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Yearly Archives: 2019

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Being blonde has it's perks, but staying blonde is another story altogether.

From maintenance to conditioning to frizz, bleaching your hair blonde brings annoyances alongside the shimmering golden fierceness.

Watching those dark roots emerge while checking your bank balance and realising that you can't afford to get them bleached professionally is a special kind of heartbreak.

Seeing those unwanted brassy yellow tones seeping through sends shivers down my spine, as a gal who has white/silver hair. Banishing yellow has been super easy for me since I began using the brand Fanola:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Fanola Professional USA (@fanola) on

Otherwise known as the purple shampoo GODS, I was stunned at how amazing the results are. It does dry out the hair, but it's worth it if you pair it with a good conditioner, or use Olaplex

Olaplex has saved my bleached barnet by using specialist chemicals to legit bind the hair together and protect it from the damage of bleach.

The salon Cowboys & Angels on South William Street in Dublin SWEAR by it, and for good reason; It really does work.

I've tried using 'big brand' or high street purple shampoos, and normally they're an absolute train-wreck. Their bleach and toners are a pure mess, NEVER use them.

Always go to the profesh gals for bleaching your hair; the cheap ones in Boots will just damage your gorgeous locks and you'll have to pay to fix it anyway.

As someone who had to purge my hair three times to have green hues removed, it's always an imperative idea to go to the salon.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by (@olaplex) on

John Frieda, I'm looking at you. Bleach London, y'all need to do some WORK. So I was extremely sceptical when I tried L'Oreal Paris Elvive' new purple shampoo.

Only the professional salon brands like Fanola normally work, but I was hugely impressed by L'Oreal Paris Elvive's efforts. Their new campaign is fronted by none other than Helen Mirren, and they have vowed to banish yellow hues.

Their purple shampoo and conditioner promises to "act as a colour corrector by counteracting and neutralising undesired yellow and orange tones" to leave your hair bright and cool. That's quite the promise…

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by L'Oréal Paris Hair Official (@lorealhair) on

Purple formulas, often called silver shampoos, are used on white, silver and dyed blonde hair to keep them looking fresh and light coloured. Purple is the opposite to yellow on the colour wheel, and works to cancel out the sunny tones.

I should mention, my hair was bleached blonder than it's natural dark blonde tone, then a silver/lilac toner was used.

My toner unfortunately allows pink shades to seep through, but after using L'Oreal Paris Elvive's purple shampoo, the hair was noticeably less pink. I wanted lilac realness and I got it, so it's a job well done in my eyes.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by L'Oréal Paris Hair Official (@lorealhair) on

My hair also didn't feel as dried out, after pairing it with the matching L'Oreal Paris Elvive Purple conditioner.

It's only necessary to use purple shampoo once a week, and leave it in the hair for one to three minutes for excellent results. While still no match for Fanola, my hair has returned to a more lilac tone rather than unwanted yellow and pink.

I would 100 percent recommend the shampoo for bleached blondes, or even highlighted brunettes, as it's far cheaper than Fanola.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by L'Oréal Paris Hair Official (@lorealhair) on

Cowboys & Angels sell Fanola's purple shampoo relatively cheap compared to it's marketed price, but you'd struggle to find their no yellow shampoo online for under €20.

At €8.95 each for the shampoo and conditioner, L'Oreal Paris Elvive allows you to get blonder on a budget. 

If Helen Mirren is on board, then by GOD so are we; She can do no wrong.

Overall, L'Oreal Paris Elvive Go Purple gets four stars out of five stars from us. Great value without any damage to the hair, and decent blonde results. 

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This Grammys show, Mac Miller was posthumerously nominated for the Best Rap Album of the Year award. 

Those in charge of the guest list invited Mac's mother along to see her spn's work honoured with a nomination, following his death last September from an accidental drug overdose, aged 26. 

Mac's mum, Karen Meyers, attended the awards show with actress Cazzie David, who was once in a relationship with comedian Pete Davidson. 

Instagram / @cazziedavid

Cazzie took to Instagram to share a picture of Karen looking absolutely regal in a chic black pantsuit with split cuff blazer sleeves. 

While some may think that the ex-girlfriend of her son's ex-girlfriend's former fiance (that took us a minute to get our heads around too) is an unusual choice of date to the Grammys, apparently Cazzie and Karen have been acquainted for a while. 

Cazzie attend the celebration of life concert for Mac in 2018, following his passing. 

'It's still a relatively new friendship, and primarily limited to social media, but Cazzie and Karen think very highly of each other,'a source previously told E! News.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by @couplestwinning on

'Cazzie reached out to Karen with her condolences after Mac died and since then she and Karen have been exchanging messages.'

Karen and Cazzie were together ahead of the Grammys, judging by her Instagram snap, but were not photographed together at the event. 

Ahead of the Grammys, Karen shared a quote from her son via Instagram. 

The quote reads: 'I'm gonna make music, and I'm gonna capture every aspect of being a human being. That's really all I'm trying to do.' 

Mac Miller's final album, Swimming, did not win the award in it's category. 

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Pink isn't letting the Grammy Awards get her down.

The singer and mother-of-two posted an adorable image to Instagram when she lost out on the Best Pop Vocal Album award to Ariana Grande, and it's TOO PURE.

Her album, Beautiful Trauma, was the 39-year-old's 20th Grammy Award nomination, and despite not actually winning, her daughter made her feel special anyway.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by P!NK (@pink) on

She captioned the image of her adorable seven-year-old daughter Harper holding a tinfoil award;

"Thanks kids, my favourite kind of award."

She later tweeted her gratitude for the accolade honour, saying that she was "honoured" to be included in the category but her kids need her attention a lot more:

“I think it’s kind of rad that I just lost my 20th Grammy nomination,” the mum tweeted, referencing her two-year-old son Jameson's bath-time habit;

“I’m always honoured to be included. Now to get this sick baby in the bathtub. Congrats to all the nominees! Have fun tonight.”

The star has won three Grammy Awards since her first nomination back in 2001.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by P!NK (@pink) on

Pink last won a Grammy in 2010 after winning the award for best pop collaboration with vocals for her cover of the John Lennon classic Imagine with Seal and India Arie.

She also took home the gong for best female rock vocal performance for Trouble in 2003, and earned her inaugural Grammy in 2001 for Lady Marmalade.

The down-to-earth parent has always had a great attitude to balancing fame with her family, and we love her even more for it; She's always a winner in our eyes.

Feature image: GRAMMY.com

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A few months ago, Will Smith appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly alongside the stars of Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin, and people had something to SAY.

Basically, he wasn't blue, and this deeply offended the general public. Like, DEEPLY offended. Scuba diving in the Pacific deep.

He took to Instagram to defend himself, writing; "I’m gonna be BLUE! This is how the Genie is in human or disguise form. My character will be CGI most of the movie."

However, during the Grammy's ad-break last night, a new trailer for the movie was released and once again, fans ain't happy.

Disney managed to sneak in a minute-long trailer featuring Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud in the protagonist role. Will Smith's turn as the Genie has EVERYONE talking.

The 50-year-old actor is under a lot of pressure, taking over the reboot role from Robin Williams' iconic performance.

Sharing his own reaction to the trailer release, Will wrote on Instagram: "I told y’all I was gon’ be Blue!! Y’all need to trust me more often!" 

When he accepted the role, the actor said: "Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying. The question is always: Where was there meat left on the bone? Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character."

The 1992 animation starred Robin Williams, and became especially iconic for his role in the voice acting and music.

The memes have already begun flowing in, and we are entertained to say the least.

Even Judge Judy was dragged into the hilarity:

The reactions are pure gas:

Paul Giamatti from the iconic Frankie Munez flick Big Fat Liar was even used:

Viewers weren't READY:

The poor man is getting dragged, by his own Shark Tale character:

We feel a bit sorry for him…

Do you think he deserves all this slagging? We don't think so, but by GOD are we enjoying the memes. Keep 'em coming, people.

Aladdin is set for release on 24 May, so we'll see what the reaction is to the full flick in due course.

Feature image: ComingSoon

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Former First Lady and current leader of the entire world Michelle Obama delighted her fans and celebrities alike by making a surprise appearance at the Grammys.

Obama showed up and stole the show by appearing alongside fellow female legends Lady Gaga, host Alicia Keys, Jada Pinkett Smith and J-Lo to emphasise how much music means to them.

When she first showed her dazzling face onstage, many in the audience didn't immediately register who she was, Once she began speaking however, the crowd LOST IT.

She had only declared the words, "From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side …", when she was interrupted by hysterical cheering. I mean, we'd all lose our chill if she turned up in Dublin airport.

"All right — we got a show to do," she said as she tried to dissipate the clapping, to no avail.

She referenced Beyoncé, naturally, and Motown as her influences. Could she BE more inspiring?

"From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the Who Run the World songs that fuelled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that's true for everybody here."

"Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters."

"Every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right, ladies?" THAT'S SO RIGHT, MICHELLE.

She later tweeted that she was "thrilled" to be present, celebrating the power of music. Never stop making surprise appearances, gal, we need you.

Feature image: GRAMMY.com

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At last nights Grammys, musician Cardi B became the first woman in the award shows history to take home the golden gramophone for Best Rap Album for her work on Invasion of Privacy.

The Bodak Yellow rapper beat out Swimming by Mac Miller, Victory Lap by Nipsey Hussle, Daytona by Pusha T and Astroworld Travis Scott.

 Mac Miller’s album was nominated following his death following an accidental overdose in September of 2018.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by CARDIVENOM (@iamcardib) on

Cardi was emotional following her win, telling husband Offset: ‘I can't breathe, babe.' She joked: 'Maybe I need to start smoking weed.'

In her acceptance speech, Cardi thanked her daughter, Kulture, who is 6 months old.

She explained that her pregnancy meant she wanted to get all of her music videos shot before her pregnancy began showing.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by CARDIVENOM (@iamcardib) on

‘I want to thank my daughter,’ she said . ‘When I found out that I was pregnant, my album was not complete. I had like three songs.’

‘We was like, 'We have to get this album done so I can shoot these videos before I am showing.'

'It was very long nights.' 

She also thanked her husband Offset for his support.

I want to thank all the artists that took their time and did verses for my album,’ she continued.

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2018 saw the tragic passing of rapper Mac Miller.

The musician died following what is understood to be an accidental drug overdose.

Tributes poured out for the artist after his passing, with many honouring his music as some of the best and most innovative of our time. His album Swimming, released before her passed away, was nominated for a Grammy this year in the Best Rap Album category.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Mac (@macmiller) on

However, his album lost out to Cardi B, who took home the award on the night for her album Invasion of Privacy – the first ever woman to win the award in that category in Grammy history.

Ariana Grande was not in attendance on the night, after a disagreement she had with the shows' producers – however like all of us, she was watching the action and giving her feedback on Twitter.

The break up with your girlfriend, im bored singer lashed out via the social media app when Swimming did not take home the golden Gramophone.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on

According to Refinery29 and People, her first tweet after Cardi was announced as the winner in the Rap Album category was 'fuck,' followed by, 'trash,' and 'literal bullshit.'

Her tweets were quickly deleted, but not before fans let her know that they didn’t feel it was fair of her to hate on Cardi for her win.

Ari replied that it wasn’t Cardi she was upset with: ‘nothing to do w her. good for her. i promise. i’m sorry. She’s not [trash] at all and that’s not what i meant and u know that.'

She clarified that she was upset that Mac Miller’s parents were invited to the Grammys only to see their deceased son’s work lose.

Ariana Grande won her first Grammy Award on the night, for best pop vocal album for Sweetener.

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If you didn’t manage to secure tickets to Post Malone’s sold out show on Valentine’s Day – never fear.

The rapper has announced that he will play a massive outdoor gig in Dublin this summer.

Hosted in the RDS’ Outdoor Arena, the concern will take place on Thursday the 22nd of August.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Posty (@postmalone) on

Special guests will also be performing at the gig, ahead of Posty's performance of his album Beerbongs & Bentleys.

The Texas native has charted nine songs in the Top 20 of the Hot 100, gaining the accolade for 'the most songs in the Top 20 of the Hot 100.'

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Posty (@postmalone) on

In Ireland, the album entered the Irish Album Charts at #1, with one of the biggest chart debuts’ of 2018 and has since been certified double platinum. Casual. 

Tickets will be on sale from €75.75 this Friday, the 15th February at 9am. 

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Young Irish women strapped for cash have been forced to become experimental with their means of making income.

To date, approximately 9,000 Irish girls have joined the sugar dating site SeekingArrangements.com to organise transactional ‘mutually beneficial relationships’ with wealthy older men.  

The girls offer their company, charm and attention in return for cash, allowances and lavish gifts.

Many women on the Seeking Arrangements site are college and university going students looking for help to keep their finances in order, often looking for men to make fee and accommodation payments to keep them in college.

Vanessa [not her real name] is a 19 year old Dublin university-attending sugar baby. She became aware of the "sugaring" lifestyle four years ago as the phenomenon gained media attention, but it wasn’t until her first year of college that she genuinely considered joining the Seeking Arrangements site, spurred on by a friend who was already meeting wealthy men online. 

Her drive to experiment with this lifestyle came purely from the enticement of money, fine dining and the wish to achieve a more comfortable lifestyle while studying for her degree, after moving to the capital from a small town in the south of the country.

Vanessa began her sugaring endeavours on Google and found the Seeking Arrangement site, which to her seemed different to other cheap "shady" websites she had previously encountered.

She described the site as being more "executive, elegant and just proper" and created her account.

She recalls how she was swamped with attention when she first joined and was flattered, and slowly whittled down the potential sugar daddies by trawling through hundreds of profiles and conversing with men, searching for signs of legitimacy.

 

A photo posted by Tyler Bentley (@sigma_orionus) on

Vanessa admits that men would message her clearly seeking sexual services, using the simple line “how much for tonight”.

"Some men are looking for a prostitute, but you can sense that straight away by the questions they ask, or if they are asking about money straight away you know they’re looking for one thing, and that’s not what I’m looking for," she said adamantly. 

Many sugar babies insist that sugar dating relationships are non-sexual and platonic, but Vanessa completely disagrees, and believes that most girls are lying when it comes to this aspect.

Any search on YouTube for "sugar dating stories" provides plenty of examples of women claiming there is zero sex work involved. 

"I’m sure that in certain situations the sugar baby says no and the man says OK… But for me I’m ok with sleeping with these men as I can be attracted to them. I think the majority of these girls are probably lying when they say it’s all above board."

In Vanessa’s world of sugar dating, safety is key.

Her advice to potential sugar babies is to "have your wits about you at all times, you can be talking to someone online and they can seem like the nicest person ever but until you meet them you do not know".

"When you do progress on to meeting people, let a friend know, take a picture of yourself in case you do go missing that night of what you are wearing, that’s how serious the realities of this lifestyle are."

Vanessa has been offered holidays, phone bills paid and accommodation payments covered, and will accept no less than €500 for her company for the day or night. She admits to her previous naivety when she first joined the site.

"The first person I decided to meet I made an arrangement of €180, which is a lot of money to a lot of people and does make a difference, but now that would be a waste of my time."

While Vanessa concedes that the sugar baby lifestyle works for her, she does not advise other college students to take this route:

"I would tell them to back away. I feel that in years to come I’ll definitely regret it. I hate to think that someday I’ll have to tell my husband about this part of my life, and he might not accept it."

The enticement of quick cash is enough to sway many Irish students, and seems much more favourable than a student loan or a part time job, but Vanessa concludes that while it all seems easy, putting a price on your time is actually quite a difficult moral issue

"It might be ok now, but down the line I 100% believe this will come back to haunt me."

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We all feel the pinch every once in a while, and wondered where the hell our salary went at the end of a busy month.

We use our smart phones for everything, so utilising your iPhone to track your personal spending is one of the best ways to go about it, as you have a constant reminder in your hand.

There are literally hundreds of personal finance apps out there, but Spending Tracker is probably the most concise and simple of them all. 

The app lets you plan out your monthly expenses, so you know exactly how much disposable income you have left. 

It then allows you to add expenses for your disposable income as the month goes on, so you always know exactly how much money you have to play with. 

The app also allows you to plan out future purchases so there is no panic in the last week of the month that the Netflix bill is due. 

If you think you'd need a reminder to update your spending log, make sure you put the app beside your favourite social media app, so every time you go to check the likes of Twitter or Instagram, you see it. 

The app also lets you carry over money from the previous month, and you can choose whether to keep it for extra fun money or to put in savings.

Pretty genius if you ask us. 

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We all dread the awkward point of a blossoming relationship, where one person asks "so how many people have you slept with?"

The number of sexual partners each of us has can be a sensitive subject for some people.

Whether you've had over a hundred or have yet to have one, there will always be someone who thinks you have had too many or too few.

So how many people would you want your partner to have previously slept with?

Research by Nottingham, Bristol and Swansea universities, and published in the Journal of Sex Research, showed that the ideal number is three.

Any higher than that, and their interest in pursuing a relationship with that person begins to fall.

This number is the same for both men and women, who feel that three is the magic number when it comes to their lovers past encounters. 

However, those participating in the survey don't live up to their own expectations, with the average woman having 5.81 and the average man having 8.4.

Men surveyed also said that the cut off point of past lovers for their prospective partners was 11. 

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While facial cosmetic procedures may seem extreme to some, new research shows that Irish people are having more and more aesthetic work done – as long as the enhancement comes from the end of a needle.

Social media saturation, heightened self awareness of our own image and selfies are all being blamed for the trend in botox and lip fillers, which has seen a massive spike on Irish shores

According to new research from Thérapie Clinic, the majority of Irish people already have or would consider getting Botox or fillers, a whopping 68%.

 

A post shared by Thérapie Clinic (@therapieclinic) on

A further 1 in 10 (11%) say they have actually already had Botox or fillers.

This is a massive doubling of procedures over a three year period, as Thérapie Clinic's research in 2015 found that only 5% of people had filler or Botox work done.

'The research we have conducted has shown that, across Ireland, people are becoming increasingly inclined towards the use of Botox and fillers and less inclined towards feeling ashamed or stigmatised for getting these treatments,' said Thérapie Clinic Medical Director, Dr. Paul Reddy.

'Botox and fillers may not be for everyone, but for some people, these treatments can make a real positive impact to a person’s self-image and confidence.'

 

A post shared by Thérapie Clinic (@therapieclinic) on

A further 60% said that they knew or suspected that a friend or colleague had had fillers or botox.

A huge factor when it comes to aesthetic work for Irish people is the reputation of the clinic. 96% would only consider a reputable clinic for getting work done.

Nurses should be registered with the Nursing And Midwifery Board Of Ireland(NMBI), dentists with The Irish Dental Council (IDC) and doctors with The Irish Medical Council.

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