Lovely Girlie Bits is the beauty-obsessed brainchild of Dublin sisters Karen and Joanne; due to their beauty blog and Youtube channel they’ve become renowned for their down-to-earth, often hilarious posts delivering the deets on practically any beauty product you might care to know about. Lovely Girlie Bits features in-depth product reviews, try favourites features and video tutorials – we especially love the Charlotte Tilbury video! We got chatting to Karen recently, and here’s what she had to tell us about blogging, make-up and skincare.
Which aspects of a beauty routine do you feel are the most worth investing in?
Skincare 100%. It’s only been in the past couple of years where I’ve really gotten into using decent products and the difference in my complexion is unbelievable. I’m a huge fan of budget makeup and can spend ages in Boots investigating everything before spending €50 easily. I can’t say the same when it comes to budget skincare and haven’t found a range or a stand-out product that has worked for me the way the higher end skincare products have. Since ditching the makeup wipes, one of the best things I ever did for my skin, taking time to develop a good skincare routine over the years has paid off. Only recently I was chatting to a fellow blogger and told her how old I was and she gasped and immediately asked what I use on my skin! That’s always a good sign!
Which are the top five beauty products that you would recommend to absolutely anyone?
Without a shadow of a doubt, I can’t recommend the Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Diffused Light enough. It gives a soft focus finish to the skin while keeping shine at bay and I’ve not met a setting powder like it! The same goes for the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Dim Infusion. Everyone needs the perfect peach blush and this is it. We’re talking a flush of colour on the cheeks thanks to the blush pigment and it’s mixed with a finishing powder which gives radiance to the cheeks. Jennifer Lawrence eat your heart out!
Quite possibly the best cleanser I’ve ever used to date is the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel. It works for all skin types at breaking down makeup and cleansing your skin and it’s safe to say I’ll never be without it.
Emma Hardie dual sided face cloths are the only things I’ve used to cleanse my skin for the past three years and I buy a new trio every 6-8 months or so. It’s got a micro fibre side and a muslin side which means you can gently exfoliate your skin while cleansing and removing your makeup. Truth be told, because of these, I rarely use exfoliators on my skin. They are magical.
Finally, everyone needs a great nude lip option and MAC’s Patisserie is one of my favourites. It doesn’t give you concealer lips and is the perfect peachy nude that goes with a neutral eye to make you look polished and also works beautifully with a smoky eye. I’m all about packing on the eye makeup and Patisserie goes with pretty much everything.
You blog on a very regular basis, how do you continue to find ideas for your posting schedule?
I love blogging so much and find inspiration at the strangest of times. At the moment, I’ve 45 draft posts and some of them might just be titles so I don’t forget them, some are more developed posts and some will never make the blog because I’m not feeling it. I can be talking to someone about something random and in my head think “Ooh that’d be a good blog post”! In the world of beauty, there are new product launches all the time, so I’m rarely without a product to review. But what I like to do is have my own spin on things. If a brand does a massive press drop to a load of bloggers, I automatically start thinking how I can make my post different, one that people will click on to read among 10 other posts on the same product. I like the challenge and it keeps me on my blogging toes. I’ve written nearly 1,550 blog posts, mostly about beauty and I can’t see myself running out of topics anytime soon! If I had more time, I’d blog more often, but for now, I’ve plenty of ideas to keep me going.
What is your take on the rise of blogging culture in the last number of years?
It’s fantastic! In terms of the beauty blogging world, who knew there were so many talented people out there writing about makeup and beauty? Now that there are more of us, it makes for better chats at events and launches and there are some amazing bloggers out there who inspire me every day. I’m an avid reader of blogs along with having my own one and always turn to my fellow beauty lovers when I want to see if it’s worth buying something new!
The beauty blogging world has changed a lot in the last five years. When I started, Beaut.ie was the only Irish beauty blog I knew of and it was something I started as a hobby and as a distraction from things that were going on in my life. Getting samples and invites to press events was the last thing I expected but as the community has grown and brands see the talent, potential and influence that bloggers have, it’s a whole different world now. People put a lot of time and effort into blogging now and the standard is so high, especially in beauty and fashion and I can’t wait to see how it all develops over the next few years.
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Emily O’Brien
