New In My Beauty Arsenal: March 2019

It’s not a secret that I’m a bit of a product junkie. When I see something new or just launched, I want to try it. When I see something on Instagram, I want to try it. In short, I’m a marketers dream! So with that being said, it’s no surprise that I routinely have new products in my rotation. Some of which I am lucky enough to be sent, others I pick up for myself!

I love seeing what’s new in other product aficionados beauty stashes so I thought I would share with you all the new products I found myself reaching for the most throughout last month!

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Skincare Sunday: Review – Alpha H Essential Skin Perfecting Moisturiser

I’m a skincare junkie. You’d need to be a blind person not to have noticed that by now. When a brand that I love, launches something new, I can’t wait to try it.

Alpha H is such a dreamy skincare brand which specialises in regulating sensitive skin types and resurfacing overactive skin. The brand’s founder, Michelle Doherty started the brand after spending years trying to combat her own adult acne and the brand is credited with being pioneers when it comes to the use of glycolic acid in skincare routines. If you haven’t tried anything from the brand, you need to rectify that immediately. Trust me.

They recently launched their Essential Skin Perfecting Moisturiser and when I was kindly offered the chance to trial the product, it was a no brainer but to say yes. Designed as a multi-purpose, time saving beauty product, I couldn’t wait to get this on my face.

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Review with Swatches: Urban Decay Naked Reloaded Palette*

When I first heard that Urban Decay were phasing out their OG Naked palette after 10 years, I (like a lot of you) was very annoyed. I have loved that palette for years and couldn’t understand the rationale as it was still hugely popular and was what really catapulted them into cult beauty brand status. Nicole Ritchie even staged a fake funeral for it on social media. The beauty world wasn’t happy.

The Naked palettes have been a staple in girls make up bags far and wide for years. Every time a new palette is released, make up junkies seem to add it to their collection without question and I’m no different really (except I don’t have the Naked Cherry palette yet, I really must sort that out!). So when Urban Decay announced there would be an update to the original Naked palette in the form of the Naked Reloaded palette, I wasn’t surprised but I was intrigued.

The Naked Reloaded palette replaces the now discontinued original Naked palette and houses 12 all new nude shades that are designed to flatter all skin tones. At first, I wasn’t sure I would be dying about this product as it looked similar to a lot of palettes that I already owned in pictures but the minute that I opened it, I started to change my mind. Here’s why….

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Skincare Sunday: Ingredient Focus – It’s all Rosy (featuring Pixi, Peter Thomas Roth, Omorovicza and Sisley)

Rose skincare has become a real ‘thing’ recently. Brands such as Pixi have entire skincare lines dedicated to the hero ingredient and I’ve found myself adding more and more rose based products to my skincare rotation over the past year. The scent alone has me hooked but there is a lot more to rose as an ingredient than you may initially realise. 

Rose oil extract is extracted from rose petals and is well known for its soothing properties along with it’s ability to rebalance the skin and counteract redness. Rose oil is renowned for its anti-inflammatory benefits and is used in skincare routines to calm and tackle irritated skin. 

Rose can also come in the form of rosewater when it comes to skincare ingredients and possesses very similar properties to rose oil. It is also celebrated for its ability to refresh and revitalise the skin whilst also being a natural astringent which helps tone the skin as well as reducing the appearance of pores. 

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Skincare Sunday: My Favourite Cleansing Balms

Right, it’s no secret that I love a good cleanser. It’s a bit of an obsession actually and balm cleansers are one of my favourite little luxuries in my routine. 

I love the feel of massaging a beautiful balm into my skin and really deep cleansing. Over the last year or two, I have tried a lot of different products (all in the name of research of course…) and I have come across some absolute gems during the course of that time. 

Sit back and get comfy, here are my top balm cleansers of the moment!

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Restaurant Review: Six By Nico, Belfast

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock recently, you’ll have seen that Belfast has a brand spanking new restaurant in the heart of Cathedral Quarter, Six By Nico.

The restaurant is the brainchild of talented Scottish-Italian chef, Nico Simeone and is the third restaurant to open its doors in the already hugely successful chain (there’s also one in Glasgow and another in Edinburgh).

The concept is simple yet genius. Every 6 weeks, Six By Nico serves a brand new, 6 course tasting menu, each themed differently. From Tuesday 5th March to Sunday 14th April, the tasting menu in Belfast is “The Chippie”.

We were very fortunate to be invited down last week to try the menu for ourselves by the wonderful PR team and were hosted by the gorgeous Cathy Martin and I couldn’t have been quicker to accept the very generous invitation.

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Skincare Sunday: Ingredient Focus – Rosehip Oil (Featuring RosehipPlus)*

Lately I’ve been trying really hard to understand more in relation to the ingredients I’m using on my skin and the science behind skincare. I’m by no means an expert, but I have picked up some knowledge along the way and I thought it might be nice to have a series that focuses on key skincare ingredients that helps explain the benefits and advantages of incorporating a particular ingredient into your routine.

To kick things off, the first ingredient that I want to focus on is rosehip oil which has a tonne of skincare benefits and is actually not that expensive to pick up!

A little while back, I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to try out a new Australian Skincare brand, RosehipPlus and after trialling the brand, I thought it would be a really good fit for this series. 

So firstly, what are the benefits of rosehip oil in terms of skincare? 

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