L’OCCITANE Women's Day Soap for International Women’s Day

To mark International Women's Day,  today, L’OCCITANE have continued their annual tradition and released a very special soap dedicated to the women of Burkina Faso. This is the third year in a row that the Burkinabé women have produced the soap in the town of Léo. Having been trained by L'OCCITANE, any income generated from the soaps production is then reinvested in new equipment. 

As a working Mamma I know how important it is to be able to work and provide for my own family, without relying on hand outs or charity and I have no doubt that this initiative is doing the same for the ladies of Burkina Faso. 

This year this fund-raising soap will help build women's literacy centers in Africa, with each bar representing 3 bricks for the building, how great is that? 100% of the €5 price tag will be donated to the L'OCCITANE Foundation, which will assist in the building of the literacy centres. 

Here's what the brand have to say: 

A GENTLE SOAP DECORATED WITH A TRADITIONAL MOTIF

• A unique formula that contains an exceptional concentration of shea butter (52%) approved by the Ecocert Fair Trade label*.

• The motif engraved into the soap was designed by the Burkinabé artist, Sougouri Sawadogo. The meaning of this bogolan motif is EDUCATION.

• Women’s Day is printed on the packaging in six languages. * According to EFT standards, available at www.ecocert.com

This Women's Day Soap is available from all L'OCCITANE stores now and is priced at a very affordable €5. I'm thinking this would make an ideal Mammy's Day 'Pocket Money Pressie' no? Make one Mammy happy and help countless others in the process - that's like win/win.

New: Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs Leg Make-Up

Lovers of Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs rejoice, the award winning aerosol version has just been given a new member of the family and it's a doozy. Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs Leg Make Up may be a mouthful to say but come its release this month I've an inkling it'll be the name on everyone's lips. 

I've long advocated Sally's spray version as a cheap, fool proof saviour for pasty, veined or scarred skin in need of a little colour, it sprays on quickly and once rubbed in stays put for hours, on any part of the body. This new Leg Make Up does all of that but with a lot more coverage. 

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs Leg Make Up: €16.95

I'm a sufferer of the dreaded KP (Keritosis Pilaris) (Chuck Feed skin) on my upper legs and upper arms so have, for a long time relied on spray tans to make me feel more at ease when showing more flesh. When I'm not in the spray tan mood MAC Face & Body is my staple and that's what I thought of as soon as I swatched this new line. 

Water and transfer resistant, the soft make up applies easily to any area of the body but provides enough coverage for skin confidence in whatever you happen to be wearing. As for durability? Eldest Gorgebag, owner of the hairy arms up there, spent a good ten minutes scrubbing his arm full of swatches. Whereas I wore the Medium version for an evening on the tiles - it stayed flawlessly put for the duration with no bed sheet or PJ transfer that night and minimal scrubbage in the morning to remove the last traces. 

Once more Sally Hansen have developed a leg product that's not just good for legs, I'm talking l-arms, l-ecolletáge and l-aces (occasionally l-arses, if I'm off for a swim) too and coming in at €16.95 for 118ml, it's a good sight cheaper than MAC Face & Body, that's got to be a win.  

The four natural looking shades Light, Medium, Tan and Deep will be available from this month in pharmacies and super markets nationwide. What do we think? Reckon you'll be adding Leg Make Up to your make up arsenal? 

Monday's Moments: 04/03/13

How do, Monday, how do, March! Spring has officially sprung and doesn't it feel good? We had some seriously beautiful weather over the weekend in Dublin and actually managed to get out and enjoy it. Come the 31st the clocks will ping forward again too so we'll have brighter mornings and evenings - without even racking up these 5 Moments of win, that's enough to cheer us all up, isn't it? 

1. 4 Pics 1 Obsesh 

If you haven't been living under a social media proof rock for the past fortnight then you'll know what this pic above means. Since being sucked into Candy Crush and literally losing hours to it, I swore I wouldn't download Four Pics One Word. I lied. 

After 3 hectic days (filled with shoving my phone in the lads' faces and frantically shrugging) I finally completed level 319. Thrilled with life. I'm trying my utmost to ignore the red reminder on my phone to update the app and proceed to the next level though. It's tough but I'm managing. Are you?

2. From Me, To Me, I'm Welcome

Since switching jobs last week I' ve been looking at different ways to cut back and make the sheckles count. While looking at my different bills I happened to notice something a little bit brilliant. I've been overpaying one of them for 3 years!

I managed to get a final statement and, while it's not millions, it's a lovely little lump sum that's going to ease the sting of exam fees and dying tumble dryers nicely. Don't you just love when you've been a great customer? Even unwittingly? 

3. I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, I'M SORRY!

I feel so bad about this Moment that I almost wasn't going to share but it made me laugh harder than anything else this week so I just can't keep it to myself. Diesel there is the biggest softie of all during the day. He's either bouncing on the tampoline or sleeping his head off and that's it. 

On Thursday I was messing with Himself and, having dealt a stinging slap I hightailed it up the stairs to the bathroom to lock the door, as you do. After about 5 minutes I was sure he was waiting outside so filled a container with water, opened the door, waited a minute and threw it around the corner, genius move. No reaction? 

I crept out to have a look and sitting there was this gonk just looking at me, wide eyed with water dripping down his face. No wimper, no movement just sitting there, dripping, making me feel terrible (for laughing my head off). Don't worry, he got ALL the hugs to apologise.

4. Take ALL the Leave 

As well as getting my bills and bidness in order following the work swap I also had to look at my work calendar. Because of the nature of Road Safety work (all hours of the day) I'd been working on Time in Lieu for my leave for the past several years. 

Having totted up the past 12 months I made another fantastic discovery, 35 days leave, Bishes! Of course I've had to grab 10 of those with both hands and am currently on a fortnights doss but it's just a nice little cushion to get me through the next 12 months. Good times. 

5. A Moment About LoLs

A couple of months back I decided to try a post with a little difference. I'm all about the laughs and genuinely believe there's not a day can't be brightened by a chuckle or two. 'Things to Make You Go LOL. Literally' is just that, five things that will make you laugh out loud. 

I'm consistently humbled and very grateful that even one person reads my ramblings but comments like this from the very lovely Chloe genuinely make my day. The thoughts that someone could get a little light relief from my madness is one that honestly thrills me. I've added a button over there --> for easy LOL access and even reading back through them myself, I'm laughing again. Thanks Chloe for taking the time to let me know you've enjoyed 'em x 

Tell me, what's the happy haps in your corner of the world this Monday? I gots to know!

Cherry Pick of the Week: The Lumineers - Stubborn Love

It's the second Cherry Pick appearance from The Lumineers and it's only their second single from their eponymous album. That's good going, right? 

Stubborn Love is a beautiful song and almost makes me wish the year away till their Dublin gig in November. 

Tell me, what's on repeat in your noggin this week? Hmmm? 

YSL Bronze Pyrite Nail Lacquer

I spoke some weeks back about my first YSL lacquer, Bronze Pyrite from the Spring 2013 collection. At that time I had high hopes for the beautiful metallic but only time would tell if it lived up to my expectations. 

In the bottle, Bronze Pyrite clearly shows it's silver/gold/pewter beauty but on the nail it's a different story. It has to be admitted that this is probably one of the prettiest polish bottles I possess but truth be told I do have a soft spot for anything YSL related. How does it perform as a polish though? 

The wide brush allows the thick formulation to be painted on in one coat. I'm talking opacity in seconds and that's helped me out more than once in the past month as not only is it a stunning manicure in its own right but I've been toting this little gem in my bag and any chips or tears in my normal manis can be covered in minutes with this quick drying, fool proof formulation. Not something you'd normally associate with a luxe polish, right?

On the nail Bronze Pyrite is a matte/metallic gold/pewter (yep, it's complex). Its subtle enough to be worn day or night and will pretty much go with every wardrobe decision (I can't be the only one weird enough to match nails to my clothes, can I?) 

We're looking at €24 for this limited edition Spring YSL shade but truly I've reached for and relied upon this polish more than any other in the past 6 weeks. Its one coat coverage, its quick drying, it’s long lasting, it’s a beaut.

Have you tried any YSL lacquers? Having dipped my talons with this one I'm definitely curious to try more.