Taking the Camera For a Walk

Hey guys!

I hope you are all well, it sure has been a while! I recently acquired a new toy- the Fujifilm Finepix S4300 and took it for a walk today. 

The Best t-shirt ever! Any SG-1 fans out there? 

The Battlestar Galactica necklace my boyfriend gave me for Christmas.
His sister hand painted it, awesome right? :)

 And these are some of the pictures I took!

Rebecca

xxx

Irish Mythology- The Banshee

I'm sure many of you have already heard of the concept of the banshee. She is an Irish spirit that is considered to be an omen of death. Mythology surrounding the figure tells us that she is heard wailing a horrible high pitched scream if someone is about to die. She is also sometimes seen washing the blood stained clothes of those about to die. 

Image Labelled for reuse under Creative Commons. Click for source.

It is said that particular families have a banshee attached to them, namely those with the old names of the chieftains of the Gaels and she is said to follow descendants of these family lines abroad in their travels. Nobody really knows why the Banshee is attached to certain family lines. 

She is said to appear in one of three guises, a young woman, a matronly figure or an old hag. These three forms are meant to represent the triple aspect of the Celtic goddess of war and death- Badhbh. 

She wears all white, has long flowing pale silvery hair and her eyes are always red from centuries of crying. 

She goes by other names such as The White Lady of Sorrow, The Angel of Death and The Lady of Death. 

Have you guys ever heard of the banshee before? Maybe you know some interesting stories or facts that I left out?

I would love to hear!

Rebecca. 

Outfit Post- Casual

Hey guys!

Although I love dressing up, I also love having days where I focus on comfort. This is something I wore on a very rainy windy day to do a few bits (i.e. run errands) and I wore it again a few days later when I had to get changed quickly after work to go out again.

Benson the bear that's a hat and the hat that's a bear
+
heavy coat and scarf
=
still actually quite cold but hey it could be worse

It's fairly basic, leggings with a long vest top from H&M to keep things covered
 but the best thing is this bat t-shirt that I bought from Zara in the January sales

It's velvet! How cool is this guy? Surprised I don't have a name for him because I
like to name inanimate objects

I didn't bother with any make-up but I did paint my nails in this very pretty shimmering white shade
Essence: 102 Sparkling Water Lilly 

I think its always good to have some quick and comfy outfits planned in case you are suddenly in a rush to go somewhere!

What about you guys? Do you have outfits in mind or do you just decide in the mornings when you get up?  What kinds of things do you wear when you decide to dress down for the day?

I would love to hear back!
Rebecca.

January Favourites

Hey guys,

I acquired some really awesome things this month so what follows is a post about my favourite stuffs for the month of January. Enjoy!

The Cure! I love this t-shirt.

The back looks like this. 

My boyfriend bought me this for Christmas. I felt bad because I pointed it out
in a shop just because it was right there as we were passing
but he took it as a hint and actually bought it for me.
Which was amazing :)

This is Benson. He's a bear that's a hat and a hat that's a bear.
He is gigantic.
I love him. 

Not the best photo I could get but this is Catrice  Ultimate
Nail Lacquer in shade number 70 'Caught on the Red Carpet'
Two coats and it doesn't chip for a few days.
Good value for under 3euro

My Urban Decay Smoked Palette which was
a Christmas present from my sister

What about you guys? Any products/items you've fallen in love with in January?

I would love to hear!
Rebecca. 

My Favourite Posts for January

Hey everyone,

January is over and we are already one month into 2013! As usual I read a lot of great posts and I just wanted to share some of my favourite ones (in no particular order) with you guys:

1) Mary Rose of The Everyday Goth is on a quest to highlight under appreciated accessories and I loved her feature on spats! 

2) Alice from Aversion to Colour wrote a really fascinating post on Ballyboley Forest, her story on the haunted forest gave me the chills.

3) Linnea-Maria has a new arrival at her home in the shape of an adorable fluffy rabbit which she wrote about here. 

4) Sary Walrus from The Walrus Room made a post showing off a dress with a heart shaped cut-out at  the back. I love details like that because they always make an impression. 

Hope you all enjoy reading these posts if you haven't already.

Rebecca 

Outfit Post: Velvet and Frills

Hey guys,

This is just a post showing what I decided to wear today, hope you enjoy! I am currently looking out my window however and its raining and very windy *sigh*. Yay Irish weather! Picture this with a long black coat, a hood and a thick scarf. Maybe with some fingerless gloves. Oh well, at least I know my outfit is pretty even if no-one else will really see it! 

I am wearing a frilled jersey top from New Look, a velvet skirt from... somewhere... patterened tights from Penneys/Primark, patent docs which you can buy in  most shoe shops or online and a sparkly cardigan from Bershka.

Spaaaaaaarkles.

I am also wearing this watch, the strap isn't that nice but I love the way the numbers are different sizes on the face.

I love this hair clip, it was around 3 Euro in Penneys/Primark many many moons ago.

I did my make-up using my Urban Decay Smoked Palette which i reviewed here. I used colours that were similar to my nails, which I showed here.

And throughout all the fuss of playing around with my tripod, angles, light and changing position several times Loki was dead to the world on my bed! I wish I could sleep like that.

Rebecca. 

Sparkly Nails!

Hey guys,

Something I am not very good at is nail art, I don't have a steady hand and I lack patience. However I want to try out some new things with my nails for a change and see if I can improve a little along the way. I've seen manicures done this way with black or silver sparkles which I think would look even better but I went with what I had just so I could try it out. 

Right is Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base and Top coat
Middle is Essence Colour & Go in Time for Romance (number 72)
Left is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Black Platinum (number 340) 

These are the colours that I used but you could use whatever ones you have. The trick is that the sparkles are a good way to hide uneven French tips. 

So the first thing I did was apply a base coat and then I then did French style tips free-handed with two coats of Black Platinum. I was watching a movie at the same time so didn't bother applying the polish with my hand on a flat surface, as a result the tips are really uneven but it doesn't matter because... 

I then added two layers of Time for Romance. The above photo shows one coat, when I applied the second coat I concentrated on getting the sparkles on the uneven parts of the black tip. 

Lastly I applied a top coat for a nice gloss and I was finished. I like to do my nails at night and then the excess comes off in the shower the next morning so excuse any messiness because this was taken right after I was finished. 

Simple eh? Do you have any favourite nail art designs? Or maybe you know some tips and tricks to make life a bit easier when attempting a manicure?

I would love to hear back from you guys!
Rebecca. 

Urban Decay: Smoked Palette

Hey guys,

My sister bought me this gorgeous palette from Urban Decay for Christmas and since I have been using it for over a month now, I decided to review it.

Practical and Endurable

It is presented in a black box (not photographed) and the palette itself is secured in a small travel friendly zipped case. My boyfriend lives three hours away from me and so I do a lot of travelling on my days off, the small size means that it fits in my bag easily and the sturdy zip means that I do not have to worry about the shadows smashing. The colours are all what I would consider everyday since I wear a lot of darker shadows during the day.

Quality and Colour Pay-off

The shadows are pigmented, blend easily, are long lasting, soft and very versatile. There is a combination of matte shades and sparkly shades and they are all quite rich deep colours. As you can see you use the lighter shades for a more neutral look but then you have the jet black and the richer shades for something heavier. They come out almost exactly the same as they are in the palette and my favourites are 'Rockstar' (left row second from the top), 'Asphalt' (left row very bottom) and 'Muhsroom' (right row 3rd from the top). All of these colours are lovely together or blended with the matte black shade.

From right to left:
Kinky
Freestyle
Mushroom
Backdoor
Blackout 

From right to left:
Barlust
Rockstar
Evidence
Loaded
Asphalt

Extras
There is a little booklet included which shows you how to use the shadows to achieve a few different looks which is quite useful and a thoughtful feature. 

The palette comes with an excellent quality kohl eye-liner and of course the much raved about primer potion. I actually find Urban Decay shadows to be of such good quality that I rarely use the primer potion but instead save it for cheaper shadows and nights out. One irritating thing is that there is nowhere in the palette to keep the potion but that's not exactly a deal-breaker or anything. 

The words that come to mind with this palette are practical, versatile, high quality and beautiful. What more could a gal want? Of course at 35 Euro it is expensive but I honestly think its well worth the money.

The zipper

Nice tidy size

What about you guys? Anyone else tried this palette or something similar by Urban Decay? Or maybe you have a favourite palette or eye-shadow by a different brand?

I would love to hear!

Rebecca :)

My Kitty: 6 Months Later

Hey guys. I hope you are all keeping well and that 2013 has been a great year for everyone so far. 

Back in July I got a cat which I posted about here. He was sitting on my bed today and it reminded me of a photo I took the first week I got him. I have had him 6 months now and he has really come out of his shell and funnily enough his best friend is our little black and white dog, sometimes all you can see is a blur of black and white as they roll around on top of one another playing. When one is bored they'll go over and try and start a mock fight with the other one but they have never hurt each other.

Below is the photo that I took when I first got him. He really hated that collar! The light fell so beautifully on that picture, its one of my favourites. 

This is the photo that I took of him today, he's filled out a lot especially around his face and he has definitely grown. We have been through a lot together already, in August he broke his paw and he ended up in cage confinement for around 2 months which was quite stressful. I felt so badly for him being locked up like that but he healed very well in the end. He has been to the vets a few times but is on special food now and seems to have settled into himself very well so I am very proud of how well he has been doing. We have always had family pets making Loki my first proper pet! 

How about you guys? Any pets or animal related adventures or stories? I would love to hear!

Thank you for reading everyone,
Rebecca.

Irish Mythology Post: An Dearg-Due

I have a very interesting little story for you guys this week. It's an old Irish legend about a young lady with a penchant for the blood of those unfortunate enough to have wronged her...

Labelled for reuse. Click for source.

The story goes that she was a young maiden (whenever I hear the word maiden I always assume they're clad in white and go around with their hand to their forehead in a damsel in distress kind of way...) who found love with a peasant from her local town. Her father was less than impressed and decided to marry her off to a wealthy man who treated her horribly. 

What's a girl to do?

Why commit suicide and come back one year later to suck the blood out of your greedy father and abusive husband, what else! It is reputed that she is buried in a small churchyard in Waterford and rises from her grave a few times a year to seduce men and drain their blood. Some versions of the story say that she drains life breath, kind of like Demontors in Harry Potter, and others say that she can turn into a bat. 

Labelled for reuse. Click for source.

The only way to defeat an Dearg- Due (means 'Red Blood Sucker) is to pile stones on her grave in order to trap her in the earth. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this story.

Rebecca :)