I was a little skeptical of this treatment at first. I didn't think a deep cleanse would even be good for your hair - all the stripping of oils and such. I wasn't too sure how I'd benefit at all from it, especially with curly hair, but I put my faith in the girlos at Empire hair nonetheless and I'm delighted I did. * The Company Alfaparf have recently come out with this detoxifying mud mask and it's the first of its kind. The mud mask is part of range of products called Semi Di Lino from Alfaparf (which the salon stocks - HELLO!). It is a deep cleanser for you hair and scalp to remove a buildup of

I am so excited to announce that I will be taking makeup appointments as of now from my home in Ferrybank! I have honestly been thinking about this for years and I finally built up the courage to go for it. Appointments will be taken through my phone on 086-1922113 please text to book. I'll be setting up a makeup business facebook and instagram page very soon but until then be sure to check out my personal instagram s_phiewicks  for some of my latest makeup looks (here's a few of my faves below). I'll be hoping to take appointments through my makeup facebook page once I get it up and running. As I am currently working another part time job I can only guarantee a booking a week in advance for now - perfect for any last minute plans! Prices depending on application such as with lashes etc. I am really looking forward to this experience as it is a huge goal of mine. Looking forward to meeting you! Sophie (MUA?) 

Hello and welcome to the most intimate details of my curly hair routine. I'm actually in a bit of a curly hair curtailment lately - my hair isn't as curly as it used to be but I'm sure it'll bounce back soon. I prefer to wear my hair natural as it's very little maintenance once its dry and that's the life I'm about. Here's everything you need to know about how to get low maintenance, curly hair! If you need reminding of what I look like (HA) here's a recent enough picture of my hair in a mandatory pre- night out bathroom selfie First off I only wash my hair once a week. It really doesn't need more than that. I used to wash it more often but the less you wash it the less it actually needs it. Your hair adapts to how often you wash it. If it's used to being shampooed every day it'll get oilier faster. If it isn't being shampooed every day it wont be as oily. Yes, it takes a bit of time to adapt but it's so worth it. Sometimes

Anyone who knows me, anyone who even barely knows me, knows that I take an enormous amount of time to get ready. Well as much as I'm in love with the process of getting ready, sometimes I wish it didn't take so long. I want to not have to sit in front of the mirror for hours (2... 2.5...3) getting ready to be the full beat, slaying queen I am. Powder Room, House , Limerick - Gorgeous spot! This post mainly came about because I have a festival coming up later in the year which I've come to realise I want to spend more time bopping at than getting ready for. I'm sure loads of you have a festival or some big event to go to that you want to look bomb for but don't have the luxury of hours and hours of time. I have a few tips and tricks below that I'm hoping will speed up the process. Eyeshadow I could spend well over an hour and a half on my eyeshadow if I'm going for any kind of full on look. Yeah I'm not joking, it takes this long. Partly because

I don't know how many times in the last few months I've wandered into Penney's aimlessly only to come out with a bag full of stuff. I'm sure this is the same for most people in Ireland. Recently Penney's has stepped up their game with a lot of things. The clothes are a much higher quality, they have a really nice beauty section, and the accessories and random bits and bobs are surprisingly deadly. I thought I'd share some of my favourites from Penney's with you lovely people. #notanad #notsponsored ;) Makeup Brush Cleaners Penney's have a Blend & Cleanse line that has makeup brush cleaners which are really good. I have the Makeup Brush Cleaning Spray and the Makeup Sponge Cleaner. I was so surprised when I first tried these how well they actually work. I use the brush cleaner spray for spot cleaning my brushes which is usually my eyeshadow brushes. It gets them clean again without deep cleaning and it's so handy because it only takes abo

Ok guys, you know those Instagram posts of people using Olaplex on clients and they have perfect silky hair afterwards? Its no joke. I went in to Empire Hair a few days ago to get an Olaplex treatment in my hair and I am so happy with it. As everyone knows I have unruly, frizzy, curly hair that has seen way too much heat and colouring in my 22 years on this planet. I got the Olaplex treatment done and its actually so repaired and healthy now. Also can I just say that the new salon on Patrick's street is absolutely gorgeous - it's an official Olaplex salon 😍 I got a two step Olaplex treatment and it was so relaxing I almost fell asleep! The first step also involves your hair being wrapped in a warm towel which is so lovely. When the treatment was finished Lynn gave me the most amazing cut and blowdry as you can see from the pictures. My hair has genuinely never felt this soft in years and its so smooth and replenished. I cant hype Olaplex up enough because it resto

Hi guys! I put together a detailed step by step picture tutorial on how I do my teal eyeshadow. I usually pair it with a pinky nude lip, rose toned blusher, and sometimes fake freckles. I was out in the sun lately though and now I have freckles of my own! Also It probably seems like I used a lot of eyeshadow colours here but these are the exact colours I used so I said I'd include every step. You probably don't need this many at all but this is how I like to get depth to a look. I also use more or less depending on the day but these are pretty much it. The Morphe palette is perfect for these looks and it's really pigmented. Anyway lets get to it! Blending Brushes: L -R Elizabeth Arden (no name), Zoeva 228, Inglot 6SS, Zoeva 227, Inglot 10s Other brushes used: BH Cosmetics flat eyeshadow brushes Zoeva  Rose Gold -103, 127, 230, 234, 317 Real Techniques - Bold Metals  301, 300  Penneys - blending sponge BH Cosmetics - flat powder brush, spoolie, fluffy

Hi everyone and happy new year! Lets look beyond the fact that I haven't made a blog post in 3 months can we please? Funnily enough, final year in college requires work - so I have spent my last 12 weeks trying to learn all about sand, waves, and flip-flops.... So apart from learning about electronics, I have learned a lot about makeup and makeup products in the last year. I thought I would share a small few of my favourite products and how I use them to their full potential or ways that I find work anyway. MAC - Prep and Prime Fix + Setting Spray This is such a versatile product. I use it so many ways and I can't do my makeup without it. Recently my skin has gotten a bit dry with the cold, Winter weather, so I love to use it as a primer to my foundation. I like to spray it in half pumps on my face. I find this gives more control over how it disperses and prevents actual droplets of the product forming on my face. If I prime using another product, I like to spray my

I wear makeup for a few reasons. I started off wearing it because my face turns bright red very easily and I find it quite embarrassing. This amplifies the redness and I get and infinite loop of a tomato face and embarrassment. Cue a good coverage foundation . But lately, the reason why I wear makeup is because I really really really enjoy applying it. I love thinking up of new looks, using different colours on my eyes and wearing lipstick that my mam thinks is "only ok for Halloween". I love the satisfaction of dousing my cheekbones in a new highlighter. I love spending too much time blending out eyeshadows so it's as close to perfect as I can get. I even love the challenge of trying to make my eyeliner even on both eyes. I love buying makeup, spending time applying it, and wearing it. It's the same way as a tech lover loves spending money on gadgets they "don't need" and using them all the time. On the odd day that I'm not wearing makeup and so

This is my first ever makeup tutorial! I used  the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette on the eyes and I am more obsessed than I'd like to admit with it. It has the most perfect colours and the shadows practically blend themselves. I do this look all the time for day or for night. There's no talking in the video apart from the intro so you can listen to your own music instead (but why would you do that? they're good tunes...) There's not much else to say so lets get right in to it! Products Used Face   Nivea for Men - Post Shave Balm Clinique - Beyond Perfecting foundation in 9 Vichy - Dermablend loose setting powder Morphe - 9FW cream foundation palette Sleek -  face form contour palette in light The Balm - Mary Lou Rimmel - Bronzer Mac- Prep and Prime Fix + spray Brows Benefit - brow zings L'Oreal - brow plumper Eyes ABH - Modern Renaissance Rimmel - gel liner in Black Lips Mac - Soar lip pencil Mac - Twig lipstic

⇻    Disclaimer  ⇺ I am not saying you have to put on tan to be beautiful. I'm not saying pale skin is wrong or not attractive. I'm just giving some tanning tips and tricks I've picked if you do want to be a golden, tanned, goddess. That being said, lets get into it! I am naturally the palest person I know. No seriously, I am stark white. I struggle BIG TIME to get a foundation light enough to match my skin when I have no tan on. My skin is practically blue its so pale. About five or so years ago, I started self tanning, and I never looked back. I have made horrific mistakes along the way and I'm here now to share everything I've learned about fake tan.  Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate! This is getting rid of dead skin cells so your skin is left bright and fresh. Your tan will have very little chance of coming out evenly if you don't exfoliate prior to applying it. A massive tip I can give is to start exfoliating in the shower three times before you