IKEA vanity - Big & Bold

Since I done the pretty pink parisian theamed vanity , I thought I might aswel throw together this highly sought after block colour theme for a more big and bold look! This vanity is perfect for those who own an unreal amount of makeup/ beauty products . This time i went for red seeming as valentines day is just around the corner!

Again every product used here is from Ikea 

From L to R

Strandmon chair in red €220

Linndmon / alex desk €150

Ung drill mirror €30

Duvflader vase €25

Knarstar pictue €12

Vinager vase €11

Harfin candle holders €19

Godkanna Candle / Brush holder €7

Why not choose some string lights to wrap around your mirror for that extra bit of brightness?

try these heart shaped Ramsta lights - €16

Stay tuned for more personalised vanity's

The Parma Violet

IKEA vanity - Pretty parisian in pink

This week i have decided to completely transform my bedroom with my first ever paycheck! My room hasn't been done up since I was 14 (over 10 years ago, yikes!) So I think it is by time I made my space a little more...me! 

I then heard from from a lot of you about wanting vanity's but not knowing where to start! So I decided to throw together a few different vanity's for a few different styles! First up is this pretty pink Parisian themed vanity for all you girly girls out there! 

(All products from IKEA)

From L to R 

Medveten vase €6

Hemnes Dressing table in Pink -€225

Lacko chair in Grey €20

Skurar candle / brush holder - €2

Ramsta diamond lights - €16

Gottgora lantern - €10

Adum high pile rug in Cream €80

Sokerart vase / brush holder €8

Rektangel vase/brush holder €2.75

(print off Chanel label and stick to vase to achieve this look)

If you want to decorate the walls around your vanity then maybe you should think about doing something like this! Its super effective,simple, girly and pretty!

Pjatteryd Audery Hepburn picture - €30

Framed shopping bags!

An amazing idea to decorate any fashionistas surrounding vanity!

Simply go in to your local stores and ask for a shopping bag and they will give you one then and there!

Head to Ikea and buy these super handy gorgeous frames from as little as just €1 each!! 

More styles to come including, big and bold, vibrant and relaxed boho (my favouirte) stay tuned!

The Parma Violet

The Balm : Review

Hello everyone and happy December! Christmas is edging that little bit closer and I just love all the Christmassyness surrounding me!
I recently attended a blogger meet up, and at that meetup I won a raffle!I got to pick what I won, and on that table was a plastic bag full of 'The Balm' products...Needless to say, I nearly died with excitement as I have never tried this brand before!

In the bundle I received: 

*Meet Matt(e) Nude eyeshadow palette 

*Whats Your Type? Black Mascara

*Schwing Black Liquid Eyeliner

*Hot Mama Blush and Highlighter

*The Balm Girls Lipstick in ''Ima Goodkisser''

The packaging ..is..EPIC! 

I adore it! So 50's and in your face! 

Utter prettiness! I adore it so sooo much!

So what did I think of all these glorious goodies?

Meet Matt(e) Nude - I adore this palette, The nude colours are just stunning and will suit anyone with any colour eyes! I adore the play on words! All named after men, this palette cheekily matched their names with their skin tone, eg. Matt Molloy (a piercing white colour) how very naughty ;)

This has become my go to eyeshadow palette! And I urge anyone to go out and buy this highly pigmented fun palette, complete with huuuuge mirror!

Whats your type? Black Mascara - This mascara gave my lashes unbelievable length after a few coats! I love love love this!

Schwing - Black liquid eyeliner  - Again, another unbelievable product, I'm more of a fan of gel eyeliners to be honest, but for those fond of the liquid eye liners, this one is super black with a great brush!

 Hot Mama Blush and Highlighter - THIS.HAS.BECOME.MY ALL TIME.FAVOURITE BLUSH...EVER!!!!

And to make matters worse, I LOST IT AT A CHRISTMAS FAIR! It came flying out of my handbag and it was gone for eternity! I am beyond devastated as I'm pretty sure this HAS to be my favourite beauty product of ALL time!! If you're ever going to buy a blush, please buy this one! it gives you a healthy dewy glow which is so pretty I cant even put it into words!

The Balm Girls Lipstick in 'Ima Goodkisser' - Now I have to be honest I ain't the biggest fan of pink lipstick, but this one changed it all for me! This is a very natural looking colour!I wear this all the time now! Great staying power and amazing packaging,looks like it came right out of the early 60's! So so in love with this! 

I love love love all these amazing products!

They are a tad pricey but your really are getting your moneys worth.

Everything is a great size and amazing quality!

10/10 would buy again and would recommend this brand to anyone, and these would make very very beautiful Christmas gifts too! 

Here's a look a created with all these products:

(Excuse the wet hair, I thought I was Beyonce or something after my shower)

Don't be afraid to say hi! :)

The Parma Violet 

How to : Boxswap

Hi everyone! And my goodness what a horribly cold November we're having, I'm pretty sure my nipples could carve diamonds at this point, its THAT cold!

Now, if you're looking to do a boxswap with someone and you don't entirely know where to start, then you've come to the right place! I'm going to give you a very quick run down of the do's and don'ts of box swapping. 

I recently completed a box swap with an amazing (now) friend of mine, Lynell. We met each other on Twitter and we hit it off right away. I made a tweet asking if anyone out there would be interested in doing a boxswap, and Lynell answered my prayers!She's also an amazing beauty,fashion and lifestyle blogger,and you can find her blog  here!   With me living in Irealnd I was dying to find out where she lived, ' I live in Florida' she proclaimed! How cool is that?! Florida is my most favourite place in the world! I jumped at the chance and we began chatting about everything from our mutual love of Monty Python to makeup to exchanging pictures of our everyday lives! But I'm saving all that stuff for my next post! ;) So here are the do's and dont's of box swapping 

DO!

• Make sure you create a friendship/connection with the person whom you're doing the boxswap with. It's very important to know what the other person is like.
• Ask questions! Don't be afraid to ask your new friend new and exciting questions! It's all about learning after all!
• Make sure you make a list of all the things they might like. Be thoughtful, take hints!
• Take note of their allergies and dislikes! Make sure you remember as these are very vital bits of information.
• Remember to go down to your local post office/postal service and take weight into consideration. Depending on where you are in the world, it could be more expensive than you think.
• Also make sure what you can and cannot send over. Most postal services will not allow liquids to be sent in the mail, but all postal services are different.
• Make a spending limit. You can both agree on a price limit (Excluding p&p) which tends to make things easier, although most people overpass their price limit and that's OK ( I know I did)
• Add each other on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,the whole lot! Make that real connection!
• Send pictures f your everyday life, your family, your house, what you do everyday, food and products that they maybe do not get in their country. Share your life and experiences with them, it's more important than you think
• Make everything look so pretty you could die. Yes I'm being serious, go that extra mile, wrapping and bows can make all the difference
• Write a handwritten letter, it doesn't matter ''how bad'' you think your writing is, its all about showing that person you are making the effort, and it's that person touch that makes the bond closer. 

DON'T!

• Force a friendship in order to boxswap! If that connection just isn't there, then move on and search for someone who gets your weird fart jokes.
• Push a high price limit. Just because you may be well off where money is concerned doesn't mean everyone else is, please be considerate.
• Send sharp objects... self explanatory really 
• Never ever send your bank details.
• Dive straight into sending the box, as I said before, get to know each other first. And if you feel the other person is being far too pushy...you know what to do.
• Loose contact, keep talking, and keep that spark alive, make time for that other person.
• Put loose items into the box, make sure you bubble wrap everything to ensure no breakage.
• Send organic materials i.e.. limbs, severed heads, disturbing content i.e Nickleback albums
• Send a bomb, or any explosives in general, no weapons of mass destruction, or weapons in general .... lol

You can also make a video upon arrival of your box for each other to show each other your genuine reactions and also to help others who are looking to do boxswaps themselves. 

I really hope this has helped you in your decision in weather or not to do a boxswap, its a great experience! And I would recommend it to anyone! 

Happy box swapping!!

TheParmaViolet

**Dreamdots- Review**

Hello and good afternoon! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the last few days of summer (thats always such a sad sentence to hear) 

Anyway, I recently received some complimentary packages, and i'm trying my best to get through them all! So today we have the newest spot solution - Dreamdots.

I have always had problems with spotty skin as I suffer with Rosacea, so I love finding new products that really work! So here's what I thought of thee here Dreamdots.

The packaging is basic, giving straightforward info, which is always good.

The idea behind these babies is that you apply a circular plastic dot, atop of which ever spot is bothering you before you go to sleep, and when you awake in the morning, voila!-the spot is gone.

Before I went to bed I noticed I had a horrible, ganky, cluster of spots just above my right eyebrow. I began to apply the Dreamdots. Although they're slightly tricky to remove from the packaging, applying them is a piece of cake. So as I went to dreamy snooze land, this was the result.

Step by step

1. Clean your skin before applying the dot ( apply to dry skin only )
2. Cover your unsightly spot with the dot
3. Leave overnight
4. Remove dot and cleanse.

Its that Simple!

(Sorry about the colour difference, terrible camera)

As you can see the spots on my forehead were reduced dramatically, this is because I used the dream dots for two nights. I found them quite fast acting, and also it leaves the area around the spot baby soft! 

(THIS RESULT IS AFTER TWO USES, NOT ONE)

As you can see I have a dream dot applied on the inside of my eye (sexy) so I am awaiting the results of that one.

All in all I think this is a relatively good product!Absolutely PERFECT for when you've woken up with a nightmare spot but are planning on going out that night. I usually sit around the house wearing them during the day so that my spots will appear less angry during the night! 

or more information, or if you would wish to try out Dreamdots for yourself click here!

If you have tried Dreamdots or any other spot treatment, simply comment below or get in touch @ theparmavioletblog@gmail.com, thank you 

The Parma Violet

 

Beauty UK review

Good evening! 

And what a busy month August is starting off to be! Firstly I went for an interview for Forever 21 today,so keep your fingers crossed for me! :) Secondly, this week has seen the very first complimentary packages to arrive at my doorstep from various companies (us bloggers do live the life eh?) So here is what I received today! 

Look at all the pretty!!This is what i got sent

*Posh palette 'festival'

*High brow - eyebrow kit

*Snob - lipstick

*Vampire - lipstick

And two surprise nail varnishes *pink pop and red royale*

Firstly, I adore all the vibrant gorgeous colours in the eyeshaddow palette! This palette is perfect for creating festival and summertime looks, or just for a bit of fun!At first glance i thought maybe the eyeshaddows wouldn't have great staying power but they do! one they hit your skin the colours pop and look insanely beautiful!

I also received two gorgeous lipsticks. 'snob' and 'vampire'

Snob: This lipstick is utterly perfect! Its a soft pink matte finish with a gorgeous mint tingle!  Pefect for those ultra girlie looks or 60's styles

Vampire: This lipstick is flawlessly sexy! This smooth high shine,wet look lipstick is perfect for those vampy looks. Team this lippie with dark smokey eyes and WOW, you will most definitely turn heads! This lipstick also has a minty tingle, although a GREAT colour, the staying power isn't the greatest, but the colour is worth it.

So i decided to create this sunset themed look for the end of summer, and for all them end of summer festivals 

I used:

*yellow - inner ducts + brow bone

*Pink - Undereye and outer eye

*Orange-all over

*Dark pink- Crease

*Snob - Lipstick

*Highbrow-Light+Medium mixed

Model: Leanna Morgan

My favourite product has to be the high brow kit! Look at how natural and defined them brows look!Staying power is brilliant and the colours included in the kit suits everyone! Its amazing! *Includes 3 shades, wax AND a tweezers*

Thank you so much Beauty UK for your amazing products! I will forever more be an avid customer and will continue to spread the word of this underrated brand!

if you wish for me to review your product, or simply what to just get in touch, please do not hesitate, comment below or mail me at theparmavioletblog@gmail.com, thank you

The Parma Violet

Yummy lazy heaven

Looking for something luscious to have, but are too lazy to cook something up or cant be arsed to run down to the local shop in your PJs? 

The simple solution..Milkshakes!! Everyone loves them and they're just downright cool looking and fun to make!

I'll show you some of the ones I made tonight, and a fun glass couldn't go to waste either ;)

These Ikea tumblers are perfect for that 50's style milkshake we all love! for just 1.90 each!

Now for the fun part! Milkshakes are pretty hard to make right? WRONG!

Milk shakes are probably the most easiest AND funnest things to make! AND you get to pick what YOU want! how much more better could it get!? Well here is how I made my signature milkshake tonight.

What you will need is.

A bowl

An electric whisk

Milk

Icecream

Bar/fruit of your choice

Whipped cream

Meringue nests 

'Smooth Fluffernutter'

**Image above** 

• 1/3 cup full of low fat milk
• 2 generous scoops of  Aldi 'softscoop' ice cream(1.49EURO)
• 1 Reese's peanut butter cups (80 cent Dunnes)
• 2 small tea spoons of Nutella(2.40EURO)

Place in bowl (Make sure chocolate is not refrigerated) and whisk for one minute 

Pour into glass/cup then top with...

• Marshmallow fluff (1.99 Aldi)
• Whipped cream(1.50Aldi)
• Crushed Meringue (optional)

And its as simple as that!

''Mint Bubble''

• 1/3 low fat milk
• 2 scoops Icecream
• 1 mint Aero bar (slightly softened)
• Whipped Cream

Garnish with Strawberries,sprinkle of hot chocolate powder and crushed meringue.

So basically...Mash a load of  milk, Ice cream and a bar together and BOOM there's your fancy,luxury treat for the night! and for Uber cheap! 

Feed the entire family luxury milkshakes for days on end for less than 10 euro!

Warning! Random young men may appear in one's yard at any given time

If you have any queries or want more recipes comment below or mail me at theparmavioletblog@gmail.com ,thank you 

The Parma Violet