In the Spotlight | Humans of New York

Hello again everyone. So this week's post is a little different to my usual, but I just felt I needed to talk about it. The focus of this post is Brandon Stanton, creator of the blog Humans of New York. I don't know Brandon, nor am I in any way connected to him, but through his work, I feel more connected to people from all walks of life!

Through his blog, Brandon manages to capture the essence of people through a series of portraits. Each portrait is accompanied by a quote from the subject of the portrait. It is a simple concept, but the result is so powerful. Brandon's ability to engage with the people of New York alongside their unapologetic honesty, creates something so beautiful. He has the ability to connect his readers, at a very human level, with a complete stranger.

Photo Credit: www.humansofnewyork.com

He captures people during happy times, sad times, old people, young people, groups and individuals. He really brings it home that we're all in this together. We all have our ups and our downs, but we are not alone in our struggles, people everywhere are feeling something similar. While Brandon is from New York and his work is based in New York, the portraits and stories he captures could be applied to a lot of places. His pieces just stand to show the everyday nature of human life.

 Photo Credit: www.humansofnewyork.com

It is clear just how easy it his to relate to his work, as he now boasts over 9 million followers on social media since beginning his blog back in 2010. On top of beautifully capturing portraits and sharing powerful stories, Brandon has helped create some real life changes for some of the people he has met through kick starters. Brandon set up an Indiegogo page for a man who was the cameraman for a short piece on Brandon's work. After getting chatting, he came to learn this man and his wife had adopted a child from Ethiopa and they were in the process of saving enough money to adopt another child. 

Photo Credit: www.indiegogo.com

Through the power of a picture and a story, Brandon helped this family raise in excess of $80,000 in 24 hours. It really shows the compassion and power of a community. What can be achieved when we all work together. The original campaign was for $26,000 with the caveat that any extra funding would go towards the children's education. Thanks to Brandon's work and the community he has created, Richard's life has been changed forever, along with his new family's. 

Brandon is currently embarking on a new campaign with the United Nations, it is a 50 day trip to 10 countries around the globe, to capture the portraits and stories of people from these places. While also raising awareness about the Millenium Development Goals. With 2015 fast approaching, there is still so much to do! 

Photo Credit: www.humansofnewyork.com

This new project Brandon is embarking on, is opening up his community to stories from people who often lead a very different life to his traditional readers. He is capturing the story of conflict and human endurance, but not with statistics and maps, but rather on an individual level. It allows his readers to connect with their struggle on a personal level, to truly show the impact of conflict on the individual.

I truly commend Brandon using his platform to help raise awareness and bring the world closer together. I think he is an inspirational human being. He does not go out into the world expecting anything from anyone, nor does he try to "fix" everyone. He is just using his platform to tell a story and connect humans to one another, and in my humble opinion he does it beautifully.

If you want to follow Brandon's work, you can follow his website, Facebook and Twitter pages. If you're not already doing so, I really recommend that you do!

My First | MAC Palette

I'm not entirely sure how I've done it, but I've somehow managed to get through life to date without owning a MAC palette. Yes I own a few single pots, but not even that many to be honest. While rooting through the MAC website recently, this dawned on me. So of course, with me being me, I needed to sort that out promptly. So the very next day I went to the BT2 MAC store on Henry street to rectify this injustice! Firstly I did a little research online to decide which shades I wanted specifically, using the MAC site and some of my favourite bloggers for reference.

I was very excited to get home and put it all together. I went for a quad to start with, I though a full pro palette (which holds 15 shades) would look a little depressing with 11 empty pots. I think I am going to attempt to de-pot the four single pots I already have also. That would go a long way to filling up the pro palette. Ok so to get onto the shades I decided to go for...

So the four shades I chose are Espresso, Cranberry, All That Glitters and Woodwinked. I decided to start out practical and pick shades I know I would regularly use. My thought process being that Espresso could work in the crease of my eye as well as an eyebrow shade, Cranberry and Woodwinked could both work as crease colours or in the outter corners, depending on the look I was creating and All That Glitters would be perfect for all over the lid. So this one quad could provide all the basic colours I need to create a couple of different neutral eye looks. I know Cranberry wouldn't be everyone's pick for a neutral look, but I quite like using Toasted and Hustle from the NAKED 1 palette, so this type of shade does not scare me.

So there you have it, my very first MAC palette. Do you own a MAC palette and have any shade recommendations? I do intend to grow my collection over the coming years. Ultimately my intention will be to own the 15 shades pro palette and keep the quad for travelling, but I know I'm while off that just yet.

This first purchase was quite an investment and it certainly wasn't cheap, it came to €58.50 in total, but I knew the initial cost would be high and then I'll slowly build them up over time. It's €8.50 for the quad palette and then €12.50 for each shadow. However if you do intend to buy a few, it's cheaper than buying individual pots and also much neater for transporting and storing.

I hope you liked this post and definitely get commenting on what your favourite shades are, I love getting recommendations! That's it from me, hope you're having a great Sunday afternoon whatever you're up to!

#FOTD | Everyday Glam

This is a bit of a different post from yours truly. I've decided to share with you some of the products I would use for an everyday look with that little something extra. So what would be perfect for a day out with the girls, on a trip away with that special someone or just whenever you might want to go that little bit extra! I don't tend to go too dramatic with my night out makeup most of the time, for me, this look would be perfect for a night out too! I may even do more of these "Face of the Day" type posts down the line, should anyone find them useful!

Quite a natural look with a little shimmer around the eye

Unfortunately as with all (mine anyway) natural looks, there are quite a few products involved to get to this point! To start with I prepped my skin by using my cleanser, acid toner, serum & moisturiser as usual. Then I got started with the makeup itself, this is going to sound like quite a lot of products, but when you're used to all the steps it really doesn't take as long as this post will make it seem. To make it a little more digestible I've broken it down by area of the face.

Face
Foundation: Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream applied using a flat foundation brush from Nima Brush
Concealer: Correction Lasting Perfect Concealer under the eye and on blemishes, using my finger and then finishing the blending with my foundation brush
Powder: One Heck of a Blot from Soap & Glory using my Real Techniques Powder Brush

Cheeks
Blush: NARS Orgasm which I applied using the Real Techniques Blusher Brush
Contour: NARS Laguna which I applied using Real Techniques Contour Brush
Highlight: Very very small bit of The Balm Mary Lou, applied with my fingers

Eyes
All over Lid: Sin from Urban Decay NAKED 1 palette, patted on with the brush in the palette
In the Crease: Smog from NAKED 1, patted on with the brush in palette (also brushed this along lower lash line)
In the Outer Corner: Darkhorse from NAKED 1, patter on with the brush in the palette
In the Inner Corner: The Balm Mary Lou, applied with my fingers

In all instances the shadow was of course blended out with my MAC 217 brush, the key (I've learned) is to build up colour through patting and blending and repeating, don't put it all on at once!

Upper Lash Line: Bourjois Liner Feutre - also along outer corner of the lower lash line
Mascara: Benefit's They're Real, two generous coats (don't also forget to use your eyelash curler first)
Eyebrows: Essence Eyebrown pencil with Buck from NAKED 1, applied using the Real Techniques Brow Brush

Lips
Make Up For Ever Lip Liner Pencil in the shade 43 all over the entire lips and then a coat of Dior Addict Gloss in the shade 684 and then finally a light patting of Virgin from NAKED 1 the lips using my finger. I did this for two different reasons, one, to set the lipgloss in place and two, to give a nice sheen to the lips

A little disclaimer, buying make up is definitely my hobby, so while there are quite a few high end products in here, they have been built up over time, certainly not all bought at once! Then of course the look can easily be replicated by substituting these products with your own favourites!

Hopefully I might have given you some inspiration or ideas on how to create your own everyday glam look. If you do, definitely be sure to send me a pic through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! If you've any recommendation on similar/better products, get commenting! I'm always looking for new products and shades to try.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a great day whatever you're up to!

Chatty Post | General Catch Up

Yet another inexcusable break was taken here at Beauty Baggage. Okay, let's jump right in with a chatty post, ease myself back in nice and slowly.

Instead of boring you with details, lets focus on something more fun, look at my new custom made logo? I'm so excited to have my very own logo, finally! It was made by my boyfriend's brother, he came up with the entire concept from start to finish, checking in with me as he went to make sure everything was okay. He's currently studying product design and is definitely one to watch! Looking forward to seeing what else he comes up with in the coming years.

Beauty Baggage's NEW Logo

In general my summer has been going well. I'm trying to wrap up the last of assignments for my masters, so that hasn't been terribly fun. But I've still managed to fit in plenty of socialising over the summer months so far, it hasn't been all doom and gloom, plenty of days and nights out! I also have some nice plans in August, with Electric Picnic at the end of the month. However what I'm definitely most excitedly looking forward to this year is my 2 week trip to China in September, I cannot wait! If you've ever been, be sure to leave suggestions in the comments for what I should get up to! I'm also heading to Brussels for a weekend in November with a few friends too. So while it's been relatively quiet year to date, I have lots of things to look forward to!

Some pics from my Summer so far...

I have also really started to try improve my eating and general health in the last few weeks. As part of that I'm trying to get a little better at cooking and making things from scratch. The berry smoothie above is a perfect example of that (it's delish in case you're wondering!), with some more examples below. I have also taking to walk 3 or 4 times a week, nothing too crazy, just maybe 5.5km. However I'm working on building up speed, and have done some very small jogging spurts in the middle. It's going well so far and definitely a case my whole mind and body (not to mention skin) are feeling so much the better for it. That's not to say I haven't fallen off the bandwagon here and there, but life is for living, so that's allowed. I'm using my impending trips and all the sight-seeing induced walking as motivation! So far, so good.

Homemade guacamole, fresh watermelon, homemade pizza & basil plant

So that's a general catch up on what has been going on with me and my summer so far! What's new with you? What have you been getting up to? Has anyone been on holidays or planning any get aways? I'd love to hear from you!

Review | Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot

I hope everyone has been enjoying this love weather we're having, especially since it's probably going to be our summer! Today I bring you a review of a product I have recently fallen in love with. It's certainly by no means new to the market and I've heard plenty of bloggers talk about it for the last year (I have been meaning to pick it up for ages). It's the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot.

What can I say, it was love at first sight. As always with Soap & Glory, the packaging is very chic. But more important is the content. Initially I was a little apprehensive since it describes itself as a mattifying powder as someone who suffers with dehydrated and sometimes dry skin, I usually avoid matt products. However I was pleasantly surprised. I find it sets my makeup nicely but without leaving that caked-on-powder look. At a glance you would not necessarily see I was wearing any powder, it is incredibly natural looking. Which is a major factor for me. My go to pressed powder before this was Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Pressed Powder (€35), yet I find this one much better and the price tag is certainly more suitable coming in at €15.

This product also comes with a mirror which is added bonus. I know most compacts do, but it's definitely a pain when they don't (Rimmel pressed powders for instance, do not). So despite having sometimes dry skin I do find (especially in the summer months) I can get a little shiny on my t-zone, so I find this product really helps combat that and helps my foundation stay in place.

 

I have been using this product for weeks now and you can still make out the word powder in the product, it seems it is going to last me quite a while. As the name suggests, I blot it onto the face, which I think leads to using less powder at a time. So I should really get my money's worth with this product.


Have you tried One Heck of a Blot before?
What's your favourite powder?

Lets Talk Blog Challenge | Day in the Life

Welcome to week 1 of the Lets Talk Blog Challenge, set up by the beautiful Sarah from At the Beauty Desk. You can keep up each week with all the bloggers taking part through the hashtag #LetsTalkBlogChallenge. 

So the first post is any kind of "a day in the life" post you like, so I've chosen to go with a typical weekend day. Since that's my favourite part of the week, I figured why not? 

Some photos from the last couple of weekends

So many would describe me as a bit of a social butterfly, I much prefer to be in the company of others than on my own, so I like to be out and about and often have my weekends booked up. That's not to sound braggy or anything, I actively make plans with different friends to ensure I utilise my weekends to their full potential.

Enjoying a game of a cards with friends

Ha'penny Bridge in Dublin & Nelson's Monument, Edinburgh

I like to head out for drinks, lunch, walks, days out, drives, etc. It doesn't take much to keep me happy, once I'm out and about and ideally getting some fresh air, I'm in my element!

Food is also an important feature of any good weekend

I certainly wouldn't be the most adventurous when it comes to food, but I do certainly like a variety. Above is home made goats cheese and carmelised red onion tarts, a selection of cheese, meats & crackers along with my favourite summer pastime, barbeques. This was the weekend just past, beer chicken (yes you heard me right), along with pork steaks, sausages and burgers. Yum, yum!

Selection of drinks I've recently been enjoying

While I'm not necessarily a big drinking and I certainly don't drink every weekend, I am certainly more adventurous in this department. I love trying new beers, especially when I travel to different countries. Next in line is of course cocktails. Especially when you're in a speciality cocktail bar, there always such interesting combinations you would never think of yourself! The fish bowl above is from last weekend, a home made punch/cocktail made by my good friend Claire when we were staying with her in Edinburgh. It was all kinds of delicious.


So there you go, an average Saturday for me involves meeting friends, eating and drinking! My idea of heaven. How about you? What does your average Saturday look like?

First Impressions | Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Why hello there. Apologies for the delay in getting my next post up. I've had somewhat of a blogging break. I thought nothing better to get back in the swing of things than skin care, back to basics.

Without further ado, I present the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. This is Garnier's answer to the cult beauty cleansing water from Bioderma. However lucky for those of us in Ireland, the Garnier alternative is much easier to get your hands on (and much cheaper).

Firstly lets look at the product itself, it is a little over €6 to buy a 400ml bottle (although at the moment it's one-third off in Boots). It is an all over cleanser, so you can also use it to remove eye make up too. It is suitable for sensitive skin and is fragrance free. It states you get 200 uses from 1 bottle, I think that is definitely overstating, the price is excellent for the amount of product!

Now onto my impressions. I have used this for a few days now, so I mean I don't think my view is going to change all that much. I absolutely love this cleanser. It doesn't feel as drying as some cleansers while also not leaving that oily residue behind either. I find it easily takes off all my makeup. Of course as I'm sure you can imagine, if I'm wearing waterproof mascara, I will need to give it an extra bit of attention. But I find that this product does not irritate my skin or my eyes, which is of course very important.

I have now added this to my skincare routine as the first step before I cleanse my skin with my favourite cleansing balm. I don't see it ever leaving my routine, unless something revolutionary comes along in the meantime. While this cleanser may not re-invent the wheel, it is a winner for me. It's a speedy way to remove my makeup, does not irritate and I do not need to use a separate eye make up remover. What more could a gal ask for?

How about you, have you tried this water?
What's your first impression?