Run Adoreabubbles Run

I know I've been asking a lot of you girls lately but this is by far the most important request. In September I will be taking part in the Killarney Women's Mini Marathon 2012, in aid of Barnardos. Barnardos work is about helping children make the most of their lives, regardless of what they're up against. They operate 42 centres in communities across Ireland. Barnardos work with families to improve parenting skills and tackle issues of poverty, domestic abuse, addiction and the impact these problems have on children.

 I will be seeking contributions for this event on-line and offline. 

Offline my plans are to place donation buckets at work and at upcoming family events. I also plan to knock on a few neighbours doors and accost a few bloggers I plan on meeting soon. I appreciate all donations little or large. If donating on-line is something you are not interested in and you live in the Dublin area, lets meet for tea and I can bring my sponsor card along too! 

On-line I have set up a page on mycharity.ie where you can securely make a donation. 

Thank you for your support and donations so far, I can't wait to participate in the Marathon.

Link to my Barnarods donation page: http://www.mycharity.ie/event/runadoreabubblesrun/

Love,

Sarah

Sprinkle of Glitter Inspired Nails

I thought it would be a fun idea to do a nail look inspired by one of my favourite YouTubers/Blogger Sprinkleofglitter.

Like Louise I have a love for all things glitter. Over a nude base colour I used Not one, not two but three different glitter polishes to create a glittertastic look.

I actually planned on using real sprinkles but I ate them all! Oops. Instead I used my trusted dotting tools and created sprinkle like looking tips.

I really had fun doing these, and it was super easy to do. What do you think? Would you like to see other looks inspired by other people I admire?

Love,

Sarah

Facebook's New Promote Button

I thought this post might interest any of you lovely people out their with Facebook pages for their YouTubes or blogs. Recently you may have noticed this status knocking around on Facebook, I myself have mentioned it on my Facebook page.

"Due to Facebook's new policy, only about 10%-20% of you that like my page will see the status updates I post, despite the fact you've liked it. To make sure you get to keep up to date, please visit my page and just click / hover over the 'Liked' button & activate the 'show in news feed' option."

You may have also noticed the Promote buttons at the end of each update on your page.

If the photos below aren't clear enough you can click on them to enlarge.

The promote button is a way for everyone who has liked your page to see it in their news feed. It is already impossible for every single person to see your status updates in their news feed, especially if they have liked a million zillion pages and have three million friends (you know the type I'm talking about). If they haven't adjusted their settings on your page to 'Show in news feed' it is also less likely your updates will show in their feed. I decided to promote one of my status updates during the week to see how worth while it was to use this promote option.

Results:

                       Paid views |  Total views

Day 1:        87               202

Day2:        139              264

Day3:        178              314

Last Day:  216             355

You have two options when paying for your promotions. £4 which gives you an unknown figure as to how many people will see your post or £7 which according to my Facebook estimates a reach of 1,600 people. I paid the £4 option and under 400 total seen my status update in their news feed. 

Would I promote again?

44% of the people who like my page seen this post in their news feeds. 27% of those people saw it because of this promotion. I consider myself a small fish in a big ocean so this is something I would benefit from now and again, maybe if I had an important post that I wanted to make sure everyone would see. However at the moment financially it would not benefit me to use this on a daily/weekly basis. I use my Facebook page to keep people up to date on new videos and blogs. It's not how I make a living, it's a hobby for me so it wouldn't make sense for me to use the promote option too often if at all.

Would you use this new option Facebook have introduced? 

Dita Von Teese Nails

Dita Von Teese is a lover of the 1930's half moon manicure. In the 30's and 40's woman kept the half moon natural using no polish in that area. Dita Von Teese likes to use silver but after trying out silver earlier this evening and asking a friend on twitter what she thought we both preferred the white. 

Half moon with white and half moon with silver.

To find out how to do these nails yourself click HERE

Dovely and Calm

Dove have launched an exhibition exploring what dove means to women everywhere. Dove have invited anyone who loves Dove to make a design involving the Dove symbol to represent what Dove means to them.

What does Dove mean to me?

Dove to me means confidence and being prepared. I depend on dove to get me through the day. As a Pre-school teacher each day is different from the last. I can plan my lessons but I've no idea where they will lead or what I’d be getting myself in for with a class of 13 children, all under the age of five. Dove keeps me calm and comfortable so I can get through my day. 

I thought it would be a fun idea to involve my class so they coloured in these doves and then I incorporated them into my design using a scanner and Photoshop.

I would really appreciate it if you could like my design on Facebook HERE

The first one hundred people to submit designs will have their work made into postcards and each week the design with the most likes will be featured on the Dove Facebook page. The Dove by you exhibition Facebook campaign ends on the 16th of July.

Thank you gals for all your support.

Love,

Sarah

Shoutout: Fitz N Bitz

Source

Today I want to do a shoutout for the wonderful Laura of Fitz N Bitz. I don't know everything about Laura but what I do know is that she is a lovely person, honest, genuine, friendly, confident and absolutely stunning. When I started blogging Laura's blog was one of the very first I started following. I can remember how amazed I was at her funky blog, her catchy banner and her posts had me hooked. She really doesn't leave anything out when it comes to her reviews. She also has a slight obsession with INGLOT which is fab, I find out about the latest deals and INGLOT events from Laura.

I got to meet Laura at the Dublin meetup in December last year and although I didn't get to chat to her for much of the day I got to experience meeting the same wonderful person I had imagined while reading her blogs. She had a good aul laugh at me buying myself an ice-cream cone with enough sprinkles to turn me into one! 

I also had the pleasure of staying with Laura at the Cork meetup. I was a bit nervous about staying with someone I hadn't really known but it was grand. I can 100% assure you that Laura is not a murderer! To find out more about Laura check out her About me section on her blog. 

One thing I admire about Laura is that she has a real passion of beauty. She isn't focused on views, she blogs because she loves it. On her Youtube channel she recently made an Irish Beauty Blogger and an Irish Beauty YouTuber video and she included all the Irish girls she could find. I thought that was so nice and thoughtful of her.

You can also find Laura on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. Please check her out.

Love,

Sarah

Mermaid Nail Tutorial

I used NYC East Village, Prince Street and Lavender Cupcake. Thank you to the wonderful Fiona for sending me a rather overwhelming amount of NYC goodies. Barry M Foil Effects in gold, Elf Mint Cream and Essence Choose me. I also used my Dotting tools which you can get on Ebay for €1.23 from this SELLER with free P&P. You will also need something to put your polishes on, I used an old sim card holder.

I got my inspiration to do these nails from this polish by NYC. It's called East Village and took three coats to get this lovely base colour.

I placed a pea sizes amount of each polish onto a piece of plastic and began dotting away start at the tip of my nails. You don't have to be super neat because you are going to be over lapping each layer to get a scale, mermaid tail effect.

I love the end results if I do say so myself! So colourful. You will have to do at least two clear tops coats when you are done to even the look out. Basically so it doesn't look bumpy! If you are prepared and have everything laid out ready to use it shouldn't take more than five minutes to do each hand. Dotting tools are a must but you can also use a tooth pick or a hair pin.

I hope everyone is well and has a lovely weekend.

Love,

Sarah

1950's Beauty Adverts

I came across this delight today and had to share it with you. I think most girls out there wish they grew up in the 50's. Pretty dresses, glamorous hair styles and elegant make-up looks. I would love to dress like a 50's gal everyday! Feast your eyes on this.

What's your favourite era? 

Boots offer: 17 Wild Curl Mascara

For those of you who haven't dashed to Boots to claim your €1.50 Mascara yet today is the last day to avail of this offer. You can print out your boots voucher HERE. I got mine last week. Sorry for not putting this up sooner! 17's Wild Curl mascara usually costs €8.94 but with the coupon you can get your hands on it for only €1.50. Bargain!

Barbie Pink Inspired Nail Tutorial

If you would like to know how to create this look, keep scrolling down for step by step pictures and instructions. 

Cuticle Oil from Sallys. L'Occitane Hand Cream and Rimmel London Stronger Base coat.

Before doing my nails I always like to prepare them by using a cuticle oil, a hand cream and by applying a good quality base coat. These three steps help to nourish and protect my nails.

Firstly I applies NYC 242 Uptown on my ring finger.

I think applied NYC 155 Gramercy Glitz on all of my nails.

For the first time I tried using tape on my nails to create a tip. It wasn't a complete success and I had to do touch ups but still effective.

NYC 236 Greenwich Village.

Using Art club nail art Lacquer in white and a dotting tool I created a cute polka dots over all the tips.

Voila! The finished results. 

N.Y.C - Colour Rush

I went into Penneys on Monday this week and as I approached the NYC stand the stock'em up lady as I shall call her just put this tray of new products out. 

Review time! Smooch Proof Lip Stain in Orange on the Go, High line Green,Lexington Yellow and Water Street Blue.

Firstly the packaging caught my eye, I chose Orange on the go over the red lip stain because I keep hearing everyone in the blogasphere rave about orange lips this summer. I love how the outer packaging correlates with the actual product colour. I also like the marker style tip, it gives all over colour with the wider base and you can use the narrower tip for more precision when applying to your lips. I used a lip stain lipstick by Barry M before and let me just say when you apply that wrong there is no going back. I had high expectations for this product regards to colour pay out and I was a little let down but I am not saying this is a bad product. I had subtle hint of orange and with a layer of lip balm on top I was left with juicy looking lips. There is also a fruity scent too. You can layer the product to get a better colour pay out but I found the tip becoming dry and rubbing the tip along my lips started to remove product and not put more on after two coats.

High Line Green

Lexington Yellow over NYC Pinstripe White

Water street blue

For €1.29 each you can't go wrong. I was pretty impressed with these polishes. High Line Green is a One coat wonder. I love when I find a polish that makes me go "WOW". Great quality and great colour with just one coat. Now.. Lexington yellow. I think Yellow is a polish I struggle with quite a bit. I have yet to find one that doesn't take 3-4 coats until I am happy and I have seven other yellows by different brands. Lexington yellow took three coats on its own and over a white polish it took two and the colour popped much better. 

I thought water street Blue was going to be a one coat wonder and it almost was. When I went to take photos the flash showed that you could still see my natural white tip underneath so I applied a second coat for a full even coverage. Still a pretty great polish and so affordable.

Love,

Sarah

P.s If you are interested in winning yourself a bottle of Water Street Blue I am giving one away on my facebook page along with lots of other goodies HERE

Breast Talk Bra Appeal

In the recent Glamour magazine which I only bought for the free Benefit sample I read the smallest piece. In fact it is only one sentence long and is about how you can donate your unwanted bras to women in Africa who can't afford them.

I went onto the website where you can make your donations for future information because I thought it was a great idea. I went onto www.breasttalk.co.uk  to find out more information on how to donate. Unfortunately I don't know if it is down to my own sillyness, maybe the appeal is over or maybe it hasn't begun but I was unable to find anything connected with the magazine piece.

I did however find information on where you can donate your unwanted bras and they will be used to generate cash for Breast Cancer research. They get £1 per kilo of unwanted bras donated towards the charity.

I am still a little puzzled as to why Glamour have said the unwanted bras go to women in Africa who can't afford them. The website says "We raise money for breast cancer research by giving the bras we collect to BCR Global Textiles. BCR sell them to traders in third world countries to which helps support and supply their own local economy" If they are giving them to traders in third world countries does that mean they are then selling then used bras to women, not donating them? 

What Types Of Bra Can You Donate?
- Any style - but not too sexy or see through.- Any Size - Especially very large or very small sizes.

- European sizes are fine.
- Maternity or Nursing bras are fine.How To Donate Your Bras
- Please post all bras to the address below in a small Jiffy type bag or box.
- YOU MUST wash all bras before you post them.
- Check the straps and clasps are in working order and there are no rips or tears.
- If you are sending new bras please let us know they are new .Non UK Donations: Unfortunately we can only accept donations from the UK or European Union.
If you are in the USA the please take a look at Donate your Bras who do a similar thing to us. 
Post Your Bras To:
BreastTalk.co.uk - Bra Appeal
PO Box 71
Craven Arms
Shropshire
SY7 0WZ 

I only have three bras at the moment that are in good enough condition to give away but after reading the information on what types of bras you can give away mine do not qualify. Too sexy and see through! I will defiantly keep this appeal in mind of the future.

Do you have any unwanted, unsexy bras that are too small, too big or just taking up space in you lingerie draw and  haven't seen the light of day in a while? Go have a look and see if you can donate today.

Love,

Sarah

Sunshine and Carousels Review

I have been meaning to do this review for months. Finally I've got my ass into gear this evening, took photos and have plonked myself down at the laptop. 

I want to tell you about Erin, she is the owner of one of my favourite blogs of all time - Carosello. She is a wife and a mother who lives in the Tulsa Oklahoma. 

Erin blogs about Outfits of the day and I love her taste. She also does craft and recipe posts. You would want to check out her blog if you are looking for fun party ideas. She is just AMAZING! After finding her blog I also found her Etsy Store and immediately fell in love with all the wonderful things she makes.

Naturally enough I wanted to order something from her store but my cheap skate instincts took over! I ordered the miss-molly mustard yellow satin bow hairband at $14 and two Headbands in Mustard yellow and Purple at $12 each. I ordered these because (a) I thought they where super cute and (b) they are some of the more affordable items in her store. You should see the stunning fascinators she makes in her store they are amazing but at $58 they are a little out of my price range. If I had a special wedding to go to I would think twice about them. 

The quality of these items are amazing. Thinking back on how much I paid for these you would pay nearly twice that in any store here in Ireland. As far as I can remember they didn't take too long to get too me which was impressive coming from America. They were also very nicely wrapped.

Pre-hair cut photo, also excuse lack of make-up!

I rarely see women over the age of 18 wearing hair bands but I think they are so cute. Especially since I had my hair cut and got myself a fringe. I've already picked out another hair band from Sunshine and Carousels store and will be purchasing it after PAAAYDAAAY! 

Love,

Sarah