July Favourites

Hey there!

I know I sound like a Granny when I say this but, can you believe how fast this year is going? I can't believe it's August already!

So, let's get to my favourites for this month! :)

The first thing I've been loving not just this month but for quite awhile now is Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. It costs €6.49 and lasts such a long time! My sensitive skin hasn't had any problems with this so far and it doesn't leave a weird film on your face like some cleansing lotions tend to.

As we've been relatively lucky with the sunshine here in Ireland this summer, my Cocoa Brown Chocolate Whip Moisturiser has been keeping my skin beautifully moisturised and prolonging my tan. I absolutely LOVE the smell of this! Whether you're trying to prolong your fake tan or your natural tan, this is the perfect moisturiser to do just that!

Next is something that I've just recently came across and so far I'm really liking this too. It's the Aussie Miracle Dry Shampoo. It took awhile for me to get used to the smell of this but it is a great dry shampoo. It's definitely something that I will be re-purchasing.

A foundation that I've been loving a lot lately is the Catrice All Matt Plus Shine Control Make Up. I am planning to do a review on this but for the warmer weather, this is the foundation that I found myself reaching for the most this month!

And lastly is a concealer which I have heard alot about but everytime I went to buy it, my shade was sold out. By chance a few weeks ago, I found one in my shade and couldn't wait to get it. It's the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. I understand the hype surrounding this too! It is hands down, the best drugstore concealer I've used to date.

So, there you have it, short and sweet! :)
I'm trying to keep my favourite products each month at 5 just to keep the waffling to a minimum! :)

What have your favourite products been this month? Have you any recommendations for me?

Linda, x

TAG TUESDAY: The Beauty Blogger Tag!

Hey there!

Recently, I've been loving watching tag videos on Youtube and reading tag blogposts. I came across this tag awhile ago so I decided to give it a go too! So, if you're interested, come get to know me a bit better! :)

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?
When I was little, I had the curliest hair but as I got older, the curls disappeared. It's straight with a little bit of a wave.

2. What is your natural hair colour?
It's naturally a light brown.

3.Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?
My best friend is a hair dresser so he does it for me! :)

4. How often do you wash your hair?
Every second day.

5. Do you wear the same style everyday or change it?
Mainly I just wear it down. If I'm going out I usually curl it and wear it pulled to the side.

6. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?
I would love to be able to go to a salon to get my nails done but nope, for now I do them myself.

7. How often do you change your nail polish?
I only apply nail polish once a week because I'm very conscious of damaging them with constantly wearing and removing nail polish.

8. Do you polish your toes in the winter too, or just the summer?
I use nail polish on my toenails throughout the year. I just change the colours. In the winter I wear darker colours but in the summer, I usually stick to red on my toenails.

9. How long does it take to put on your makeup?
For a normal daytime look, usually about 5-10 minutes. If I'm going out it will take about a half an hour. I'm a perfectionist and I always like my makeup to look perfect :)

10. What do you do first? Face or eyes?
I apply my eye primer first, let that set and then I'll apply my face primer and let that absorb into my skin and then go ahead and apply my eye makeup. Then I'll finish up with my face makeup. :)

11. Do you collect makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?
I suppose I do both. I definitely have a makeup collection. When it comes to mascara, foundation and concealers, I'll buy them as I need them but everything else I kind of collect! :)

12. How often do you wear false lashes?
I don't wear false lashes that often because I wear glasses all of the time. If I'm going out and I'm just wearing my contacts, I'll always wear false lashes but when I'm wearing my glasses I don't bother.

13. Do you do a full face of makeup everyday?
No, only if I'm going out or going somewhere nice. My everyday makeup consists mainly of concealer, powder and a little bit of contouring but most days, I don't wear makeup.

14. Do you wear makeup when you are home alone (or with family)?
No.

15. Will you leave the house without makeup?
Yes. I don't wear makeup everyday.

16. How many high end products do you own?
My collection is mainly drugstore products but I do own products from high end brands too.

17. How often do you wash your makeup brushes?
The truth be told, I should wash them more often but I can be very lazy with washing them!

18. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you get dressed?
For OOTD for the blog, I definitely pre plan it. But day to day I just choose the first thing that comes to my hand in the mornings! :)

19. How often do you change your handbag?
Not often but I definitely need to! I think it's time for a bit of retail therapy! :)

20. What time do you get up and go to sleep?
Typically I get up at 9ish and go to bed around 11.30-12ish.

21. How often and when do you workout?
To be honest, I used to work out 3 times per week and walk on average 12 miles per week. I don't like running. Mainly because I look like Phoebe from friends when I run haha! Starting this week, I plan to start getting my fitness regime back to what it was!

22. Left-handed or right-handed?
Right-handed.

23. How tall are you?
5'2 1/2"

24. Do you speak a foreign language?
No, I studied French in school but I really wasn't very good at it.

25. How many pets do you have?
I have two white West Highland Terriers. Snowy (female), aged 9 1/2 years and Buster (male), aged 9 months. :)

26. How often are you on Blogger?
I haven't been on it as regularly as I would have liked now that I'm getting back into the swing of things with my blogging, I'm on it daily, working and planning upcoming blogposts and reading other bloggers blogs too. :)

27. Do you read the comments posted to blogs?
I sure do.

28. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see them on other posts?
Yes, I do! I'm a list lover! Otherwise I would completely forget about them!

29. How did you come up with your blog name?
My Makeup Vanity is something I talk about a lot so it just seemed like the perfect thing to name it.

30. What kind of camera do you use for photographs?
Right now, I'm camera-less and saving for a new one. So right now, I'm using my phone! It is a pain, I won't lie!

31. How often do you clean your house? (Daily, weekly, other)
Daily. Weird question haha

32. What is your favourite colour?
Purple.

33. What is your favourite beauty/fashion magazine?
Cosmopolitan

34. Do you swear?
Yep!

35. What are you doing with the rest of your day?
Right now it's 9:20p,m. and I plan on relaxing and catching up on my favourite tv shows! :)

Wow, that was lot of questions but there you have it! I hope you've enjoyed getting to know me a little better! :)

Linda, x

MANI-MONDAY! Bubblegum Glitter!

Hey everybody,

How was your weekend? Mine was busy but I had a great one with good friends! I hope your weekend was good too!

Anyway, onto business!

So, it's just another "Mani-Monday"... :)

I may or may not have mentioned this before but I only paint my nails once a week because I'm very conscious about damaging my nails so I tend to limit painting them to once a week.

So with that being said, I've started a weekly series called "Mani-Monday". Please excuse the quality of my photos. I'm camera-less at the moment and I'm using my phone!

The nail polish that I've used this week are; NYC Quick Dry Nail Polish in 264 Lincoln Square Lavendar. Then on my ring fingers I have Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer in 40 I'm Dynamite.

What's your go to colour for this time of the year?

Linda, x

Saturday Chit Chat!

Hey everybody,

So, I'm finally beginning to feel inspired again and I'm finding that I'm starting to enjoy blogging again. Taking advantage of that, I've decided to share a blogpost with you today. So why not start with a little chin wag?

Can you believe that July is almost over? I'm not going to lie. I'll be glad to see the end of July. It was one of the hardest months ever for me but I'm here to tell the tale so that's all that counts, eh? :) I've learned so much and I'm definitely a stronger person from everything that I've been through.

One thing I will say without going into too much detail, if you are feeling depressed and you feel like life is getting too much to handle, always speak to someone. I know at the time you may think that talking to someone won't help you, but trust me, suffering in silence is so much harder. Even if you feel that you don't have anyone you can turn to, there are so many charities and people out there that are ready and willing to help you. You don't have to go through it alone.

So onto something completely different but I really cannot get enough of Ed Sheeran! His voice is so amazing. And his new album X is absolutely fantastic! Whilst we're talking about amazing musicians, what about The Script's new song Superheroes? Such a beautiful song! The lyrics of their songs always resonate with me. Such an amazing band! :)

And for any of my fellow 50 Shades of Grey fans. What do you think of the trailer? ;) I know there are a lot of people that are disappointed with Jamie Dornan being Christian Grey but for me, he is perfect for the role. So far, he's what I expected Christian to be. Let's hope he lives up to our expectations! ;)

I don't know if it's the heat but over the past few weeks, my skin has really been problematic. It's gone from being really dry to really oily and blackheads are a major problem at the moment. Do you have any skincare recommendations that can help my skin?

Linda, x

Hello July!

Hey there!

I know I've been MIA recently but, my laptop decided to have a breakdown. So while the old girl is getting fixed, I've decided to start blogging again by using my phone! It'll be hard and annoying but, it'll be worth it! :) 

So, instead of posting a 'June Favourites' blogpost, I've decided to do a 'Hello July' post this month. 

June hasn't been the best month for me. From missing loved ones to worrying about this and that, it's been a tough one. 

So, instead of a favourites blogpost, I'm going to share my goals for the coming month with you.

1. Be happy.

-No matter what the situation or how bad it may seem, always find the positives from each situation. Always look forward not back.

2. Don't over analyse everything! 

-I tend to overthink absolutely everything. This month I'm going to make a massive effort to change that. Sometimes, I tend to make problems from the things that I'm overthinking. The majority of the time, these aren't even a problem. Is this just a 'Linda thing' or are you like that too? Please don't tell me I'm on my own! Haha.

3. Get back to working out again! 

-Over the past couple of months, I've gotten lazy and my workouts have gradually disappeared. I walk on average, 12 miles per week but I just feel so much better when I work out. So this month, I'm going to incorporate it back into my routine again.

4. Start eating properly again. And drink more water! 

-Sometimes, if I let things get to me or I'm stressed, my diet tends to suffer. So for July, I want to start looking after myself a little better and start eating healthily again. 

5. Start reading again.

-I love books but recently, I haven't made time to read. So this month, I want to start getting back into it. Have you any book suggestions for me?

6. Start watching my YouTube subscriptions more frequently. 

-I definitely need to start making more time for it. I get inspired by some of my favourite YouTube gurus so, I definitely need to start watching more frequently! :)

And there you have it! These are my goals for the coming month. They may not be for everyone but they're things for me to work on over the coming month. 

What are yours?

Linda, x