Beauty Review - Estee Lauder and Brown Thomas Gift with purchase

I have to say, I am a huge fan of Estée Lauder skincare and make-up and although it might be a little bit more expensive than some other  brands, your skin deserves it! Apart from the amazing quality of their products, another great thing about Estée Lauder is their rewards to customers by offering incentives such as 'Gift with Purchase'. Brown Thomas usually run these promotions and this time they have really outdone themselves. The March/April gift, which comes free with two or more Estée Lauder purchases, one to be a moisturiser, eye care or repair serum, is absolutely amazing. It contains a large tote bag, small makeup bag, Re-Nutriv creme cleanser and Re-Nutriv handcream, Re-Nutriv age correcting face cream and Re-Nutriv ultimate lift age correcting eye cream, Love Bite red nail polish, plum divine lipgloss, and my favourite, fuchsia fever lipstick.

The pink lipstick is so silky and the vibrant colour lasts all evening. I used this on a client at the weekend and she blotted it to make it matte, which was another fabulous way to wear the lipstick.

I am also a massive fan of the Re-Nutriv cleanser and this is something that I would use on a daily basis to remove my make-up. It smells amazing and gets a full face off in a couple of wipes! The hand cream has taken position at my desk and the bag now accompanies me to the gym!

My new gym tote

If you regularly use products from a brand such as  Estée Lauder, find out if and when they are running in-store promotions. It's an excuse to stock up on your make-up and skincare and also get some gorgeous freebies too!!

In love with this hand-cream

Weekend style, skinny black jeans and chocolate cake...

Every girl should own a pair of black skinny jeans, they are a wardrobe staple. Not only do they make you feel slim, but they go with most coloured accessories, shoes, bags and you can completely change the look with a different top and pair of shoes... as I did this weekend.

Make-up looks from the weekend 

The first half of Saturday was spent beautifying some lovely girls around Galway and I stupidly wore a black playsuit which ended up covered in an array of different makeup products. I also had to rush into River Island to return and re-buy a playsuit that I bought last weekend (my monthly payday treat) because before the courier had even graced me with that lovely red package, I got an email from River Island announcing SALE! and yes, the playsuit had gone down half price before I received it. So, I brazenly returned it and bought it again, along with two new tops in the sale that made up the difference in price! Well it is a recession and I am all about value for money...

           

I raced home to get changed for my twin niece and nephew's first birthday party and threw on my trusty black skinny jeans with my new white River Island shirt (another stupid decision) and white pointed stilettos. I was obviously in a rush because usually chocolate birthday cake and kids hyper on sweets do not mix well with white clothes!! Surprisingly, I kept the shirt clean but I had been in such a rush that later on during the party my eagle-eyed boyfriend shouted across the room, 'Jess the tag is still on your top'... so much for him not finding out about that purchase! No sooner was the party over and I had the white shirt back off again and replaced with a tracksuit, we were babysitting the twins and stilettos and skinny jeans are not so practical for rolling around on the floor with three kids!

Sunday morning was an early start, at 6am I was downstairs feeding two 1 year olds and a tired 4 year old Weetabix (Morgan is not so used to early rising at the weekend). I had planned on taking advantage of this weekend's sobriety by going for a run during the twins' 9am nap, however I decided to take the advice nurses give to new mothers and 'sleep when they sleep', plus Sunday is meant to be a day of rest!

I didn't have much time to get ready for our lunch date with the girls (I had a very tired and cranky 4year old by 1pm) so I showered and threw on the trusty black jeans again, this time with my second new River Island sales purchase, a black and grey boucle peplum top (a steal at €14). Paired with a pair of black Topshop shoes, it looked completely different. After spending all week looking forward to my beef salad in Mixgreens, I was still so full from the morning's fry (the run never happened) that I had to take it to go! We finished off the day with a wander around Penneys and The Once Loved Showroom (of course I couldn't leave Penneys empty handed), did our Sunday family visits and as soon as I got home, straight out of my jeans and into a trusty trackie again! As much as I love them, no one ever says, 'I can't wait to get home so I can get all snuggley in my jeans!'

Because no-one can leave Penneys empty handed!

                                      

So the moral of the story is, just as every woman needs an LBD, I think that everyone should own a pair of SBJ. I love Topshop's Leigh Skinny Jeans, but at €60 they might stretch the budget. This weekend's pair were from Penneys and at €13, they are an absolute steal, and are comfortable as well as flattering! I like to think of skinny black jeans as being a 'wardrobe investment' as they look great dressed up with sandals and sometimes better again with a pair of Converse and a hoodie.

Fashion GorJess Blog: Hair, Make-Up & Beauty

Fashion GorJess Blog: Hair, Make-Up & Beauty: Make-up looks created in March 2014                                            Wedding Hairstyle ...