My Youtube Lighting Setup

A couple of months ago, I bought some new studio lights for my YouTube videos. The ones I got were on Amazon and they were between 80-100 euros. They are a 50x70cm softbox photo studio set consisting of 2 softboxes with 5500K 85W light bulbs. They are quite big as you can see in the picture below and it is possible to adjust their height to be both taller or shorter. 

The two softboxes came in a travel-friendly bag that is pretty lightweight and easy to carry around. Before I bought them, the only thing I was worried about was that they have 85W bulbs instead of 125W, which are supposed to be brighter. I haven't found this an issue, however, and have been able to use only one of the softboxes to light my entire YouTube background. (This is also down to how big they are and I can't fit them both in my room.)  

Below I have pictures showing what my room looks like without any lights on and also how it looks with only one softbox on, situated about 2 metres away. The light is so good that right now I don't need to use the second light at all because one is bright enough, whether it's during the day or during the night. ( The photos below were taken when it was dark outside). 

Without the lights:

While one of the softboxes is on:

As you can see, the one light makes an awful difference to my YouTube background. I've also been using one of the softboxes to light my blog pictures and I just love how the pictures have been coming out.

Here is a picture taken for my blog with one of the softboxes situated about a metre away:

Overall, I am so happy with my new lights and lighting setup, especially because I don't have to worry about the sun going down so quickly in the winter months and having to rush my videos and photos before it happens. If you have a blog or a YouTube channel, let me know in the comments below how you light your videos or pictures. Do you use natural lighting or studio lighting? And if you are thinking about getting the same lights as me, here is the link. Talk to you soon. 

O.P.I Get Cherried Away Nail Lacquer Review

Recently I bought a new O.P.I. nail polish called Get Cherried Away. It is a deep purpley plum colour. O.P.I, along with Essie, is among my favourite brands for nail polish, mostly because they are such great quality. They both last quite a long time before chipping, a lot more than any other brands that I've tried.

It's pretty similar to Essie's Bahama Mama, which is one of my favourite colours ever, except this is less of a wine colour and a bit more purpley than that one. Of course I saw it at the Professional Beauty Ireland event and thought it was a gorgeous colour, different to anything I had already, until I got home and realised that I have at least three other nail polishes like it, each which seem to be only one or two shades different. Does that ever happen to you? I find that I seem to gravitate towards wine and peachy nail polishes in the shop and almost always forget that I've bought that same shade time and time again. 

I got this nail polish for something like €6.50 which is almost half off. I had to stop myself from buying many other shades at that price and picked only one, one that I thought was completely different to anything I had :P Even though I have other colours like it, I still really like this one especially for the winter months. I have already been wearing this more than any other colour I have over the last two months, epecially for the quality because I'm constantly peeling off stickers and unpacking boxes in work which requires a strong nail polish in order for it to survive an hour, not to mind the entire day. 

This has quickly become one of my new favourite polishes that I can see myself buying again in the future. I'll defintely need a new one to get me through next winter haha. 

Have you ever tried this colour or any of the other O.P.I. colours before? Let me know in the comments below what you thought of them and I'll talk to your soon. 

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Into The Woods | Styled Fashion Look

Today I thought I would show you a look that I've been wearing lately. My style has always been slightly edgy/ rock chickish and I tend to go between that and a more fun/casual gangsta style with snapbacks. Ever since the checked red flannel shirt came back into fashion, I've been obsessed! I've already bought three or four different flannel shirts because I love them so much. One of my favourite things to  them with are with black ripped jeans. For this look, I put them with blue stone washed jeans, a white slogan tee-shirt, a leather jacket and black ankle boots.

Jacket: Zara
"Not Your Bae" Top: H&M
Checked Flannel Shirt: Penneys/Primark
Stone Washed Jeans: Penneys/Primark
Black Ankle Boots: boohoo.com
Bag: Penneys/ Primark
Red Bandana: Penneys/Primark
Lipstick: Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish (01)

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did then please save it on Bloglovin or give it a +1 in Google Plus. Also, let me know in the comments below what your favourite look to wear with a red lip is or if you even like to wear red lipstick.  Talk to you soon.

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Nivea 3 in 1 Micellar Water Review

I've had a love for micellar waters since I first bought the Bioderma one about 2 years ago. It was great at removing my makeup and at fixing little makeup mistakes but it was very hard to get in Ireland at the time.You can read my review of the Bioderma micellar water here. Lately, I decided that I need to find a cheaper micellar water soon because my Bioderma one is almost gone. Then, earlier this month, Nivea sent me their version of micellar water along with another one of their products for review. This was definitely my favourite of the two products they sent, the other being their Double Effect Eye Make-Up Remover which I haven't reviewed yet.

What I loved about this product is that it removes makeup so easily and because it is made for sensitive skin, it is so gentle on your face. I think it actually might be better than the Bioderma one because if you read my review of that you will know that it didn't work very well when applied with tissue. It worked way better when applied to a cotton bud and held against the skin for about 10-30 seconds before wiping away. With this Nivea micellar water, I found it removed all of my makeup even when it was applied to tissue paper, so if I forget to buy cotton pads it really doesn't matter.

This is a 3 in 1 micellar water because it is supposed to protect against the 3 main signs of sensitive skin; redness, tightness and dryness, and although I don't have sensitive skin, I can't see how it could irritate anyone's skin. It is free of parabens, colours and perfume. It almost feels like plain water on your skin except a bit more moisturising, which is another benefit to this product, it not only removes makeup but moisturises at the same time. I don't know if I would skip my moisturiser while using this, though, but it definitely is a plus if you don't have time to moisturise or are too tired for a full skincare routine and just quickly want to remove your makeup.

The best thing about this product is the price. It's only €4 in Superdrug, although I think that might be just an introductory price on it's initial release. But even if that price doesn't last long, the RRP is €5.49 so it won't go up by much. I'm definitely repurchasing this once it runs out because you get quite a lot of product for such a great price. Have you tried this product yet? Let me know, and if not then let me know what your favourite product to remove makeup with is in the comments below.

*Although this product was sent to me for review, all the above thoughts and opinions are completely honest and if I didn't like the product or any aspect of it I would say. 

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Huge Savings on Benefit Cosmetics, OPI and More |Professional Beauty Ireland Haul

Last month I went to an event called Professional Beauty Ireland where hundreds of beauty professionals gathered in Dublin to get amazing discounts on beauty products and services. About a month before it, I received an email from Professional Beauty Ireland to attend a champagne blogger reception during the event. My friend Aoife said she would come with me so we headed to Dublin for the day to get some great deals.   

 I had to try to restrain myself from spending all my money because there were some amazing savings to be had, but I did get a few things including some Christmas presents from Benefit where there was 10% off everything.

The first few things that I got were Benefit's Rolller Lash, an OPI nail lacquer and a Gosh eye pencil. Both Aoife and I got an eye pencil free when we attended the Gosh booth but I accidentally got a murky green instead of brown so I don't know if I will be using it as much as I thought. It was completely free though once we gave our emails to enter some draw or something.

I got 10% of the Roller Lash which was great because I'd being dying to try it out for a while (look out for a review soon). I also got an OPI nail lacquer in the colour "Get Cherried Away" for only €6 or something which is almost half price. This is where my great restraint came in because there was a deal that you could buy any 6 OPI colours plus a set of 3 nail polishes including a base coat and top coat for only €40. They are typically about €11 per nail lacquer whenever I have seen them in shops so this was a really good deal. I really only wanted two colours so I decided not to get the deal and ended up making a further compromise of only buying the one. I had great envy for some of the other girls who where piling dozens of colours into their baskets though.

While I was at Benefit, I decided to take advantage of the 10 percent off discount and bought some Christmas presents, and because I because I bought more than two things there they gave me a gorgeous free tote bag. The two Christmas sets I bought allowed me to save quite a lot, over 32% on one and 58% on the other, and that was even before the 10% off everything was applied. One of the sets called Life of the Party included sort of mini/travel sized versions of a lot of Benefit products that combined would do most of your face for makeup. 

The other set, called Get Your Party On, contained 4 full sized products which included their Hoola bronzer, a They're Real mascara, a High Beam and a Gimme Brow fiber gel. 

One of my favourite things that I got was the tote bag that I got for free at Benefit. It's large enough to carry quite a lot of stuff and I really like it's urban design. It was such a great free gift. I wasn't even expecting a free sample let alone a free tote bag. 

Another thing I got were some Sleep In Rollers for just €10. The set has something like 20 rollers in it and a free backcombing brush. Here is a link to their website if you would like to get some although I think the €10 offer was only available on the day of the event. 

Last but not least was this Tan Organic and Skin Logic goody bag that I got at their lovely champagne reception. It included three sample products; some of their self-tan lotion, their multi-use dry oil and a 24 K Gold under eye face mask (which I am really excited to try out). I will be reviewing each of these products once I get a chance to try them out properly so much sure to look out for a blog post on each of them. 

So that is everything. I know it seems like a lot but there was so much more I could have bought including a deal on 24 professional makeup brushes for just €100 which almost caused me physical pain to leave behind haha!

Are you as much of a shopaholic as me?? Let me know in the comments below. 

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